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Best Childhood Thing

February 14, 2008

My first video game console that I owned was a Sega Genesis. In 1987 Sega announced the release date for the Sega Genesis to be January 9th 1989. The system featured a 16-bit central processing unit and featured single-instruction 32-bit arithmetic. The Sega Genesis was far superior to the current 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. Today the Genesis game is seeing a revival in PC-based SGCC. Programmers have designed emulators that run the Sega’s ROM’s on your computer. The standard Mega Drive controller features three main buttons and a “start” button usually used for pausing mid-game. The controller itself had a distinctive rounded shape. Sega later released a six-button version, which was slightly smaller and featured, as well as three more face buttons, a “mode” button to allow the controller to work with certain older games, which it would otherwise be incompatible with. An infrared wireless version of the six-button controller was also released. The Sega Genesis has a dedicated VDP (Video Display Processor) for playfield and sprite control. This is an improved version of the Sega Master System VDP, derived from the Texas Instruments TMS9918.
This allowed for the adjustment of the resolution and sprite.

The Genesis is not only a great example of the leaps technology makes, it also has really good games. Sonic the Hedgehog was and still is one of the greatest games ever invented. It did its job rivaling Nintendo’s Italian plumber Mario. If it had a save feature it most likely be played more often. With numerous spin-off comics, cartoons and books Sonic has become one of the world’s best-known video game characters, with his series having sold over 45 million copies. Sonic originated when Sega wanted a game capable of selling over one million copies and a character to replace Alex Kidd as the company’s mascot. Several character designs were submitted by its AM8 research & development department, including an armadillo who was later developed into Mighty the Armadillo, a dog, an over-sized Theodore Roosevelt in pajamas which would later be the basis of Doctor Eggman’s design, and a rabbit intended to use its extendible ears to collect objects; these aspects were later incorporated into Ristar. Eventually, Naoto Ōshima’s spiky cerulean hedgehog, initially codenamed “Mr Needlemouse”,was chosen as the new mascot. Sonic’s sapphire pigmentation was chosen to match Sega’s cobalt blue logo. A group of fifteen started working on Sonic the Hedgehog, and renamed themselves Sonic Team.

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