People should stop freaking out about the Snes's cpu

[recspecz]

Why do people freak out whenever somebody actually says something true and factual about the Super Nintendo's processing power, yet people get praised for extremist trash talking? Why can't people just perceive it the way it is, instead of over-inflating the problem? I'm sick of people's inflated opinions being percieved as factual data through internet sites.

 

The internet is serious business.

[Video]

 

What's most funny about that statement, is that Genesis was in production a year or two after the SNES released it's last title

 

The Genesis is STILL being produced to this day. Well, it's not THE Genesis, but it is still licensed by SEGA. The Firecore and Gencore are what I'm talking about.

 

Of course, 20-year old chipsets are not hard to emulate, which is why you get 3-way systems from ybit, or whatever the hell its name is.

I'm not counting clone systems though, and as far as Iknow, sega's not licensing any games at all....That's what I'm meaning, Frogger, 96, is the last game I'm aware of for the SNES, and I personally got several games for the genesis from 98 (and think thee were some 99's, but won't swear to that)

[malducci]

 

What's most funny about that statement, is that Genesis was in production a year or two after the SNES released it's last title

 

The Genesis is STILL being produced to this day. Well, it's not THE Genesis, but it is still licensed by SEGA. The Firecore and Gencore are what I'm talking about.

 

Of course, 20-year old chipsets are not hard to emulate, which is why you get 3-way systems from ybit, or whatever the hell its name is.

I'm not counting clone systems though, and as far as Iknow, sega's not licensing any games at all....That's what I'm meaning, Frogger, 96, is the last game I'm aware of for the SNES, and I personally got several games for the genesis from 98 (and think thee were some 99's, but won't swear to that)

 

Real honest to goodness licensed games from Sega for the Genesis in 1998? Do you have a list?

 

It's not that I don't believe you, but.. what store was going to carry this new titles? It just seems absurd that any company would take the time to develop a game for the Genesis in 1998, when no stores (non! in my area) carried anything "new" for the Genesis. Used shops, sure. But new? Nope. Toys R Us had some old stock left over, but you had to "ask" for this at the counter. Once in a while you'd get discount bins, but I'm almost positive this stopped by 1997 for Genesis and SNES stuff (and it was old stock, not new developed games on shelves).

Edited April 25, 2010 by malducci

[kool kitty89]

The Genesis is STILL being produced to this day. Well, it's not THE Genesis, but it is still licensed by SEGA. The Firecore and Gencore are what I'm talking about.

Yuck! those are worse than average modern 3rd party clones, and unlike other clones there's emulation not MegaDrives on a chip... (not even considering some nice ones like the FC3)

 

Of course, 20-year old chipsets are not hard to emulate, which is why you get 3-way systems from ybit, or whatever the hell its name is.

You'd think so, but the Firecore certainly doesn't show that... Even though Kega Fusion could emulate quite well (with good sound) on a ~400 Mhz win9x PC more than 10 years ago. (possibly less, more for Sega CD or 32x especially)

 

 

I'm not counting clone systems though, and as far as Iknow, sega's not licensing any games at all....That's what I'm meaning, Frogger, 96, is the last game I'm aware of for the SNES, and I personally got several games for the genesis from 98 (and think thee were some 99's, but won't swear to that)

Frogger for the Genesis was release in 1998. (it was also a nice arcade port rather than the funky remake on the SNES)http://www.sega-16.com/review_page.php?id=371&title=Frogger

Majesco didn't even release the Genesis 3 until 1998 (though they'd taken over distribution in the US prior to that) and it was sold though 1999 at least, probably a bit later.

 

Sega ended all new software support (completing a few projects already in the works) for the SMS, MD, CD, 32x, or GG in late 1995 to fucus on the saturn. (3rd parties are, of course another matter)

 

Then there's TECTOY who got the license for South American MDs and SMSs and they kept churnign out soem new titles well into the late 90s; TECTOY continues to produce variations of the SMS and MD to this day. (using the same or similar hardware ASICs -MD on a chip- as they did in the late 90s I believe -the same design was used as the basis for several other Genesis clones too) Lots of plug-n playes and versions with slots and built-in games. (and some newer units that seem to have additional hardware like guitar idol)

 

Real honest to goodness licensed games from Sega for the Genesis in 1998? Do you have a list?

