How long did the Genesis really seem to last?

[Why-Disciple]

I was born in 1990, so I missed most of the hype for games when they came out (two years old when Sonic 2 was released), so now that I look at the facts, it didn't seem like the Genesis had a long lifespan. It came out in late 1989 and was succeeded by consoles that came out in 95, meaning it was only alive and well for about five years, maybe less, considering it didn't catch on immediately when it was released- it seems it only got popular with Sonic. And five years is how long the PS3 and 360 have been out by now, and they're still going strong. Did those five years go by quickly for you guys? Also, it seems like Sonic was just a short fad, now that I think about it. Sonic 1 came out in 91, followed by sequels in 92 and 94, and that's pretty much it. Sonic was only good for 3-4 years. But it seems so much happened in that short time, like the MK controversy and all the sequels that came out a year after the originals (now it takes at least two years for a sequel). So what do you guys think? Did the Genesis really last that long?

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Well you could still walk into just about any department store in 2000 and get a Genesis 3 in the US. So I'd say yes it did last long. Even if Saturn and PS1 came out in 1995 people were still playing 16 bit consoles for a good time after that.

[ItellYaHuat]

Well you could still walk into just about any department store in 2000 and get a Genesis 3 in the US. So I'd say yes it did last long. Even if Saturn and PS1 came out in 1995 people were still playing 16 bit consoles for a good time after that.

True. I remember still playing the NES, Super NES, and Genesis right before the dawn of the new millennium wherever I went (I didn't own any of those at that point).

[GeckoYamori]

Seems to be plenty of conflicting views on this. I've read magazine articles that practically regarded it as dying in 1993 (retrospective articles, not ones actually from 93).

[beigemore]

I played Genesis and SNES a lot up until around 1996 when N64 came out (got a PS1 soon after that). I still bought the occasional game for the SNES, but I traded a lot of my old games in for store credit to purchase the N64 (ended up hating that system). They were pretty much on a steep decline at that point, but you could still walk into any store that sold video games and have a massive library to choose from for either system.

I believe Microsoft (maybe Sony too) said they want the 360 to have about a 10 year lifespan. That's insanely long in terms of technology. They do spend a ton of money developing the consoles, though, and they want to squeeze as much use out of them as they can to give them time to make their money back from software sales and give them time to develop the next great console.

Back when the old consoles were released, they typically had sub-par hardware compared to the arcade games. Now the consoles, when released, much higher end specs, comparatively.

[knight7of7gold7]

I remember kids at school back in 1997 and 1998 still playing and enjoying Genesis for what that's worth.

[Lastcallhall]

From what I remember (my childhood was the 8-16 bit eras), Things with SEGA peaked around '93 and '94, and that's when the 32x was starting to be tossed around. I'll agree with others that I do remember seeing model 3's sitting on the shelves of KB Toys and Toys R Us around '98-'99, but they weren't the most prominently featured items (the PS1 by far had the most shelf space). They were more of a novelty item, kind of like the plug and play systems of the mid 2000's. I'd guess their actual run was more like '89-'97, with things trickling to a halt in 1998. that's 9 good years - not bad at all.

[Ecco]

Well the Genesis life-span did seem surprisingly short, even at the time.


But you have to understand the whole gritty context. Growing up, the NES was the 1st big video game system in the US. (At the peak, 1 out of 4 households had an NES, IIRC.) Sure there was Atari etc. before that, but none ever got so big as the NES. It was like videogames themselves were a new invention, as it seemed to us kids.

The NES lasted for years, like maybe 8 years? Nintendo kept it going even after the SNES came out. So when the 16-bit wars erupted between the SNES and Genesis, I expected the 16-bit generation to also last a long time, like the 8-bit NES generation did. It was a surprise when the 16-bit generation died in just a few years.

Also when at its peak, the Genesis seemed like it would just last forever. Sonic 1 was still hot and Sonic 2 brought Sega ahead of Nintendo for the 1st time ever! Sega seemed like it would make awesome games for years.

But for me the decline started soon after Sonic 2. Then came Sonic Spinball (awful), then Sonic 3 (good but short as a stand-alone game). S&K was great but never played it at the time, after those 2 disappointing titles, plus the Genesis was already in decline of popularity, at that point, and other systems were getting bigger already.

Plus the 32X was a late add-on that went nowhere, then the Saturn was out and all support for the Genesis was suddenly over.

