Did We Really Witness the Potential of Sega's Tower of Power?
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What was Sega's Tower of Power? Today I'm adding the ultimate Mega Drive to The Cave. Comprising of a stack of upgrades which flopped commercially, is the tower greater than the sum of its parts? Let's find out.
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● Chapters
00:00 What is the Sega Tower of Power
02:49 Who are PCBWay.com
03:13 Mega Drive and Bass
03:40 The Parts Needed for a Tower of Power
10:08 Visiting Retro Games HQ in Swindon
12:17 Getting Advice from Mark Fixes Stuff
15:39 Servicing the Sega Mega CD
20:26 How to wire up a Sega Tower of Power
24:18 Testing Games on the Sega Tower of Power
37:39 Closing Thoughts
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Mortal Kombat II Enhanced Hack: • SEGA Genesis 32X - Mor...
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#sega #retrogaming #segagenesis
@RMCRetro 9 ай бұрын
Thanks for watching! Here are all the links for the episode: ● Support the Sponsors of The Cave Come and visit the channel! Book a visit at retrocollective.co.uk ● Subscribe Please take a moment to subscribe to the channel kzfaq.info?sub_c... ● Episode Links New Mega CD PCB Boards: github.com/Board-Folk/MegaCD-... Mark Fixes Stuff: kzfaq.info Doom32XR Github: github.com/viciious/d32xr Doom32X RomHacking: www.romhacking.net/hacks/6269/ Mortal Kombat II Enhanced Hack: www.youtube.com/watch?v=055cx... Retro Games HQ: retrogames-swindon.co.uk/ ● Join me on social media Twitter: twitter.com/RMCretro Facebook: facebook.com/RMCretro Insta: instagram.com/RMCretro ● Come and chat on the RMC chat server Discord: discord.gg/RMCretro
@braddl9442 9 ай бұрын
I hope the Homebrew community gets interested in seeing what can be done with the full tower of power. I mean If it can run jaguar based games as well as the patched Doom, might be cool if they can port some of those games.
@victorluchitz7907 9 ай бұрын
@@braddl9442 Jaguar is a much more powerful 2D machine than the 32X
@legendsflashback 9 ай бұрын
Here is a good video idea. The most interesting thing to me was, in 1991 or 1992 got caught lying it's SNES sales, because Genesis was outselling it 2 to 1...on internet model 1 and model 2 genesis first was "30 million" then sold "35 million" then 42 million now it's claimed 42 to 48 million , 1 million behind "Nintendo 49 million SNES model 1 and 2 (Jr) count and sharp SNES collab". But now let's add 1 million nomad sales, 1 million cdx/multimega, wondermega, xeye and 17 other variants like majesco Sega model 3! I'm telling you right now Genesis outsold SNES. Even these laserdisc and PC variants should count , there were even Sega Taiwan vcd rom players and aiwa Sega CD versions.
@legendsflashback 9 ай бұрын
@@victorluchitz7907 tempo disagrees but Rayman on Jaguar would disagree
@legendsflashback 9 ай бұрын
@@victorluchitz7907 too bad 32x outsold Jaguar probably 2 to 1 in just first season 😂
@HappyCodingZX 9 ай бұрын
It's not a true Tower of Power until you add the cherries on top - A genesis cleaning system with a Honeybee adapter connected with a Gamegenie plugged in, with Sonic and Knuckles plugged into that and Sonic 3 on the top of the cake.
@AJ_UK_LIVE 9 ай бұрын
Or perhaps Virtua Racing on top for that extra three feet of height :)
@SproutyPottedPlant 9 ай бұрын
You need at least 20 copies of Sonic & Knuckles on top !
@MattBeale 9 ай бұрын
Just missing an Action Replay and the Master System Power Base Convertor
@HappyCodingZX 8 ай бұрын
@@MattBeale I figured and Action Replay was pretty much the same thing as a Game Genie but sure. Can you put megadrive carts into the powerbase converter and have it still work? I didn't know that. If not, I wouldn't count it, the tower would have to actually switch on and work.
@keith-gl1kc 8 ай бұрын
I had the number one setup in the 90s and think that looks better its got more character.used to love playing dracula unleashed on it
@braddl9442 9 ай бұрын
The DOOM Remake mod for the 32X game shows that we did not see the full potential of this tower. The latest version of that mod that plays on OG hardware shows that there was a lot left on the table with this beast. Edit. got to that part in the video, glad you included this. Its such an interesting thing to realize what was really possible with this.
@braddl9442 9 ай бұрын
I would love to see if any other jaguar games could run on the tower of power.
@Brewskii2117 9 ай бұрын
I think out of the 32x games I owned, Doom32x was the biggest disappointment. Playing on a 15" Crt the view field was like 4inches. I'm glad someone finally got it right.
@michelvanbriemen3459 9 ай бұрын
@@Brewskii2117 Doom 32x was the first version of Doom that I ever played. When I inherited the Genesis + 32x from my uncle at the age of 2 and my dad hooked it all up to the backup TV and left me to it, I had no idea what Doom was supposed to be, what it could be, or how bad it was. As far as I knew, it was pretty good. But then the 32x did the 32x thing and died a few years later.
@dtester 9 ай бұрын
Would be really great to see more home brews that really push the ToP and shows what could have been done! Unfortunately I think the lack of projects is due to the complexity and lesser amount of hardware in the wild.
@nickwallette6201 9 ай бұрын
This was like the most extreme version of releasing peripherals that never got used because there were no killer apps for them, and no developer was willing to trade the wider installed base for a better experience for the seven people who were dumb enough to buy all that hardware to run no software. It was definitely a solution looking for a problem, when in fact the problem was their lack of coherent vision.
@paperman9708 3 ай бұрын
That store is truly mind blowing. That has to be one of the biggest collections on the planet. Just incredible. It's so cool seeing all of the different Sega devices. They tried interesting things and it was all new and exciting. I miss that feeling.
