SEGA Console: the Mega Drive/ Genesis 1 (MD 1)

Ah... the Mega Drive reminds me about the "bit war", where the video game industry's key players were competing to win the American market.

It was not a straight forward race where each company keeps on coming up with a better console, but the was also a marketing war. 

One of the few terms related to the MD was "blast processor" which was said to be one of MD's advantage against Nintendo's console at the time, the SNES.

Also SEGA started to use the popular statement: SEGA does what Nintendon't.

Well, the SEGA MD 1 was first released in 1988 in Japan and reached American shores a year later. Although initially named as SEGA Mark V while under development, it was later introduced as the MEGA DRIVE (Japanese market) and GENESIS (American market). It is SEGA's most successful console to date. 

I got mine from a local seller at the price of ~RM200 (USD40). It's a boxed console, but just like most of my stuff, the thing looks worn and old.

But like I said before, I like old things that look their age. I like my consoles having all their war scars. Plus I need cash to buy other consoles, haha.

Regardless, I was very happy to have obtained this set. As a child growing up, I have heard about SEGA's MD but have never played any of them.

Specifications

• Video/Audio: Composite with Mono. The console also has an audio jack for speakers/headphones with a volume dial. The end of the video cable that you slot in the console's port has thick metal points

• Controllers: the original controller was first release with 3 buttons A, B and C, a Start button and a D-Pad
• The D-Pad is very comfortable and in my opinion is the best D-Pad ever
• Later a 6-button version of the controller which is also smaller was released
• Both controllers are detachable, and the cables are of good length circa 2 meters
• The controllers can also be used with an ATARI 2600 and a Collecovision

• Extra controller port: None, but other accessories can be connected through the controller port
• Power Supply: Mine is an NTSC-J version which should've come with a 110v adaptor, but the seller changed it with a 240v one.
• Media: 16-bit cartridges
• Game save capabilities: None, but some games do offer passwords in between levels to mark your progress

Main Console

Here's what the main console looks like:

The picture above is the back part of the console. If you are observant you can see that the left most port looks like a controller port but it's not. This port is common in Japanese MDs and it is to accommodate rare peripheral accessories and I heard can also accommodate a modem (? honestly I'm not very sure about this).

The picture above is the front part of the console featuring the audio jack (left most) and 2 controller ports (right).

According to Wikipedia a  total of 897 games were officially released for the MD. I guess with Nintendo not allowing game developers which have developed games for it to make any for rival consoles, SEGA had to rely on making games for its own consoles with aid from other smaller developers: Games in the Genesis can never be expected to be found in the SNES and vice versa. You can get the full list of MD games here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sega_Genesis_games

Another thing worth mentioning is how SEGA MD cartridges are sold: inside a really cool looking plastic case:

This is Contra Hard Corps sold for the MD.

Aaaand when you open up the plastic case:

This is how big he MD's actual cartridge is compared to the NES:

Well, that's all for now from me about the MD. It's really worth having one. The MD/ Genesis also has other updated versions which I will post later. 

If you wanna know more about the MD/ Genesis, these are useful sites:

https://segaretro.org/Sega_Mega_Drive#Technical_specifications

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Genesis

Please give me your feedback, or if you want me to help you find an MD, you can leave a comment below. Thanks, Game Doc leaving the building.... seeya.