Why Did The SEGA CD FAIL !? - Gaming History Documentary 

I have a Sega CD. Some of the best JRPG's were on it: Lunar: The Silver Star, Lunar: Eternal Blue, Vay, Shining Force CD, Dark Wizard, and Popful Mail. Silpheed was a great shooter.

It's kind of shocking when you realize that Microsoft has been in the console business longer than Sega was. And that it's been over 20 years since the Dreamcast was discontinued.

That’s the greatest era of console gaming ever. Arguably the greatest arcade era, as well. I love the Genesis and the SNES, but there was also the TG-16 and the Neo Geo. All four of those were solid systems.

My favourite console as a kid, I played sonic CD until my eyes bled.

The CDX was the best iteration of the Mega CD/Sega CD in my book; a Megadrive, Mega CD, AND portable CD player all in one? I totally wanted one when they were on clearance...as my first portable CD player, since the actual games I wanted were already fairly hard to find at that point.

I had a Sega CD. That system was amazing at the time!

Personally, from the US perspective here's how Sega of America had attempted handing the Sega CD. Since they were not given a prototype for them and developers to work with, they had been forced to look at the next best thing: the CD-ROM, which was just coming out on its own in the PC market. Observing these games, they acknowledged the use of FMV in them, and as you said immediately went with this angle when marketing the add-on. The problem was, people here kept confusing CDs with LaserDisc (LDs) presuming the Sega CD could produce more vibrant and animated graphics like in Dragon's Lair (or by today's comparison, Pokemon Arceus Legends), so when the actual footage came out, despite JVC's efforts, the graphics were a bit lackluster. The other issue was the original hardware itself. If SOJ had let SOA have a basic prototype, they might have been able to prevent one major design flaw: the heatsink issues. Since the add-on did use the Genesis itself as a processing source, the power caused it to create major heat. Now if you were playing say Sonic CD or some arcade like game, this wasn't a major concern. But if you were playing an RPG like Lunar or Shining Force CD for several hours, where the original add-on reached a critical temperature, the emergency cut-off would activate, and you had to wait for it to cool down. The reason why I recall this was my friend had purchased one directly from its launch date, and after playing with it for several months, the unit had actually burned out due to this. Regrettably, the Sega support team couldn't offer any solutions to it, so he wound up with a $400 door stop. Until he could eventually replace it with the more sleeker, compact disc like model, which had addressed the heatsink issues. Also came the problem of Sega 'converting' some of their Genesis titles into CD format. Expecting the graphics, or at least the gameplay itself, being improved, they were disappointed in finding out the only upgrade was the processing/loading time for the games, since it was simply the same game. Making some players feel cheated, despite the fact the Sega CD did have a few original titles out there.

Doodle Pigeon! I’m so glad you covered it’s development correctly being a response to the PC-Engine CD, and not the SNES or to extend the life of the MD. So many incorrectly report that part. I learned something new too with this video, about the styling being designed to mimic the look of a Hi-Fi stacked setup. It makes so much sense! Great video for one of my favorite childhood consoles.

Ironically the "lazy" FMV games must've been more expensive to produce than a regular game or a port of an arcade

$300 in 1992 was just laughably high for my family. My dad laughed off the thought of ever getting one for me due to the price alone. For years as a kid I viewed anyone that had a Sega CD as someone who was quite wealthy. Well, that was up until the PS1 came out and by that time $300 wasn’t as bad.

The main issue is that it was just priced too high. Although it wasn't much more than standard CD players at the time, their target market weren't the people that would be purchasing CD players. They should have spent the time and money developing a better stand alone disc system with Sony.

What could be worst than the Sega CD? Sega 32X: "Hold my beer." Keep up with these Console Failure Series.

I was the only one among my friends to own a Sega CD (I owned a first Generation console, the "block" that the Sega Genesis rests on as opposed to the later one that sits beside it), and I loved the console despite its lackluster library and low popularity. The FMV games were, at the time, awe-inspiring even if the "games" sucked, but the real gems were the RPGS (Lunar, Vay), strategy RPGs (Dark Wizard, Shining Force CD), and games like RIse of the Dragon and Snatcher. Ports of older games, like Final Fight CD and the 4-in-1 Classic Sega games that was packed in with the console, were also just absolutely great games, with Final Fight CD still being my favorite version of that game to this day. My friends warmed up to the system after playing some of its games at my house, but for a little while, I was the only die-hard fan of the console in my class. Also, I loved that many of the games could be played in CD players; I spent so many hours doing homework or working on my next D&D session with Final Fight CD, Lunar or Shining Force CD music blasting from my CD player. Note that I didn't learn of Snatcher until much later, but I totally would have played it consistently if I owned it back then. I owned - still own - the other games mentioned.