Frogger was the last released in the US and in 1998 published by Majesco (official licensed though), and TecToy had an official license for their products too, granted only being released in Brazil. (Dunke Nukem 3D is an obvious one)

 

It's not that I don't believe you, but.. what store was going to carry this new titles? It just seems absurd that any company would take the time to develop a game for the Genesis in 1998, when no stores (non! in my area) carried anything "new" for the Genesis. Used shops, sure. But new? Nope. Toys R Us had some old stock left over, but you had to "ask" for this at the counter. Once in a while you'd get discount bins, but I'm almost positive this stopped by 1997 for Genesis and SNES stuff (and it was old stock, not new developed games on shelves).

The genesis 3 wasn't even released until 1998.

Edited April 25, 2010 by kool kitty89

[Inky]

Genesis and SNES suck.  The PHANTOM is the  best system!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

</sarcasm>

 

 

[malducci]

The genesis 3 wasn't even released until 1998.

Yeah, but that's Majesco - right? Seems a little too desperate even for Sega for them to try and milk the Genesis for every last penny, when the N64 was out and the DC was just around the corner. Was Sega really that bad off at the time, or was it in fact just the start of Majesco? I do remember the "retro" Majesco Genesis systems hitting CompUSSR when I worked there waaaaaaayy back. IIRC, DC was already out (or maybe it had just come out, I don't remember). Anyway, I never considered anything repacked by Majesco to be Sega. Licensed or not.

[Austin]

Majesco probably knew there was still easy money to be had, and Sega, with the Saturn and then Dreamcast on the market, needed to re-focus. I am glad it worked like that--Majesco re-released some bad-ass Genesis games (Castlevania and Contra, for starters).

[kool kitty89]

The genesis 3 wasn't even released until 1998.

Yeah, but that's Majesco - right? Seems a little too desperate even for Sega for them to try and milk the Genesis for every last penny, when the N64 was out and the DC was just around the corner. Was Sega really that bad off at the time, or was it in fact just the start of Majesco? I do remember the "retro" Majesco Genesis systems hitting CompUSSR when I worked there waaaaaaayy back. IIRC, DC was already out (or maybe it had just come out, I don't remember). Anyway, I never considered anything repacked by Majesco to be Sega. Licensed or not.

Majesco probably knew there was still easy money to be had, and Sega, with the Saturn and then Dreamcast on the market, needed to re-focus. I am glad it worked like that--Majesco re-released some bad-ass Genesis games (Castlevania and Contra, for starters).

Sega had formally discontinued further software support in late 1995 (for all products other than Saturn), a handful of ongoing projects were completed and hardware was sold, but advertising was also cut. (3rd parties continued to release games, of course) Mjesco licenced the Genesis in 1997, distributing many unsold games and the final model 2 Genesis. They also reprinted several popular titles as well. (and did a little publishing of their own)

The hardware was cheap and had been highly consolidated, and there was still a huge place for it in the budget market. (I know several people who didn't get an SNES of Genesis until the mid 90s -SNES in christmas of '96 for me- as well as those equally late to the next generations -we got an N64 in christmas of '99, and I know plenty of others who picked up other consoles -especially the PSone- quite late too, or more recently the PS2)

 

Most really popular platforms have a long lingering time in the budget market, little new software is released after a point, but the existing stuff continues to sell. The 2600, NES (and SMS in Europe), SNES, MD/Genesis, PS1, and PS2 are all good examples of this.

