I've been playing Nintendo for my whole life, so I have no idea on Sega (other than they were the sworn enemy back in the console wars).
I'm collecting old videogames and have decided to buy a Mega Drive since the console and lots of games are found for pretty good prices. Now, I've read the Mega Drive is known in America as Genesis.
I'm a total n00b on this, and my questions are:
- Is the Genesis exactly the same as the Mega Drive?
- Can I buy a Genesis, and then buy cartridges either for the Mega Drive or the Genesis?
- What's the difference between the 3 versions?
Best Answer
I found Sega Genesis / Mega Drive 101: A beginners guide on Racketboy a great resource.
The name is just a trademark issue, it was originally the Mega Drive, but was marketed as Genesis in North America since the name had already been registered.
Model 1 - Only version to include a volume control slide switch for the stereo sound output. Supposedly, this model is the easiest to perform modifications on for regional bypasses, overclocking, LED change and S-Video output.
Model 2 - Smaller, simplified design. Stereo output is included in the A/V outputs and there is no volume control for the sound.
Model 3 - Even smaller, harder to hack, not compatible with Sega CD or 32X.
There's a forum thread discussing which of the three is the best model. There's even more information on the different Mega Drive systems on Wikipedia:
The article covers all of these variations.
The games are locked per region, but there's a good point on this:
Coincidentally I was considering buying a Model 2, which is also the one with the most votes on the mentioned forum thread, so I guess this pretty much answers my question.