`
`Sega Genesis Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
`
`Sega Genesis
`
`From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
`
`The Sega Genesis, known as the
`Mega Drive (Japanese: メガドラ
`イブ Hepburn: Mega Doraibu) in
`most regions outside North
`America, is a 16bit home video
`game console which was developed
`and sold by Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
`The Genesis was Sega's third
`console and the successor to the
`Master System. Sega first released
`the console as the Mega Drive in
`Japan in 1988, followed by a North
`American debut under the Genesis
`moniker in 1989. In 1990, the
`console was distributed as the
`Mega Drive by Virgin Mastertronic
`in Europe, by Ozisoft in
`Australasia, and by Tec Toy in
`Brazil. In South Korea, the systems
`were distributed by Samsung and
`were known as the Super Gam*Boy
`(Hangul: 수퍼겜보이), and later
`the Super Aladdin Boy (Hangul: 수
`퍼알라딘보이).
`
`Designed by an R&D team
`supervised by Hideki Sato and
`Masami Ishikawa, the Genesis
`hardware was adapted from Sega's
`System 16 arcade board, centered
`on a Motorola 68000 processor as a
`primary CPU and a Zilog Z80 as a
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`Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
`
`Top: Original Japanese Mega Drive
`Bottom: Sega Genesis Model 2
`Other variations are pictured under Variations below
`Manufacturer Sega
`Type
`Home video game console
`Generation
`Fourth generation
`Release date
`JP October 29, 1988
`NA August 14, 1989
`ROK August 1990
`PAL November 30, 1990
`1988 Present
`NA Ongoing (AtGames)
`
`Retail
`availability
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`secondary processor. The system
`supports a library of more than 900
`games created both by Sega and a
`wide array of thirdparty publishers
`and delivered on ROMbased
`cartridges. It can also play Master
`System games when the separately
`sold Power Base Converter is
`installed. The Genesis has benefited
`from several peripherals and
`network services, as well as
`multiple firstparty and thirdparty
`variations of the console that focus
`on extending its functionality.
`
`Discontinued
`
`Units sold
`Media
`CPU
`
`Display
`
`Sega Genesis Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
`EU Ongoing (Blaze Europe)
`BR Ongoing (Tec Toy)
`WW 1997 (Sega)
`NA 1999 (Majesco)
`40 million (est.)
`ROM cartridge
`Motorola 68000 @ 7.6 MHz
`Zilog Z80 @ 3.58 MHz
`Progressive: 320x224 (NTSC) or
`320x240 (PAL) pixels, 512 color
`palette, 61 colors onscreen
`Interlaced: 320x448 (NTSC) or
`320x480 (PAL)
`Yamaha YM2612
`Texas Instruments SN76489A
`Sega Meganet, Sega Channel,
`XBAND
`Sonic the Hedgehog (packin), 15
`million[1]
`Sonic the Hedgehog 2, 6 million[2]
`Backward
`Master System through use of Power
`compatibility
`Base Converter peripheral
`Predecessor Master System
`Successor
`Sega Saturn
`
`In Japan, the Mega Drive did not
`fare well against its two main
`competitors, Nintendo's Super
`Famicom and NEC's PC Engine.
`However, it achieved considerable
`success in North America and in
`Europe, capturing the majority of
`the 16bit market share in several
`territories, including the United
`States and the United Kingdom.
`Contributing to its success were its
`library of arcade game ports, the
`popularity of the Genesisexclusive
`Sonic the Hedgehog series, several
`popular sports game franchises, and
`aggressive youth marketing that
`positioned the system as the cool console for adolescents. Though Sega dominated the
`16bit market in North America and Europe, the release of the Super Nintendo
`Entertainment System two years after the Genesis resulted in a fierce battle for market
`share in those territories that has often been termed as a "console war" by journalists
`and historians.[3][4] As this contest drew increasing attention to the video game
`industry among the general public, the Genesis and several of its highestprofile
`games attracted significant legal scrutiny on matters involving reverse engineering
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`Sound
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`Online
`services
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`and video game violence. Controversy surrounding violent titles such as Night Trap
`and Mortal Kombat led Sega to create the Videogame Rating Council, a predecessor
`to the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
`
`By the end of 1994, when a new generation of 32bit consoles rendered the system
`technologically obsolete, an estimated 29 million Genesis units had been sold
`worldwide, and by the end of its life that number had increased to an estimated total
`of 40 million units. The console and its games continue to be popular among game
`fans, game music fans, collectors, and emulation enthusiasts. As of 2015, licensed
`third party rereleases of the console are still being produced by AtGames in North
`America, Blaze Europe, and Tec Toy in Brazil. Several indie game developers
`continue to produce games for it. Many games have been rereleased in compilations
`for newer consoles and offered for download on various online services, such as Wii
`Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and Steam. The Genesis
`was succeeded by the Sega Saturn.