@LynxStarAuto 8 ай бұрын
I slowly but surely acquired all the pieces throughout the 90's as they were discontinued, and went on sale. I got my hands on the 32x for 9.99 at KB Toys in their 19.99 and under bins (remember those). I got the Sega CD from my local Blockbuster. Paid 24 bucks for that one. It didn't have a box or manual, only the hardware. But it was in perfect condition. My sisters eventually got to calling it Voltron because of how you assembled them together 😂
@feliscorax 5 ай бұрын
Voltron. Perfect name.
@briancopeland4990 5 ай бұрын
The Mega-Segazord! 😂
@BobbyDeniroX 5 ай бұрын
Them days were so much better. The bargain bins were a gold mine. I just don't like the way we shop now and I think that has put me off gaming. The social aspect in games stores and the fun factor has all gone. In shops Croydon was game culture for example and the games shops in Croydon in the early days was fantastic. Game zone, future zone, electronics boutique.
@JB-qt3wo 5 ай бұрын
Ah man…KB Toys
@revengefullobster4524 5 ай бұрын
I still have my Genesis and Sega CD that I got for Christmas back in the day. The CD was pretty underwhelming but the Genesis definitely was used. It still works and sits next to my N64 and PS1.
@iRDaBrit 9 ай бұрын
I remember the day we got a Mega CD in at Sega Pro. The entire office and every staff member of every magazine crowded round to play it. What a time to be alive!
@AJ_UK_LIVE 9 ай бұрын
Did you get it with Jaguar XJ220 and Thunderhawk? I seem to remember these being the games that were pushed at launch. I got to play them on a Sega bus at the Bristol Balloon fiesta just before the Mega CD launch. I still have the Pirate TV dog tags and certificate I won for playing Sonic 2 :)
@iRDaBrit 9 ай бұрын
@@AJ_UK_LIVE Sega UK wouldn't send us one so we ended up importing one from Japan. I believe it came with a couple of FMV games and one I want to say was an FMV version of Initial D.
@12secta81 8 ай бұрын
@@AJ_UK_LIVELOVED XJ 220. I played that more than any other racing game at the time.
@AJ_UK_LIVE 8 ай бұрын
@@12secta81 Great game, and enormous car!
@leejones3061 8 ай бұрын
Really I thought the machine sucked even at the time
@sargonsblackgrandfather2072 9 ай бұрын
Here’s a story for you. Back in maybe 1990 I used to visit a little shop in London’s Chinatown that sold imported games and hardware, J.F Trading it was called. One day I went in there and the owner was player a NES which had a floppy disk deck attached that he was playing games on it from floppy disk. He explained you could slit in a cartridge and it would copy the game to floppy and then play straight from the floppy. That was the only time I ever saw that device and no one would believe me when I told them about it. Only in the last few years did I see a video on YT about it confirming that I hadn’t dreamt the whole thing.
@absalomdraconis 8 ай бұрын
Yeah, that stuff never got far outside of Asia.
@AdamTaylor2008 8 ай бұрын
My uncle always seemed to have one of those on each Nintendo he had back in Australia.
@psiddey 8 ай бұрын
Was that shop on a corner? Our family used to make semi regular trips to London's Chinatown and I always remember walking past a gaming shop but I never actually went inside, I guess I was too afraid to ask my mum as she would probably have said no!
@Sampyla 8 ай бұрын
Yeah funky devices. The one for NES was called Professor and they had also comparable setups for super nintendo and n64 too. I have seen those only at the most crazy collectors vaults and even get to test one year ago.
@memitim171 8 ай бұрын
My mate had the SNES one back in the day, alongside a Japanese Mega Drive and a DX2-66...yeah his dad was a hardcore gamer lol. He never even mentioned it, we just walked into his house and he casually puts a floppy disc in a SNES... 🤣
@GamerLoggos 5 ай бұрын
I had the tower of power waaaay back. But I had the model 2 of the CD and Sega. It was such a laugh when you look back at that huge stack, but back then it was neat and only myself and one other friend had such a set up. Played that thing all the way up to the original Playstation. Good memories, thanks!
@ImmortalOne-LoLo 4 ай бұрын
I also still have my version 2 Sega cd
@benjo145 5 ай бұрын
Many years ago. Somewhere around 10 years ago. I purchased something called the Sega trio M1. One plug that provides power to my Sega megadrive 1, mega cd1 and 32x. I also got the same for the magadrive 2, megacd2 and 32x. It saves a mass of space on the power strips. You should also look into the official wireless controllers too. Really adds to the unit!
@GouldFishOnGames 9 ай бұрын
the flappy thing on the left of the MegaCD is a cable tidy for the audio cable. You slide it open put the cable in the grove then close it to hold it in place. There are also some nice cables that take a single 9v input and split it into 3 plugs for the machines, Its what I've been using for my own tower of power.
@NorthWay_no 9 ай бұрын
If I understood it correctly then the irony of these graphics is that they aren't digitally combined, but simply genlock style overlays of chip upon chip. More or less standalone systems banged together with a sledgehammer.
@RMCRetro 9 ай бұрын
You can see this if you play a 32x game and only use one output, I should film that
@ronindebeatrice 8 ай бұрын
Actual multiplexing of the code would have been impossible with this era hardware. The bandwidth was not there to allow these things to communicate with each other in meaningful ways, so the devs had to determine how to wring the most from each and smash them together as it's blasted out to the screen. I'm actually interested to check out the demo scene for this combo and see what developers can do with 30 years of hindsight.
@bitset3741 8 ай бұрын
@NorthWay_no This was actually a really good thing, since the 32x itself was a bit fill rate limited. The Genny side could toss a couple background layers and 80 sprites on top or behind what the 32x was generating. That way, the 32x could do characters or whatever it had to do, and the Genny could help with filling out the rest.
