In my opinion Sega put out way too much hardware in the 90s. That being said, as I was going through the arduous process of hooking up my 32X and Sega CD up to my Genesis last night I was thinking, damn, I wish they would've just put out the Neptune. Great vid man.
I've still never been able to hook my 32X up yet, every time i think I have got it ready to go, I realise I need to buy something else to make it work.
It's a serious pain in the ass. And if you add a sega CD into the mix you have to have a power strip with enough space for their giant power supplies. It's ridiculous!
I’m looking forward to a wrestling grudge match where the winner takes a prize from the others collection. United States versus the British Empire. Ooh yeah...
Tamara Jordan sad fact: I sold my sega nomad when I was a teen... Not related to your comment at all... But I still hate myself with a passion for that dumb move
+Philippe Most of us regret selling our old systems to upgrade. I stopped doing that after I got the ps3, so I have nothing of high value really. The 3ds games probably are worth the most, because of the carts.
Originally the Saturn cartridge port was going to also be for cartridge games for the cancelled Sega Jupiter, which was going to be a cartridge only version of the Saturn, both of which would be more powerful than the Neptune, but all three being 32bit. I think that all 3 consoles would have been very interesting consoles, but not practical because developers aren't going to start to code games for 3 different consoles (2 of which are the same, but one able to use CD based games too). Sega just overdid the 32bit era even with the cancellation of the Jupiter. In an ideal world, I wonder what the Neptune could have been if it was left to be able to exist and really boom, because there were great capabilities in the 32x, but developers found it a headache to code for, and preferred the CD based Saturn, so basically abandoned it... but, as I said, an ideal world, if developers took the time to program properly for the Neptune (and 32x obviously), and made proper games for it, what could that console have been? I think it's just a shame that all we got was the 32X's limited library and limited coded games, and the Neptune name legacy existing only really in Hyperdimension Neptunia. I wish a hardware developer like these which are making HDMI versions of SNES consoles or maybe some kickstarter (not scammer) would consider making a proper Neptune that was also faithful to the original design concept... I would so love to get one!!
Not to repeat myself, but a smaller one-chip SH-2 with 128KB of RAM (like the SVP), would've cost just $50-60 and would've delivered pretty much all of the bang for a lot less buck than the 32X. Most 32X games never used or barely used the other processor, and the increased 32,768 color palette was also used only for the 32X's foreground layer--not the background where it's needed, since the Megadrive drew all of the backgrounds with no 3D. The Megadrive VDP and sound weren't pushed to their limits until the breakthrough Toy Story and Adventures of Batman & Robin. A one-CPU solution could've been finished earlier, would've been much easier to program and develop games for by Megadrive developers, and would've gotten much wider adoption. Not needing the 32X VDP, second processor, shielding, power adaptor, spacer, video cable, etc, the whole unit would be smaller and more widely used. And SEGA could've released the Saturn on Black Friday of 1995 with tons of more polished games.
Excellent video THGM, I was on the Nintendo side of the 16-bit consoles (despite having owned a Master System as my first console) so I didn't really follow Megadrive news that closely - I do remember hearing a lot of talk about the Neptune's "impending release" in some gaming mags' news sections though, and with Sega's trend of bundling systems together (like the Multi-Mega/CDX,. as well as the Teradrive/Amstrad Mega PC - which was something that really interested me as I moved into PC gaming at around this time) it seemed like something they would definitely bring to market. It's a shame that Sega as a whole seemed to lose their way briefly around this time as I feel that the missteps they made here laid the foundations for what ultimately killed them as a hardware manufacturer in the end :(
Not quite, Sega has a habit of using the former console's CPU as a sound chip, like the SMS uses the Z80 from the SG-1000, the MD uses the chip from the SMS and the Saturn does use the 68000 from the MD as its sound controller so backwards compatibility would not be much of an issue
It would have been a smart move, better yet they should have skipped the 32x make the saturn backwards compatible with mega drive/CD and easy to work with.
I remember getting fooled from EGM's April's fool joke. I was reading the magazine on the bus ride home and I dashed online as soon as I got home to check out the website they pointed towards. When I clicked it, the "FOOL YOUUUU!" sound byte from Space Balls played.
