To be this good takes SEGA:Megadrive voted best retro console

[ROJM]

Recently a poll carried out by a UK based website asked gamers in the UK to vote the best console in the last 30 years or something like that.

The megadrive top the poll but the master system and the game gear also made the top ten.

nintendo or more so the SNES the megadrive's fierce rival only made seventh place but the N64 got second place, the DC and saturn never made it in the top ten.

The dude who ran the site said...

Simon Kilby, Founder of Playr2.com, said: “The Mega Drive is a deserved winner, and the last leading console we saw from SEGA. Its toe-to-toe battle with the SNES throughout the early '90s defined console gaming, which is why it’s incredibly surprising to see the SNES so far down the pecking order, relatively speaking.”

Actually i find it suprising that the MS and the Spectrum was far down or not included in the list considering that those two systems were far more popular in the Uk than the NES ever was.

Oddly its amusing to see many of these "balanced" game review sites struggling to accept the results. ;D

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/01/25/top-ten-retro-games-consoles_n_1231324.html



http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gamesgear/sega-mega-drive-named-best-retro-console-50006754/


The list of the poll

1) SEGA Mega Drive- 61%
2) Nintendo 64- 58%
3) Atari 2600- 55%
4) PlayStation (original)- 51%
5) Game Boy (original) - 48%
6)Super Nintendo Entertainment System - 43%
7) Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) - 38%
SEGA Game Gear- 37%
9) Neo-Geo - 31%
10)SEGA Master System- 28%

[SEGA_Portuguese]

Well, UK is the SEGA land. So, im not surprised to see that, one more time, the uk warriors put SEGA in first place.

About the other sites, not surprise for me. 95% of the game press is formed by nintendo fanboys. As you can expect from them, they always try to bash SEGA.

[Barry the Nomad]

Thanks ROJM! I made this an article and cited you.

Cool to see SEGA at #1. Share this news with your friends and watch them weep Mario tears (whatever those look like).

http://segabits.com/blog/2012/01/26/we-didnt-need-a-poll-we-already-knew-it-mega-drive-named-best-retro-console/

[SEGA_Portuguese]

THE BEST! THE BEAST!

"If your little kids out there dont know what the Genesis is, your going to hell!" -Dave, Classic Game Room, X-Men review

"This is pretty much undefeated so far, in video games...even the playstation 1 doesnot beat the Genesis!"- Dave, Classic Game Room, X-Men review

[crackdude]

^God, I miss Dave..

Also, were there any doubts that the Mega Drive was and always will be THE BEST?

[SEGA_Portuguese]

^God, I miss Dave..

Also, were there any doubts that the Mega Drive was and always will be THE BEST?

I miss Dave too, but still today, i love classic Game Room. Im only sad because Mark is bringing that shitty Derek to do reviews, and this guy, this nintendo fanboy dude called Derek say a lot of shit about SEGA. I will not watch these reviews with this Derek dude.

I love the SEGA Genesis, but to say the true, the number one in my heart is the SEGA Saturn. Probably, the number one of the most part of the people here is the SEGA Dreamcast.

[crackdude]

Derek is cool, but it's true: he's a wild Nintendo fanboy that sadly can't recognize the magnificence of Sega (and Cosmic Carnage).

Dreamcast's my favorite, but it is a very different beast when compared with the MegaDrive. Same thing with the Saturn.

I also honestly cannot understand people's fascination with the Nintendo 64. Mind you that I did not own one as a kid, so I have no nostalgia factor. But I bought one 3 years ago, and about 8-12 games. And every single one of them was a mediocre piece of shit. Aside from Mario Kart 64 I can't see it. Honestly. Even the Zelda games....I don't get what's so great about them. Sue me.

[Barry the Nomad]

What I love about SEGA consoles is that none can really compare to the other. They all have their own aesthetics, genre strengths and quirks.

Personally, it's a tie between Genesis/MD and Dreamcast.