@bitset3741 8 ай бұрын
@@ronindebeatrice Multiplexing of code could be done. There was a system of communication in the 32x including the Master, Slave, and 68000 cpus and that was used extensively but usually commands only, not code or graphics. The 32x also could render graphics and send them via DMA to the Genny like the SVP did, but that was slow and completely unneeded since it had its own video. It was best however to use it as it was designed, the SH2's effectively worked together to render stuff and just sent messages to the 68000 to add what it could overlaying or underlaying what the 32x was outputting. The stock Genny could render thousands of polygons per second, as seen in games like hard drivin' and others.
@edgardeitz2784 8 ай бұрын
If one rebuilt them all together as a single unit, would they digitally combine then? One could start with a Mega Jet and a 32x...
@richardhenry1969 8 ай бұрын
When I was in the military I got into trouble for a bar fight. It was 1992 I went to sears department store(only credit card I had). I bought a Sega genesis with the discs drive. I bought road rash an Holyfield boxing also chopper command. Many beers and nights were spent laughing and playing games. I can’t describe how far ahead of its time it was. What I can say is some of my best memories have army friends and the sega.
@mattkennedy6115 4 ай бұрын
Did you bring the genesis to the bar? I don’t see how the two relate 😂
@richardhenry1969 4 ай бұрын
@@mattkennedy6115 maybe your slow so I’ll try and explain for a special person. I got into trouble for getting into a bar fight. The military confined me to the base for 2 months. So I went to the store and bought a sega to take up time.
@Darkest_Soul_187 4 ай бұрын
@@arostwocents ''When I was in the military I got into trouble for a bar fight. It was 1992 I went to sears department...'' I thought he was gonna say department of corrections and that he played the Sega there lol
@untenableposition 4 ай бұрын
@@richardhenry1969sounds like you picked up a TBI back in 'nam champ
@smhoneyjuarez2928 3 ай бұрын
@@richardhenry1969 you bought a game system after getting into a fight in the marines? I don't get it
@spikester 7 ай бұрын
Nice hidden gem of a channel exploring retro tech with a bit of side humour, no annoying b-rolls, refreshing.
@caviar_dreamz 9 ай бұрын
That retro game/record store looked awesome, I would be broke by the time I leave the store. I really like the idea of getting my vinyl and retro games from one spot.
@stathissim 9 ай бұрын
you and me brother
@retrogameshqswindon9237 8 ай бұрын
Please visit 😁
@getoutofdepth 9 ай бұрын
This one brings back the memories. I had a Sega and a 32x and my cousin had the Sega CD and a game genie. All that plus a copy of Sonic and Knuckles and Sonic 3: FrankenSega's Monster.
@morenauer 9 ай бұрын
YES! THAT'S THE PERFECT FORM!!!!!!!!!!
@sgtsnokeem1139 9 ай бұрын
You're gonna hate me. I had in Australia a copy of.......Snatcher. WHY did I SELL that and my mega drive and my mega CD in 2001?!? I didn't play it anymore and wanted money to go to a rave...... AAAAASRRREEEGHHH! Ah well live and learn lol.
@gamagama69 8 ай бұрын
@@sgtsnokeem1139 damn rip. my dad gave me a gift of pokemon emerald when iwas like 12 and it was a repro back when emerald was like $25. now its $150
@dosmastrify 8 ай бұрын
Sewer shark
@funkmanone 4 ай бұрын
We don’t *call* it the “genesis” because we’re cowboys. They *marketed* it to us as the “genesis” because we are cowboys. The title “mega drive” for us was nowhere to be seen at the time.
@flemwad 2 ай бұрын
Yeeee haw
@mrshaneobuenosnodgrass3328 Ай бұрын
I think he probably knows this already.
@AmberSantana-is3dq 7 ай бұрын
That music you showcased while showing the doom side by side felt so nolstagic a hip hop beat so nice blended in so well wow thanks I needed that
@Zaffo256 9 ай бұрын
You have to hold the MODE button at boot to enable the 3 button compatibility mode. But, once the game is booted normally, developers could use the mode button as an extra regular button.
@dextrodemon 8 ай бұрын
neat
@Naedlus 6 ай бұрын
An example: In Star Wars Arcade, it duplicates the function of the X button to toggle between in cockpit and chase view
@LonelySpaceDetective 5 ай бұрын
Some romhacks have exploited this as well. For instance, Contra: Hard Corps has a six-button hack that allows holding down the Mode Button to temporarily swap to the firing mode where your character stops in place and the d-pad angles the gun; similar to how the shoulder buttons work in Contra III on the SNES.
@Gravata76 9 ай бұрын
14:35 The mode button only enables 3 button mode at power up. After that it does nothing in 3 button mode or can be used (and it is by some games) as additional button like on MIG-29 where the mode button opened the map screen or even Doom that uses combinations of it with other buttons or the d-pad. So it will not revert back to 3 button mode after the system booted up.
@Arunotaku 8 ай бұрын
Hello et great video as always, I love the way of filming the CRT and not capturing raw pixel that always make the picture less authentic and far from the state it was meant to be shown !
@RMCRetro 8 ай бұрын
Thanks, I'll keep working on improving it if I can!
@ChadAF_YT 8 ай бұрын
Watching you guys solder made me feel like a pro!!!
@RMCRetro 8 ай бұрын
We aim to make you feel good 😁
@AJ_UK_LIVE 9 ай бұрын
I owned this madness. Plugging it in was a challenge! All the plugs were enormous, and you couldn't put them next to each other on a power strip because they didn't fit. Good times indeed. edit - I see you mentioned this! I had the unholy combo of MegaDrive OG and Mega CD 2 with my 32X. Or the mushroom as we called it :)
@erikhicks07 8 ай бұрын
Same. And it was quickly overshadowed by the Super Nintendo. The Genesis/32X/CD combo was left unplugged and served as hardware eyecandy for my friends.
