Flojomojo Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 He's not completely wrong, and he's funny. https://www.digitiser2000.com/main-page/10-reasons-why-mega-drive-was-a-better-name-than-genesis 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentlegamer Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 He's completely wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punisher5.0 Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 I like the Genesis name Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 It's funny, I was so used to the name Genesis that when I eventually heard Mega Drive, I hated it. Maybe Saturn should have been Styx or Rush. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youxia Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 I don't care much for all that but thanks for linking to something I could read, not watch. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Valid points but I have one reason genesis is far better 60hz 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBerel Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DurradonXylles Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 I like both names, honestly, though I'll use "Genesis" most of the time because that's what I grew up knowing the console as. There is a bit more context of the name chosen for NA outside of Mega Drive being taken up and appealing to the religious sensibilities of the continent like what the article suggests. Due to Nintendo of America violating several antitrust laws and monopolizing the video game industry with the licensing and publishing policies they had for most of the NES's lifespan, most Americans never experienced the Master System when it originally released here. Sega's presence was known primarily in the arcades up to this point in this part of the world, and even those who knew of Sega's 8-bit home console opted to choose Nintendo because their system had far more to offer in software. The name "Genesis" was chosen with this context of Sega's NA release of the 16-bit console: for the first time the entire gaming audience in the US and Canada actually got to see Sega enter the console market without overshadowing by the Big N. It was really the beginning of Sega's presence in the home market in this part of the world, adding to that it would strangely enough be the most relevant couple of years the Master System would ever be as well thanks to the Master System II and Power Base Converter coming out not long after. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wongojack Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 Funny article. I disagree though Mega is NOT a cool word. It is a douche word in North America also used by non-English speakers trying to think of a "cool word" elsewhere. Why Drive at all? Because of Outrun? It makes no sense to call it "The Drive," "A Drive," or "Sega's Drive." Master System actually makes sense, but This device has nothing to do with the word "Drive" at all. Even SG-1000 was nice enough to use what seemed like a nerdy tech standard version number. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted April 16, 2019 Author Share Posted April 16, 2019 Remember the reaction to the name "Dreamcast?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBerel Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_convoy Posted April 16, 2019 Share Posted April 16, 2019 I like the sound of "Mega Drive" better, but I'm a dork. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Master System actually makes sense, Master System doesn't really make sense outside of its original context, which was lost when they actually started calling it the Master System. The original Master System was sold as the Sega Video Game System - that's the Master System's actual name. Later they started selling three distinct bundles - the Base System, the Master System and the SegaScope 3D System. All of these were just different packages of the Sega Video Game System. At some point they stopped selling the Base and SegaScope systems and just started calling the system itself the Master System, probably because everybody else was calling it that by then. But it doesn't really make any sense without the other two packages on the market. By then we'd just adopted it as the system's name, though, so then and now it sounds normal to us... unless you think about it. I personally like Mega Drive as a name, but agree that it also doesn't really make sense. Genesis makes sense and I don't think it's a bad name for a system, so overall it's probably better than Mega Drive. The one good thing about Mega Drive, though is that you can abbreviate it MD, just like you could abbreviate Sega Master System as SMS. Genesis, you gotta type out every single time. It gets tiring! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skippy B. Coyote Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 I don't recall "Mega Drive" doing what Nintendon't. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wongojack Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 Master System doesn't really make sense outside of its original context, I get what you are saying that applying the adjective "Master" doesn't make sense without the other console variations . . . Except it does make sense linguistically because a "System" is a thing you play video games on. It can be shortened to "the System" or "Sega's System." Or lengthened to any one of those other names which all include the word "System." This one just happens to be a Master System, but I still know what it is. It must be better than some other system - checks out. A "Drive" is a made up word that does not describe a device that plays video games. Perhaps if they'd made it a single word "Megadrive" then this wouldn't be a problem as companies make up words all the time, but making it two words implies that this is a "Drive" that has properties which can be described as "Mega." Well that requires no explanation right? Good thing it is 16bit and has blast processing because I also know exactly what those things are. <sarcasm> Hey, I thought we were calling these things "Systems?