`
`Contents
`
`1 History
`1.1 Development
`1.2 Launch
`1.3 North American sales and marketing
`1.4 Sonic the Hedgehog
`1.5 Trademark Security System and Sega v. Accolade
`1.6 Videogame Rating Council and Congressional hearings on video game
`violence
`1.7 32bit era and beyond
`2 Technical specifications
`2.1 Peripherals
`2.2 Network services
`3 Game library
`3.1 Sega Virtua Processor
`4 Addons
`4.1 Sega CD
`4.2 Sega 32X
`5 Variations
`5.1 Firstparty models
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`5.2 Thirdparty models
`6 Legacy and revival
`6.1 Rereleases and emulation
`6.2 Later new releases
`7 See also
`8 References
`9 External links
`
`History
`
`See also: History of video games
`Development
`
`In the early 1980s, Sega Enterprises, Inc., then a subsidiary of Gulf
`& Western, was one of the top five arcade game manufacturers
`active in the United States, as company revenues rose to $214
`million.[5] A downturn in the arcade business starting in 1982
`seriously hurt the company, leading Gulf & Western to sell its North
`American arcade manufacturing organization and the licensing rights
`for its arcade games to Bally Manufacturing.[6][7] The company
`retained Sega's North American R&D operation, as well as its Japanese subsidiary,
`Sega of Japan. With its arcade business in decline, Gulf & Western executives turned
`to Sega of Japan's president, Hayao Nakayama, for advice on how to proceed.
`Nakayama advocated that the company leverage its hardware expertise gained
`through years working in the arcade industry to move into the home console market in
`Japan, which was in its infancy at the time.[8]
`
`The original
`Mega Drive
`logo
`
`Nakayama received permission to proceed with this project, leading to the release of
`Sega's first home video game system, the SG1000, in July 1983. The SG1000 was
`not successful, and was replaced by the Sega Mark III within two years.[9] In the
`meantime, Gulf & Western began to divest itself of its noncore businesses after the
`death of company founder Charles Bluhdorn,[10] so Nakayama and former Sega CEO
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`David Rosen arranged a management buyout of the Japanese subsidiary in 1984 with
`financial backing from CSK Corporation, a prominent Japanese software company.
`Nakayama was then installed as CEO of the new Sega Enterprises, Ltd.[11]
`
`In 1986, Sega redesigned the Mark III for release in North America as the Sega
`Master System. This was followed by a European release the next year. Although the
`Master System was a success in Europe, and later also Brazil, it failed to ignite
`significant interest in the Japanese or North American markets, which, by the midto
`late 1980s, were both dominated by Nintendo.[12][13][14] With Sega continuing to have
`difficulty penetrating the home market, Sega's console R&D team, led by Hideki Sato
`and Masami Ishikawa, began work on a successor to the Master System almost
`immediately after that console launched.[15][16]
`
`In 1987, Sega faced another threat to its console business when Japanese computer
`giant NEC released the PC Engine amid great publicity.[17] To remain competitive
`against the two more established consumer electronics companies, Ishikawa and his
`team decided they needed to incorporate a 16bit microprocessor into their new
`system to make an impact in the marketplace and once again turned to Sega's
`strengths in the arcade industry to adapt the successful Sega System 16 arcade board
`into a home console architecture.[16][18] The decision to use a Motorola 68000 as the
`system's main CPU was made late in development, while a Zilog Z80 was used as a
`secondary CPU to handle the sound due to fears that the load to the main CPU would
`be too great if it handled both the visuals and the audio.[16]
`
`First announced in June 1988 in Beep!, a Japanese gaming magazine, the developing
`console was referred to as the "Mark V," but Sega management felt the need for a
`stronger name. After reviewing more than 300 proposals, the company settled on
`"Mega Drive." In North America, the name of the console was changed to "Genesis."