@hicknopunk 9 ай бұрын
The Doom 32x is now based on a heavily optimized version of code. I imagine other jaguar games would require optimization as well.
@scotttait2197 3 ай бұрын
Neil i dont even remember the 6 button controller despite having one in about 1993..biught my megadrive I in tail end of 1990.. this was a blast from the past
@thomasdesposito 8 ай бұрын
Loved the Genesis since I got it Christmas of 89, and I'll always remember 3 years later at Christmas 92 opening my presents to see that big, beautiful square box with the front loading CD drive! Omg I had to finish opening the rest of my presents later on because I simply couldn't wait an had to hook it up and try it out! I remember it coming with these discs with all kinds of rock music and and awesome visualiser that would dance to the beat of the music! I also remember popping in sewer shark and I was so blown away from those grainy full motion video graphics and screamed for my mom to come to look lol. As much as people talked shit about the fmv games it still was a huge leap IMO from the standard genesis graphics, I still remember my mom telling me that it was very hard to find a system because like 98% of the systems were pre-ordered and she literally drove to somewhere in new Jersey to get it. (We lived in Brooklyn NY). I miss her so much, she would have drove across the planet I bet to get something I truly wanted. I didn't get the 32 x though, the main reason being that I knew the Atari jaguar was on the horizon lol. This is for a totally different video but I will just say that I absolutely loved the jaguar as well ❤
@jdraven0890 8 ай бұрын
A friend of mine slowly put together this same tower. Cannot recall exactly which version he had, but it was something else to see all the components assembled.
@bkslsh 9 ай бұрын
I have a model 2 Tower of Power and it still looks really cool on your entertainment center today. Like an alien biomass that plays games.
@KarldorisLambley 7 ай бұрын
it was interesting to be recommended this vid by YT. i worked at a computer shop as a young lad, im 50 now. so i was there unpacking all this stuff for first time. the release of doom, the first decent 3d card-orchid righteous 3dfx, i saw it all. and we did all this MD tackle.
@KarldorisLambley 7 ай бұрын
whilst i am reminiscing i got a 48k spectrum for xmas 1983, when i was 9. it had to be sent back as it would only load anything from tape about 10% of the time. i remember being gutted on boxing day as it went away, and i couldn't play the crap psion game i got with it anymore. - the game was some kind of star trek rip-off, i remember it had romulans in it.
@foamige 8 ай бұрын
If you get a pad like that again, flood it with flux and solder and use a solder sucker to clear the buckets. Works well if the component is holding on.
@paranormalskeptic3893 9 ай бұрын
I had the tower of power here in the states. I got the 32x and Doom for Christmas. I think I played Doom for 6 hours straight Christmas Eve/Christmas morning. As far as the Sega CD, I loved the NHL Series back in the early 90’s, so playing NHL on Sega CD blew my mind, the video at the start of the game and the sound, the sound was amazing !
@saynotop2w 8 ай бұрын
your family loved you
@vomitkermit3446 8 ай бұрын
I still have NHL ‘94 in the original case. That game got me into hockey. I lived in Miami at the time and the Panthers didn't exist in the game so I played as Quebec because I was able to score pretty consistently with Joe Sakic. To my delight a few months later the Quebec Nordiques now the Colorado Avalanche would destroy my local team in the finals.
@tonyutter 9 ай бұрын
I never owned a Sega CD, but I would have to go with model 1.
@JamesChessman 9 ай бұрын
Yes but apparently they break a lot more often, more moving parts! But yes model 1 Sega cd is beautiful. ❤ I want one even though I have a model 2, Sega CD
@InsomniaCast 4 ай бұрын
The 32x was a life changer for me as a child. I remember freaking out when I got to play the games on it. It was like "ULTIMATE POWER" lol
@kennykij1 4 ай бұрын
Same!!!! I remember the day I got it and played doom all day when we had a snow day at school. Miss those days
@florent1024 3 ай бұрын
Same for me! Short but intense experience
@randybobandy9828 2 ай бұрын
I'm sorry but the whole thing is dog shit. I was only a small kid when it was out but it's just terrible. That early era of 3d was so bad...
@SlumberBear2k 2 ай бұрын
I never played a game I liked on it, but it is still so nostalgic. Total waste of money but it was my parents that wasted it.
@mash2481 7 ай бұрын
I had the MegaCD 2, along with the 32X add on. One of my favorite systems of all time.
@Wol333 9 ай бұрын
It's insane how much better things look on CRT compared to emulation
@stephanemignot100 9 ай бұрын
I play retro-games on an eMac, the CRT is almost too good, scanlines are thin even @640*480
@sgtsnokeem1139 9 ай бұрын
Half agree. I LOVE my glorious pixels lol
@luvenstein1852 9 ай бұрын
Emulation works on crts too. 😉
@WardenOfTerra 8 ай бұрын
Not true at all. CRT's have flawed colours and refresh rate timings. IPS displays and modern rendering is far superior when it comes to displaying 'retro' games. Modern rendering removes sprite flicker and other abnormalities.
@ShadowAngel1860 8 ай бұрын
@@WardenOfTerra Damn, you must be a clueless 20something :D CRT is still the best when it comes to refresh, i think that has been proven enough by enough tech channels around the globe. The Colours also aren't flawed. They are more flawed on modern screens, since most still can't portray proper black for example. On the other hand, a lot of developers utilized the "flaws" CRT TVs had and incorporated it into their game design. One example were modern screens completely suck at is the Dithering. The scanlines were also utilized and sometimes even color bleed was expected and used to great effect. A good example for this is Sonic 3. Specifically the waterfalls. On modern screens you just get vertical lines that look way too harsh. On CRT they blurr into each other, get softened and thus it actually looks like a realistic waterfall. But as i said, it's obvious you're completely clueless about this subject. Go back to Fortnite, kiddo.
