Sega Genesis CDX (History) - Rare Variants - Adam Koralik 

I found my Sega cdx at a good will for $1.57 it was in a pile of CDs players. They must have thought it was a CD player only best find of my life

Adam is the type of guy to study for his drug test.

Babe, wake up, new Adam Koralik Console History Video.

The CDX will always be my favorite Sega system. Not that it does anything better than the Genesis or Sega CD, it's just about the most high quality, luxury system of theirs they ever made. It of course came with a Six Button controller even though none of the pack in games used or needed a six button layout. '94 must have been a hell of a year for their console production. Glad you did this video. I wish the Saturn had gotten its chance to be a combo system. Backwards compatibility could have had a fresh start at Sega.

Adam was the hipster using a CDX as a music player 10 years before hipsters tried to bring back gameboys

in 1998 there were 6 of these in my local Toys R Us on liquidation for 25 bucks. I was a junior in high school and did not have enough money to buy all 6. I bought 1 and lent it out and never saw it agin.

I have good memories about my CDX (even though I am from Europe I own 2 CDX's, in stead of a multimega lol). Used to take it along on family holidays to hook it up to a tv wherever we were in the evening and play games with my brothers. Our favorite was Rock and Roll Racing, we spend soooo many hours on that!

I was 12 in ‘94. I remember the video magazines here in the UK running articles about what Japan and US were getting... It was mind blowing! Also, the Sonic & Knuckles cart was bonkers.

19:08 “his wife was making him purge everything and he wasn’t happy about it” *the moral of the story: **_DO NOT GET MARRIED!!_* 💀

I don't always watch Adam Koralik. But when I do, I pay close attention the entire time.

I won one of this from my father in childhood, here in Brazil was very expensive and remains expensive to this day. i remember that on this console there was a Bug on sonic CD that prevented me from continuing in the game after the wacky workbench phase, I did all as perfect past and did not proceed :( . I had to play on a common sega cd of my cousins.

Anyone guessing that Sega had the screw hole for any crazy other peripherals, my guess for one has to be... battery pack. Friend of mine used his Multi-Mega as a Walkman for about a week as the thing drank battery juice like the game gear.

I still hate the fact that I backed out of purchasing one in 2012 when the prices were reasonable.

I remember that Mega CD classic game compilation, solely because for some reason, Golden Axe and Streets of Rage were only single player, and that infuriated me no end back when I had it.

I'm actually impressed the CDX works with the 32X without any hardware mods (besides the plastic shell). o:

Love this I remember the time right after the DC was discontinued (And prior with the SS) and people, unfortunately; myself included were just dumping and selling Sega stuff for nothing. I really regret it. Thanks for this video, if I ever win the lottery I will buy some of this stuff boxed.

I wanted this for an 8th grade graduation present but decided to save up for a Saturn instead. Ultimately I got a PS1 instead but that’s a whole other story.

If your spouse "makes" you get rid of things that have sentimental value to you....you've married the wrong person.

Love the little bugger! all the genesis and cd games in a small package and one of the cleanest cd music outputs of the time! What's more to love?

This was a video of some kind and I enjoyed it.

The screw was probably for a planned rechargeable Battery pack lmao

I remember back in the day my neighbors using the cdx exclusively as a CD player for their painfully mid 90s entertainment center

With all of this context, it seems like the 32X was their first major mistake, or at the very least a major one. If they just kept with the CDX, and put the time and resources from the 32X into getting the saturn out earlier, they might have been around longer. Hindsight is 2020 though, or 2015 in my case heh.

20:22 I can’t imagine Adam actually listening to music CD’s. Even if he paid 1 cent per dozen of them from Columbia House, he’d probably trade them in for more purged Sega stuff or Transformers figures Will the real Adam Koralik please stand up please stand up please stand up?

The CDX with the 32x plus the adapter looks like an old-school printer printing out a CD player.

You know what? I still have one of these. Got it as a birthday gift in 1997, it was used. Got some great Sega CD games with it too. Needs repair though, and from what I've read repairing one of these is a real pain. I will say it's a good portable Genesis/CD option. Great video Adam, really enjoyed this one. Great memories.

I love how sega was pretty much just snorting coke and throwing shit at the wall throughout this era

Love how you tested it as a portable CD player! Not that fancy portable CD players around at that time anyhow so it was a cool feature to have on it.

Taking the CDX places to friends houses and playing something like Golden Axe, Road Rash II , NHL 94' or any other multiplayer game was totally a thing. It did have issues being used as a cd player because it didn't have skip protection, but it was not commonly used that way. You always had to make sure you brought a Coax Adapter with you because you never knew what kind of TV you were going to be playing on.

I always sought out a working CDX on eBay, but nothing I was willing to pay for. Now that there are flash carts like the TerraOnion MegaSD & the Mega Everdrive Pro that can also do Sega CD, 32X and hopefully 32X CD in the future, I am thinking about just settling on a Model 1

This kind of shit always takes me back. Knew a kid in the early/mid 2000s that had a CDX. The Saturn was my first sega console so this is what introduced me to the original Sonic games.

New recap video! Amazing! Because I wasn't born when all these retro consoles came out I find it so interesting seeing you perspective on them, I was born in 2001

I had no idea the 32X worked with the Genesis CDX. Thanks for the great video Adam!

The history of the CDX "It exists. And nobody now knows exactly why"

pretty awesome, i totally forgot about this thing. amazed at the prices on ebay.

1:00 Right there is why I'm subbed to you and not those other guys. Thank you for loving video games.

Just wanted to say its refreshing to watch content I'm interested in where you, the creator, just looks at the camera and speaks to us like a normal person that can tell us a story without a billion jump cuts, without the over the top energy, without zooming in and out for no reason whatsoever or using any of the other "how to be a cool RU-vidr tips and tricks" that so many other creators use that are just annoying and distracting. You cut away to other footage that's actually germane to your content and not just a random image or clip thrown in for no reason whatsoever. Thanks Mr. Koralik.

Haha, that custom 32x/CDX spacer is amazing.

This is my favorite gaming channel on RU-vid. Thank you for the great work and effort

i love how wild the video game market was back then companies just throwing things at the wall hoping it stuck.

Ooh gosh, I feel for the guy at 19:00. If someone were to tell me, "Your stuff or me," I'd be like "Bye 👋"

i live in Argentina and i have one, my dad bought it in a trip to the US in '94. I did use it as a CD player in a '97 car trip to Brazil (around 1500 miles) and it worked great, we even conected it to the cassette player of the car with a strange device that was essentially a cassette with a cable and a mini plug. I dont remember if the batteries lasted long or not (it was A LONG TIME AGO) but i used it a lot in that 15 days vacation. I still have it. Sorry for my english.

I sold my CDX a few years back because I heard it was notorious for failing lasers. I bought a sega master system and a few games in it's place. Pretty happy about it :)

I love how in depth you get with system and game history

I gotta say that the CDX was a great idea IMHO. Much better an idea than most of the crap they were doing at the time. Had they not made the dumpster fire that was the 32X (not hatin' on people the like it), I think it would have actually sold pretty well and lasted a few years into the Saturn's life as the 'budget' option; much how the SNES Jr. was sold during the N64's life. Sure it was expensive at first, but they'd have figured out how to cheapen it up pretty quickly to sell more units. I personally don't want a CDX 'now' because I don't have much need for Sega CD or 32X games right now (maybe in the future). Still a cool piece of hardware, and I'm glad you covered it Adam.

Awesome overview Adam! I have one that might need a cap replacement soon.

I just recently sold a copy of the Red variant of Sonic CD and the Ecco the Dolphin and Sega Classics together to a collector on ebay. He told me he was trying to complete his in box Genesis CDX collection. I decided to give him a deal on the pack.

Adam, loved the video! I also got a kick out of hearing your stories of how you came to aquire both Sega CDX consoles! The Mexico trip story was also funny. I've been a Sega fanboy for most of my life. I do still love Sega, but now I also love SNK's Neo Geo. So needless to say those are 2 of my favorite video game companies! Back in 2018 (I think) I worked at a local small business video game that close to my house. Well one day when I came in to work, I saw a Sega CDX console sitting in the backroom where we kept all of the video game consoles we had in stock. I asked either my manager or boss what was up with that Sega CDX. Apparently a guy had brought it in the store one day, but knew it didn't work. Well the store still wanted it, and bought it off of him. I don't know the details of that specific transaction, but I can't imagine they gave the guy a lot of money for it. It was still really cool seeing a Sega CDX in person! Other than that instance, I think I've only seen 1 other one in person. So I totally get when you said that you don't believe 5,000 CDX units were sold in the US. As far as I can remember, I have only seen 2 Sega CDX consoles in person. That's it. But as you also said, if you look for it on eBay they're all over the place. Very cool video, and an interesting one for sure! Keep up the great work!

The tower of power just got more powerful. I always wanted a cdx. Nice video Adam :)

Adam In the words of Paul Rudd "I love you man!" anyway, thanks for uploading a video on the CDX! I hate it when people don't go into more details on something...