The biggest downside was needing multiple adapters and a massive space to fit the sega mega CD and 32x

I enjoyed this video as a neat change-up. Felt like a throwback of sorts. That said I would love to hear more about the SegaCD boombox at the end of this video.

Excellent video as always. No helpful suggestions I’m afraid as I’m still working through the back catalogue and wouldn’t want to suggest something you’ve already done. All your retro gaming content is great and really well researched, so they’re a pleasure to watch. Also, since you asked…. Doodle pigeon ;-).

I think one of the best things about the Turbographics CD ROM drive, was that it could double as a portable CD player. Something not one single game console would do, up until the Sega CDX platform, which incorporated the Megadrive and CD ROM drive into one ridiculously compact package. Expensive too, so much so that it's extremely rare and expensive today.

my mom & dad bought me the sega cd 2 for Christmas & it came with sewer shark. over the time i did picked up a few games for it. i did picked up popful mail. it was an ok game. but i wish sega did more with the sega cd by adding more colors & have better graphics to make it equal or better then the snes

In my very early 20s, I bought one of the original Sega CD models for almost $400 brand new around Christmas time of 1992 or 93. I ended up selling it, roughly 30 years later, for a nice chunk of change to a collector in 2019, at my new bride's behest. Moral of the story: don't marry someone that doesn't understand the sentimental value of your video game collection or else it may get liquidated. 😆 jk

Your narration is so good I wouldn’t be surprised to see err hear you in a gaming doc

Oh, I love a bit of Lady Decade in the afternoon. You seem to dig the same vibe I did from back in the day. Massive respect! Absolutely mega backing music selection.

Considering how well the SEGA CD could handle scaling & rotation FX, why SEGA never bothered to make "CD" versions of their popular ip's is something I'll never understand. If they wanted to do FMV games, that's fine, but ALSO be sure to invest in new fancy versions of games based on your arcade hits, which could now use the SEGA CD hardware. Imagine SEG CD versions of OutRun, After Burner, Space Harrier, Super Thunderblade, Power Drift, Outrunners & more! With hardware scaling & rotation, plus redbook CD-quality audio & extra modes & features that could fill up a CD, don't tell me those titles wouldn't be a hit. Also, the fact SEGA was able to pull off a great 2 player port of Final Fight meant they could've done the same for Captain Commando, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker Arcade, The Punisher, Cadillacs & Dinosaurs Arcade, King of Dragons & stuff like Knights of the Round. Heck, they could've perhaps even done a decent port of Golden Axe Revenge of Death Adder (maybe).

I didn't get my hands on a CD until just recently, my neighbor sold me his, which was just sitting in his attic for years. Only playing it a few times as a kid, mostly with Lunar: Silver Star, it remains very fascinating to me as a platform.

I Love your content. I love your amazing knowledge about Games/Consoles. Stuff I always had questions about you have answered. The 3DO was my fav so far because I had one when I was a kid. Gex enter the Gecko was my and possibly still my fav game of all time. I don't have to tell you but please keep up the amazing work! 🙂

When I first played a game with FMV on the Sega CD, I couldn't believe my eyes. I remember thinking that I couldn't believe I was playing a movie, and it would never get any better.

The best Sega CD/Sega Mega CD add-on is the model 2 Sega CD/Sega Mega CD add-on.

With the release of WWF Rage in the Cage, I almost sold my SNES to buy a Sega CD. Almost. I dodged that bullet.

This console should've been the way Sega continued forward. I mean that too, used a the cartridge port for memory carts and you can still play your old Genesis games on it too 😉

I was always interested in buying a Sega CD but there were only a couple of interesting games for me. I think Sega CD failed because Sega was focused on action/arcade games and these do not necessarily need CD technology. This blue AIWA controller looks gorgeous!

The first thing I bought with my first pay check from my first real job was a Sega CD from a Pawn Shop for $100 in the summer of 1995. I loved that thing. It was already "dead" at that point but I was able to buy all kinds of games real cheap for it because of that reason. Lunar 1 & 2, Wing Commander and Snatcher were my favorite games that I had for it. Man I was SO GOOD at Wing Commander on Sega CD! I miss it. My Sega CD was the type 2 but my Genesis was Type 1. It hung off the side of it and looked so stupid but it was awesome!