So yeah, I was surprised how fast it was over. In retrospect Sega should have continued support for the Genesis, like Nintendo kept the SNES going a couple more years.

Strangely the Genesis' peak seemed right before its decline. At the peak Sega was pushing the Sega CD and Game Gear alongside the Genesis. Also Sega Channel was a cool late product that showed how the Genesis could have kept going, if Sega had chosen so. The Sega Channel could have easily been continued; as it was I think it only went for like a year...

[Silanda]

In my mind it lasted until '96 in the UK although it was still on the market for a couple of years after. Quality releases quickly started drying up in '95 though, and by the end of that year there was very little to look forward to on the system. The only really high profile release I can think of in '96 was Sonic 3D, but by then virtually everyone seemed to have lost interest in the system.

[QuickSciFi]

With the advent of the fifth generation (95-97), there was a big drop in the number of friends/family members I had who played the Genny anymore. Some of them still had them, but just tucked it away in the closet out of peer pressure or whatever the crap mainstream does to the lesser of mind. I know I can only speak for myself, though. I don't know how it was with you guys. It's true that well into the year 2000 you could still buy a Nomad for $50 or a Model 3 for $20 at your local Toys R Us. Kay B Toys still sold new and old genny titles well into the early 2000s and even "gamestop" (actually, it was Electronics Boutique and Babbages on my side of the world) still sold their pre-owned genny merchandise. I still have some of my 0.30 cent titles I bought there between 02-03.

But if you really want to know,

The Genesis will never die!

[TrekkiesUnite118]

My friends and I were still playing NES, Genesis and SNES well into 1998. My one friend and I had gotten a Saturn around 1996 or 1997, whenever they were doing the 3 Free games deal. But our 16 bit systems still got played heavily.

[salsays]

I know for myself and a few friends we were still playing the Genesis into 1999 and when the Dreamcast came out thats when we started playing it not as much. I ignored the Saturn and PS1 era to an extent only so I could pick up many of the Genesis games I could not get earlier.

[Thenewguy]

it didn't seem like the Genesis had a long lifespan. It came out in late 1989 and was succeeded by consoles that came out in 95, meaning it was only alive and well for about five years, maybe less, considering it didn't catch on immediately when it was released

Five years isn't really that abnormal for a console lifespan to be honest, a lot of consoles had heydays that lasted around that length, if anything I'd say that lifespans are just getting longer as time goes on.

Also, it seems like Sonic was just a short fad, now that I think about it. Sonic 1 came out in 91, followed by sequels in 92 and 94, and that's pretty much it. Sonic was only good for 3-4 years.

No, if Sonic was a fad then it was a bloody long lasting one, even bad recent Sonic games sell over 1 million copies.

Both Sonic Adventure games were very successful, SA2:Battle was one of the biggest selling and most popular Gamecube games during the 1st few years of the console's lifespan, and it surpassed both Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles in sales.

[kool kitty89]

I was born in 1990, so I missed most of the hype for games when they came out (two years old when Sonic 2 was released), so now that I look at the facts, it didn't seem like the Genesis had a long lifespan. It came out in late 1989 and was succeeded by consoles that came out in 95, meaning it was only alive and well for about five years, maybe less, considering it didn't catch on immediately when it was released- it seems it only got popular with Sonic. And five years is how long the PS3 and 360 have been out by now, and they're still going strong. Did those five years go by quickly for you guys? Also, it seems like Sonic was just a short fad, now that I think about it. Sonic 1 came out in 91, followed by sequels in 92 and 94, and that's pretty much it. Sonic was only good for 3-4 years. But it seems so much happened in that short time, like the MK controversy and all the sequels that came out a year after the originals (now it takes at least two years for a sequel). So what do you guys think? Did the Genesis really last that long?

It went more or less like with many other generational consoles in the top bracket of popularity:

Initially niche and in the higher-end bracket (more so since Nintendo had a near monopoly in the US at that point).

Later bursts out into mainstream with a lower price point, established library of older games, and fresh, new killer apps that sell the system like never before. (that was late 1991 through 1992 for the Genesis -sort of like the PSX in late '96 through 1997)

Followed by that you reached a peak in popularity with strong 1st/2nd and 3rd party support (albeit in the US, there was the 1993-1996 slump that had a significant impact on the market).

Then you've got declining hardware sales while software generally stays higher (declines more slowly) with high profit margins but lower volumes.