It's really sad that the Sega Neptune (AKA Standalone Sega Genesis/Sega Mega Drive/32X hybrid) was canceled because the Sega Saturn was on it's way into the 32-bit market. In my honest opinion, the Sega Neptune, the Sega CDX and the Sega Genesis/Sega Mega Drive are better off as 3 standalone consoles because it sure beats hooking up the 32X and Sega CD/Sega Mega CD add-ons to the Sega Genesis/Sega Mega Drive. It makes sense because when the 32X and Sega CD/Mega CD add-ons are attached to the Genesis/Mega Drive, they make the Genesis/Mega Drive look cluttered, or as would Mark Bussler from Classic Game Room would say, "Sega Clusterf**k". There is a solution for plugging in the Genesis/Mega Drive, 32X, Sega CD/Sega Mega CD, Saturn and Dreamcast: get a Sega power strip (Which has the outlet sockets rotated and spaced out) and you can plug in your Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega CD/Sega Mega CD and 32X add-ons, Saturn and Dreamcast into it. If the Sega Neptune was never canceled, why not plug a standalone Genesis/Mega Drive, standalone CDX, standalone Neptune, standalone Saturn and standalone Dreamcast into it? Sure beats getting each add-on sold separately, huh?
Sega Neptune we’re produce abandoned and recently found then sold on eBay by sega for 150 dollars. Also fun fact the sega Neptune has its own game and anime called hyperdiminional Neptunia
Sega did actually release a combined Mega Drive and Mega CD in America called the Genesis CDX. I guess they got burnt with that, which was why the Neptune wasn't released. Although it didn't help the CDX cost MORE than buying the Genesis and Sega CD consoles separately!
Love the upload Tophat informative as always, gotta say I really enjoyed last nights stream a bit glitchy but who cares great games were played in great company....yeeeeah👍🏻😉
Just imagine if Sega had skipped the 32X and focused more time and effort on the Saturn. Maybe Saturn could have been so popular that PlayStation would have struggled instead. I like to also imagine an alternate reality where Nintendo and Sega had continued to push all their competitors out. What would gaming be like now? I need a time machine to go back and slap Sega of America for trying to forcefully continue the Genesis beyond its natural life-span by bolting a lot of garbage to it.
V3n0m7 A lot of things would have had to gone differently for the Saturn to succeed. Yes, the 32x muddied the waters of the brand, but they completely bungled the Saturn's launch in NA. Had it kept it's original release date, then certain retailers would not have refused to carry Sega products. Had it been $100 cheaper, it would have competed with Sony in value. Had it been easier to program, there probably could have been more 3rd party games. However, Sony still dwarfed Sega in money to burn; I heard that the PSX's marketing budget was 5x more than the Saturn.
I do not think Sega would have been able to push Sony out of the market but the Saturn would have held its own if Sega did not waste resources and annoy consumers with the 32x. Having a Sonic game at the Saturn launch would have helped also.
When you consider the poor sales of the Sega/Mega CD it makes you wonder why on anyone with an ounce of logic would create another add-on at the same time as the Saturn's release along with the Neptune which is still less powerful than the Saturn and is missing a CD-Rom Drive. It seems like they would have been better off holding off on the Saturn's release and refine the System Development Kits and and tweak the hardware to make programming easier and 3D better. It also seems like making the cartridge slot able to play Mega Drive/Genesis games and even Master System/Game Gear games with a Power Base like adapter would have been more logical considering how popular the MD was.
Great video. Sounds like something I would have bought when it was reduced at the end of the system's life span, had it been produced and had I been alive in the appropriate time period. I missed last night's stream because I wanted to get some more sleep and I knew if I joined the stream then that wouldn't happen. I hope you didn't have too much fun without me.
Im a big fan of the 32x. Games like Virtua Fighter show what could have been if this system got any real kind of love. The Neptune would have been right up my alley.
The one i was really looking forward to was the adapter that let you connect the 32x to the Saturn. Sega of America told me over the phone when i called looking for some information about the upcoming hardware that this was going to be a thing. The 32x could be used to increase the Saturn's power as well as make it backwards compatible with genesis and Sega CD games. Turns out the guy at Sega was COMPLETELY FULL OF CRAP! IF only he was right though that would have bean beyond epic.