It fills my heart with joy that someone converted Snatcher to work on a modded ps3 and a few other rare games for the sega cd .

I think the “most 90s thing” was an obscure drink called orbitz. It wasn’t even around for a full year. I loved it though haha

Doodlepidgeon. Great vid as usual! A vid about the cinematic platformer genre would be SO great!!!

To be honest, I adored the Sega CD system. I was hooked the first time I played Sewer Shark. I still enjoy playing FMV games, which are my favorites.

I got to play Sega CD at a friend's house when the Sega CD was at retail. We laughed at how hokey some of the games were, but there were really good games for it too. I am glad I made a RetroPie so I can enjoy Sega CD games without spending hundreds of dollars on snatcher, rise of the dragon, keios flying squadron, shining Force CD, final fight CD, and the Lunar Games.

Great job! Maybe something about MSU-1 games would be intriguing.

I had the second generation of both the Genesis and CD. With the 32X, this is my favorite video game console setup. To this day, I regret selling it and my games. Luckily, I have gotten everything back but Knuckles Chaotix on newer hardware.

Great content as always, and since you ask about possible ideas for videos, what about a twist to this one with the counter video about How could the Mega CD had been a success? I mean, it has some great games that really show what could've been possible with this machine, like the Batman or any Core Design games, titles that use the scaling and rotating capabilities in a great way and led us to imagine some arcade scalers ports for the system; had Sega focused on that instead of FMV games this machine could've been a little more successful. Or not...

I loved my Sega CD. It had the best version of Sonic and imo the best port of Final Fight on any console, and that’s including the arcade version.

Your videos are so high quality, you really deserve way more viewers and hope you get them

As cool as the Sega CD looked back in the day, it was still just an add-on for the Genesis. $300 was too high a price for an add-on. It should have been priced at half that amount even if Sega would have had to sell it at a loss for a while. They fixed the add-on pricing problem with the 32X ($160), but Sega of Japan unfortunately harpooned that one by focusing on the Saturn.

love the back to the future "it's a babies toy" reference. great video, Lady Decade!

I love your catch phrase, and it's origin story!!! Never fails to make me smile and chuckle. ❤️

If only Sega put the power of the 32x into the Sega CD and made it as a stand alone system. That would've been a dream come true.

That was a brutal journey. I don't usually feel so deeply about a topic, but you nailed this one.

I loved my SegaCD :) I wish they'd made more use of the scaling/rotation functionality but I had a lot of fun with it.

Love You And Your Incredibly, Informative Channel ~ I'm A Gamer And Over 60 Now; Loved Night-Trap and Sewer Shark ~

20:15 Let's not forget it was also that same day when the then president of NOA Howard Lincoln stated that Night Trap would never be released on any Nintendo console, only for two decades later...Night Trap Anniversary edition available on Switch. Howard: WHAT THE HELL, REGGIE?! WHAT DID I JUST SAID? Reggie: Not my problem.

I love you Lady Decade!! Lol. I'm sure you know this but the design of the NES in the USA was to make it look like a VCR and not a gaming system since the USA had enough of Atari and the many other gaming companies' cheap money making schemes. Nintendo USA was smart in doing this, but of course would create a foothold for other gaming companies like SEGA to come in. SEGA has Nintendo to thank for opening the gaming market in the USA again. SEGA was alright and that "Blast Processing" was awesome!.. especially with the Sonic series. My favorite has always been the 2nd one with Tails. Great music at one of the end stages! B)

Price, fmv, not just plug and play simplicity of standalone. And obviously a bit of hubris. Keep up the good work lass and, as always, stay safe!

The prohibitive cost was the main reason for it's downfall. I knew loads of people who owned a Mega Drive, but not one who owned a Mega-CD. Despite most people being aware of it.

Awesome video, your channel is one of the best, you always give us top info with a twisted humor, really jilarious. Hey, I loved my cousin Amstrad 464 XDDDD It could be great a vide about retro accesories, legal (like the shega phot) or not solike Datel cheat and exploid cartidges and cds or the playstation 1 game blaster game enhacer to play in any ragion console.

Thanks for the look back. I had the add-on and enjoyed it at the time, but I'd picked mine up used after a library had actually grown a bit. As a US viewer, the constant digs at our product ads and product appearances is tiresome. For those of us who grew up with these things, we've attached emotional and nostalgic value that seems irrelevant in your takedowns. It's easy to look backwards at these things and poke fun, but at the time, we kind of just went with it

If Sega had come out the gate swinging with the Snatchers and Final Fights instead of the FMV shovelware we got at launch, it would've been a day 1 purchase for me.

