, 1994
In the early '90s, Sega had successfully supplanted Nintendo as the leader of the video game console market with their 16-bit Sega Genesis. While the system had failed to gain traction in Japan, it sold incredibly well in the American and European regions thanks to the shrewd efforts of Sega's autonomous western branches. However, as the generation wore on, 3D games emerged in the arcades as the next big thing, and it was clear that everyone wanted to see this evolution of the medium on their home TVs. Sega knew this and was already hard at work producing a new console capable of displaying polygons, but it would still be a work-in-progress when the apparently all-powerful Atari Jaguar released in 1993 with its alleged 64-bit graphical capabilities. Spooked, Sega of America proposed a stopgap measure to keep the Genesis relevant until their real next gen console was ready, and started work on the 32X.note
Originally conceived as the "Neptune" — a cartridge-based 32-bit system to go along with Sega's second CD-based system, the upcoming Sega Saturn — the 32X was instead made into an add-on that would plug into the Genesis's cartridge slot. The 32X was not meant to be taken out once slotted in, so it was designed to accept Genesis carts in addition to its own. Not only did it fix the Genesis's color palette issues, the 32X also boasted two 32-bit processors (similar to the Saturn) and primitive (though better than the competition's) 3D graphical capabilities. While the Genesis could technically do 3D without the add-on, it still heavily relied on putting an extra chip in game cartridges that drove up their cost. The 32X was marketed as an opportunity for consumers to get a head start on the 32-bit generation, and was actually the most powerful video game console available outside of the Sega Saturn for a short time.
The 32X was released in North America in November 1994, with a December release for Japan and a January 1995 release for Europe. It had an incredibly quick turnaround time in development, which had only been started in January of 1994. Not wanting a repeat of the Sega CD, Sega managed to keep the price of the 32X at a relatively reasonable $159.99 (£169.99 in the United Kingdom). When the Saturn ended up launching in Japan around the same time as the 32X was in North America, the add-on's marketing shifted to emphasize it being a budget option compared to its big brother.
While reception and sales of the 32X were initially positive, it quickly crashed and burned. Why? The Saturn. The 32X was intended to act as a buffer for the next generation due to expectations that Saturn development was nowhere near ready, but the Saturn ended up being ready much sooner. Sega deluded themselves into believing the 32X and Saturn could co-exist, with casual gamers gravitating towards the cheaper 32X while the Saturn was reserved for the hardcore crowd. Except both consumers and developers saw that a superior system was just around the corner (even already out in Japan when the 32X launched there), so they didn't want anything to do with the 32X.
Not helping things was the 32X's bizarre hardware setup:
- Plugging in the system was a surprising hassle; unlike the Power Base Converter, the 32X didn't output through the Genesis' own A/V output, instead requiring a patch cable to connect the Genesis' A/V-out to a A/V-in port on the 32X, then outputting video via an A/V-out port on the 32X. Genesis Model 1 owners in particular needed an additional conversion cable to make its 8-pin A/V-out port compatible with the 32X's 9-pin patch cable.
- Further, neither the Genesis Model 2 nor the 32X have their own built-in RF modulator like the Model 1. This meant that if you owned a Model 1 and your television didn't have composite input, then you would've also needed an extra RF converter specifically for the 32X.
- Genesis owners also needed a special pair of metal plates to fit into the Genesis' cartridge slot for RF shielding compliance, although the console runs just fine without them.
- When using the 32X with a Model 2 Genesis, users needed a special plastic spacer attached to the bottom of the 32X over the cartridge connector, due to the Model 2's shallower cartridge slot. Again, the console runs fine without it, but the device is much less physically stable without it.
- Model 1 owners couldn't get stereo sound without using the headphone jack on the front of the unit.
- Unless a Sega CD was attached, owners of a Genesis Model 2 with the VA0 revision would need to attach a special extension unit to the side expansion port due to a crashing issue.note
- Like the Sega CD before it, the 32X required its own independent power supply, which resulted in a jumbled mess of cables for anyone who bought all three components. Sega outright had to start selling power strips built for the three systems' power supplies, which placed the plug directly on the bottom of the power brick rather than using a trailing cable.