`The reason for this change is not known, but it may have been due to a trademark
`dispute.[18]
`Launch
`
`Sega released the Mega Drive in Japan on October 29, 1988, though the launch was
`overshadowed by Nintendo's release of Super Mario Bros. 3 a week earlier. Positive
`coverage from magazines Famitsu and Beep! helped to establish a following, but Sega
`only managed to ship 400,000 units in the first year. In order to increase sales, Sega
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`released various peripherals and games, including an online banking system and
`answering machine called the Sega Mega Anser.[18] Nevertheless, the Mega Drive
`was unable to overtake the venerable Famicom[19] and remained a distant third in
`Japan behind Nintendo's Super Famicom and NEC's PC Engine throughout the 16bit
`era.[20]
`
`Sega announced a North American release date for the system on January 9, 1989.[21]
`At the time, Sega did not possess a North American sales and marketing organization
`and was distributing its Master System through Tonka. Dissatisfied with Tonka's
`performance, Sega looked for a new partner to market the Genesis in North America
`and offered the rights to Atari Corporation, which did not yet have a 16bit system.
`David Rosen made the proposal to Atari CEO Jack Tramiel and the president of
`Atari's Entertainment Electronics Division, Michael Katz. Tramiel declined to acquire
`the new console, deeming it too expensive, and instead opted to focus on the Atari ST.
`Sega decided to launch the console through its own Sega of America subsidiary,
`which executed a limited launch on August 14, 1989, in New York City and Los
`Angeles. The Sega Genesis was released in the rest of North America later that
`year.[22]
`
`The European version of the console was released on November 30, 1990. Building
`on the success of the Master System, the Mega Drive became the most popular
`console in Europe. Since the Mega Drive was already two years old at the time of its
`release in the region, more games were available at launch compared to the launches
`in other regions. The ports of arcade titles like Altered Beast, Golden Axe and Ghouls
`'n Ghosts, available in stores at launch, provided a strong image of the console's
`power to deliver an arcadelike experience.[3] The release of the Mega Drive in
`Europe was handled by Virgin Mastertronic, which was later purchased by Sega in
`1991 and became Sega of Europe.[23]
`
`Other companies assisted in distributing the console to various countries worldwide.
`Ozisoft handled the Mega Drive's launch and marketing in Australia, as it had done
`before with the Master System.[24] In Brazil, the Mega Drive was released by Tec Toy
`in 1990,[25] only a year after the Brazilian release of the Master System. Tec Toy also
`produced games exclusively for the Brazilian market and began a network service for
`the system called Sega Meganet in 1995.[26] In India, Sega entered a distribution deal
`with Shaw Wallace in Spring 1995 in order to circumvent an 80% import tariff, with
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`
`each unit selling for INR₹18,000.[27][28] Samsung handled sales and distribution of
`the console in Korea, where it was renamed the "Super Gam*Boy" and retained the
`Mega Drive logo alongside the Samsung name.[29] It was later renamed "Super
`Aladdin Boy."[30]
`North American sales and marketing
`
`For the North American market, former Atari Corporation Entertainment Electronics
`Division president and new Sega of America CEO Michael Katz instituted a twopart
`approach to build sales in the region. The first part involved a marketing campaign to
`challenge Nintendo headon and emphasize the more arcadelike experience available
`on the Genesis,[31] summarized by slogans including "Genesis does what
`Nintendon't".[18] Since Nintendo owned the console rights to most arcade games of
`the time, the second part involved creating a library of instantlyrecognizable titles
`which used the names and likenesses of celebrities and athletes such as Pat Riley
`Basketball, Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf, James 'Buster' Douglas Knockout
`Boxing, Joe Montana Football, Tommy Lasorda Baseball, Mario Lemieux Hockey,
`and Michael Jackson's Moonwalker.[17][32] Nonetheless, it had a hard time
`overcoming Nintendo's ubiquitous presence in consumers' homes.[33] Tasked by
`Nakayama to sell one million units within the first year, Katz and Sega of America
`managed to sell only 500,000 units.[18]
`
`In mid1990, Nakayama hired Tom Kalinske to replace Katz as CEO of Sega of
`America. Although Kalinske initially knew little about the video game market, he
`surrounded himself with industrysavvy advisors. A believer in the razor and blades
