Mega CD/Sega CD system worldwide sales figures.

[Mega Drive Bowlsey]

Even in 1995 the PS software began to pile up in the software charts in the Europe and that's all retail and 3rd parties will look at and care about, That was the key. SEGA Europe and America though the below £200 price point would win it, outright for them (regardless of the software). They got it badly wrong on the price or in how people weren't mugs and could see the 32X wasn't going to offer the true 32 Bit experience and buy 1996 nobody was looking for a cheap underpowered add on for their next gen needs, never mind the Cart format was a huge step backwards too.

Nintendo didn't think so.

[McValdemar]

Sorry to bring up an old post but reading on an interview with Joe Miller, he states that they sold almost 6 millions of MegaCD.

"One of them was to see if we could leverage the existing Genesis as a base and then add capability to it. Frankly, we had done as much with the Sega CD, an add-on that had started, literally, as a sit-underneath platform, and that added new capability. It added a color layer; it added audio and a bunch of other capabilities, and we sold around six million of those. The installed base for the Genesis at that time was something less than 40 million, so we felt that model had some merit, because it kept our customers from having to discard an existing platform that they had made an investment in already. "

i don't think he would confuse so much the numbers. For instance, the one of almost 40 millions of MegaDrive is considered correct.

https://web.archive.org/web/20131202...ew-joe-miller/

[Mega Drive Bowlsey]

Sorry to bring up an old post but reading on an interview with Joe Miller, he states that they sold almost 6 millions of MegaCD.

"One of them was to see if we could leverage the existing Genesis as a base and then add capability to it. Frankly, we had done as much with the Sega CD, an add-on that had started, literally, as a sit-underneath platform, and that added new capability. It added a color layer; it added audio and a bunch of other capabilities, and we sold around six million of those. The installed base for the Genesis at that time was something less than 40 million, so we felt that model had some merit, because it kept our customers from having to discard an existing platform that they had made an investment in already. "

i don't think he would confuse so much the numbers. For instance, the one of almost 40 millions of MegaDrive is considered correct.

https://web.archive.org/web/20131202...ew-joe-miller/

Thanks McValdemar, that's interesting. So once again there is the oft quoted 6 million figure. In terms of being an add-on, an expensive one at that, I think the ratio of 40 million Mega Drives sold versus 6 million Mega CD units sounds about right.

[Team Andromeda]

Thanks McValdemar, that's interesting. So once again there is the oft quoted 6 million figure. In terms of being an add-on, an expensive one at that, I think the ratio of 40 million Mega Drives sold versus 6 million Mega CD units sounds about right.

I'm pretty sure that figure was debunked in Famitsu; Where the actual hardware sales of the Mega/Sega CD were just under 3 million. Even then, that is a great figure for an add-on and a hugely expensive one at that. Sadly like Kinect shows, it's not just about hardware sales, but software sales and software support and that's what really cost the Mega CD in contrast to the PC-Engine CD-Rom. SEGA Japan more or less turned their back on the system and didn't give it the full support it really should have

When used the Mega CD was so much more capable than the PC-Eng CD-Rom2, base Mega Drive and SNES

[McValdemar]

Did we ever have any evidence from serial numbers of the MegaCD? Are we able today to read them correctly and find out from them? I mean, a gap between 2.6 and 6 should be easy to prove...

[McValdemar]

I'm pretty sure that figure was debunked in Famitsu; Where the actual hardware sales of the Mega/Sega CD were just under 3 million. Even then, that is a great figure for an add-on and a hugely expensive one at that. Sadly like Kinect shows, it's not just about hardware sales, but software sales and software support and that's what really cost the Mega CD in contrast to the PC-Engine CD-Rom. SEGA Japan more or less turned their back on the system and didn't give it the full support it really should have

When used the Mega CD was so much more capable than the PC-Eng CD-Rom2, base Mega Drive and SNES

Definitely, my judgment on Mega CD is absolutely positive.
Over 200 games in 4 life years of what is an add-on and not a console is absolutely solid. Pricey it was but was adding much more.
Only mistakes I see is:
- the way was promoted
- the fact that we didn't see more push from SEGA with ports of Super Scaler coinops that actually was perfectly fitting. For the rest, given the excellent games we had with that, I am super happy with it.

Less positive is my judgment of 32x.

But I am really curious about numbers because I don't think Miller could have made such big mistake. In 2013, when he gave this interview, he was quite right with 40 millions of MDrive (and if you remember for years smaller numbers were reported by Wikpedia and website) so, if he states 6 millions, there might be some truth there...