@Nobe_Oddy 9 ай бұрын
I HAD IT!!! IT was after the Saturn was released, but I had the WHOLE SHABANG!!! INCLUDING The 'SEGA CHANNEL' !!!! I was ROLLIN!!! LOL I only had like 3 games for the Sega CD, and 2 for the Genesis, and lie e3 for the 32X ... but the Sega Channel had A LOT of games, and you got new ones every month... they would keep a bunch of the games that were played alot, but eventually it stopped getting updated so we cancelled it and I went back to PC gaming - It makes me sad I didn't keep it... and TBH I have no clue what happened to it... same with my Dreamcast... bought for $50 at a thrift shop... it had 4 controllers and 10 or so games... eventually I learned how to jailbreak it.... but this was after it's hay-day... eventually I traded it for ... hrmmm... drugs :( .... yet another regret... Glad I got clean tho!!! ... I wouldn't trade that for the world!!! Anyway.... on with your vid.... time for some nostalgia :D
@Nobe_Oddy 9 ай бұрын
oh wait.. I forgot to mention that I obtained the 'Tower of Power' when I would sell computers at the flea market..... I'm pretty sure my Dad and I traded it for a 286 ... with a monitor and all... yea, we sold older systems for about $200 bucks ...... we got them as 'waste' from big companies that upgraded... then we'd build them up with more RAM and bigger HDD's and CGA or EGA cards, clean em up, and 'sling puter' every weekend LOL .... anyway, thought I'd add that :)
@MobiusGT 8 ай бұрын
i always appreciate when all the caps are replaced and not just the blown ones
@alexandermeisinger9478 8 ай бұрын
Great video with much detailed background informations. I have a MegaDrive with MegaCD myself too with many Games I still love. é.g. Vay, Lunar, and SonicCD. The small slider on the left side of the MegaCD (at 7:31) is used to hold the audio cable so it doesn't get stuck when open and close the CD tray.
@nealhammersmith8798 9 ай бұрын
AVGN did a satirical review of the Tower of Power. Part of the review covered how each part had its own power adaptor. I can see why this thing never took off given the cost to the consumer. Additionally, Sega would have been better off releasing the Neptune over the Saturn. In return, the Dreamcast would have had a better showing.
@TheNameIsSR 9 ай бұрын
The Saturn was awesome actually. Like the Gamecube and Dreamcast I think it failed mostly because of bad business decisions around the console, not the tech itself.
@StormsparkPegasus 9 ай бұрын
@@TheNameIsSR The Saturn was very successful in Japan. Said bad business decisions involved not bringing any good games over. Something like 70% of the Saturn library is Japan-only. You had to mod your console and import to play most games.
@dtester 9 ай бұрын
The Saturn was probably the only option since the MegaDrive did not have a good following in Japan. As much as I like the Tower or Power, the 32x probably should have been canceled.
@michelvanbriemen3459 9 ай бұрын
3 power adaptors, additional video interlink cables... it looked like it was on life support.
@TheNameIsSR 9 ай бұрын
@@initial_kd retailers also weren't exactly happy with the suprise launch of the Saturn. I think another big failure was the lack of localisation on many key titles. JRPGs were big at the time, yet so many Saturn JRPGs remained Japan-exclusive.
@cameralabs 8 ай бұрын
Great video Neil, and bonus points for doing such a good job filming the actual CRT TV screen, especially while still having some light in the background! The image looks amazing!
@justice100forwin2 8 ай бұрын
Great work , really interesting. Still can't get my head around SEGA basically competing against there own new console in the SEGA Saturn , a console witch I loved.
@michaelsilverman341 5 ай бұрын
I love that you let people come check it out! When I get across the pond someday I will definitely hit you guys up!
@nickiebanchou 9 ай бұрын
imagine if SEGA spent all that R&D into the Saturn instead of fragmenting their efforts in endless add-ons ... :O
@blitzerblazinoah6838 9 ай бұрын
Imagine if Sega of Japan had listened to Sega of America and partnered with Silicon Graphics to work on the Saturn?
@maroon9273 8 ай бұрын
More like marketing and focusing on the saturn. Especially a cleaner design with a gpu and designed by Lockheed Martin and yuzuki.
@Bloodstar6078 8 ай бұрын
The problem was Sega of America and Sega of Japan not being on the same page and working together. Why did they not work with SG? Was it because they worked with Nintendo?
@blitzerblazinoah6838 8 ай бұрын
@@Bloodstar6078 Silicon Graphics approached SEGA before they worked with Nintendo.
@Coproquim 2 ай бұрын
The Saturn qas an amazing console, SEGAs complete lack of marketing prowess was what killed it, same with the Dreamcast
@craigdavidson5613 8 ай бұрын
I happen to have the Tower of Power. I got the Mega Drive Model I from a local Charity Shop a decade ago for $5AU. Then I found the Mega CD Model I on a British second hand games shop for cheap. And I got an NTSC 32X, which I fixed with a region mod on the Mega Drive. I still play it from time to time, and it still works great! Now this was technology meant to last, unlike most other consoles nowadays.
@saynotop2w 8 ай бұрын
It goes to show that the value is in the eyes of the beholder
@nostalgiacrt7045 8 ай бұрын
I should of never sold mine!
@Nova_Afterglow 6 ай бұрын
didnt expect this to turn into an odd tinkering video in the middle. im here for it man, i love watching console repairs!
@shadowblade420x 5 ай бұрын
Great video thanks, loved watching you guys open up the 32x to clean out the capacitors and refurbish the console
@dannymac653 9 ай бұрын
The regional differences are interesting. The pre-Internet era allowed companies to contain these maneuvers to a specific region's corner of the globe. I remember having my mind blown after seeing how awesome the rest of the world's SNESes looked compared to North America's after getting Internet access.