I think the Mega Drive has the best library of all the SEGA consoles. Every genre has multiple AAA games representing. The add-ons, which hurt the console in the past, now help it as the 32X, CD and Power Base Converter add around 577 games to the console's 915 game library (not counting the Japan only titles). If somebody wants to get into retro gaming, a model 1 or 2 with CD and 32X attachments is the way to go as you get to experience a wide range of games. Yeah, I consider the CD and 32X as a part of the Genesis/MD, since to play the add-ons you'll need a Genesis to begin with.

Dreamcast, meanwhile, has a smaller library of games compared to the MD but man is it a solid library. Other reasons why the Dreamcast is awesome: the innovations (we all know them), the unique accessories, the video output that beats out the PS2 and Wii. Plus, it still looks sexy on a shelf.

[SEGA_Portuguese]

What I love about SEGA consoles is that none can really compare to the other. They all have their own aesthetics, genre strengths and quirks.

 

Yeah, i agree! We should do a comparation between then.

SEGA Master System: correct if im wrong,  all the games i have are made by SEGA, i think 90% of the library of the SMS are games made by SEGA. A very crazy console, with things like the glasses for 3-d, lots of game with famous characters (Rambo, Flinstones, Mickey, Rocky) and lots of plataform games.
Very peculiar Sonic games. I love Sonic 2.

SEGA Genesis: is basically what Barry said. like Beat em up? Streets of Rage, Golden Axe. Likes sports? Out Run, Hang On, that hockey game with monsters from EA, NBA Jam. Likes RPGs ? Phantasy Star games and Shinning Force games. Likes plataform? Ristar, Sonic games, Castle of Ilusion...
well, you got the idea, AAA games for every genre. Also, lots of cheesy games with that "80-movies" flavour, like Death Duel, Heavy Nova, Cyborg Justice.

The Genesis is the console that the Americans love the most.

Also, the Genesis is the console that gave SEGA that "cool" image.

SEGA Saturn: Lots of fantastic AM2 games, like VF, F Vipers, Daytona Usa, SEGA Rally, Virtua Cop. The creation of Nights.

Lots of fantastic fighting games by SNK and Capcom, with almost the same quality of the arcades. KOF, Samurai Spirits, Real Bout, Street Fighter Alpha series, Marvel Super Heroes, the VS games. Also, lots of good Metal Slug and Mega Man games.

But, for some reason, SEGA did not looked for old franchises. So, no Sonic game by Sonic team, no Streets of Rage, no Golden Axe Revenge of DA, no Phantasy Star...also, lots of  Japan-only games.

Im late, so maybe you guys can write about the DreamCast. I wrote this text in a hurry, so please forgive the errors.

[crackdude]

As I see it today, SMS is a great initiation console for little kids, MegaDrive is a collectors' and retrofan's dream, Saturn is the arcade master, and Dreamcast a great console to own on a budget and try out dozens of experiences that they don't make anymore.

[Barry the Nomad]

Kudos given to Crackdude & SEGA_Portuguese!

Good takes on the consoles. Think I'll have a go:

SG-1000 - People tend to forget this one, though it makes sense that they would given the limited release. A good console for fans of Atari and Intellivision games, as well as fans of the Master System. SG-1000 is great for historical reasons, it's SEGA's first home console, there are classic games that got their home console start here (Monaco GP, Flicky, Hang-On). So mainly: for fans of SEGA history, for Master System fans

Master System - A small library compared to later consoles, but it has a number of great games. Like the SG-1000 its main crowd are SEGA history fans and 8-bit fans. Good console for platformer and early arcade fans.

Genesis/Mega Drive - already covered it

Saturn - As mentioned, an AM2 fan's dream. Also home to a number of original IPs that either never received sequels or had sequels but they were never as good as the Saturn originals. Panzer Dragoon Orta being an exception. A great console for fans of rarities and hidden gems. Also a 3D fighting fans dream. I would say a must have for RPG fans, but all the Saturn RPGs are super expensive. Unlike past consoles there are no real gimmick accessories or add-ons. Twin Sticks are as crazy as it goes, and add-ons would probably just include an Action Replay cart for imports and memory.