The system would have benefited more from games like Sonic CD or something similar to Rondo of Blood (not a actual port of it, but a Castlevania Game on the Sega CD.......it might have helped)

The quality of games was all hype in the commercials. When you tried your friend's Sega CD, it was soon apparent he got ripped off...

why did it take almost a year for MEGA drive CD to arrive in the US when the sales of the Mega Drive in Japan was worse than the PC Engine in Japan, and the sales of the Sega Genesis in the US was selling by the millions and even outselling Nintendo?

I still love the Sega CD today. It's a highly ambitious, overcomplicated machine, and the game library is really wacky with some hidden gems.

Wow, why do people seem to hate the Mega CD 2 so much?! I think it looks great. I lament that the Sega CD didn't get it's due recognition. Sure it could play video but the other enhancement chips inside were capable of so much more and games like Soulstar and The Adventures of Batman & Robin really show this off.

I loved me Mega CD! I still have it to this day along with my Mega Drive (Japanese import) Still looking for a few missed games from years gone by. But oh the memories I had playing it. Sad I know, I LOVED Night Trap, Sonic CD to name just two!

I was the only one out of all my mates who had one back in 93,and we were all blown away by the fmv games, sonic cd and final fight cd. You had to own one back in the day to understand the unique experience in the small window of time before the playstation owned the world. The library of games is really different,lots of diversity and quite a few diamonds in the rough. The amount of games with unbelievable soundtracks is the real deal if you can get past the minimal graphics upgrade that dogged the system.Lady decade watch sega lord x the sega cd unsung add on. It might change your perspective on the subject

You are a true gaming historian and a woman after my own heart. I love this video and all payout others! Great great job.

Great video as always Lady Decade . Do pigeon's doodle? More to the point do they do it well?

Lady Decade have you ever covered the Amiga CDTV ? With you doing the 3DO & CD-I it could make interesting viewing for your channel :-) ( love the channel by the way !)

I remember it so well. Oceania kinda mirrored UK/Eu in consoles, as in Sega reigned supreme and Nintendo was a lesser known beast, and in 1993 I had a Master System, as did my peers, (it was still going strong in New Zealand then), so when the MegaCD ccame out it just looked sooo unattainable, most of us didn't even have Mega Drives at this point. The flashy graphics and whatnot were just somthing we could dream about. And there werent many games, I remember the shelves at the stores with loads of Mega Drive and Master System games, but MegaCd just had n more than 10 titles on the shelves, and they all looked gimmicky, an INXS game for example. To me a 10 year old though, I always thought, if its more expensive, has amazing graphics like that, then it must be soooo much better. And to this day, I have never even played or seen a MegaCd except one time in a 2nd hand store in like 1997. ANd herein lies the problem, they just flooded the market with stuff, addons, new gaming devices etc.. I was at the point where I got a Mega Drive in 1995 and now was like....well....if I get the MegaCD what if it goes away? theres still like 10 games on the shelves, no one has one, you cant rent any at the video store, and they have a 32X and a Saturn out now too....and I thik it was like that for everyone else too, brand loyatly, but they shaft you by putting something out then discontinuing making games for it. They really should have just focused on it a bit longer, never made a 32X and then put out the Saturn in 95 or 96. Silly and greedy marketing was their doom. They should have been more patient.

You pull the like out of me without asking, on every video, is my genuine reaction for when you say something clever or make me laugh :D

Price, lack of games and the fact I don't think people were really ready for add-ons at that time. Had a Sega CD and loved it, though. Sonic CD was awesome as was NBA Jam, in fact I'd say NBA Jam was better on the CD than the Genesis.

Idea for a future video... 3D in gaming... Can cover the virtual boy, 3DS, PS Stereoscopic gaming, early VR, leading into the eventual relaunch of VR. Would be cool to chronicle the level of immersion over the years, and getting a feel for where it's gonna lead :D

Excellent content as always. Would love a Jaguar/Jaguar CD doc!

Do a video on the game music producers of the 16bit era...

your channel is GOLD!! glad I've found it!! 😎🎮👍

I remember Toys R us discounting Sega CDS to $20, I wish I had purchased one back then

Did you just mention my favourite Amiga CD-16 game, Too Shrewd Dudes?

Doodle Pigeon! I like your style, especially the ludicrous comments interjected throughout the narrative. Straight to the top!