`business model, he developed a fourpoint plan: cut the price of the console, create a
`U.S.based team to develop games targeted at the American market, continue and
`expand the aggressive advertising campaigns, and replace the bundled game Altered
`Beast with a new title, Sonic the Hedgehog.[33] The Japanese board of directors
`initially disapproved of the plan,[34] but all four points were approved by Nakayama,
`who told Kalinske, "I hired you to make the decisions for Europe and the Americas,
`so go ahead and do it."[18] Magazines praised Sonic as one of the greatest games yet
`made, and Sega's console finally took off as customers who had been waiting for the
`SNES decided to purchase a Genesis instead.[33] Nintendo's console debuted against
`an established competitor, while NEC's TurboGrafx16 failed to gain traction, and
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`
`NEC soon pulled out of the market.[35] In large part due to the popularity of this
`game, the Sega Genesis outsold the Super Nintendo in the United States nearly two to
`one during the 1991 holiday season. This success led to Sega having control of 65%
`of the 16bit console market in January 1992, making it the first time Nintendo was
`not the console leader since December 1985.[36]
`
`To compete with Nintendo Sega was more open to new types of games than its rival,
`but still tightly controlled the approval process for thirdparty games and charged high
`prices for cartridge manufacturing.[37] Technicians from American thirdparty video
`game publisher Electronic Arts (EA) reverse engineered the Genesis in 1989,[38]
`following nearly one year of negotiations with Sega in which EA requested a more
`liberal licensing agreement than was standard in the industry before releasing its
`games for the system.[39] The clean room reverse engineering of the Genesis was led
`by Steve Hayes and Jim Nitchals, lasting several months before EA secretly began
`development of Genesis games.[39] EA founder Trip Hawkins confronted Nakayama
`with this information one day prior to the 1990 Consumer Electronics Show (CES),
`noting that EA had the ability to run its own licensing program if Sega refused to meet
`its demands. Sega relented, and the next day EA's upcoming Genesis games were
`showcased at CES.[39] EA signed what Hawkins described as "a very unusual and
`much more enlightened license agreement" with Sega in June 1990: "Among other
`things, we had the right to make as many titles as we wanted. We could approve our
`own titles ... the royalty rates were a lot more reasonable. We also had more direct
`control over manufacturing."[38] After the deal was in place, EA chief creative officer
`Bing Gordon learned that "we hadn't figured out all the workarounds" and "Sega still
`had the ability to lock us out," noting "It just would have been a public relations
`fiasco."[39] EA released its first two Genesis games, Populous and Budokan: The
`Martial Spirit, within the month.[38] The first Genesis version of EA's John Madden
`Football arrived before the end of 1990,[38] and became what Gordon called a "killer
`app" for the system.[39] Taking advantage of the licensing agreement, Gordon and
`EA's vice president of marketing services Nancy Fong created a visual identifier for
`EA's Genesis cartridges: A yellow stripe on their left side added during
`manufacturing.[39]
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`
`Sega was able to outsell Nintendo four Christmas seasons in a row[40] due to the
`Genesis' head start, a lower price point, and a larger library of games when compared
`to the SNES at its release.[41] Sega had ten games for every game on Super NES, and
`while the Super NES had an exclusive version of Final Fight, one of Sega's internal
`development teams created Streets of Rage, which had bigger levels, tougher enemies,
`and a wellregarded soundtrack.[41] ASCII Entertainment reported in spring 1993 that
`Genesis had 250 titles versus 75 for Super Nintendo, but limited shelf space meant
`that stores typically offered 100 Genesis and 50 Super Nintendo titles. The NES was
`still the leader, with 300 titles and 100 on shelves.[42]
`
`Sega's advertising positioned the Genesis as the cooler console,[41] and as its
`advertising evolved, the company coined the term "blast processing" (the origin of
`which is an obscure programming trick on the console's graphics hardware) to suggest
`that the processing capabilities of the Genesis were far greater than those of the
`SNES.[43][44] A Sony focus group found that teenage boys would not admit to owning
`a Super NES rather than a Genesis.[45] Even with the Genesis often outselling the
`Super NES at a ratio of 2:1,[46] Nintendo and Sega both focused heavily on