It's 2018 and I'm still happy to see Sonic The Comic being used as a source of SEGA related news. They always had decent coverage of what SEGA was up to (despite being primarily a comic book).
I seriously wanted one of these when I read about them back in the day because it was cheaper then a SATURN, or PS1, and as a highschool kid working a minimum wage job it would have been an awesome system for gaming nights with friends on off days from work, and school. Also you should do a video on the SEGA Pluto(unreleased Saturn model 2 prototype), as it has an interesting story about the guy who found it in more or less a junk pile at a flea market for almost nothing, and then tried to sell it online, and had the gaming community come at him with great backlash.
Fun-fact. The circuit board in the 32x has the word Mars etched into it not to mention that it looks like a prototype inside with wires running everywhere.
Richard parliament you and Luke street have been hitting on all cylinders recently amazing content wow I expect you guys to go huge soon with this quality of content
What sega shoulda done was make Saturn backward compatible with, 32x, mega cd and megadrive, which is what I assumed and for £399 that woulda been sexy value and would have done a lot better. when I first saw a Saturn a tried to put in a megadrive cart. Neptune should have been budget machine
I'd like to see you make a video about that super powerful portable Nintendo was working on in the mid-late 90's. I think it was called Project Atlantis or some such.
You can!...Sorta. The Mega Drive release (or it may be a Japanese-only release initially, not sure) has a set that includes a cosmetic 32X, CD1, and Sonic 1 cartridge to add to the Genesis Mini. Meanwhiel, I own actual Genesis 2, CD2, 32X...and currently lack an HDMI TV...
It would have been great is the Neptune would have came out as a budget system. They could have been making Genesis and 32x games for it up until the 2000s! Sounds great but around that time anything that wasn't 3D was looked at as old garbage for the most part.
I think JVC should've made an all-in-one version of the Neptune with the Genesis/32x and Sega CD built in called the X'eye II, plus a JVC version of the power base converter for Master System cartridges that only works with the X'eye II.
What Sega shoud have done to release the Neptune was to not release the 32X as an add-on and at the same token, discontinue the production of the Mega Drive, but still release games for it as the Neptune would've been backwards compatable with the Mega Drive. Also, to keep production of Mega CD game, Sega shoud've made the Saturn backwards-compatable with the Mega CD, so there would've been no need to juggle multiple systems at once.
Or rebuild the Genesis with a 25MHz 68EC030 and the full 128KB of VRAM as originally intended, then extend the VDP with a 6-bit CRM suffix allowing for the 32,768 color palette than the 32X and SNES offered. That would've cost much less--perhaps $80, and been just as capable as the 32X.
They could have positioned it as a budget system with a vast library of playable games along side the cutting edge higher priced Saturn. I think if marketed properly it could have been a moderate success. It might have even given people more confidence in Sega not abandoning their owners which may have helped out the Saturn and later the Dreamcast. Purely speculation of course, but it could not have gone any worse for them than it ended up going.
I would have loved a Neptune. They should have released that instead of addon. What a colossal misstep. Considering they made a CDX which was CD player that played Genesis and Sega CD games.
I'm a little surprised this wasn't made only because the Sega CDX, a hybrid of the Mega Drive/Genesis and the Sega CD, was made. So why not a hybrid 32x or even an all in one stand alone system for those 32x CD games?
I wish I could reproduce the proprietary chips inside the mega drive and the 32x so then it would be possible to mill out a custom PCB, solder on the correct ICs and 3D print a custom case using a Neptune prototype scan. Maybe a job for Ben heck.
If I remember correctly Sega of America president Tom Kalinski begged Sega of Japan to make the cartridge port on the Saturn compatible with Genesis and 32X. Sega of Japan shot down the idea because they thought there would be confusion between the Saturn and the CDX. One of the Saturns chips was the same as 32X so it wouldn't have been completely unreasonable. To me this was an even bigger error than the horrible surprise Saturn launch.
I will make you a Neptune all i need is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill Fifteen percent concentrated power of will Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain And a hundred percent reason to remember the name.
