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The Revenge Of Shinobi (gameboy Advance)

The Revenge of Shinobi (gameboy advance)

The Revenge of Shinobi is a videogame for Game Boy Advance, developed by 3d6 Games and published by THQ. It was released on November 19 2002. The Revenge of Shinobi is not to be confused with the Sega Genesis game The Revenge of Shinobi. Although both games are related in title and follow the exploits of a Shinobi character, the Game Boy Advance game is no continuation or port of the Genesis game. It is the 10th game in the Shinobi series. Revenge of Shinobi, The Revenge of Shinobi, The Revenge of Shinobi, The Revenge of Shinobi, The

Videogame

:This article is about computer and video games. For the magazine see Computer and Video Games (magazine). Technically, a computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players may interact with in order to achieve a goal (or set of goals). A video game is a computer game where a video display is the primary feedback device. Since nearly all computer games use some sort of visual display, these terms are usually considered interchangeable, and are frequently used as umbrella terms for interactive game software. The phrase interactive entertainment is the formal reference to computer and video games. To avoid ambiguity, this game software is referred to as "computer and video games" throughout this article. However, in common usage, "computer game" refers more specifically to games played on a personal computer, while "video game" (or "videogame") actually refers to both, and "[console name] game" refers specifically to games played on a particular console.
- For specific information regarding "computer games", see personal computer game.
- For specific information regarding "console games", see console game. console game) is held every year in Los Angeles. New projects are shown every year.]]

History

The first primitive computer and video games were developed in the 1950s and 1960s and ran on platforms such as oscilloscopes, university mainframes and EDSAC computers. Arcade games were developed in the 1970s and led to the so-called "Golden Age of Arcade Games". One of the most well-known of these games is Pong. The 1970s also saw the release of the first home video game consoles. The late 1970s to early 1980s brought about the improvement of home consoles and the release of the Atari 2600, Intellivision and Colecovision. The video game crash of 1983, however, produced a dark age in the market that was not filled until the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) reached North America in 1985. The last two decades of game history have been marked by separate markets for games on video game consoles, home computers and handhelds. See the article on Console wars for additional information on that facet of game history.

The future of console gaming

The end of 2005 and first and second quarters of 2006 will see the next generation of console gaming in the form of continuing advances in processor technology, graphics technology, design innovation, and even platform specific gaming community infrastructure. Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft are all participating in this coming year's "technology race". The second generation Microsoft offering, the Xbox 360, will be powered by a multi-core CPU, the PlayStation 3 will be powered by Cell processor technology, and the Nintendo Revolution will allow the gamer to interact with the game via a wireless motion sensing controller, although full technical specifications are yet to be revealed.

Gameplay

Main article: Gameplay In computer and video gaming, gameplay (sometimes called "Game mechanics") is a general term that describes player interaction with a game. It includes direct interaction, such as controls and interface, but also design aspects of the game, such as levels. Although the use of this term is often disputed, as it is considered too vague for the range of concepts it describes, it is currently the most commonly used and accepted term for this purpose when describing video games.

Genres

Main article: Computer and video game genres Games, like most other forms of media, may be categorized into genres based on gameplay, atmosphere, and various other factors. Any individual gamer is likely to favor some types of gameplay over others, these are refered to as video game genres. The most common genres in use today include platformers, adventure, role-playing games (RPGs), first person shooters (FPS), third person shooter (sometimes called shoot 'em ups), sports, racing, fighting (sometimes called beat 'em ups), action (although this term is abused), puzzle, simulation, and real time strategy (RTS), to name a few. It is rare that a game will fall purely into one genre, most games are a combination of two or more genres (e.g action/RPG). Although most genres have 2D counterparts, they are for the most part considered entirely different genres because of the differences in the way 2D and 3D games are played (e.g. Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 64). The increase in the popularity of online gaming has also resulted in new sub-genres being formed, such as the massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

Gaming platforms

massively multiplayer online role-playing game Today there are many different devices that games may be played on. Personal computers, consoles, handheld systems, and arcade machines are all common. There is an extremely thin line between games played on the computer and those on the console, which is a standardized computer with little or no setup. Many games intended for computer are now just as prevalent on consoles, both of which have many of the same titles. This is due to the fact that video game consoles have drastically increased in computing power and capabilities over the last few years to the point that they can handle games that were formerly only playable with comparatively higher-end computers. During the last generation of gaming, most major computer game releases have coincided with the release of console versions, and titles initially developed for a single platform are often ported to others if they prove to be successful.