`impression management of the market, even going to the point of deception, with
`Nintendo claiming they had sold more consoles in 1991 than they actually had, and
`forecasting they would sell 6 million consoles by the end of 1992, while their actual
`U.S. install base at the end of 1992 was only just more than 4 million units.[47] Due to
`these tactics, it was difficult to ascertain a clear leader in market share for several
`years at a time, with Nintendo's dollar share of the U.S. 16bit market dipping down
`from 60% at the end of 1992 to 37% at the end of 1993,[48] Sega claiming 55% of all
`16bit hardware sales during 1994,[49] and Donkey Kong Country helping the Super
`NES to outsell the Genesis from 1995 through 1997.[40][50][51][52][53] According to a
`2004 study of NPD sales data, the Sega Genesis was able to maintain its lead over the
`Super NES in the American 16bit console market.[54]
`Sonic the Hedgehog
`
`Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (character)
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`While Sega was seeking a flagship series to compete with Nintendo's Mario series
`along with a character to serve as a company mascot, several character designs were
`submitted by its Sega AM8 research and development department. Many results came
`forth from their experiments with character design, including an armadillo (who later
`developed into Mighty the Armadillo), a dog, a Theodore Roosevelt lookalike in
`pajamas (who would later be the basis of Dr. Robotnik/Eggman's design), and a rabbit
`(who would use its extendible ears to collect objects, an aspect later incorporated in
`Ristar).[1][55] Eventually, Naoto Ōshima's spiky teal hedgehog, initially codenamed
`"Mr. Needlemouse", was chosen as the new mascot.[44] The origins of Sonic can be
`traced farther back to a tech demo created by Yuji Naka, who had developed an
`algorithm that allowed a sprite to move smoothly on a curve by determining its
`position with a dot matrix. Naka's original prototype was a platform game that
`involved a fastmoving character rolling in a ball through a long winding tube, and
`this concept was subsequently fleshed out with Oshima's character design and levels
`conceived by designer Hirokazu Yasuhara.[56]
`
`Sonic's blue pigmentation was chosen to match Sega's cobalt blue logo, and his shoes
`were a concept evolved from a design inspired by Michael Jackson's boots with the
`addition of the color red, which was inspired by both Santa Claus and the contrast of
`those colors on Jackson's 1987 album Bad; his personality was based on Bill Clinton's
`"can do" attitude.[1][57][58][59] A group of fifteen people started working on the first
`Sonic the Hedgehog game, and renamed themselves Sonic Team.[60]
`
`Although Katz and Sega of America's marketing experts disliked the idea of Sonic,
`certain that it would not catch on with most American kids,[17][61] Kalinske's strategy
`to place Sonic the Hedgehog as the packin title paid off.[3][62] Featuring speedy
`gameplay, Sonic the Hedgehog greatly increased the popularity of the Sega Genesis in
`North America.[44] Bundling Sonic the Hedgehog with the Sega Genesis is credited
`with helping Sega gain 65% of the market share against Nintendo.[1]
`Trademark Security System and Sega v. Accolade
`
`Main article: Sega v. Accolade
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`After the release of the Sega Genesis in 1989, video game publisher Accolade began
`exploring options to release some of their PC game titles onto the console. At the
`time, Sega had a licensing deal in place for thirdparty developers that increased the
`costs to the developer. According to Accolade cofounder Alan Miller, "One pays
`them between $10 and $15 per cartridge on top of the real hardware manufacturing
`costs, so it about doubles the cost of goods to the independent publisher."[63] To get
`around licensing, Accolade chose to seek an alternative way to bring their games to
`the Genesis. They did so by purchasing one in order to decompile the executable code
`of three Genesis games. Such information was used to program their new Genesis
`cartridges in a way that would allow them to disable the security lockouts on the
`Genesis that prevented unlicensed games from being able to be played.[64][65] This
`strategy was used successfully to bring Ishido: The Way of Stones to the Genesis in
`1990.[66] To do so, Accolade had also copied Sega's copyrighted game code multiple
`times in order to reverse engineer the software of Sega's licensed Genesis
`games.[67][68]
`
`As a result of piracy from foreign countries and
`unlicensed development issues, Sega incorporated a
`technical protection mechanism into a new edition of
`the Genesis released in 1990, referred to as the