Dreamcast - Already mentioned this in a past post, but I'd second Crackdude's comment: "Dreamcast a great console to own on a budget and try out dozens of experiences that they don't make anymore."

Overall, I'd rank them (in order of must have, must play)
1-Genesis (32X and SEGA CD included)
2-Dreamcast
3-Saturn
4-Master System/Game Gear
5-SG-1000

[ROJM]

I'm going to call it on legacy the impact it had on Sega and the gaming industry.

SG 1000
The first console and important system for Sega japan. Before this system came along things in Sega was vastly different,many of you lot know that Sega was founded by Americans, but what is always neglected by the history files was that Sega up until 82 was an American run company including many of the games which were mostly designed by Americans with Japanese support. Rosen the Sega head honcho himself had designed many of Sega's earlier titles. It was only until Sega brought their stocks back from gulf and western and formed Sega corporation that the company became truly Japanese and the company that we know of today. The SG 1000 is one clear example of this as being something that was clearly different to the way the first Sega did things by actively going into the home consumer market and importantly the Japanese management taken their first steps into not only progressing the mantra of the first incarnation of sega entraprising and progressive spirit but putting their own stamp on it as well.

The Master System mark 3
The most important Sega system of all. Its during these years IMHO that made Sega the force of gaming it is today. Thanks to Nintendo's grip on the third parties,  Sega had to create more or less most of the MS library and they had to be good and while half of the library was covered with ports of arcade games that Sega happened to produce they needed to create titles that appealed to the consumer home gamer as well. Which meant they had to create divisions to create home software on top of their arcade division. The result? Sega during their time on the MS had become inept in creating games for both arcade and consumer markets which ended up expanding their game catalog as opposed to Nintendo who thanks to the sheer volume of third parties didn't need to worry about creating as many first party games as Sega. One company would end up having a varied diversity and experience in creating different type of games and franchises while the other didn't. This would end up biting Nintendo very hard in the next two generations.

Megadrive
The system where everything came together. If anything the MD represented balance. While Sega Japan may have been good at creating games they weren't good at really selling themselves, which is why Sega of America their subsidiary(in reality the last remnants of the original Sega) played an important role. It was really down to SOA that helped the MD become a big seller in the states and made Sega a household name around the world basically helping to write the blueprint that all console makers ended up following to this very day. Sega japan games pulled the punters in but it was SOA game content and wise moves that made the punters stayed. Also the the hard grit of Sega japan had to learn during the MS years in creating so many different games for the MS started to manifest it self during the MD years as these teams started to perfect these genres. SOJ single handed created titles that not only beat the rivals at their own game(sonic) but in certain cases no one ever suppased (SOR trilogy was so perfect in the eyes of gamer that the horizontal beat em up suffered as a result because none of them could exceed SOR) Added to the mix Sega employing second party developers to create content for the MD and really the first prime example of a japanese giant using western developers to create exclusive content for that particular market the MD became a force to be reckoned with due to the balance of SOJ arcade ports and first party support,Second party support from the likes of camelot and Treasure and western content like the birth of the Sega sports brand of games and titles like ECCO and Toe Jam and earl. A practice that the likes of Nintendo and Sony followed during and way after. And of course this doesn't even include the third parties that came to the table with the emergence of EA and big third parties like Konami and Capcom creating different and great titles that people were use to,(Rocket Knight was a game konami hasn't made since)    Also the hardware developers were also coming into their own during this time with ideas that seemed to be a fail but actually had an impact in years to come,like the MS converter a device which Sega used to bat nintendo over the head with when they launched the SNES  because it was backward compatible a ploy that Sony repeated when they launched the PS2.
Sega CD was and still is the most successful add on for a console and it also proved that CD was a viable platform for gaming which many took notice(mainly because it sold well in the west when other similar CD based systems at that time didn't) while the overlooked Activator and Menancer with its detachable elements also had an impact way after the event. Of course with this type of creativity things did go out of control which came in the form of tensions or ill advised decisions(like the 32x) But also in japan Sega's use of modem technology for the MD would have a profound effect on later systems simple because the MD was in a visible position for consumers to try it or at least in japan.