Personal Computer

Main article: Personal Computer Games Personal computer games are commonly referred to as "computer games" or "PC games". They are played on the personal computer with standard computer interface devices such as the keyboard and mouse, or additional peripherals, such as joysticks. Video feedback is received by the user through the computer screen, sound through speakers or headphones. Computer games are often more powerful than console games because of early market releases of their external architecture and graphics cards. The most popular genres of Computer games are First-Person Shooters, Real-Time Strategy, Simulations, and MMOGs, given the long-standing nature of Internet access and online play. First Person Shooters benefit highly from using the keyboard and mouse to give very fine control over player movement that is still not matched on the consoles. Today, most PC games require the Windows operating system to be installed on the computer. There is, however, a continuing movement to get the most popular games to run under the Mac and Linux operating systems. According to the Entertainment Software Association, console games have outsold computer games roughly four units to one in 2003 and 2004 [http://theesa.com/facts/sales_genre_data.php]. For more information, see sales. One possible explanation for the declining sales of personal computer games in relation to that of consoles can be found within the PC itself: a computer must meet certain minimum requirements (listed on retail box of the title) such as CPU speed, memory, video card memory, hard drive space, operating system, Internet connection speed (for online games) and other criteria. Without the proper hardware, the game may perform poorly or not run at all.

Internet

Main article: Internet gaming Online Games are those which either require or benefit from a connection to the Internet to play. Online gaming began with PC games, but has over time expanded to include most moder consoles. It is now a key feature of modern games, with the inclusion of Internet connectivity in consoles such as the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and in mobile/cellular phones. Online games need to allow several people to play at the same time, so not all genres are suitable; the most popular genres include MMORPG's, FPS's, racing/driving games, strategy games, and sports titles. The Internet is also host to thousands of small Flash and Java games, named after the programming language in which they are written. These games generally do not share the same magnitude of development costs, depth, or seriousness of PC and console games, and are generally quick to complete by comparison. Some of these games, such as Runescape, however, have expanded far beyond this, and can often be considered on the same level as "mainstream" PC games.

Console

Main article: Console games Console games are played video game console, a specialized computer specifically designed to play games of a certain format. The player usually interacts with the game through a controller, and video and sound are typically delivered to the player via a television, although most modern consoles support additional outputs, such as surround sound setups. Consoles themselves branched off from personal computers around two decades ago, a fact which is still evident not only in the name, but also in many of the peripherals available for many consoles, like the keyboard and mouse peripherals released for the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Sega Dreamcast.

Handheld

Main article: Handheld video games Handheld games are played on handheld game consoles, such as the Nintendo Gameboy, Nintendo DS, and Sony PSP. Handheld consoles act as their own controllers, which the player uses to interact with the game, as well as having in-built display and audio output devices. Because they are designed to be played on the go, they are usually small enough to fit into an average pocket (the virtual boy is an exception to this), but due to their small size, haldheld consoles have reduced processing power compared to larger consoles, meaning that games are shorter, and until the release of the DS, were limited to 2D.

Mobile Phone

Main article: Mobile/Cellular Phone Games Most mobile phones now have games built into them, and others are available for download, or can be bought for a small amount of money. These games are more restricted than traditional handheld games, and usually play more like arcade games.

Arcade

Main article: Arcade Games Arcade games, traditionally, are "coin-operated games", played on a standalone device originally leased to commercial entertainment venues. These are programmed, equipped, and decorated for a specific game, consisting of a video display, a set of controls, and the coin slot. Controls are similar to those available for many consoles (albeit usually as peripherals) and range from the classic joystick and buttons, to light guns, to pads on the ground that sense pressure. Arcade games that are no longer profitable to lease can be purchased by private individuals, many of whom then explore the game dynamics by altering the programs. This term has now expanded to include any game that has more direct action, with fewer long term objectives and, for the most part, shorter in-game levels.

Popularity

:What rock and roll was to the youth of the Sixties, gaming is to the youth of today. — Killol Bhuta, brand manager, Ford Motor Company [http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Features/articleId=107487] The popularity of computer and video games, as a whole, has been increasing steadily ever since the 1984-1987 dropoff caused by the video game crash of 1983, and the popularity appears to be continuing to increase. The average age of the video game player is now 29 [http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=8540&filter=myturn], belying the myth that video games are largely a diversion for teenagers.