- And if you wanted to take full advantage of the 32X, you needed all three components, as there were six Sega CD releases built for use with the 32X. These were all FMV titles whose graphics benefited from the significant color palette boost, although the already shaky reputation of FMV titles hurt public perception of the "CD 32X" branch of the Genesis library right from the start.
Naturally, there were also some compatibility hiccups:
- If you had a Model 1 and a Power Base Converter, the 32X would have to be completely disconnected and removed in order to use the converter. This is due to the 32X lacking any hardware capable of booting into Master System compatibility mode, but also partially because the back of the converter (originally used to lock it onto the back of the Model 1) would obfuscate the 32X's rear A/V and power ports.
- CDX owners had it rougher; while the 32X is technically compatible with the CDX, and the 32X's manual initially said that gamers could order a special 32X/CDX mounting bracket, Sega publicly backpedaled on officially supporting CDX compatibility due to either the risk of electrical shock, overheating, or the lack of RF shielding (reports vary).
- Later official consoles dropped 32X support completely. The Genesis Nomad handheld in 1995 and the Genesis 3 in 1998 each had zero 32X compatibility out of the box.note The 32-bit Sega Saturn's cartridge slot also lacked compatibility for the 32X or the games themselves, which is unsurprising given the two consoles' parallel development and the infighting going on at Sega at the time.
- The 32X was compatible with the JVC X'Eye, but had to be removed from the X'Eye's cartridge slot in order to open the device's CD door.note
- The 32X was completely incompatible with the Pioneer LaserActive's PAC-S1/PAC-S10 Genesis add-on, which was inconvenient for the tiny handful of gamers with a LaserActive.
Ultimately, all of these hardware hassles added more inconvenience to an already inconvenient-to-use system.
Worse, the 32X's library didn't exactly impress, either. Since it was created and put to market so quickly, the system's games got pushed out as fast as possible to meet deadlines. Many titles either didn't have the time in development to fully take advantage of the 32X's capabilities and/or had content cut out, such as the port of Doom missing levels. A paltry 40 games were released for it, and a number of them were just slightly upgraded ports of Genesis or Sega CD games. This only got worse when the Saturn's international launch was pushed forward, making the 32X obsolete even faster than expected. By the end of 1995 it was being dumped in bargain bins and sold for a pittance, and only 800,000 units were ultimately sold.
The handling of the 32X heavily contributed to damaging Sega's reputation, especially in conjunction with the PR disaster that was the Saturn's surprise early North American launch, and in hindsight was a likely factor in Nintendo and the SNES ultimately beating out Sega and the Genesis in the fourth-generation console war. In fact, Nintendo took a page out of Sega's playbook and advertised their new Killer App Donkey Kong Country (which released at the same time as the 32X) as boasting cutting-edge graphics without the need of special add-ons. The only consolation one can give the add-on was that it at least succeeded in outselling the Atari Jaguar, though that's not saying much.
In terms of games, the 32X at least has two good games that persist in mainstream memory compared to the Sega CD's one: Knuckles Chaotix and an Arcade-Perfect Port of Virtua Fighter (which also sees praise for being much better than the rushed Saturn port, the other way to play the game on a 32-bit home console), though again mainly due to the strong brand recognition of both the Sonic the Hedgehog and Virtua Fighter IPs. That said, most people generally chalk up the 32X as having not had much in the way of potential beyond those two titles, given the imminent release of the Saturn, and it's generally agreed that putting out the system was one of Sega's biggest mistakes as a hardware developer. Among retro gamers, the small number of games that actually came out for the 32X limits its presence, but it's considered enough of a priority for most Genesis emulators to include 32X support; the quality of its better-handled ports does give it greater attention than what it had in its own time, but there isn't really the same kind of cult following as what the Sega CD ultimately got (if only because the system never really got any games to warrant the formation of a prominent cult following to begin with).
