SEGA to offer 32 bit RISC upgrade to Genny?!
Ian Cottee
> Sega,
> >or it's going to tick off everyone who buys it when noone supports it,
> which
> >is bad for Sega.
>
> No -- it's a very smart move on the part of Sega.
>
> People will buy one of these "upgrade" carts, instead of buying a
> Jaguar, 3DO
> or CD32, thinking that they will have equivalent performance. That keeps
> them
> in the Sega camp, until the Saturn is out and established.
>
> Frankly, this really sucks.
>
> --hal
Why? Its a good plan for them which will mean keeping people loyal to the
Sega camp and allow existing megadrive/genesis owners to play more
impressive games with a smaller outlay of cash.
Oooooh - I see. Sega are not allowed to be competitive. Silly me.
---
Ian Cottee - zo...@cix.compulink.co.uk
15, Gerards Close, Varcoe Road, S Bermondsey, London, SE16 3DF, UK
"I am just a FruitBat, though my story's seldom told"
terrell gibbs
wrote:
> It's either going to cut into the sales of the Saturn, which is bad for Sega,
> or it's going to tick off everyone who buys it when noone supports it, which
> is bad for Sega.
>
> Of course there's a 1% chance both will do well.
>
Yes, it seems a pretty stupid thing for Sega to be doing. Unless, of
course, they have run into problems with the Saturn and it is going to be
significantly delayed....
Marty Chinn
> In article <rjungCM...@netcom.com>, rj...@netcom.com (Robert A. Jung) sa
> >
> >P.S. What I can't understand is why Sega bothered with the CDX. I think tha
> >will not sell at all...
>
> I'm not sure how it will actually sell, but I just got back from work at
> EB, and in spite of it being a pretty slow day, several people asked if we
> would be carrying the CDX. There does seem to be a lot of interest, though
> how this will translate into sales is still unknown...
>
>
> |Human reason has this peculiar fate that...it is bur-| Now Playing: Neo-Geo,
> |dened by questions which, as prescribed by the very |Genesis, Sega CD, SNES
> |nature of reason itself, it is not able to ignore,but|Amiga 1200, Vectrex,
> |which...it is also not able to answer. - Kant, KdrV |Jaguar,TurboDuo/Expres
> |-> John Emmer, Grad Student, Philosophy, Penn State <-> JP...@psuvm.psu.edu <
It was pointless of Sega at this point to bring out the CDX. Maybe last
year it would have been nice but with Saturn due out this Christmas, its
pointless now. It'll sell for what, say if its out now, oh about 9 months
and then thats it, cuz Saturn is within the same price range.
--
drkn...@Garg.Campbell.CA.US (Marty Chinn)
The Land of Garg BBS -- +1 408 378-5108
David Vanderbyl
>It said it expects to sell 2.5 million units in its first
>year.
Sega is hoping for 2.5 million suckers!
>The Nintendo machine, dubbed Project Reality, is a 64-bit system
>expected to roll out in the fall.
Ha, ha, ha. Truly clueless!
Marty Chinn
> Ian Cottee (zo...@cix.compulink.co.uk) wrote:
>
> : > No -- it's a very smart move on the part of Sega.
> : >
> : > People will buy one of these "upgrade" carts, instead of buying a
> : > Jaguar, 3DO
> : > or CD32, thinking that they will have equivalent performance. That keeps
> : > them
> : > in the Sega camp, until the Saturn is out and established.
> : >
> : > Frankly, this really sucks.
> : >
> : > --hal
>
> : Why? Its a good plan for them which will mean keeping people loyal to the
> : Sega camp and allow existing megadrive/genesis owners to play more
> : impressive games with a smaller outlay of cash.
>
> I agree. I probably won't buy a Saturn because I won't have the money.
> Obviously many people here have a lot of money to burn and say "forget the
> Super 32X, dump your Genesis, and whip out the cash." So then what? We'll b
> left with an extremely inferior system while others enjoy the expensive
> Saturn; I want to have something that is at least a step up from the Genesis
> without going through too much trouble.. A $149 upgrade is thus perfect.
> Bottom line: It IS a great plan. It is a really smart move. I really don't
> give a damn whether the 32x's capabilities will match the
> Jag's/3DO's/Saturn's/etc. And a majority of SG owners (teens and kids)
> probably won't either, because it is, by itself, a huge step up from the
> 16-bit Genesis, and that's what counts.