`Genesis III. This new variation of the Genesis
`included a code known as the Trademark Security
`System (TMSS), which, when a game cartridge was
`inserted into the console, would check for the
`presence of the string "SEGA" at a particular point in
`the memory contained in the cartridge. If and only if
`the string was present, the console would run the
`game, and would briefly display the message:
`"PRODUCED BY OR UNDER LICENSE FROM SEGA
`ENTERPRISES, LTD."[64] This system had a twofold
`effect: it added extra protection against unlicensed developers and software piracy,
`and it forced the Sega trademark to display when the game was powered up, making a
`lawsuit for trademark infringement possible if unlicensed software were to be
`developed.[65][68] Accolade learned of this development at the Winter Consumer
`Electronics Show in January 1991, where Sega showed the new Genesis III and
`demonstrated it screening and rejecting an Ishido game cartridge.[65] With more
`
`An edition of the original
`model of Genesis, known as
`the Genesis III, was the model
`at the center of Sega v.
`Accolade for its incorporation
`of the Trademark Security
`System (TMSS)
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`games planned for the following year, Accolade successfully identified the TMSS file.
`They later added this file to the games HardBall!, Star Control, Mike Ditka Power
`Football, and Turrican.[65]
`
`In response to the creation of these unlicensed games, Sega filed suit against Accolade
`in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, on charges
`of trademark infringement, unfair competition, and copyright infringement. In
`response, Accolade filed a counterclaim for falsifying the source of its games by
`displaying the Sega trademark when the game was powered up.[67][69] Although the
`district court initially ruled for Sega and issued an injunction preventing Accolade
`from continuing to reverse engineer the Genesis, Accolade appealed the verdict to the
`United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.[70]
`
`As a result of the appeal, the Ninth Circuit overturned the district court's verdict and
`ruled that Accolade's decompilation of the Sega software constituted fair use.[71] The
`court's written opinion followed on October 20, 1992, and noted that the use of the
`software was nonexploitative, although commercial.[64][72] Further, the court found
`that the trademark infringement, being required by the TMSS for a Genesis game to
`run on the system, had been inadvertently triggered by a fair use act and the fault of
`Sega for having caused false labeling.[64] Ultimately, Sega and Accolade settled the
`case on April 30, 1993. As a part of this settlement, Accolade became an official
`licensee of Sega, and later developed and released Barkley Shut Up and Jam! while
`under license.[73] The terms of the licensing, including whether or not any special
`arrangements or discounts were made to Accolade, were not released to the public.[74]
`The financial terms of the settlement were also not disclosed, although both
`companies agreed to pay their own legal costs.[75]
`Videogame Rating Council and Congressional hearings on video
`game violence
`
`Main article: Videogame Rating Council
`
`In 1993, American media began to focus on the mature content of some video games,
`with games like Night Trap for the Sega CD, an addon for the Genesis, receiving
`unprecedented scrutiny. Issues about Night Trap were also brought up in the United
`Kingdom, with former Sega of Europe development director Mike Brogan noting that
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`"Night Trap got Sega an awful lot of publicity ... it was also cited in UK Parliament
`for being classified as "15" due to its use of real actors.[76] This came at a time when
`Sega was capitalizing on its image as an edgy company with attitude, and this only
`served to reinforce that image."[19] The most controversial title of the year by far was
`Midway's Mortal Kombat, ported to the Genesis and SNES by Acclaim. In response
`to public outcry over the game's graphic violence, Nintendo
`decided to replace the blood in the game with "sweat" and the
`arcade's gruesome "fatalities" with less violent finishing
`moves.[77] Sega took a different approach, instituting America's
`first video game ratings system, the Videogame Rating Council
`(VRC), for all of its current systems. Ratings ranged from the
`family friendly GA rating to the more mature rating of MA13,
`and the adultsonly rating of MA17.[77] With the rating system in
`place, Sega released its version of Mortal Kombat, appearing to
`have removed all of the blood and sweat effects and toning down
`the finishing moves even more than in the SNES version.