I can't believe I got a Everdrive MD Pro before the War. Hope it ends soon. So sad.☹

I'd LOVE to see a MSX2+ episode! I was always SUPER interested in that console/platform and quality videos on it are lacking IMO! 🖋️ Doodle Pigeon 🐦

Doodle Pidgeon and love the content. Always very informative.

I knew I heard a Sega CD video cropping up over here! NICE!

They should have boosted number of onscreen colors. That would have made a way bigger difference than the scaling/rotation stuff they added. Genesis games usually didn't look as nice as SNES for that one reason: smaller color palette. They did boost it for the 32X but by that time it was a moot point.

Diminishing returns for Sega from this point on. Probably a lot of lessons to be learned from their behind the scenes management

Doodle pidgin. I keep coming to this channel for the crazy consoles and other variations I didn't know about, so some more of that please?

Good info, Lady Century.

Ever thought of doing a video of when Gamestation ordered a mass destruction (which they worded as recycling) of approx 90% of their retro stock in 2008 after Game took over. I worked in for the store the time it happened and read the emails from head office and even remember reading through the (very small) list of titles that they weren't going to destroy. Always curious how it never seems to be covered online by anyone... but maybe not enough material for a full video.

Man, you’re taking me back, I forgot all about that Sherlock Homes game 😊

Do an episode on Core Design and their work on the Sega CD.

I happened to be at the right place, at the right time with the Sega systems. I found a Sega Mega Drive Model 1 at a local charity shop for $5AU. It came in a Nuby case, and had two controllers. I tested it out, and it still worked perfectly. I then got myself a Sega Mega CD Model 1, and a Sega 32X for it. Now I have a good selection of games for it, and the combined system works perfectly, even to this very day. I absolutely love the system, given its abilities and variety, and let me tell you, it's worth the effort getting it.

It wasnt the format that failed, Sega CD had a few gems, but most were just crappy FMV games.. Games like Sonic CD and Lunar Silver Star Story were the rare examples. The Sega CD was also super expensive and you still needed a Genesis to play the damn thing. Loading times were atrocious, and the CD drive was VERY prone to failure due to overheating (not so much in the gen 2 side model) sadly it was also limited by the genesis and its limited resources. My first "sega cd" was the JVC X-Eye. damn fine console honestly..

I've said it many times. If Sega had kept it's house in order and didn't have Sega of America and Sega of Japan constantly at heads with eachother, they might have survived and been able to produce successful platforms.

Gotta appreciate how much this channel likes Green Jelly's Sega Genesis soundtrack work for the Spider-Man games lol.

Got the SEGA CD in 1993 and it was amazing and cobra command with 3D sound and Rebel Assault and flashback CD and Sonic CD .

The combo of the model one Genesis and the model one Sega CD is still bad-ass looking. Perhaps the best looking setup I’ve still ever seen.

I'm not sure if you would be interested in doing it but a video about the Chinese bootleg Famicom Pokémon Yellow would be a fun topic I think. It's basically a recreation of the original Pokémon Yellow on the Gameboy but for the Famicom. The original version is out there and there is a nice hack of it that translates it to English and makes some improvements. I'm not sure how much history is known about it but if there is enough I think it would be a fun video. Also since you asked Doodle Pigeon.

POV console war content from across the ponds would be good. We mostly heard the American version of it and it was pretty bloody. We want story of fights...electronic store chaos and etc etc in the UK, Paris, Scotland, Italy and Germany.

Your videos are so well written and funny

Formula 1: Beyond the Limit was the best racing game available on a console at the time. It's still one of my all time best racing games in vidya

Doodle Pigeon. Hey Lady D, I would very much like an episode focussing on the Sega CD 32X games. Thank you!

Doodle Pigeon....Only thing I actually would like to see is some content on Policenauts and all it's versions and why 3DO of all the consoles. Anyway this is some good content and I really enjoy it.

I do wonder if Sega had put more effort into music video releases for their system that they'd've been more successful. Music videos would have been attractive to their teen demographic. A subscription service that would mail out compilations of popular videos sounds like a winner to me.

You're simply the best - we exist in the golden age of retro gaming content, and your show serves as a premium example of exceptional fan service which satisfies the nostalgic cravings of many who fell in love with video games but particularly those who never became disenchanted with their mystical appeal. Like a reflection through time echoing long promised hype of exciting future adventures, the Lady Decade Show fulfils the primordial urges of an insatiable outcome which many fondly dreamed of - yet that never fully transpired...

Doodle Pigeon! XD All that aside, I would love to hear you cover the Fatal Frame/Project Zero franchise.