>
>
> --
> __ _ _ _
> / ) ' ) ) )
> /--< / / / __. ____
> /___/_ / ' (_(_/|_/ / <_
>
>
I'd thought, I'd finally add my thoughts to this topic. At one time there
was talk about a SNES adaptor for the regular NES. People wanted one but
Nintendo said no. Why? Cuz if you were to buy this adaptor you'd be
basically buying a SNES anyways. From reading the article, it doesn't
sound like you're upgrading to a Saturn, a Jupiter maybe, cart only, but
not a Saturn, cart and cd. So for 50 bucks you can get a Genesis add 150
to it for the adaptor, and there you go 200, for the exact same price a
jupiter will cost. What I really want to know is what will be lost from
the actual Jupiter/Saturn with making this adaptor, and what role will
the original Genesis play. As for the Sega CD, I very highly doubt that
it will be upgraded with an adaptor to make it Saturn standard. Why? Cuz
the drive alone is too slow. The Saturn CD drive is supposed to be a
double speed CD-ROM, and the Sega CD is far from being a double speed
CD-ROM. One last thing, if you can't upgrade your Sega CD to Saturn
standards, when you upgrade your Genesis, for the sake of argument saying
it duplicates the quality of a Jupiter/Saturn in every way as far as the
cartridge part is concerned, how in the hell are you going to play the CD
titles on the Saturn? Just to be on the safe side, i'll just purchase a
Saturn rather than upgrade my Genesis.
George Cifrancis
: Just read this a few minutes ago in today's online version of "USA Today".
(text deleted)
: and buy the upgrade! Has anybody else heard anything about this? Could this
: possibly be what seals Sega's control of the world?! (Let's hope not!)
: Okay, enough with that, has anybody heard of this "Genesis Super 32X" chip?
I got this off the newswire...
-----------------------------------------------------------
SAN FRANCISCO, March 14 (UPI) -- Sega of America Inc. announced Monday an
add-on device designed to sharply boost performance of its 16-bit Genesis game
players.
The device, dubbed the Genesis Super 32X, will simulate the performance of a
machine powered by a 32-bit computer chip and retail for $149 when it hits store
shelves this fall. It said it expects to sell 2.5 million units in its first
year.
Sega, which has been outperforming one-time titan Nintendo of America Inc. in
the 16-bit segement of the domestic video-game market, has been working with
Hitachi Ltd. and Yamaha Corp. on a 32-bit system, dubbed Saturn and due to roll
out later this year in Japan.
It said Monday that its new upgrade will allow the 13 million customers with
Genesis 16-bit players to get similar performance to leading edge players such
as 3DO Co.'s Multiplayer and Atari Corp.'s Jaguar.
Sega said the Genesis Super 32X will contain two Hitachi SH2 RISC chips that
have been designed for the Saturn, along with a newly- designed video digital
processor. It will work with both cartridges and compact discs.
"This is great news for consumers because Genesis Super 32X givesgamers some
of the basic experiences our yet-to-be-introduced 'Saturn'hardware will provide,
at a low cost and in way that still lets SegaGenesis owners use their existing
system," said Tom Kalinske, Sega ofAmerica president.
Sega said it has more than 30 titles under development and expects its
software licensees to add a similar number in the first year of the new
product's introduction.
Sega has previously said it had 57 percent of sales in the 1993 market for
video players powered by 16-bit computer chips compared with 43 percent for
Nintendo, based on a survey by NPD Research Inc.
The survey results appeared to back up claims by the video game specialist, a
unit of Tokyo-based Sega Enterprises Ltd., that it has overtaken Nintendo in the
$6 billion video game industry, dominated as recently as three years ago by
Nintendo.
Analysts believe Nintendo lost ground because of its slow response to Sega's
rollout three years ago of a 16-bit Genesis player to compete with Nintendo's
8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. It took Nintendo 18 months to get its
16-bit player, the Super Nintendo Entertainment system, to market.
Analysts say Sega scored a major coup last summer when Kmart and Wal- Mart
agreed to carry Sega products.
Nintendo is working with Silicon Graphics Inc. to begin competing with Atari
and upstart 3DO in the potentially lucrative field of leading-edge video-game
machines. The Nintendo machine, dubbed Project Reality, is a 64-bit system
expected to roll out in the fall.
--
George C.
/---------------------------+----------------------------------------\
| George Cifrancis III LV | Programmer/Analyst/System Administrator|
| Columbus, Ohio USA //3DO | Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation |
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Tim Berger
: > No -- it's a very smart move on the part of Sega.
: >
: > People will buy one of these "upgrade" carts, instead of buying a
: > Jaguar, 3DO
: > or CD32, thinking that they will have equivalent performance. That keeps
: > them
: > in the Sega camp, until the Saturn is out and established.
: >
: > Frankly, this really sucks.
: >
: > --hal
: Why? Its a good plan for them which will mean keeping people loyal to the
: Sega camp and allow existing megadrive/genesis owners to play more
: impressive games with a smaller outlay of cash.
I agree. I probably won't buy a Saturn because I won't have the money.
Obviously many people here have a lot of money to burn and say "forget the
Super 32X, dump your Genesis, and whip out the cash." So then what? We'll be
Ian Cottee
Whatever happened to reasoned argument?