[Team Andromeda]

Definitely, my judgment on Mega CD is absolutely positive.
Over 200 games in 4 life years of what is an add-on and not a console is absolutely solid. Pricey it was but was adding much more.
Only mistakes I see is:
- the way was promoted
- the fact that we didn't see more push from SEGA with ports of Super Scaler coinops that actually was perfectly fitting. For the rest, given the excellent games we had with that, I am super happy with it.

Less positive is my judgment of 32x.

But I am really curious about numbers because I don't think Miller could have made such big mistake. In 2013, when he gave this interview, he was quite right with 40 millions of MDrive (and if you remember for years smaller numbers were reported by Wikpedia and website) so, if he states 6 millions, there might be some truth there...

Perfectly summed up. The system is after the Saturn my fav gaming machine, it added so much more to what the base Mega Drive could do. SEGA Japan really could have done so much better and really should have had Outrun, Super Hang-On, Space Harrier, AB II, GF II on the system using the ASIC chip and with Arcade perfect music, and Arcade quality sound effects. I also feel Sonic CD needed to show off the Asic and PCM chips far more, we should have had scaling and rotating bosses and PCM sound effects throughout the game.

I used to use the 6 million sales myself tbh, when Nintendo fans would bang on about the SEGA so-called flops (looking over the N64 DD), but then someone posted a detailed sales chart from I think Famitsu and so wasn't so sure. But whatever it sold in decent numbers, but development support let it down, along with SEGA Japan. I love the Mega-CD, don't have a lot of time for the Gear Gear or 32X myself

[zyrobs]

Did we ever have any evidence from serial numbers of the MegaCD? Are we able today to read them correctly and find out from them? I mean, a gap between 2.6 and 6 should be easy to prove...

I didn't do any analysis on mega cd serials yet but just looking at the images I have, 2.6 million seems closer to the truth.

[McValdemar]

Perfectly summed up. The system is after the Saturn my fav gaming machine, it added so much more to what the base Mega Drive could do. SEGA Japan really could have done so much better and really should have had Outrun, Super Hang-On, Space Harrier, AB II, GF II on the system using the ASIC chip and with Arcade perfect music, and Arcade quality sound effects. I also feel Sonic CD needed to show off the Asic and PCM chips far more, we should have had scaling and rotating bosses and PCM sound effects throughout the game.

I used to use the 6 million sales myself tbh, when Nintendo fans would bang on about the SEGA so-called flops (looking over the N64 DD), but then someone posted a detailed sales chart from I think Famitsu and so wasn't so sure. But whatever it sold in decent numbers, but development support let it down, along with SEGA Japan. I love the Mega-CD, don't have a lot of time for the Gear Gear or 32X myself

Well, in any case MegaCD is still the first CD based console/addon to be relevant on the market passing the million of units sold.
5 years of lifespan is what is today a lifecycle for a console.
And having esclusives (when released) titles like the best Sonic 2D ever, the two Lunar games, the best version by far of Final Fight, the only official western version of Snatcher, the followup of Musha Aleste, Keyo, etc... is something to go quite proud.
Also let's not forget the impact of CD games and CD sound. The latter, when you have compositions like the ones for ECCO, bring the audio to another planet.
And many CD games, even if today are laughable, have been seminal back then.
Think of how ridiculous is a 7th Guest game but, historically, have been influencial almost as a Doom.
And having the possibility to run at home stuff like Dragon's Lair, Sewer Shark, Mansion of Hidden Souls (fantastic atmosfere), Secret of Monkey Island, Iron Helix, Nigh'ts Trap (even recently released for PS4 just to prove how much of an impact it had), etc....
...to me shows a fantastic add-on.

Long live to the MegaCD! ;o)

[Black_Tiger]

Well, in any case MegaCD is still the first CD based console/addon to be relevant on the market passing the million of units sold.
5 years of lifespan is what is today a lifecycle for a console.
And having esclusives (when released) titles like the best Sonic 2D ever, the two Lunar games, the best version by far of Final Fight, the only official western version of Snatcher, the followup of Musha Aleste, Keyo, etc... is something to go quite proud.
Also let's not forget the impact of CD games and CD sound. The latter, when you have compositions like the ones for ECCO, bring the audio to another planet.
And many CD games, even if today are laughable, have been seminal back then.
Think of how ridiculous is a 7th Guest game but, historically, have been influencial almost as a Doom.
And having the possibility to run at home stuff like Dragon's Lair, Sewer Shark, Mansion of Hidden Souls (fantastic atmosfere), Secret of Monkey Island, Iron Helix, Nigh'ts Trap (even recently released for PS4 just to prove how much of an impact it had), etc....
...to me shows a fantastic add-on.