The Game Gear
The little guy that could. let's face it Nintendo has always owned the handheld market. So what made the GG important? It proved that a handheld system could exist despite Nintendo dominating that market. Its impact may be forgotten now but at the time it was the non nintendo handheld system that did have a visible appearance in mainstream media be it from movies to tv shows where it popped up now and again. Also it successfully introduced the idea that the handheld could be used for more than just being a gaming handheld system with the TV tuner while not the first to introduce that idea it was the first in being the system that was visible to the consumer for them to take in the idea, which would end up impacting in today's current handheld systems in trying to compete with mobile technology. The GG proved that you could compete with the GB and probably made Nintendo go into color handheld gaming since the GG was around for a good many years in Japan than it was in the west.

The Saturn, none more hardcore.
The Saturn was effectively SOJ's genesis because this was the console that the Japanese consumer took in their droves. many of the franchises that debuted would make an impact on Sega after the DC period mainly because Sega being out of cash concentrated on the games that appealed in japan more than the games they had usually make which had an international appeal and because of this they neglected their traditional style of gaming in order to get back in the black among other things that went wrong. BOT,The saturn is actually the reverse of the other sega systems because this system probably had more better japanese third party support than the previous systems as well as Sega not creating as many games as they did for the Saturn. Three elements that started on the saturn had direct influence on the DC development. The first was the Saturn's tech sharing the same tech as a new arcade board which meant porting titles to the Saturn that used this tech was a peice of cake,unfortunatly not many titles from Sega had used this tech especially when Sega was going all out on the Model 1, 2 boards. the second is lesser known but just as important. SOA internal devs was reshuffled to become Segasoft a PC games company but it other mandate was to create titles  for the saturn as a cross bridge between the PC and Saturn. While not ulitilised as much due to SS focus on their internet games portal, this element not only influenced the DC but also inevitably led to the PC in a box idea that Microsoft was inspired for by what they saw with DC. The third element was Saturn's netplay component. continuing on what they started with the MD the netplay expanded certain ideas that was to come together for the DC also. If anything and mentioned before the saturn became the king of the arcade ports enjoying ports from Sega as well as other third parties. while sega used their arcade heritage to draw the punters in, it wasn't that long before the consumer games began to overshadow and overtake the arcade ports that the system was originally being marketed as (especially the MD)With the saturn that never happened. Its really the only system out there to get perfect representations of Capcom's arcade games of that era and their classics since it was this period that the game compilation really started to come into its own thanks to the saturn and that idea has never stopped since. It was also a role reversal. The very thing Sega suffered from during the 8bit era,Nintendo started to suffer from as well with not many third parties signing up for it or in some cases the ones that did sign up had begun to abandon the N64. While sales wise Nintendo didn't totally suffer they were forced to create more titles for this system than they previously had to for their previous systems whether using their first house division or their western content division in the form of Rare. Where the reverse happened for the Saturn, at least in Japan.

DC the great comeback
The DC was really the mecca of the Sega hardware division design, from the compact box, dev tools to the brilliant VMU it was also when the years of creating internet modem play that Sega did for the MD and Saturn really began to pay off with the DC. Using the ideas of using PC dev tools to port games easier, something they tried to attempt with the saturn this is when the world of PC gaming really started to hit consoles in a big way as well as the quick to port arcade titles thanks to the shared Naomi/DC technology. Many people forget due to the overshadowing of the brilliant SOJ software that this is when third person shooters started to get a real foothold in the console market with many of the elements that the DC had that became the dominant field of today's gaming because the Xbox ran with the system ideas of the DC/saturn.
Another element arose, the idea that games could become art. What started out of necessity in the 8 bit years began to evolve into what became the DC's first party library and the best catalog to ever grace any game system that will never be achieved or touched again. Because your average Sega developer had to work in many different genres and create many ideas for the next game due to their arcade and earlier console heritage which was instilled in them with later systems and successes the Sega teams now given individual identities ran with titles that blew their competitors out the water and inspired them. But this wasn't all of the story. realising the mistakes from the saturn like the absence of games that made the MD and Sega popular in the first place with the mass populace at least with the states,their were evidence that classic franchises was due or planned to return. While some did make it out alot didn't from japan and america which If anything the DC was the real first interactive system, from its many accesories that were sensor activated or/and VMU slot able to the downloading info to unlock or create parts in a game thanks to the internet ready DC and in japan the ability to download certain items from compatible arcade machines. What was missing during this era was really a Tom Kalinske figure. Someone who knew how to sell to the masses, if there was a figure like that during the time of the DC then things may have been different.