Specs
Processors
- 2 Hitachi SH-2 chips, just like the Saturn. But unlike the Saturn, the chips are a bit slower, running at 23 MHz each.
Memory
- 256 KB of main RAM and 256 KB (128 KB X 2) of video RAM.
- 256 KB of sound RAM.
Display
- 2 frame buffers with 2 layers (sprites and backgrounds) each (4 in total) and can be set up as just backgrounds or a large amount of sprites or ect.
- 32,768 Colors, no on screen limits.
- 50,000 sprites with their blocks going up to 512 X 512; Polygons like the Saturn are done with sprites, if all 4 layers are sprite layers, it can go up to 200,000 sprites. This gives the 32X the most advanced 3D capabilities of any home gaming system released prior to the Saturn, surpassing even the Atari Jaguar and 3DO, albeit with those systems being more capable 2D-wise.
- Stuff like Scaling, Rotation and 3D Engines are done with software with said software running on the second SH-2 chip.
- Screen resolution is still the same as the Genesis/Mega Drive.
- Most noticeably, however, is that the hardware has no internal access to the console's video hardware output. Instead it has a compositor chip which genlocks RGB input signals and then draws its 3D on top of that. Consequently, the add-on requires a connection to the RGB and sync signals from the A/V-out port on the Genesis/Mega Drive, and as a side effect, may degrade the video output of the latter a bit due to the additional cabling.
Audio
- 2 10-bit PWM Channels.
- Sega's apparent intention was for programmers to perform software mixing of music on one of the SH-2 chips, and use the PWM channels to play back the music, much like the Game Boy Advance several years later. While a few games attempted this (Kolibri in particular), the vast majority of games just used the console's existing audio hardware for music, and the 32X's additional channels for sound effects.
- Like "Display" above, the 32X could not access the output of the PSG and OPN2 chips within the console internally. Consequently, to link the audio of the Genesis/Mega Drive to the 32X, you need to connect the latter to either a) the audio-out RCA jacks on a Model 2, b) the stereo headphones jack on the original model, or c) the audio out of the CD add-on.
- After Burner: Complete
- The Amazing Spider Man Web Of Fire (the final game released for the system. Known for being not very good and ludicrously expensive on the secondhand market)
- BC Racers
- Blackthorne
- Brutal: Above the Claw
- Corpse Killer*
- Cosmic Carnage (also known as Cyber Brawl in Japan)
- Darxide
- Doom (widely considered one of the worst ports the game ever received on account of its large amounts of cut content and severely inferior audio quality)
- Fahrenheit (1995)
- FIFA Soccer '96
- Golf Magazine: 36 Great Holes Starring Fred Couples
- Knuckles Chaotix
- Kolibri (mainly for its pedigree - it was developed by the same company and most of the same people who developed the original two Ecco the Dolphin games)
- Metal Head
- Mortal Kombat II
- Motocross Championship
- NBA Jam: Tournament Edition
- NFL Quarterback Club
- Night Trap*
- Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure
- Primal Rage
- RBI Baseball '95
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire (Japan exclusive)
- Shadow Squadron (known as Stellar Assault outside North America)
- Slam City with Scottie Pippen*
- Space Harrier
- Star Trek: Starfleet Academy – Starship Bridge Simulator
- Star Wars Arcade
- Supreme Warrior*
- Surgical Strike
- T-MEK
- Tempo
- Toughman Contest
- Virtua Fighter (very close to the arcade original in terms of gameplay, and with some sweet extras that the Saturn version lacked. A fan-favorite of both 32X owners and Virtua Fighter fans)
- Virtua Racing Deluxe (contains the three tracks from the arcade version, plus two 32X exclusive levels and two extra cars)
- World Series Baseball Starring Deion Sanders
- WWE:
- Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000
, but some of the big ones were:
- "Just stick it in your Genesis!"