Long live to the MegaCD! ;o)

The PC Engine sold over a million CD-ROMs before the Mega-CD even existed. It was so successful that even the Duo system was on the market before the Mega-CD.

The very first CD games were PC Engine. If NEC hadn't pushed the format, CD-ROM software in general would have taken a lot longer to catch on and the Mega-CD would never have happened.

[Team Andromeda]

Well, in any case MegaCD is still the first CD based console/addon to be relevant on the market passing the million of units sold.
5 years of lifespan is what is today a lifecycle for a console.
And having esclusives (when released) titles like the best Sonic 2D ever, the two Lunar games, the best version by far of Final Fight, the only official western version of Snatcher, the followup of Musha Aleste, Keyo, etc... is something to go quite proud.
Also let's not forget the impact of CD games and CD sound. The latter, when you have compositions like the ones for ECCO, bring the audio to another planet.
And many CD games, even if today are laughable, have been seminal back then.
Think of how ridiculous is a 7th Guest game but, historically, have been influencial almost as a Doom.
And having the possibility to run at home stuff like Dragon's Lair, Sewer Shark, Mansion of Hidden Souls (fantastic atmosfere), Secret of Monkey Island, Iron Helix, Nigh'ts Trap (even recently released for PS4 just to prove how much of an impact it had), etc....
...to me shows a fantastic add-on.

Long live to the MegaCD! ;o)

Quite agree, though NEC started to CD revolution going. But SEGA did bring out the Mega CD world wide and for many it would have been the 1st time they saw a CD gaming system that wasn't priced to insane levels like a CDTV.

I agree it had the best 2D Sonic game, it had Hardware rotation that not even the Neo Geo had and blew away Mode 7 . Shane it was never used , but the 3D sections to Batman Returns are like having a classic Sega Coin Up in your home , utterly amazing back in early 93. Lunar is the best RPG ever made and then you have classics like Popfulmail, Rise Of the Dragon, Wing Commander Like you say, even the MD ports were so much better, ECCO sounds like vangelis did the music and the likes of PitFall just sound so much better.

Such a shame SEGA Japan didn't back it more . Viva La Mega CD

[McValdemar]

The PC Engine sold over a million CD-ROMs before the Mega-CD even existed. It was so successful that even the Duo system was on the market before the Mega-CD.

The very first CD games were PC Engine. If NEC hadn't pushed the format, CD-ROM software in general would have taken a lot longer to catch on and the Mega-CD would never have happened.

About SEGA following NEC example I totally agree. MegaCD was designed in competition with that (and very likely as a change of plan from Project Earth/LaserDisk MD).
But about who hit the million I don't agree.
You say it reached the million before December 1991.
In June 1991, after three years of its release, NEC figures where of 500,000 CD systems WORLDWIDE.
So... maybe NEC arrived to 1 million first, but is very close the timeframe where both systems passed the mark.

[Team Andromeda]

About SEGA following NEC example I totally agree. MegaCD was designed in competition with that (and very likely as a change of plan from Project Earth/LaserDisk MD).
But about who hit the million I don't agree.
You say it reached the million before December 1991.
In June 1991, after three years of its release, NEC figures where of 500,000 CD systems WORLDWIDE.
So... maybe NEC arrived to 1 million first, but is very close the timeframe where both systems passed the mark.

I hope you don't watch Top Hat Gaming man LOL. The Mega CD originally was going to be a floppy disc based add-on.

IMO the Mega CD was a much better CD Add on with far more memory and really adding to the base MD with the ASIC GFX chip and PCM sound chip.

When used it was such a capable system. I just wish we got more coin up ports , more point and click games for Lucas Arts and SEGA to have brought out Mega CD versions of Streets of Rage II, Strider, Ghost N Ghouls with new content and kick ass music.

[McValdemar]

Streets of Rage II CD edition would have been fantastic man!

Really is extremely wierd things like the awful porting of Afternburner 3, especially when you see what Core was able to do with the HW.

But if you simply consider the few that were supposed to be out and where announced by 1994, but never finished, these alone would have made this great add-on a stellar add-on:

- Power Drift (perfect for the HW and long waiting for a decent port)
- Dark Seed, I have no mouth Space Quest IV, Police Quest 3, Leisure Suit Larry and King Quest 5 in the adventure department
- Myst and Return to Zork, Shadow of Atlantis in the point and click CD games
- Grandia, Ultima Underworld and YS'4 between RPGs

All these became huge hits when released on other platforms.

[zyrobs]

Streets of Rage II CD edition would have been fantastic man!

On that note, I've seen a bunch of SOR2 hacks a few years back, but has anyone done a Sega CD version that plays as normal but runs with CD Audio music?