There's a certain element in gaming press that is trying to diminish the DC's impact on gaming with saying it came out to soon and other nonsense. Without the DC, these fools would not be playing the type of games like MW 3 and the such while interacting with another gamer on the other side of the world. Essentially the DC is the modern godfather of today's current systems, not the playstation because none of the ideas that Sony used with the PS has been adopted by the current gen including Sony itself. The DC helped internet gaming to what it is today, the DC had a hand in bringing PC genres and gaming into the console domain a fact that not even the most ardened Sega hater can deny and its influence to the Xbox to even the wii is there for all to see.

Sorry this is a bit rushed,some mistakes in the post but i'm at work at the mo, try and amend later.

[crackdude]

I love how every Sega console has a very "hardcore" focus. It's gaming at it's best. And I love all the arcade experiences.

Barry, great description of the Saturn, couldn't have put it better myself

EDIT: Holy shit Joe, gonna read it right now

[Centrale]

The Master System mark 3
The most important Sega system of all. Its during these years IMHO that made Sega the force of gaming it is today. Thanks to Nintendo's grip on the third parties,  Sega had to create more or less most of the MS library and they had to be good and while half of the library was covered with ports of arcade games that Sega happened to produce they needed to create titles that appealed to the consumer home gamer as well. Which meant they had to create divisions to create home software on top of their arcade division. The result? Sega during their time on the MS had become inept in creating games for both arcade and consumer markets which ended up expanding their game catalog as opposed to Nintendo who thanks to the sheer volume of third parties didn't need to worry about creating as many first party games as Sega. One company would end up having a varied diversity and experience in creating different type of games and franchises while the other didn't. This would end up biting Nintendo very hard in the next two generations.

I've often reflected on this very point.  From the 8-bit era onward, there has been no other company that had to master (pardon the pun) every gaming genre like Sega had to, out of sheer grit and determination to provide a good library for the Master System.  While all your Konamis and Capcoms and Tecmos could tinker around with their few franchises for decades, Sega had branch out to develop dozens of franchises.  I'd argue they're the only company that possibly could have succeeded, even to the modest degree that they did, in the 8-bit battle with Nintendo's illegal practices, because only Sega had the multi-genre arcade pedigree and drive for technological excellence.

Prior to the 8-bit era, I think you could argue there were some similar parallels with Atari and Intellivision developing multiple genres, but this was an era in which the very concept of a third-party developer for gaming consoles didn't exist until the emergence of Activision.

Good write-up ROJM, but I think you meant to say "adept at" rather than "inept in."


Regarding Sega's transition from 8-bit to 16-bit, I think it can all be summed by stating... the beast was well and truly unleashed.  And lo, did it howl.  Sega's programmers and artists had done a solid job with the Master System and the time pressures they must have faced to build up a library of games.  When the MegaDrive came along, they exploded with creativity and artistry that was mindblowing for gamers like myself who were there at the time.

[SEGA_Portuguese]

You guys wrote  fantastic posts. Thanks, i learned a lot.

Just for curiosity, check out this video of an interview about the release of the Genesis, very good stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UExsRds7RlE&list=FLRCdgfjTGpTPnUWQogJvTrA&index=66&feature=plpp_video