32X was essentially a competitor to Nintendo's SuperFX chip, making the 16-bit console capable of doing things it otherwise couldn't. It would have been, in the long run, cheaper for consumers to buy the extra hardware once rather than - as with the SuperFX or SVP chips - pay for them with each game purchase. It wasn't really advertised as that though, but the idea of a (relatively) cheap add-on pumping up the aging console at the end of it's lifespan isn't an awful idea.
Was it possible to hitch a Mega CD up to a Neptune to play 32X CD only games (some were released)? Imagine if Sega had released the hat trick of MD, MCD and 32X in one!
Ok. I was a Nintendo guy back in the day and my knowledge of Sega comes from this channel and the Ben Heck Show. So the neptune was supposed to be able to play Genesis/Megadrive and 32x titles. What about the Master system? I know master system compatibility was dropped by the Genesis 3. Would this have been a 8/16/32 bit console?
if the neptune had been reliced instead of the 32 x add-on it may have done well. if marketed strongly as backward compatible with the megadrive. and was mega cd compatable to boot.
Since 2000 Nintendo , Microsoft and Sony have been the big three only . I wish something new would come along and at least cause a stir . In the late 80's early 90's , the great Console War was a great time . You had Turbo Grafx 16 , Tubro Duo , Atari Lynx , 3DO , all the Sega add on's . Now it's been Sony and Microsoft sissy slapping each other . Nintendo is in it's own market but the others are fighting like sissies IMO . I want to see them go in for the kill .But I did hear that Microsoft makes cpu parts for Sony Playstation's . If this is true no wonder they are sissy fighting , they are both making love , I mean money together .
The only companies that would stand a chance against the big three is another massive corporation like Samsung, LG or Apple. Even then it was be a risky venture. Hundreds of millions in R&D and marketing, making deals with 3rd party devs, starting or acquiring 1st party studios. Plus, how would an upstart console compete with the other guys who already have huge libraries? Plus, there is the thing about how analysts are always saying that console gaming will soon be dead. I just don't see anyone else stepping up.
I see what you are saying but there are a lot of giant companies out there that can do it . I think Microsoft should team up with Sega cause Xbox does poorly in Japan and UK . If a console came out with Sega's name on it but powered by Microsoft's R&D team , I could see those markets increasing big time . The Mega Drive is still popular in the UK as with the Sega Genesis is in the US . All those old Sega consoles are popular . Japanese are loyal people and the are going to support their consoles . Sega is coming out with a new "Sega Genesis collection" in May 2018 . I can't fucking WAIT !!!!! Gunstar Heroes is on that summa bitch ! YEAH!!!! lol
I still feel like Sega should have just focused on the Saturn and released a few more games for the Genesis/Sega CD than even bother with the 32X. They knew CD's were the future and the Saturn was already coming out in Japan in 1994. 32X was a huge distraction and most consumers knew that too. Imagine if the Saturn had a real Sonic game at launch it would have helped significantly.
They did go a little crazy with hardware at Sega in the 90's, but it was an example of the left hand not knowing what the right was doing. From what I understand, in a nutshell, Sega America new they were losing place in the console race and had all kinds of idea to push the brand forward, and Japan hated all of them. 32X was sort of an American brainchild, and Japan didn't promote it at all, apparently because it was more or less a rogue project, and they decided CD was the future, not cart. Without the support of Sega Japan, it was DoA, and rumors even suggest (from an obscure OBS computer show that occasionally featured consoles) Sega Japan toyed with the idea of shutting down Sega America, and Sega America was talking about going fully rogue, but at the same time not even being aware of the fact that Sega Japan was planning their demise. This is a short, short version, but the saga of Sega is complicated, indeed, and there is FAR more involved...but for those wondering just WTF was going on with Sega in the 90's, it was......a Sega Civil War.