 

Some journalists and historians (as well as Tom Kalinske) criticize the decision to drop the Genesis at that time too. (and the Saturn was correspondingly rushed, plus the whole issue with the 32x; though most agree that it was the general conflict between SoJ and SoA management was the biggest problem)

 

Plus, by 1998, the Saturn was possibly as dead as the Genesis in the West (if not worse due to it lacking the budget market appeal). It was declining in 1997 already, but the stupid (and confounding) proclamation by Bernie Stolar at E3 of '97 that "Saturn is not our future" pretty muck put the final nail in the coffin. It's arguable that even strongly promoting the Dreamcast alone so early could have been dangerous (risking a self defeating prophecy type situation), but in the negative manner Stolar did it really was the worst possible action to take. (it really doesn't make good business sense)

[malducci]

and there was still a huge place for it in the budget market. (I know several people who didn't get an SNES of Genesis until the mid 90s -SNES in christmas of '96 for me- as well as those equally late to the next generations -we got an N64 in christmas of '99, and I know plenty of others who picked up other consoles -especially the PSone- quite late too, or more recently the PS2)

 

Plenty in relative to what? I would bet these late adopters were in the very low percentile compared to the gamers that were making these companies... their money. There's also the fact that old gen hardware, in the next or even two generations later - has the unfortunate effect of being susceptible to these frugal "gamers" buying used software for cheap (instead of new and/or repackage stuff). Why buy new stuff when you can buy the same thing for a lot less money? The business model doesn't really work. Hence, why companies don't really do it. As it is, the used game market is huge even for the current generation of consoles. And add renting on top of that. No wonder companies are slowly trying to sneak in DLC. Before you know it, it will be pretty much all DLC. The whole frog in the boiling pot of water analogy.. thing.

Edited April 28, 2010 by malducci

[wavelflack]

Is the SNES' processor actually fast enough to freak anyone out? Or does that require a DSP?

 

*sluggishly freaks out*

[kool kitty89]

Plenty in relative to what? I would bet these late adopters were in the very low percentile compared to the gamers that were making these companies... their money. There's also the fact that old gen hardware, in the next or even two generations later - has the unfortunate effect of being susceptible to these frugal "gamers" buying used software for cheap (instead of new and/or repackage stuff). Why buy new stuff when you can buy the same thing for a lot less money? The business model doesn't really work. Hence, why companies don't really do it. As it is, the used game market is huge even for the current generation of consoles. And add renting on top of that. No wonder companies are slowly trying to sneak in DLC. Before you know it, it will be pretty much all DLC. The whole frog in the boiling pot of water analogy.. thing.

In some cases it was people buying older systems in addition to new ones. (I had a friend with an NES, SNES, Genesis, and N64 all hooked up at ones -and he was one of the few people I knew who had an N64 the first few months after launch)

 

Anecdotal information isn't much to go on though, but actual facts and figures are, and while Sega has no official sales figures released, there are revenue figures: http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showpost.php?p=199097&postcount=3

 

Majesco also appears to have sold 2 million Genesis consoles.

 

 

Is the SNES' processor actually fast enough to freak anyone out? Or does that require a DSP?

 

*sluggishly freaks out*

The SNES has a 24 MHz DSP, but it's dedicated to audio. (would have been neat if it hadn't been dedicated -the way the Flare 1/Multisystem had a DSP intended to drive sound and help with 3D for polygon based games) on top of that the SNES had the 2 MHz SPC700 MPU dedicated to controlling audio. (a modified 650x derivative)

 

Of course, there was also the DSP chips nitendo put on carts. (the first coprocessor and used in a North American Launch Title -pilot wings)

Edited April 29, 2010 by kool kitty89

[malducci]

Is the SNES' processor actually fast enough to freak anyone out? Or does that require a DSP?

 

*sluggishly freaks out*

 

Hahahahaha

[Tr3vor]

SNES is good for adventure-action games too, look at super metroid.

[CRV]

I just want to point out that Sega was still releasing games for the Genesis in 1996 and 1997 (like The Lost World).

[mbd30]

SNES is good for adventure-action games too, look at super metroid.

 

SNES has the best action-adventure franchises with Metroid and Zelda.

 

The closest thing to Metroid on the Genesis is Mega Turrican, and while great, it's still no Metroid.

[kool kitty89]

SNES has the best action-adventure franchises with Metroid and Zelda.

 

The closest thing to Metroid on the Genesis is Mega Turrican, and while great, it's still no Metroid.

 

There's some good Zelda equivalents too, though most are a bit more RPG-ish. (Crusader of Centy is the best example IMO -there are others like Beyond Oasis though)