@dextrodemon 8 ай бұрын
apparently consoles and games were literally half the price in the US compared to the UK. crazy
@cattysplat 8 ай бұрын
@@dextrodemon The UK pound sterling was strong in the 90s. Was about $1.60 USD to £1. Yet game prices and consoles were identical in numerics.
@RetroBytesUK 9 ай бұрын
Very impressed with the modern verison of Doom. It really does show off what could be done with the hardware. I dare say software developers having a lot more experience with mutli cpu development makes a big difference to how feasible it is to get the most out of it.
@JoeStuffzAlt 8 ай бұрын
That's my assessment as well. On top of this, back then with no guarantee that everyone would own a tower of power. Did a game company want to invest the money? One thing that helps with today is game engines. They help take care of a lot of the complexity. Back then, you didn't have as many game engines being sold, though they were indeed used. If you had an RPG, there probably were game engine parts.
@BobSaget69 7 ай бұрын
5:03 I like the font of the Japanese model especially with how they did the V at 45 degrees and then went vertically
@AdiSneakerFreak 8 ай бұрын
Great video Neil. As an Amiga guy it’s interesting to see the Mega CD exclusive sequel to Another World. Called Heart of the Alien. You can also get a single daisy chain power supply so make sure you grab one as it neatens the back up a lot. Also in the shop I seen you missed picking up the Genesis 3 which was the last throw of the dice from Sega on this console (US only)… I think it’s worth you grabbing that so you have the complete set then :)
@dextrodemon 8 ай бұрын
there's some weird thing called a megadrive black that come up for sale here all the time, is that the same thing as the genesis 3 or is it like a moderny nesmini type thing?
@MrJakeTucker 9 ай бұрын
I never had any parts of this tower, but a friend had the CD for a Xmas present and got the Hideo Kojima game Snatcher with it. First time I came across a Kojima game.
@innbydelse 9 ай бұрын
I grew up obsessed with the Sega Genesis. Was never compelled to get the 32x/Sega CD. Perfectly happy with the Sonic games as the best ones were on the vanilla console.
@dtester 9 ай бұрын
Pretty much the same for me. I was a Sega kid, but I didn't get the Sega CD because it was too expensive and the 32x because it didn't have any compelling games. Plus the Saturn was a year away.
@gilbert3579 8 ай бұрын
I love these kinds of videos! Pushing these old systems to their absolute limit is always interesting, especially the Sega consoles.
@contactjd 8 ай бұрын
I used to have the cd2 and enjoyed a game called Keio Flying Squadron. It's one I never hear mentioned anywhere and I just picked it up based on the box artwork, but can remember spending hours playing in the mid 90s👍
@c704710 9 ай бұрын
I used the 32X with my CDX. Gaming was no better or worse, but it was smaller.
@chadwolf3840 8 ай бұрын
Great episode. Seeing the full tower of power never gets old.
@BEELZEBRO666 Ай бұрын
This is so nostalgic for me, comic zone was a game I owned as a kid on mega drive when it was released. I remember lending it to a friend , not getting it back and our mum's having to get involved to sort out getting it back lol. Great job on the fix.
@epicon6 2 ай бұрын
Sooooo good to see you showing this system so much love by servicing it. A lovely piece of gaming history in good hands ❤❤❤
@ps3inquisition441 8 ай бұрын
I had the full tower back in the day. I really enjoy it, even though the library is severely limited. These days I use a CDX with one of my 32X consoles, I also have a spare model 2 CD and 32X. My original model 1 CD failed a few years back unfortunately. I’d like to get another one.
@BrianB2099 9 ай бұрын
That is an amazingly well stocked shop!!!
@mhopkins7954 7 ай бұрын
Really enjoyed the PCB clean and solder work!! Made me miss my days at General Dynamics! I got to reacquire all I lost but will be tinkering again soon enough!!
@anthonylorton102 5 ай бұрын
Great video - lovely to see Rollercoaster Tycoon boxes in the background ... I worked on those when I was with Hasbro Interactive back in the day!
@natswii 9 ай бұрын
Fantastic video as always. It would be great to combine the MiSTer cores of the 32X , Sega CD and Genesis/Megadrive into one core so we can experience "The Tower of Power"
@gareth19771 9 ай бұрын
That doesn't replicate the experience of having the actual hardware
@natswii 9 ай бұрын
@@gareth19771 - Its good enough for me!
@nyastclair8174 8 ай бұрын
@@gareth19771 It doesn't replicate the aesthetic of the console sitting there in front of you, but it replicates the feeling of playing on the actual console.
@gareth19771 8 ай бұрын
@nyastclair8174 no it doesn't. I have a problem with these mister devices. It's a very expensive product being missold to young people who are being conned into thinking its the authentic hardware and experience. If you emulate instead of having the actual hardware, you might as well use a cheap emulation box from China.
@nyastclair8174 8 ай бұрын
@@gareth19771 You clearly don’t understand what the MiSTer is. Carry on though.
@tonyg5597 9 ай бұрын
Thanks for the video....I was one of those who actually bought each of the components, and while I did not regret buying the Mega CD (Model 1), the 32X was that proverbial nail that made me abandon Sega and I bought the Playstation over the Saturn...although I did return for the Dreamcast which is an awesome console. I did bring out my Megadrive/CD/32X combo from storage about a year ago and it still works...and occasionally fire it up and while I would like to pick up a couple of the 32X games I did not pick up in the day (namely Afterburner), they are all way to pricey to justify.
@DanMacDonald 8 ай бұрын
Excellent video Neil! I imported my MD from Japan but I never owned the Mega CD or 32X. I only know one person who ever owned a MegaCD but he'd sold it before I knew him so it was interesting to learn that you had to push the reset button to eject its tray.