The neptune makes more sense as a separate console heck it would have been more successfull to be honest instead of craming it up with the CD add-on and becomes a problem with consumer
Just imagine if they did not waste their time on the 32x and focused their energy on the Sega Saturn , they were essentially stealing resources from themselves. And if they made the Saturn backwards compatible with 32x and Sega Cd , I feel they would of still been around today kicking ass
making the 32x an attachment was a bad decision - they should have released this console instead and kept the consoles dimensions and location of the expansion port compatible with the existing sega CD add on. that would have been the best option IMO. then rename the neptune to "Genesis PRO" and sell it for $100 more than the original genesis - sega would have had the chance to out-sony sony before sony was even a name in the console game
This makes my head hurt because the 32x originally was going to be the Genesis 2.0 but the president Saga America recommended it to be a "add on" for the current Genesis instead to keep from alienating the fan base pissing everyone off.
probably about 200-220 quid (buying both Mega 32 x and mega drive, mega drive was dirt cheap at the time 60-80 quid, pretty sure the 32x was about 140-150 ish), so not as much as you might think
Another one of the dozen reasons why SEGA had to give up hardware. Flooding the market with your product ISN'T going to work. Look at the Playstation. Time, effort and patience all paying dividends. Back in the 90's, you wouldn't have traded in a Playstation for ALL SEGA hardware of the time, save for perhaps if you could make a profit rather than preference.
To be honest I never really thought of the neptune as something that was close to being released, I want some old school Japanese Sega official to tell us more! I'm curious about how to connect the MD32X with a mega cd1 and a mega cd2? Did they even get that far making sure it was compatible with both? Thinking back, Sega should've marketed this system, they would have had a cheaper alternative to the Saturn, yes it might have failed as a console, but marketing wise a dream. Buy the Saturn if you have the money, if not buy the Neptune. More 32x games would have been developed and the 32x would become a moderate success. But I guess they were a bit late though. If this was released in say beginning of 94 it would be a moderate success until the Saturn would come along! Sega was always so scared about this and that, they were the no1 gaming company in terms of hardware and software, would could possibly go wrong, well they somehow managed to mess everything up
The 32X and the Mega CD both connected to a Mega Drive/Genesis rather than connect to one another. There were six 32X CD games. One exclusive to Brazil. All were FMV games. The Neptune was cancelled when the 32X was cancelled due to terrible 32X sales. The 32X was rushed out, and so the games were rushed, leading to poor games.
For such a "forward thinking" company like Sega it's astonishing that instead of getting mired in the development of the 32x, they should have just used the Saturn as the bridge to the 32 bit generation and added backward compatibility, even if the Neptune had come out, what would be the point in getting it, if you would be missing out on the TRUE next gen experience that the Saturn had to offer? All that was achieved with the Megadrive taking SEGA to new heights was all undone in the decisions that they made between 1992-1995, which would have a knock on effect for the Dreamcast to survive in the long run...
If the short sighted management at Sega could lose their tunnel vision, they'd go ahead and release the Neptune. Preload games from Master system, Genesis, 32x, etc on it, and find a way to sell the other non preloaded titles for it. If the Neptune got released now, retro gamers would lose their minds over it. Also, the games are already made, so it would just be a cash cow. I guess I'm not qualified to manage a company like Sega though. My ideas would actually be logical and profitable.
Neptune CD or "Tower of Power." Millions of people have asked for this near-PS1 behemoth, and the system would play about 1,000 of those old titles. Why not release the machine today? It's the only widely loved system I've ever heard of that was never released.
The SEGA Neptune was doomed from the start, they should have released it two or three years prior (it would have been nice if it competed with the SNES at the time) and it should have supported discs as well as cartridges, perhaps make it support four player natively like the N64 and it would have killed back then, but as it is even if it was released it would have failed.
They should have gone with the neptune here in EU and US, and leave tne saturn for japan. It would have been sad for us not having a saturn, but maybe it would have helped sega commercially speaking. Cheap and with already a huge install base, with all those mega drive games in the market.
I really doubt it would have helped them by doing that, at best it would have looked like a poor budget system when compared to the N64 and Playstation which were right around the corner..and at worst it would have pissed off the Sega loyalists wondering why they couldn't get the real next gen machine like Japan was getting. That's not even counting having their internal development teams split up even further than they already were by trying to support a Gen32/Saturn/and the arcade all at the same time.
That would have been awful, they couldn't possibly supply two mainstream systems with software. And the 32X, as neat as it was, was never gonna be able to compete with the PSX or N64. Even in a best case scenario, the 32X was ever only intended as life support for the Mega Drive, and there's nothing wrong with that really. Nintendo did a similar thing with their SuperFX chip, only they marketed that more successfully.
