19 Facts About Sega CD

Sega CD, released as the Mega-CD in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles.

The Sega CD plays CD games and adds hardware functionality such as a faster CPU and graphic enhancements such as sprite scaling and rotation.

Sega CD sought to match the capabilities of the competing PC Engine CD-ROM² System, and added an additional CPU and custom graphics chip.

The Sega CD was redesigned several times by Sega and licensed third-party developers.

The high price of the Sega CD was a contributing factor in its lack of success.

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Sega's poor support for the Sega CD has been criticized as the beginning of the devaluation of its brand.

Sega CD partnered with JVC, which had been working with Warner New Media to develop a CD player under the CD+G standard.

Latham and Sega of America vice president of licensing Shinobu Toyoda assembled a functioning Sega CD by acquiring a ROM for the system and installing it in a dummy unit.

Third-party game development suffered because Sega CD took a long time to release software development kits.

In late 1993, less than a year after the Sega CD had launched in North America and Europe, the media reported that Sega was no longer accepting in-house development proposals for the Mega-CD in Japan.

The second model, known as the Sega CD 2, includes a steel joining plate to be screwed into the bottom of the Genesis and an extension spacer to work with the original Genesis model.

Six Sega CD games were released in versions that used both the Sega CD and 32X add-ons.

Well regarded Sega CD games include Sonic CD, Lunar: The Silver Star, Lunar: Eternal Blue, Popful Mail, and Snatcher, as well as the controversial Night Trap.

The Sega CD received enhanced ports of Genesis games including Batman Returns and Ecco the Dolphin.

Likewise, most Genesis ports for the Sega CD featured additional FMV sequences, extra levels, and enhanced audio, but were otherwise identical to their Genesis release.

Sega CD felt that FMV games, targeted toward more casual players, were not enough to satisfy hardcore players.

GamePro cited the same problems, noting that many games were simple ports of cartridge games with minimal enhancements; GamePro concluded that the Sega CD was merely "a big memory device with CD sound" rather than a meaningful upgrade.

Retrospective reception of the Sega CD has been mixed, praising certain games but criticizing its value for money and limited upgrades over Genesis.

Sega's poor support for the Sega CD has been criticized as the first step in the devaluation of the Sega brand.