`However, all of the arcade's blood and uncensored finishing
`moves could be enabled by entering a "Blood Code". This
`technicality allowed Sega to release the game with a relatively low
`MA13 rating.[78] Meanwhile, the tamer SNES version shipped without a rating at
`all.[78]
`
`VRC MA13
`rating, as
`applied to
`Mortal Kombat
`for the Genesis
`
`The Genesis version of Mortal Kombat was well received by gaming press, as well as
`fans, outselling the SNES version three or fourtoone,[77][79][80] while Nintendo was
`criticized for censoring the SNES version of the game.[78] Executive vice president of
`Nintendo of America Howard Lincoln was quick to point out at the hearings that
`Night Trap had no such rating, saying to Senator Joe Lieberman:
`
`Furthermore, I can't let you sit here and buy this nonsense that this Sega Night Trap game
`was somehow only meant for adults. The fact of the matter is this is a copy of the packaging.
`There was no rating on this game at all when the game was introduced. Small children
`bought this at Toys "R" Us, and he knows that as well as I do. When they started getting
`heat about this game, then they adopted the rating system and put ratings on it.[77]
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`In response, Sega of America vice president Bill White showed a videotape of violent
`video games on the SNES and stressed the importance of rating video games. At the
`end of the hearing, Lieberman called for another hearing in February 1994 to check on
`progress toward a rating system for video game violence.[77]
`
`As a result of the Congressional hearings, Night Trap started to generate more sales
`and released ports to the PC, Sega 32X, and 3DO. According to Digital Pictures
`founder Tom Zito, "You know, I sold 50,000 units of Night Trap a week after those
`hearings."[77] Although experiencing increased sales, Sega decided to recall Night
`Trap and rerelease it with revisions in 1994 due to the Congressional hearings.[81]
`After the close of these hearings, video game manufacturers came together to
`establish the rating system that Lieberman had called for. Initially, Sega proposed the
`universal adoption of its own system, but after objections by Nintendo and others,
`Sega took a role in forming a new system. This became the Entertainment Software
`Rating Board, an independent organization that received praise from Lieberman.[77]
`With this new rating system in place, Nintendo decided its censorship policies were
`no longer needed, and the SNES port of Mortal Kombat II was released
`uncensored.[78]
`32bit era and beyond
`
`In order to extend the life of the Genesis, Sega released two addons to increase the
`capabilities of the system: a CDbased peripheral known as the Sega CD (MegaCD
`outside North America), as well as a 32bit peripheral known as the Sega 32X.[62] By
`the end of 1994, the Genesis had sold 29 million units worldwide, including 14
`million in the United States, 3.5 million in Japan, 2.1 million in the United Kingdom,
`and 800,000 in Germany. Its addons were less successful, with the Sega CD selling
`2.7 million units worldwide by this time and the 32X selling 665,000 units.[82]
`
`Following the launch of the nextgeneration 32bit Sony PlayStation and the Sega
`Saturn, sales of 16bit hardware and software continued to account for 64% of the
`video game market in 1995.[83] However, Sega underestimated the continued
`popularity of the Genesis and did not have the inventory to meet demand for the
`product.[83][84] Sega was able to capture 43% of the dollar share of the U.S. video
`game market and sell more than 2 million Genesis units in 1995, while Genesis
`software such as Vectorman remained highly successful. Kalinske estimated that "we
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`could have sold another 300,000 Genesis systems in the Nove