I was looking at the Wikipedia entry for the Genesis system recently,
and I was surprised to read the following:

"Sega announced their North American release date for the system in
1987, becoming the second console to feature a 16-bit CPU (the first one
being the Mattel Intellivision) and the first to feature single
instruction 32-bit arithmetic. U.S. sales began on January 9, 1989 in
New York City and Los Angeles with a suggested retail price of $200 at
launch. It was released in the rest of North America on September 15
with the price reduced slightly to $190."

This is the first I've ever heard of the Genesis launching early. Every
other source I've ever encountered pins its release down to the fall of
1989, and the game mags of the day didn't seem to cover the system's
launch until their August or September issues. If it's true, I'm
guessing there couldn't have been much more than Super Thunder Blade and
Space Harrier II available for the Genesis test launch.

It also seems a bit odd that Sega would announce a North American
release date for the Genesis in 1987... a year before the Mega Drive was
even released in Japan.

"Greg Gillis" notmydomain.com> wrote in message
news:Ku-dnQxyr8fWzljZnZ2dnUVZ_rSdnZ2d@giganews.com...

Its complete bunk. I've still got a few mags from 1989 floating around. No
mention of it anywhere. I really didn't follow the Genesis or TG-16 launch
THAT closely, but I definitely have no recollection of Genesis coming out in
early 89 anywhere.

Grestang wrote:

It seemed kind of unlikely, but I just wanted to make sure. Like I said,
I'd never read about this early release scenario anywhere else but on
Wikipedia.

--
Greg Gillis

Visit The Armadillo Games Home Page:
http://homepage.mac.com/greggillis/armadillogames
... featuring "Radiant Weirdness Zone", the "Fawn" RPG series, and
numerous armadillii...

Visit FORS YARD, A Chronological Retrospective of the Sega Genesis:
http://homepage.mac.com/greggillis

I've read that too. but not the 1987 part. Sega was *just* developing
the MegaDrive in 1987, and had only launched the Master System in the
U.S. the year before. they would not have made an announcement in 1987
for the U.S. launch, and probably not even for the Japan launch.

I have read the part about the supposed January 1989 test launch in the
U.S. but I *don't* believe it is true.

*August* 1989 test launch in select cities, NYC and L.A. (price
unknown, but probably $199 at the most)

Then the nationwide launch in September 1989 for $189, 10 bucks less
than TurboGrafx-16 which launched nationwide (i believe) in August for
$199.

The internet is full of errors, and, I believe the Wikipedia entry is
just a copy from an older source of incorrect info that was put on the
internet. I read the same thing (sans the 1987 part) in the late 90s
or early 2000s. I also read on the internet that the early test
launch (the fictional January one, or the likely real August one)
price-point was $249, which I do *not* believe was true.

here's something funny: i remember being at a big sega genesis release
show at my mall around early/mid summer '89. i also distinctly remember
the genesis being out before TG16 where i was, with TG16 arriving a mere
month or so later. the genesis was available for @$200~215 at macy's and
toys'r'us, just about the only places selling it nearby (outside of FAO
shwartz in the city ~ sorry, san francisco).

the show took up the center of the mall outside of macy's for about 1-2
weeks. it had thunderforce 2, revenge of shinobi (i believe a japanese
version, interestingly enough w/ infinite lives selectable), last
battle, space harrier 2, altered beast, and a few others that i can't
remember off the top of my head right now. there was, like, only altered
beast and like 2 other games available for purchase at macy's at the
time, too. and at toys'r'us there was the system, altered beast, like a
pair of other games, and around under 10 "coming soon" advert slots in
the gaming aisle.

Here's the earliest illustrative stuff that was in rec.games.video in
1989. Keep in mind anything gone to no archive isn't here, the bastards.
Also keep in mind most of this info is ultimately from sources who would
be giving out the party line and wouldn't necessarily divulge test launches.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.video/browse_thread/thread/2cf3895ac5bb...#6599fb3389fb2d06
"Tues, Aug 29 1989 3:58 pm Well, it's finally here! About 10 days ago
Sega released...

I can easily understand a test launch in the U.S. happening in San
Francisco, where SoA is based, and the two largest cities New York
City, Los Angeles. it sounds like it happened in the July time frame
according to what you're saying, which would be, as you said, more or
less, a month or so before the TG-16 rollout in August.

so July-August is definitally when the early Genesis launched happened,
before the nationwide roll out in September. I recall, in the Chicago
area, seeing at Toys 'R US, TG-16 systems in mid-lateAugust, playing
Keith Courage, while the Genesis was not there yet. I returned to the
same TRU a few weeks to 1 month later, in September, there was Genesis
displayed, playing Altered Beast. the Genesis had either just been
released there, or was about to be released. the only prices for
either system was $199 for TG-16 and $189 for Genesis. other parts of
the USA experienced slight variations on release and price, concidering
the test or tests that SoA conducted.

Azel wrote:

Azel wrote:

Thanks for replying, Azel. I was hoping someone who lived near one of
the test markets in 1989 would show up on this thread :)

Since posting yesterday, I found another source that stated that the
Genesis launched early in New York and LA, but that the early launch was
in August (as opposed to January, as per Wiki) while the nationwide
rollout was in September. I suppose that would explain why so many
sources differ on whether the Genesis launch happened in August or
September.

So it seems that there was some sort of early launch, but nailing down
exactly when and where could be difficult. I still find the January date
to be highly suspect, though :)

Air Raid wrote:

I agree... July seems a lot more likely than January. I don't think
games like Revenge of Shinobi or Last Battle had even been released in
Japan by January 1989, and Azel recalls seeing those games demoed at the
early launch in the SF bay area.

--
Greg Gillis

Visit The Armadillo Games Home Page:
http://homepage.mac.com/greggillis/armadillogames
... featuring "Radiant Weirdness Zone", the "Fawn" RPG series, and
numerous armadillii...

Visit FORS YARD, A Chronological Retrospective of the Sega Genesis:
http://homepage.mac.com/greggillis

Azel wrote: