Well that really depends on where you live. For some people, it’s the "Genesis" and for others it’s the "Mega Drive". Either way, legend has it that the motherboard was invented by God himself to rival the Devil’s attempt at bringing darkness to the world: the Super Nintendo.
Hand carved by virgins, the sleek black shell is a vision of pure beauty that would stop even a stampede of chavs at a burberry sale dead in their tracks(uits). The control pads were designed by Shaolin Monks, ensuring the fit to your hand was like caressing a new born baby.
Seeing what God had created, Satan unleashed a horrific plan to try and stop this magical creation from taking off. He sent fake instructions to the hordes of pixies and elves that were lovingly wrapping God’s ultimate creation to package the game Altered Beast in with the console! Luckily, God got wind of this evil plan and thwarted evil Satan’s plans by creating the genius that is Sonic The Hedgehog to pack in with his glorious console, thus ensuring Satan’s creation was cast into the depths of hell for all time.
Or…
The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis is Sega’s Mark V console (working title was MK-1601) and is the successor to the 8 bit Sega Master System. It was first released in Japan on October 29th 1988, followed by the North American release -- a little later than scheduled -- on August 14th 1989. It was released under the name "Sega Genesis" in North America due to a trademark dispute. Eventually, two years after the initial release, the Mega Drive was released in Europe on November 30th 1990. Over its lifespan the MegaDrive sold approximately 29 million units worldwide. The add-ons for the unit didn’t sell quite as well; the Mega CD reaching sales of approximately 6 million units worldwide and the 32X an abysmal 200,000.
The Sega Mega Drive had many incarnations and add-ons over its lifespan -quite possibly more than any other console. These ranged from small modifications, such as the EXT port being removed from model 1 consoles, to total design changes such as the Mega Drive II and Majesco’s Genesis 3. The main add-on for the unit was the Mega CD/Sega CD, which enabled the Mega Drive to run CD based games. This too came in two models to fit the Model 1 and 2 Mega Drives, and eventually as a built-in part of the Mega Drive in the form of the Multi-Mega and Wondermega consoles.
The other main add-on was the 32X unit, which unfortunately never really took off. Due to this, Sega decided against releasing the Sega Neptune, which would have been yet another incarnation of the Mega Drive - but with a built in 32X.
On top of all this there was also PC/Mega Drive hybrid units available (Mega PC from Amstrad and the Teradrive) as well as a Mega Drive/Mega CD add-on for the Pioneer Laseractive CLD A-100. There were also numerous releases of Sega’s console in Brazil (licensed by TecToy), some including built-in games - a first for the Megadrive.
Technical Specifications:
- CPU: Motorola 68000 16 bit processor running at 7.67Mhz in NTSC models and 7.61MHz in PAL consoles.
- Main sound chip: Yamaha YM2612 6 channel FM with an additional sound chip Texas Instruments SN76489 4 channel PSG.
- Sound chip: Z80a running at 3.58 Mhz.
- Palette: 512 colours
- Maximum on-screen colours: 64.
- Maximum on-screen sprites: 80.
- Resolution: 320 x 224.
- Outputs: separate RF aerial and RGB outputs, stereo headphone jack (model 1 only).
- 9 pin EXT port (original model 1 only).
- Expansion port on the bottom right-hand side for Mega CD - also used for the DS-16 6 cart store demo unit.
- Two nine-pin DE9 control pad connectors.