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 "Super Nintendo, Sega Mega Drive. When I was dead broke man I couldn't picture this".. ...doesn't really work Nah in all seriousness, where I come from (Guam) both the Genesis from the states, and Mega Drive from Japan were commonly around. I first heard of it as the "Genesis", however the funny thing is I NEVER really caught on mentally that "Mega Drive" was a different name. Maybe I thought of it as the Genesis Mega Drive. The console after all said "16-Bit" anyway which is pretty generic. I'd see it on the consoles and mostly just kind of gloss it over as a newer case or something. If you swapped out my launch Genesis with a Mega Drive back in the day, I wonder if I would have even noticed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted April 17, 2019 Author Share Posted April 17, 2019 I was probably confused by the Japanese names for these systems when casually paging thru magazines. It seemed like such a long wait for games to get localized back then, probably because it was. Master System lines up with Intellivision's use of "Master Component" for the base Intellivision system. Now those names seem overly grandiose. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derFunkenstein Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 I was probably confused by the Japanese names for these systems when casually paging thru magazines. It seemed like such a long wait for games to get localized back then, probably because it was. It really did take forever, and then often times it was not as good as the Japanese version. Streets of Rage 3, Contra Hard Corps, basically anything made by Working Designs...they were all made more difficult by the order of...somebody. Sega of America maybe, I dunno. I much prefer re-translated Japanese ROMs for lots of games, though. Probably the best part about the Mega Everdrive or a jailbroken Mega Sg is the ability to play ROM hacks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punisher5.0 Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 "Super Nintendo, Sega Mega Drive. When I was dead broke man I couldn't picture this".. ...doesn't really work Nah in all seriousness, where I come from (Guam) both the Genesis from the states, and Mega Drive from Japan were commonly around. I first heard of it as the "Genesis", however the funny thing is I NEVER really caught on mentally that "Mega Drive" was a different name. Maybe I thought of it as the Genesis Mega Drive. The console after all said "16-Bit" anyway which is pretty generic. I'd see it on the consoles and mostly just kind of gloss it over as a newer case or something. If you swapped out my launch Genesis with a Mega Drive back in the day, I wonder if I would have even noticed. Thats the best part in the song! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_convoy Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 I was probably confused by the Japanese names for these systems when casually paging thru magazines. It seemed like such a long wait for games to get localized back then, probably because it was. I remember looking at video game magazines at the library in the late 80s and seeing ads for game retailers (you know the type; a zillion games at the tinest, least legible size with no real prices listed) and seeing PC Engine over and over, not knowing what it was. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dj_convoy Posted April 17, 2019 Share Posted April 17, 2019 It really did take forever, and then often times it was not as good as the Japanese version. Streets of Rage 3, Contra Hard Corps, basically anything made by Working Designs...they were all made more difficult by the order of...somebody. Sega of America maybe, I dunno. I much prefer re-translated Japanese ROMs for lots of games, though. Probably the best part about the Mega Everdrive or a jailbroken Mega Sg is the ability to play ROM hacks. The people who do great translations and do cool stuff like fix color palettes for games have my undying gratitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentlegamer Posted April 18, 2019 Share Posted April 18, 2019 The one good thing about Mega Drive, though is that you can abbreviate it MD, just like you could abbreviate Sega Master System as SMS. Genesis, you gotta type out every single time. It gets tiring! Check this out: GEN Blew your mind, didn't I? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 The original Master System was sold as the Sega Video Game System - that's the Master System's actual name. Later they started selling three distinct bundles - the Base System, the Master System and the SegaScope 3D System. All of these were just different packages of the Sega Video Game System. At some point they stopped selling the Base and SegaScope systems and just started calling the system itself the Master System, probably because everybody else was calling it that by then. But it doesn't really make any sense without the other two packages on the market. By then we'd just adopted it as the system's name, though, so then and now it sounds normal to us... unless you think about it. That sounds like it would make sense, except every Sega Master System Power Base (that has a boot-up screen) refers to itself as a "Sega Master System". You might of bought the 3D Super Scope Set, or just the Base Set... but regardless the boot-up screen told you you were playing a "Sega Master System". Interestingly, by the time Sega FULLY embraced the Sega Master System name in marketing and box-art, they got rid of the boot-up screen!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Stamos Mullet Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 That sounds like it would make sense, except every Sega Master System Power Base (that has a boot-up screen) refers to itself as a "Sega Master System". You might of bought the 3D Super Scope Set, or just the Base Set... but regardless the boot-up screen told you you were playing a "Sega Master System". Interestingly, by the time Sega FULLY embraced the Sega Master System name in marketing and box-art, they got rid of the boot-up screen!!! the original version Power Base says "Master System" right on the console. "Sega Master System Power Base". It was always known as the Sega Master System, in all of their marketing, right from the beginning. Also - Mega Drive sucks as a name, because there is no mechanical drive in the unit, and Mega is a misused adjective. Genesis, while non-specific, at least has a historical/societal context to it, and just sounds cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Stamos Mullet Posted April 21, 2019 Share Posted April 21, 2019 The original Master System was sold as the Sega Video Game System - that's the Master System's actual name. This is not correct. The actual name is the "Sega Master System." It says it right on the console, on every iteration of the console ever sold. There are no consoles that just say "Sega Base System" or "Segascope 3D System" they just say Sega Master System Power Base on them. Even the Sears Wishbook sold it as the Sega Master System. https://m.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/12/16/vintage-video-game-ads_n_6318730.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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