Sales

teenager) with a large selection of games for several major consoles]] The four largest markets for computer and video games are the United States, Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom. Other significant markets include Spain, Germany, South Korea, France, and Italy. China is not considered a significant market, most likely because an estimated 95% of video games sold in the country are pirated. [http://slate.msn.com/id/2116629/] Sales of different types of games vary widely between these markets due to local preferences. Japanese consumers avoid computer games and instead buy video games, with a strong preference for games created in Japan, that run on Japanese consoles. In South Korea, computer games are preferred, especially MMORPG games and real-time strategy games; there are over 20,000 PC bang Internet cafes where computer games can be played for an hourly charge. The NPD Group tracks computer and video game sales in the United States. It reported that as of 2004:
- Console and portable software sales: $6.2 billion, up 8% from 2003 [http://gameinfowire.com/news.asp?nid=5650]
- Console and portable hardware and accessory sales: $3.7 billion, down 35% from 2003 [http://gameinfowire.com/news.asp?nid=5650]
- PC game sales: $1.1 billion, down 2% from 2003 [http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/28/news_6117438.html] These figures are sales in dollars, not units; unit shipments for each category were higher than the dollar sales numbers indicate, as more software and hardware was sold at reduced prices compared to 2003. Retail PC game sales have been declining slightly each year since about 1998, but this fact should be taken with a grain of salt: the retail sales numbers from NPD do not include sales from online downloads, nor subscription revenue for games like MMORPGs. There is a commonly repeated, mistaken belief that video game sales now exceed the revenues of the movie industry. This is untrue; in the United States, video game sales have exceeded the movies' total box office revenue each year since about 1996, but the movie studios trounce the video game publishers when the movies' "ancillary revenue" is counted, meaning sales of DVDs, sales to foreign distributors, and sales to cable TV, satellite TV, and broadcast television networks. The game and film industries are also becoming increasingly intertwined, with companies like Sony having significant stakes in both. A large number of summer blockbuster films spawn a companion game, often launching at the same time in order to share the marketing costs.

Computer and video games in the broader culture

Computer games are huge business worldwide. Take for example South Korea. Developers there boast MMORPGs such as Lineage and Ragnarok Online with millions of subscribers and a third of the world's MMOG revenue. StarCraft gosu (expert players) are celebrities in a game that some have called the country's national sport. The success of computer and online gaming there is usually credited to South Korea's push for broadband Internet connections in the home and earlier bans on Japanese products (these restrictions were removed by the late 1990s). Numerous websites and publications devoted solely to games have been created, including Official Xbox Magazine, Nintendo Power, Official Playstation Magazine, GamePro, GameSpot, GameSpy, IGN and GameFAQs. Video gaming now ingrained in popular culture in the United States. Many T-shirts are available that directly reference video games, such as one with a picture of an NES controller with the text 'Know Your Roots.' Also, video games have also become a major part in cross marketing platforms, such as in Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh, where a child can watch the television show, buy the trading cards, and play the various video games available. Video game properties have had mixed success when migrating to the movies. One of the first films based on a video game property was The Wizard, which some criticized as a 90-minute ad for Super Mario Brothers 3. In the mid-90s, films for Super Mario Brothers, Street Fighter, Wing Commander and Mortal Kombat were released. Reviews have generally been poor. Despite the ultimately poor performance of these movies, many studios still want to turn big games into movies, hoping that the popularity of the game will help the movie. However, after the initial bunch, many projects materialized that were never finished, but the success of films like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider has led to more films materializing. Doom, a game which film makers were trying to cross over since the mid '90s, finally hit theatres 12 years after its initial release. John Woo is also producing a movie on the popular Nintendo game Metroid. There is still debate in the movie industry on whether video games can consistently be turned into good, profitable movies. Films like Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which has received mixed responses from audiences, with some saying it is a great movie, and others saying it is a very bad movie with excellent computer-generated imagery, but ultimately flopped in the box office, and Uwe Boll's House of the Dead and Alone in the Dark, which both ended up being horrible flops both in fan reactions and box office success and both ending up on the IMDB's bottom 100 movies, do not, in turn, give much confidence in whether these movies will be handled seriously. The recently released Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children may change some people's minds though, even though it's a straight to DVD affair. On the other hand, video games get much more success when adapted into cartoons/animes. Some notables examples of major success includes the various Mario Bros. cartoons, Sonic SatAM, Captain N: The Game Master and Earthworm Jim while Sonic Underground, the American Mega Man cartoon and 4Kids' dubs (although this isn't limited to their video game-based dubs) are cited as being poor. Sometime, they even "help" more obscure/Japan-only games pick up popularity in America although rarely; To Heart would be the best example of such thing. Movies have had far more success moving the other direction, onto video games. Most summer blockbuster films now have a simultaneous video game release; some of the most lucrative video games of recent times are based on movies, such as Electronic Arts' and Stormfront Studios' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and the series of EA LotR games that followed it, and Activision's two Spider-Man movie games. Even though movies have had more success in game conversion, not all movie games are popular amongst the gaming community. Some publishers believe that the success of the movie will help the game sell, and so may not have as lengthy a development schedule as needed to make a compelling game. Some examples of this are the Catwoman and King Arthur movie games. Also, video games have found themselves on MTV2, in a popular show called Video Mod, where characters from popular video games perform songs from hit artists, such as characters from The Sims 2 performing the song "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains Of Wayne. On the Internet, gaming has also become a popular subject of many webcomics. Currently there are two varieties. The first one is the sprite comic, such as 8 Bit Theatre, in which the artist uses sprites from the earlier Final Fantasy games to tell stories. Sometimes these are original stories, but are often parodies of the game in which the sprite came from. The other is a more traditional comic strip, containing original art, like Penny Arcade. Here, the storylines or jokes revolve around current events in video gaming. The success of Penny Arcade has attracted many people in the industry, including Ubisoft. Other parodies have come in the form of amateur videos, such as those of Mega 64. In Germany, the TV channel NBC Europe broadcasts a show called GIGA, which turned more and more into a video and computer game show. In the show, new games are presented and reviewed. Lately, the show featured the esports scene a lot, by introducing professional players to the audience and broadcasting live competition matches. Online shows are fast becoming the place to view live action gaming broadcasts such as gamespot's 'On the Spot'