Oh man 94-95 was an awesome time for gaming with Sega, lots of good memories from that timeframe.

Really love these newer thumbnails, they look really cool! I actually have one of these, and it was my primary Genesis/Sega CD from 2013 to 2016 because it was cheaper than a Sega CD+Model 1 Genesis at the time. Sadly when I got my Framemeister my Scart cable wouldn't work with it and a friend tried it on a PVM and said it just outputted a very bright composite, but worked fine on his Model 1 Genesis. I eventually got a Genesis and Sega CD but the laser died just after just a year. Nowadays I just use a Mega SD, but I oddly kinda miss using the CDX, even if I would be using flash carts now regardless.

My dad game me his old CDX we used to play together when I was a kid. Lots of fond memories with this thing. He kept it in good shape has rhe leather bag too

I'd like to have a SEGA CDX but my kids' future won't let me

Fantastic video Adam. Love these type of videos.

I had it under the name 'Multi Mega' as I'm from the UK. I was a SNES kid but got this and a bunch of Sega CD games bundled with it cheap when my local electronics store was practically giving them away.

I wanted one back in the day, but it was so expensive new. Happened to find one at a games/comics store in the early 2000s. Because they didn't know what it was, I got it for $100. Too bad the laser died.

The timing of this video is impecable. Today my wife and I literally just found and after like an hour relented and purchased a CDX. One of my holy Grails for sure.

Always enjoying myself a neat Adam Sega video... ;) much love my friend.

Always a good time listening to your stories! Stay safe!

This has to be the definitive video on the CDX on RU-vid. It's a great concept but it sucks it didn't work out. I did hear these things weren't too reliable mechanically though. Great job Adam!

Thats awesome Adam. Like hearing these stories. I picked up my first cdx at a local fleamarket for $5!

A kid had that thing when I was a younger kid. Seemed very high tech at the time. Early 90s. Made my Super Nintendo look like a baby toy.

In '96, I took my CDX to Brazil and used it as a CD player, but yeah battery life was horrible. Interestingly, I really only got the idea to use my CDX this way from a TV show where the protagonist used a Sony Playstation One to play music CDs. Thanks for your videos.

Adam back at it with brilliant content.

Awesome, thanks Adam as always for a video on something ive always wanted to know more about. That little CDX pack is sweet. The thought that sega could have released more compilations or standard games on sega CD as well as cart could have really helped the console. think about the thought if you buy this add on you can buy games for $30 instead of $99 makes me want to buy one in the day.

Great Video, thank you Adam.

Ah! So it does work with the 32X!.. Always wandered why wouldn't it... Great vid. Loved the 32+32 Jaguar reference.. Cheers from Italy!

I actually bought the CDX with the intent of using it as a portable CD player. I still remember playing Ænima on it while riding in the back seat of my parents' car. I still have it.

I almost grabbed one of these on clearance for 29.97 in 1995 on the air force base at the bx. Wish i had

Took me a while to realize the mini-Megadrive-32X to the right is actually in the background on the bookshelf, and not on top of the other systems on the table!

This is Adam at his best when he uploads these in-depth video's about classic gaming machines:-)) #ImLovinIt

No doubt about it, that 3D printed spacer makes it look 100 times better. I’ll have to enquire about one. I have one of these myself (a Multimega) i got mine switchless modded for 50/60hz and multi region, one thing that has always bugged me slightly about this unit is how the RGB Scart socket comes out the size or the console and not the back, not sure why they done it that way

When the CDX came out, that's just how bad the battery life of a portable CD player was. I actually used mine all the time as a portable CD player way back when when I got mine somewhat shortly after it came out and bombed.

I spoke to SEGA in 1998 about SEGA CDX - 32x compatibility. According to the rep, the FCC felt that have having so many CPUs so close together would cause RF interference, so they did not grant approval of having the two units being able to connect to one another.

Sega saturn is the most underrated console of all time in my opinion.

I think the screw hole in the back of the cdx is for mounting it In a old van with a tv or a rv or even possibly to shelf of some sort awesome chnl man.love the content.

Had this console as a kid. Was very special.

New video at LunchTime?? Hell yeah!

