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The version I played was the CDX, which bizarrely you could put batteries in and carry around like a Discman: https://retroconsoles.fandom.com/wiki/Sega_CDX/Mul

The version I played was the CDX, which bizarrely you could put batteries in and carry around like a Discman: https://retroconsoles.fandom.com/wiki/Sega_CDX/Multi-Mega https://retroconsoles.fandom.com/wiki/Sega_CDX/Multi-Mega

lostgame 4y ago
It was also notable for being a miniature but combined SEGA CD and SEGA Genesis. IIRC it did not officially support the 32X, but it did work?
- ajmurmann 4y ago
  It's incredible how many different pieces of hardware Sega released around that time. All these weird permutations of Genesis, Sega CD and 32X with this portable thing and the Nomad and then the Saturn came out right after. I don't know what they were thinking.
  - MBCook 4y ago
    As I know it: The Genesis started losing to the SNES. They thought they could improve/extend it with the Sega CD but that flopped. Nintendo of America realized they needed something better. So they designed the 32X. They later planned to sell a Genesis with one built in, sort of like the CDX. Honestly 32X + Sega CD was pretty good. But Sega is a Japanese company. And Sega of Japan didn’t care for what Sega of America was doing (and possibly wanted to teach them a lesson?). So they basically refused to support the 32X, leading to very few games. To make things worse Sega of Japan had their own solution to the problem, the Saturn. It was further off (this why the 32X made it out), but it got announced. And it was incompatible. Why buy a 32X if it’s going to be obsolete in like a year anyway? So SoJ basically undermined/killed the 32X, though it may not have been a great idea in the first place. Sega found out about Sony and got scared. I believe that’s why the added the second CPU to the Saturn (making it harder to program/more expensive). But they decided to beat everyone to market to see things up with a first mover advantage. So they announced the console officially and said “It’s out today in the US”. That was a huge bombshell no one expected. Not even KB Toys and Toys R Us. They didn’t know and were PISSED. They were responsible for the vast majority of game sales. KB pulled all Sega stuff and stopped selling it. Huge loss. TRU did something too (lack of advertising? Low stock?). Between that, the insane price of $400, and the lack of promotion (it was a surprise launch so no pre-release coverage) the Saturn started in serious trouble and never recovered. Sony, famously, went up to the mic at their press conference, said “$299”, and walked off stage. It was a huge hit. Sony had money (Sega wasn’t doing hot), partners (Sega pissed ‘em all off), a lower price, and Nintendo didn’t come out until later. Nintendo was also expensive to develop (carts) and didn’t have much space (carts). So Sony cleaned everyone’s clocks. (I love video game history. I got to live through such an amazing time)
    - syntheweave 4y ago
      The problem runs a little bit deeper than just what happened in the 90's; Sega of Japan was an arcade-first company, used to designing new hardware on an 18-month cycle, and able to count on a guaranteed market for new titles through their own locations. This tendency helped them make a lot of defining arcade hits in the 80's, but it became an Achilles' heel in all of its console efforts, with three different iterations of the SG-1000 series plus regional variations(Master System) too. When they hit big with the Genesis, they didn't learn to change their hardware strategy to match what the console market needed going forward, so the same mismanaged release cycle resulted, and in a market that was getting bigger and more expensive to stay in, with more and more of the development costs being weighted towards software technologies.
    - hnlmorg 4y ago
      Not to mention the Saturn didn't even have an SDK for the early part of it's life so most of the good early releases were Sega owned studios who were already familiar with the hardware from arcade cabinets. Whereas the Playstation didn't have their own games developers so had to ship an SDK to get 3rd party developers on board (couple that with a few exclusivity deals/bribes) and it's not hard to see why games studios dropped the Saturn.
- MBCook 4y ago
  It worked. I owned both. But they said it didn’t. At least for a while. But it was sort of odd. The 32X didn’t seem too stable since it stuck up so far. I think they later had a piece of plastic they offered (in box or via mail?) to fix that.

lostgame 4y ago

It was also notable for being a miniature but combined SEGA CD and SEGA Genesis. IIRC it did not officially support the 32X, but it did work?

ajmurmann 4y ago
It's incredible how many different pieces of hardware Sega released around that time. All these weird permutations of Genesis, Sega CD and 32X with this portable thing and the Nomad and then the Saturn came out right after. I don't know what they were thinking.
- MBCook 4y ago
  As I know it: The Genesis started losing to the SNES. They thought they could improve/extend it with the Sega CD but that flopped. Nintendo of America realized they needed something better. So they designed the 32X. They later planned to sell a Genesis with one built in, sort of like the CDX. Honestly 32X + Sega CD was pretty good. But Sega is a Japanese company. And Sega of Japan didn’t care for what Sega of America was doing (and possibly wanted to teach them a lesson?). So they basically refused to support the 32X, leading to very few games. To make things worse Sega of Japan had their own solution to the problem, the Saturn. It was further off (this why the 32X made it out), but it got announced. And it was incompatible. Why buy a 32X if it’s going to be obsolete in like a year anyway? So SoJ basically undermined/killed the 32X, though it may not have been a great idea in the first place. Sega found out about Sony and got scared. I believe that’s why the added the second CPU to the Saturn (making it harder to program/more expensive). But they decided to beat everyone to market to see things up with a first mover advantage. So they announced the console officially and said “It’s out today in the US”. That was a huge bombshell no one expected. Not even KB Toys and Toys R Us. They didn’t know and were PISSED. They were responsible for the vast majority of game sales. KB pulled all Sega stuff and stopped selling it. Huge loss. TRU did something too (lack of advertising? Low stock?). Between that, the insane price of $400, and the lack of promotion (it was a surprise launch so no pre-release coverage) the Saturn started in serious trouble and never recovered. Sony, famously, went up to the mic at their press conference, said “$299”, and walked off stage. It was a huge hit. Sony had money (Sega wasn’t doing hot), partners (Sega pissed ‘em all off), a lower price, and Nintendo didn’t come out until later. Nintendo was also expensive to develop (carts) and didn’t have much space (carts). So Sony cleaned everyone’s clocks. (I love video game history. I got to live through such an amazing time)
  - syntheweave 4y ago
    The problem runs a little bit deeper than just what happened in the 90's; Sega of Japan was an arcade-first company, used to designing new hardware on an 18-month cycle, and able to count on a guaranteed market for new titles through their own locations. This tendency helped them make a lot of defining arcade hits in the 80's, but it became an Achilles' heel in all of its console efforts, with three different iterations of the SG-1000 series plus regional variations(Master System) too. When they hit big with the Genesis, they didn't learn to change their hardware strategy to match what the console market needed going forward, so the same mismanaged release cycle resulted, and in a market that was getting bigger and more expensive to stay in, with more and more of the development costs being weighted towards software technologies.
  - hnlmorg 4y ago
    Not to mention the Saturn didn't even have an SDK for the early part of it's life so most of the good early releases were Sega owned studios who were already familiar with the hardware from arcade cabinets. Whereas the Playstation didn't have their own games developers so had to ship an SDK to get 3rd party developers on board (couple that with a few exclusivity deals/bribes) and it's not hard to see why games studios dropped the Saturn.
MBCook 4y ago
It worked. I owned both. But they said it didn’t. At least for a while. But it was sort of odd. The 32X didn’t seem too stable since it stuck up so far. I think they later had a piece of plastic they offered (in box or via mail?) to fix that.