Then you've got the shift to the late-gen and eventually budget market with more moderate advertizing and few new games (especially 1st party) with lots of re-releases and the nextgen system coming to the forefront.
At least that's what SHOULD have happened . . . but Sega pulled that too rapidly in '96 and lost a lot of the late gen profits. (halted production some time in '96, ran out of stock in 1997 -and that's when Majesco stepped in to push ahead in the budget market, albeit in a weaker position than Sega could have and a bit late to the game -and also hindered by 32x and Saturn mishaps prior to that)

But in any case, it was still being sold at least until 2000, but all re-releases by that point and relatively low-key (also much cheaper than the still more expensive SNES).

And of course, you had many people who had the Genesis as their main system into the late 90s (if not later), and a fair amount who didn't get one (or an SNES) until the late 90s either at a budget price new, or used. (likely with a mix of used and new games)

My family was among the latter: got an SNES Christmas of 1996 iirc and didn't get another console until Christmas of 1999 with the N64. (prior to that it was all NES -and PC- and most of my friends were still prominently playing the NES into the mid/late 90s even if they had an SNES, Genesis, or even N64, and a few of them has NES2s so got it really late)

I think Appolloboy's family didn't get an SNES until 1997, so even later still, and I've got plenty of other anecdotes like that. (seems like almost a 1/3 of the market might be in that category -late gen/budget users-)

True. I remember still playing the NES, Super NES, and Genesis right before the dawn of the new millennium wherever I went (I didn't own any of those at that point).

Yep, same here, except we had an NES since ~1990 and got an SNES at the end of '96. (and kept playing the NES into the early 2000s when the connector wore out and it went in storage until a couple years ago -though mosft of my friends with N64s -some with PSXs or PS2s- seemed to play the NES rather infrequently at that point, but still play the SNES or Genesis a bit more -or at least have it hooked up; in our case the SNES never went away -it's been hooked up pretty much continually for the last 9 years and same for the N64 and GC since we got those in '99 and ~2003 -the NES probably would have been too if it hadn't stopped working)

Well you could still walk into just about any department store in 2000 and get a Genesis 3 in the US. So I'd say yes it did last long. Even if Saturn and PS1 came out in 1995 people were still playing 16 bit consoles for a good time after that.

Yep, the lower profile late-gen market. Not as glamorous by far, but highly profitable for almost every platform to get into that category with a strong existing userbase and library of software. (again, something Sega squandered and screwed up with decisions made from '95 onward -and made worse by the 32x/Saturn mess)

But thanks to Majesco stepping in and licensing North American distribution, the Genesis at least got half-decent late-gen support for the budget market. (as did the GG -though that shouldn't have been budget or relied on old games, it should have been fully supported by Sega . . . )

Seems to be plenty of conflicting views on this. I've read magazine articles that practically regarded it as dying in 1993 (retrospective articles, not ones actually from 93).

If by dying you mean "past its peak", then that's generally true AFIK, but far from "dead" as such. (any more than the NES died in 1991 or PSX died in 2000/2001, etc)
The articles you find in 1993 sometimes point to the "slump" on the market with rather significant drops in sales in '93 for Nintendo and Sega (and the market as a whole in the US) that deepened in 1994 and didn't recover until late 1996 with the start of the boom for the 5th gen market. (in that period, Nintendo managed to push a resurgence in the SNES from late 1994 onward -the fruition of plans starting in '93 for a strong push for newer and better software on the SNES: the same thing Sega attempted to address with the 32x in part -also an attempt to curb the threats of the Jaguar and 3DO that seemed very real in 1993 and part of 1994)

Actually that "slump" probably hurt the Jaguar and 3DO a fair bit too: the worst possible time to push out new consoles really. (especially expensive ones)

[retrospiel]

I remember that by the release of Sonic 1 Sega really took off. Other than what most people seem to think, this was not because of Sonic alone. Sonic did A LOT to help boost Sega's popularity, but I clearly remember that right before Sonic came there already were games like Castle of Illusion, Moonwalker, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Thunder Force, Revenge of Shinobi, Golden Axe, Mystic Defender, Forgotten Worlds, Alex Kidd, Wonderboy in Monsterworld, Phantasy Star, etc. pp. - all of these (and the hardware itself - both in architecture and design) contributed to Sega's reputation as a quality brand in gaming.
By late 1993 though, Sega was loosing credibility rapidly - with gamers, mass media and parents equally, until in 1995 people didn't give a damn anymore. Nintendo was back and Sony the next big thing.

All in all I'd say Sega had two or three big years but that's it.