I remember using my Multi Mega (CDX) out an about. I remember one time I stayed over a friends place and took it and listened to it on the bus and someone thought it was a normal cd player later on when I got to my friends place he only had an old 15" CRT TV (LCD TVs was very common then this was the time of PS2 being king) they had no consoles not even a DVD player or stereo nothing but they had loads of Mega Drive(Genesis) games but no Mega Drive, I had with me the TV cable (the bad coax cable), power cable, Sonic CD (for the music) and and the 5 classic Mega Drive collection CD just incase I got to play it, so we drank (alcoholic) played loads of Mega Drive games and later on used it as a hi-fi to play load of music and danced loads it was an amazing night and so much fun. they had never known about the Multi Mega and was shocked to about the size and missed playing there old games

The Cdx was cool, but the Wondermega to me was cooler. Never thought of getting a cdx because I already had a Sega Cd and a Genesis.

I thought this was an older video I somehow missed but it was uploaded today! Lol!

The CDX 32X combo looks like Duckwing's jet with the dark texture of the Batmobile. That's pretty badass.

I love how Sega just look at so many devices and were like "You get a Genesis, You get a Genesis, Every device will have a Sega Genesis drive.

Great video 👍

I saw one of these at my friend's uncle's house in like 1998 and it blew my mind. Sucks now that I have money everything is expensive lol.

I'll watch this in a bit. Gotta heat up my mf pizza first

I remember seeing one in the summer of 94. At a game force store, had just gotten some money for my grade's and was on my way to high school. A guy was looking into getting a system. I was floored with all the options he was shown the jvc, the original Sega set up and then he pulls down the portable one. Then he told the guy the price and not to waste the money because the Saturn was coming. Me I still wanted one because of it's size but it's price !!

That thing probably costs more than getting a Genesis & Sega CD separately.

People in youtube, tend to open the console oddballs and talk about the inside, its cool in its own right, but, you are a true journalist. I'd easily give you polizer for your work so awesome to watch! Thank mr. Korlik. Btw, with the 32x does it Play the 5-6 games that where out for the 32x-cd combo?

It looks like Darth Vader's toilet with the 32X base. LOL I also used it to play music with a tape adapter in my girlfriends car in the early 90's (Manufacture date was April 1994). My 32X had a metal adapter that was supposed to be placed in the cartridge's slot before installing the 32X. A bit later, on clearance for five dollars got the CD Backup Ram Cart...it's still in sealed forgot about it LOL. Great vid! ^_^

Just came across you man. I really enjoyed the video so I've subscribed and look forward to seeing your old and new videos. I'm from scotland and I have the multi-mega with the 32x and it's my favourite sega console. Sorry to be a bother but could you possibly put another link up for the 32x connector to attach to the cdx. Thanks

Woow Adam, I have a lot of respect for you for all the hardware and games you have. My heart hurts that i don't even have the Sega Dreamcast my best console of all time because the prices goes up all the time. You have practically everything and at least i can have a look at your videos for nostalgia. But I'll never give up on Dreamcast. I will not rest until i get this console back!

To be Fair I'm also in that 32X combo camp! And if I ever get a working Time Machine that's one thing I'm gonna FIX about it.

I suppose an easy way to find out when exactly the CDX was released ; Comb through game magazines of that time. I'm certain there were advertisements for it. (Gamepro, EGM, Diehard Gamefan, Game Informer etc.) Whatever average month you get from your sources, add one month and you have roughly the release month for it. EDIT ; March/April 1994 (EGM February '94 issue, page 60)

3 32xs & 2 cdxs man i would love even one of those lol good old living in Australia didnt even now this stuff existed until fairly recently

It’s a novelty item. Original Sega CD came out in 1992. What’s so cool is it’s sooo much smaller & it’s a portable CD player too!

It's a nice little unit with the spacer

BTW - if anyone does need a power supply for a Genesis/Sega CD/32X combo, of any variation, or indeed power supplies for PC Engine + CD, Jaguar+Jag CD, Famicom+floppy drive, I can heartily recommend Retro Game Supply, who makes all those, plus many more, and will ship them worldwide. He uses laptop power supplies, so they can be used worldwide - you just need the appropriate mains cable for your part of the world, which he can also supply. The build quality is fantastic and he always has a good amount of stock in. Worth checking out. en.retrogamesupply.com/

Sega CDX is very cool combo console. I love it. My first impression when I buy it in 2018 was: Wow! It's very little and cute! From 2018 to 2023 I had 4 CDX, and now I have only one in box. I play games and hear music, and I made two big reviews in Russian language. I can say that not only 5000 CDX's were released. In April 1994 5000 CDX's were shipped to shops in USA (CDX showed in CES 1994 (January) and sells had began in April 1994. I think that in 1994 were sold around 10000 to 100000 CDX around the world including aproximately 1000 CDX in former USSR in Autumn 1994, and we had seen commercial in TV, CDX was sold for 1,663,000 russian ruble at time (=500-600 dollars)