@FiveInchTaint 4 ай бұрын
Fun Fact: The Z80 that was used as the audio processor of the Mega Drive was the main CPU of the NES (actually Master System, not NES). Edit: TY @syklonus, I stand corrected.
@Syklonus 3 ай бұрын
The NES had a 6502 CPU. The Master System was Z80.
@stan.jk3 3 ай бұрын
Z80 was also the CPU in the Colecovision & Adam computer.
@MarcusTDM 8 ай бұрын
I was so close to buying a mega-cd & 32x when they were new but instead bought a Saturn. Can’t believe the sound couldn’t be neatly transferred through the expansion port. It’s brilliant and terrible for the same reasons. Great video as always.
@dextrodemon 8 ай бұрын
ikr is supplying the cable really cheaper than like 2 extra pins on the header lol
@worsethanhitlerpt.2539 4 ай бұрын
The cable hookups really destroy the illusion of a real integrated system. If it all hooked up thru the cart slot and didnt need 5 adaptors for power it would be so much cooler
@Interference22 9 ай бұрын
The "Tower of Power" exclusive games -- 32X with CD usage -- were an unequivocally terrible idea that few developers took advantage of, which is entirely understandable. When you need three separate, expensive pieces of gaming hardware just to run the (also expensive) game, you're looking at a fraction of a fraction of a user base and a vanishingly tiny number of sales compared to regular Genesis / Mega Drive games. Worse, with the Saturn coming out, they ended up competing with themselves.
@maroon9273 9 ай бұрын
Loss of revenue coming in. Which should've gone towards a battery efficient game gear model, genesis and Saturn software.
@sc00bieskylin34 7 ай бұрын
This is right up my street and brings in so many memories. I had a 32x and I only ever wanted the driving game i thought it was spectacular. But no games support at all unfortunately. I used to read magazines, EDGE especially, CnG (i think its called), brings back so many memories pre internet. I miss them times. Thankyou for the content.
@dunnono00 8 ай бұрын
To this day, I still regret not buying a new 32X for $5 back when they were discontinued. I wouldn't have gotten much use out of it, maybe if I was lucky I might have picked up Chaotix or something, but it'd be something to have and look at, lol. Anyway, nice retrospective. Yeah, few developers were going to do much more than the bare minimum required for the likes of a 32X, not when the Saturn was just ahead. Sega CD was Sega CD, interesting but going nowhere in hindsight just like all the early CD systems and add-ons. Interesting times though.
@namcos 9 ай бұрын
Although I didn't see them in this video, I hope you managed to have a go at Space Harrier for the 32X and The Terminator for the Mega CD. Both fantastic titles!
@Lando00100 9 ай бұрын
I always liked the idea of the tower of power when I was a kid. Adding physical components to get more out of your console is something that could work even today. With everything going digital it sure would be nice to have physical add-on that allows physical media. Theres Definitely a market for it, but its probably not a big one.
@enhancementtank5876 5 ай бұрын
How many 120gb games can you put on any PlayStation. If they put games on 256gb sd cards load times and storage is a thing of the past.
@Lando00100 5 ай бұрын
@@enhancementtank5876 Most definitely, I never want go back to brutal load times lol. But It would still be nice to have a physical copy even if its just for installation. A lot of digital media these days you don't really own if you read the fine print. I packed a lot of it on my 360 back in the day and a lot of it i don't have access to, specially when that drive died. Microsoft even took it off my purchase history. Module components could add life to your device. Framework is doing something like it with there laptops.
@RoblazeOG 4 ай бұрын
Excellent video!! Keep up the good work, please and thank you.
@davekennedy6315 6 ай бұрын
That retro games shop looks beautiful, real heaven!
@yrysroda8592 8 ай бұрын
I was so close to getting this setup instead of a Saturn, so glad my Dad talked me around! Really nice, fascinating video. If I can ask a quick question, how were you able to so successfully capture the footage from the CRT screen?
@RoblazeOG 4 ай бұрын
I believe the reason that the video is captured so well, is because he is in the U.K and the video codec that they use is PAL, which operates at a different frame rate than what is used in the U.S, which is NTSC.
@johnrickard8512 8 ай бұрын
It always seemed like the Sega CD/Mega CD was Sega's attempt to bring the Super-Scaler into the home. Not just to compete with other CD add-ons but to give the Genesis/Mega Drive a fighting chance against the Neo Geo. It's a shame more games didn't utilize it.😊
@JarlBarbossa 5 ай бұрын
The pc engine cd in Japan is the most successful console add on of all time. Sega was definitely chasing that
@johnrickard8512 5 ай бұрын
@@JarlBarbossa the base Genesis definitely was meant to compete against that, but as the only truly 16-bit console of its generation it certainly had an advantage with regard to processing speed. Its PPU was better in some ways but worse in others, as with the audio subsystem, though there too the Genesis had a secondary sub-cpu to drive its sound hardware. That was an idea good enough that the SNES also had it.
@Nightis81 7 ай бұрын
Great stuff. SUBSCRIBED!
@kylecooney353 Ай бұрын
Got my tower of power for Xmas. Everything was deeply discounted by that time but I enjoyed mine.
@trzy 9 ай бұрын
I wanted these so bad when I was a kid. We just couldn't afford this stuff. Now that I can, I think I'll pass on 32X and stick to emulation. Likewise for Sega CD. The latter has a great game library, though, and is playable with my MegaSD :)
@BarretKruse 3 ай бұрын
My favorite part 0:35 , being called - deserved or not - a (giggling inside) "cowboy" by a British gentleman - can't explain it, made me feel like an astronaut in Huston Texas who owns a cattle ranch with a field of oil wells heading to Las Vegas in 1963. Funny how, even 230 years later, we still seek the approval of the British!
