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Sega 32X
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| Sega 32X | |
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| Manufacturer | Sega |
| Type | Video game console add-on |
| Generation | Fourth generation |
| First available | NA November 1994 JP December 3, 1994 EU January 1995 |
| CPU | 2x SH-2 - 32-bit RISC (23 MHz)[1] |
| Media | Cartridge, CD-ROM with Sega Mega-CD/Sega CD |
| Units sold | 200,000[2] |
| Predecessor | Sega Mega-CD |
The Sega 32X (Japanese: セガ スーパー32X) is an add-on for the Sega Mega Drive video game console by Sega.
In Japan, it was distributed under the name Sega Super 32X. In North America, its name was the Sega Genesis 32X. In Europe, Australia, and other countries that use PAL, it was called the Sega Mega Drive 32X. Most gamers, for simplicity's sake, refer to it as just the "32X".
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[edit] Market history
With the release of the Super Famicom in Japan and the Super NES in North America, Sega felt the need to leapfrog Nintendo in the technological department. The Sega Mega-CD, known as Sega CD in North America, had not worked as well, in a business sense, as Sega had wanted it to. Sega had various developments underway, and focused most of its energy on the then new Sega Saturn. Some used System 16 technology, as the Sega Mega Drive and other arcade games did.
The 32X was released in mid-November 1994 in North America for $159, Japan on December 3, 1994 for ¥16,800, and Europe in January 1995 for £170 / DM 400.
[edit] Technical aspects
The Sega 32X can only be used in conjunction with a Mega Drive/Genesis system. It is inserted into the system like a standard game cartridge, although it does require its own separate power supply and a cable linking it to the Mega Drive. Besides playing its own cartridges, it also acts as a pass through for Mega Drive games, so it can be used as a permanent attachment. The Sega Virtua Processor based Virtua Racing is the only exception - the game will not run on a Mega Drive with a 32X unit attached due to its processor (there was an enhanced version of the game, Virtua Racing Deluxe, available for the 32X, however). Also, Sega's Power Base Converter, which allows one to play Sega Master System games on a Mega Drive/Genesis, could not be used with the 32X attached. This is because the Power Base Converter uses all of the connection pins in the Mega Drive/Genesis itself, but the 32X only passes through those connections that are necessary to play games.
The 32X came with a spacer so it would fit properly with the Mega Drive II. [3] It could be used with the Sega Multi-Mega/Sega CDX system, but the spacer would not accommodate the CDX, which created a number of user-unfriendly conditions in the unit. Without the use of the spacer on a Mega Drive II, some of the 32X hardware was left exposed and vulnerable. The combined unit was also very prone to tipping over, risking damage to the unit and games. In addition to the physical problems, there was also an issue with FCC approval.
Most 32X games cannot be played unless the distribution region of the game matches the region of the console. A few games are not locked and can be played on a console from any region (e.g. FIFA 96). Two games, Darxide and FIFA Soccer '96, were only released for the PAL 32X.
All but one of the games released for the Japanese market were released in the United States, albeit some had different names. The one Japanese-only game was Sangokushi IV (known as Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV).
In addition to regular cartridge-based 32X games, there were also a very small number of CD-ROM games for the 32X. These games were labeled with Sega Mega-CD 32X (Sega CD 32X in North America). As the name suggests, these required both the 32X and Mega-CD/Sega CD addons. The lack of a significant userbase due to the high cost of purchasing all three necessary components saw only five games released, only one of those developed by Sega. [4] The most notable of these was a new version of the infamous Night Trap with 32,768 onscreen colors instead of the 64 found on the regular Mega-CD/Sega CD version.
One little-known aspect of the 32X was its vastly improved audio subsystem, known as Q-Sound and developed by QSound Labs. While this theoretically gave the system audio capabilities that outstripped even the Super NES, the sound chipset proved to be poorly documented and exceptionally difficult to program for. As a result, most games ignored the Q-Sound system and used the Mega Drive's on-board sound chip, thus leaving the 32X's audio capabilities largely untapped (especially in the case of DOOM, which featured audio of a much lower quality than that of other versions). To this day, emulators still have difficulty providing sound emulation for the few titles that did make use of the Q-Sound system.
[edit] Technical specifications
- Processor: Two SH2 32-bit RISC processors with a clock speed of 23.011 MHz, approx 20 MIPS each
- Video RAM: Two linear framebuffers with support for RLE compression and an overdraw mode to simplify compositing objects with transparency. All scaling, rotation, and 3D operations are performed in software on the SH2 processors.
- ROM (BIOS): 3 Kb
- Color depth: 32,768 simultaneous colors on screen at standard Mega Drive/Genesis resolution. Video output can overlay Mega Drive/Genesis graphics or vice versa. Mega Drive/Genesis video effects such as shadow or highlight do not affect 32X video.
- Memory: 256KB (2 MBit) program RAM and two 128KB (1 MBit) framebuffers.
- Audio: Stereo 10-bit PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) mixing with Mega Drive/Genesis sound for a total of 12 audio channels of varying capability, 22 with the addition of a Mega-CD/Sega CD.
- I/O: Same as Mega Drive/Genesis.
- Storage: 32X cartridges are fundamentally the same as Mega Drive/Genesis cartridges with some small differences in the plastic casing. A few CD-ROM games were developed that also required a Mega-CD/Sega CD.
- Compatibility: Compatible with Mega Drive/Genesis models 1 and 2, JVC Wondermega/X'Eye and the Multi-Mega/CDX. The 32X does not work with the Genesis 3 which lacks some of the n