Jason’s babblings.

Yesterday was a significant day in an industry that defined my childhood and inspired me to be what I am today. The original Sega Genesis turned 20.

October 29, 1988 - The Sega Mega Drive was released in Japan to a relatively unimpressed crowd. NEC’s PC Engine had already been released and had gained significant headway in the market. Sega’s 16-bit system couldn’t close the gap, especially after Nintendo’s Super Famicom showed up on the scene.

January 9, 1989 - Sega re-branded and released its system as the Genesis in the United States. It was the first 16-bit system to be released in the US and gained a decent market, advertising its vague “Blast Processing” as a key feature in the system. In 1991, Nintendo released the Super NES, which, like in Japan, came out ahead in the console wars, due to its dominance in the 8-bit market.

Spring 1994 - We received a hand-me-down Genesis with a few games from my grandpa. As the first real game system I owned, this donation fertilized the seedling that would become my obsession with video games. That opened my interest in how the games were made, which naturally lead me to making my own games with anything that was programmable: BASIC on our computer, TI Calculators, final projects in classes, etc. Over time my drive to make games has waned, but my obsession with them has not.

Happy B-Day, Sega Genesis. Sonic 3 & Knuckles will forever remain my favorite stackable game featuring an animal whose species name I still can’t pronounce to this day.