@RMCRetro 3 ай бұрын
Now get back to your rootin’ and tootin’ y’all
@torikazuki8701 8 ай бұрын
As a Budding Computer Game Fan (I was 18 when the 'Mega Drive' was released in the U.S.) I really appreciated the Sega CD drive, as the much greater CD storage allowed more complicated games & more elaborate ones. Wing Commander, Lunar 1 & 2, Dark Wizard, the jRPGs & american RPG's, plus all the PC ports became my go-to gaming staples, until I finally built my own PC in 1994. (An Everex File Server with 2 1GB HD drives. Massive storage for the day.)
@davidbanner9001 9 ай бұрын
I had a similar setup with a Multi-Mega, which cost me very little at the time. It kinda fell off the back of a lorry, if you know what I mean? I then bought the 32X, just for Doom. But there were just so many leads.
@lupinzar 9 ай бұрын
As I understand it the 32X expects the developer to do all the work. There's no real hardware help for either 3d or 2d rendering. So a lot of games will use 32X to do the polygons for 3d games, or sprites for 2d games, then use the tile map layers of the Genesis for anything that needs to scroll. Doesn't sound very attractive for developing under time and money constraints.
@maroon9273 8 ай бұрын
The cons of the 32x is the dual cpu set up, programming the audio chip and its limited background/overlay color pallete. Plus, it is incompatible with the saturn.
@Usernamesweresrsbsns 7 ай бұрын
Got my sub, really likenyour video format and how much detail you put into it
@vincepurdie 5 ай бұрын
I had this setup plugged into my 5 speaker home theater system. It was amazing. My favorite game was Earthwork Jim Special Edition. The sound was incredible.
@idahofur 9 ай бұрын
I always wondered why you had the 32x add-on and then a Sega Saturn that was 32x and was not compatible. Years later I found out the story why. I also found out years later they had a few 32x sega cd games too. They look great by the way. Then again I read the whole system was a nightmare to program on.
@timmturner 8 ай бұрын
Sega mismanagement doomed them.
@segadriven 9 ай бұрын
The Saturn version of Virtua Racing may look better but it shares no source code with the arcade game and is a worse-playing game as a result. The 32X port is actually based on the arcade source code and plays a lot better as a result
@ReinMixTape 9 ай бұрын
I got all three versions and I can concur with this. The 32x is the definitive port out of all three of them to own if you want the most playable and authentic VR experience.
@wizmanballin8498 6 ай бұрын
I had the wider build. I had the console, CD drive and the 32X add-on. That took me right to my Dreamcast system. Oa few of my favorite games on that setup was Chaotix, Batman Returns, Ecco the Dolphin, Virtua Fighter, and a game not many knew about named Soulstar, great fighter/tech mech game with a a killer OST. I still have the original disc from that gaming system.👍
@solodragun 4 ай бұрын
Had the original Sega CD, never had the 32X though. Man I was so stoked opening up that Sega CD for Christmas. Loved it.
@Zebra66 9 ай бұрын
I was so upset about wasting my money on a mega CD that it put me off Sega forever. It was terrible. I refused to trust Sega for any of their new consoles after getting burnt so badly. 300 pound for a slow CD drive that added literally nothing to it's capabilities. It made choosing the PS1 over a Saturn a no-brainer.
@johnboydojo 8 ай бұрын
£110 for all that? Absolute Bargain! I highly recommend Snatcher for the Mega CD and Popful Mail. Great games!
@terminallygray 7 ай бұрын
Wow !! Popful Mail....haven't seen that in 25 - 30 years !! The start of my Working Designs addiction.
@johnboydojo 7 ай бұрын
@@terminallygray Classic game!
@mhenrique4860 7 ай бұрын
24:56 THANK YOU FOR SHOWING US HOW IT LOOKS DIRECT ON THE CRT !!! I dont like when we see the video output and not the real image on the crt, thank you so much!!!
@corneliussmiff2773 6 ай бұрын
Man, even now just seeing the Model 1 Mega Drive and Mega CD looks amazing to me and evokes such vivid childhood memories of seeing it for the first time in a gaming magazine. I was in awe at how other worldly and cool it looked. I know that objectively it was a hulking white elephant, but I still really want one.
@user-mp1mm9xe8g Ай бұрын
that bit about breaking the fourth wall... brilliant.
@Doubleohstevo 4 ай бұрын
Really interesting stuff. I was there 3000 years ago! I had a green monitor Amstrad 464,and my friend had an Amiga(or commodore) with Flimbos quest,i loved that game. I begged my mum for a Mega CD 2 but she flat out refused. I was really upset. Turned out my main christmas present was a PlayStation! Thanks mum!
@henryespitalier777 8 ай бұрын
Great video thanks for sharing that piece of history Sir
@thebipolarbear1 5 ай бұрын
That game store is amazing. Really cool video buddy I enjoyed it
@Eric_Seay 3 ай бұрын
I had the big Sega Genesis and a Sega CD 2. I bought it myself by saving money from working for my parents in their store. It was the coolest thing at the time, even though I had very few games for it.
@aunderiskerensky2304 7 ай бұрын
cousin had the sega cd, i had a 32x, and i really enjoyed the uplift from megadrive to 32x. it was noticeable. i remember an odd game called kolibri where you were a hummingbird and it was really breathtaking at the time for the level up in detail it gave. neat piece of hardware. finicky and didn't want to work alot but it was sure cool when it did.
@DanielRichards644 4 ай бұрын
I had what I guess you would call the "2nd Gen" or Slim version where the Sega CD drive sat to the right of the Genesis and had a flip up cover (which was crap and eventually required use of a properly tensioned clamp to hold the lid shut enough for the drive to spin but not so closed that it pinched the disc.
@32bitsz 7 ай бұрын
Great to see your work, thanks !
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