Development

Main article: Game development Video games are made by developers, who used to do this as individuals in the 80's (Bedroom Coders) , but now are almost always a large team consisting of designers, graphic designers and other artists, programmers, sound designers, musicians, and other technicians. Video games are developing fast in all areas, but the problem is of price and how developers intend to keep the price where it is while incorporating better technology, that inevitably costs more. Most video game console development teams number anywhere from 20 to 50 people, with some teams exceeding 100. The average team size as well as the average development time of a game have grown along with the size of the industry and the technology involved in creating games. This has led to regular occurrences of missed deadlines and unfinished products; Duke Nukem Forever is the quintessential example of these problems. See also: video game industry practices. Visit http://magicalgames.suddenlaunch3.com/index.cgi for forums about videogames.

Game modifications

Main article: Mod (computer gaming) Games running on a PC are often designed with end-user modifications in mind, and this consequently allows modern computer games to be modified by gamers without much difficulty. These mods can add an extra dimension of replayability and interest. The Internet provides an inexpensive medium to promote and distribute mods, and they have become an increasingly important factor in the commercial success of some games. Developers such as id, Valve, and Epic provide extensive tools and documentation to assist mod makers, allowing for the kind of success seen by popular mods such as Counter-Strike. Popular mods are sometimes bought by the developers of the game. This is the case of Valve's Half-life. They bought a number of popular mods including Counter-strike and Day of defeat. After the release of Half-life 2 Valve developed these mods for the sequel and sold them through their digital distribution software Steam through the internet. Recently, computer games have also been used as a digital art medium. See artistic computer game modification.

Naming

Gamers use several umbrella terms for console, PC, arcade, handheld, and similar games since they do not agree on the best name. For many, either "computer game" or "video game" describes these games as a whole. Other commonly used terms include, "entertainment software," "interactive entertainment media," "electronic interactive entertainment," "electronic game," "software game," and "videogame" (as one word). Computer and video games may be considered a subset of interactive media, which includes virtual reality, flight and engineering simulation, multimedia and the World Wide Web.

See also


- Computer and video game articles by topic
- Computer and video game articles by category

References


- Lieu, Tina (August 1997). [http://www.cjmag.co.jp/magazine/issues/1997/aug97/0897pcgames.html "Where have all the PC games gone?"]. Computing Japan.
- Costikyan, Greg (1994) [http://www.costik.com/nowords.html "I Have No Words & I Must Design"]
- Crawford, Chris (1982) [http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/fac/peabody/game-book/Coverpage.html "The Art of Computer Game Design"] Category:Games ko:컴퓨터 게임 ja:コンピューターゲーム nb:Dataspill simple:Video game th:Category:เกมคอมพิวเตอร์และวิดีโอเกม

Game Boy Advance

The Game Boy Advance (GBA) is a handheld videogame console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. It is one of the latest in the Game Boy series of consoles, and the successor to the popular Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in Europe on 22nd June 2001, and in China on June 8, 2004. Its codename during development was Project Atlantis.

Hardware

2004 The Game Boy Advance is backwards compatible with most games previously released for the Game Boy or the Game Boy Color, as well as new software developed to take advantage of the new technical capabilities of the system. It is powered by two AA batteries, which give about 15-30 hours of play time, as well as an optional power supply that plugs directly into the GBA's battery bracket.

Processors

The GBA has a custom 32-bit 16.8-MHz ARM processor (ARM7TDMI) based on a RISC architecture, which is much more suited to the C programming language than the 8-bit Z80-like processor used in older Game Boy models. The ARM processor can run both 32-bit ARM and 16-bit "Thumb" instruction set encodings. The system also contains an 8.4-MHz Z80-like processor to provide support for legacy GB software; however, both processors cannot be active at the same time.

Display

The 2.9" LCD is capable of a maximum of 240×160 pixels in 15-bit color (32,768 colors). This display includes more pixels than Game Boy's 160×144; when playing legacy games, the user can press the "L" or "R" button to switch the display between 160×144 with a black border and scaling to 240×144 pixels. Early games had very dark color palettes because the display in the development kits was much brighter than the one in the production units; the production display has a gamma value of 4. Newer titles use gamma correction in their palettes. If the color LCD has a fault, it is that the Game Boy Advance is lit by ambient light. Users quickly learned to tilt the device to take advantage of window or overhead illumination. An aftermarket internal lighting kit known as the Afterburner was briefly popular before the introduction of the Game Boy Advance SP, and influenced the development of the new model.

Graphics

The GBA has hardware support for simple 2D operations using graphical elements called sprites. It can scale, rotate, sum-blend, and alpha-blend sprites against a background (with one alpha value for the whole screen, not the alpha-blending of image edges seen in the PNG format), and it can change the scaling and rotation of sprites and the background on each scanline to give a pseudo-3D effect. The GBA's picture generator has six display modes (three tiled and three bitmap) and 96 KiB of dedicated RAM. In tiled display modes, the system can manage four pixel-to-pixel layers, two pixel-to-pixel layers and one affine layer, or two affine layers, and it uses 64 KiB of RAM for tile and map data and 32 KiB for sprite cel data. In bitmap modes, it can display one large 16-bit bitmap, two 8-bit bitmaps (with page flipping), or one small 16-bit bitmap (with page flipping), and it uses 80 KiB of RAM for tile and map data and 16 KiB for sprite cel data. In all modes, it can show up to 128 sprites (individually controllable small moving objects) of 8×8 up to 64×64 pixels in either 4-bit or 8-bit indexed color. Each sprite can be drawn using either direct pixel mapping or affine mapping; it's possible to fit more direct sprites on a scanline. Later games pushed the GBA to its limits with simple 3D graphics. These games include Wolfenstein 3D, Duke Nukem Advance, and Doom and Doom 2. Utilizing 2D sprites for objects and 3D graphics for architecture, these games usually achieve a passable framerate, although sometimes in large environments or with many objects onscreen the framerate will drop to a very noticable level. Some feel that such 3D games are a logical and welcome step for the GBA, while others feel that they are overly ambitious and beyond the capabilites of the system. With the release of the DS, future 3D games for the GBA will most likely be limited.

Media

The interface from the GBA unit to the ROM cartridge includes only a 24-bit address bus multiplexed with a 16-bit data bus. (Mattel's Intellivision console had previously used a multiplexed bus.) This setup limits the directly addressable memory to 16 binary megawords (that is, 256 binary megabits or 32 binary megabytes), but bankswitching hardware on the cartridge can extend this by controlling the ROM's upper address lines from software, effectively switching other parts of the ROM into the GBA's address space. Still, as of 2003, no published GBA titles have such bankswitching hardware because 32 MiB of ROM is still too expensive for the price point at which most GBA games are sold. By early 2002, hardware became readily available for moving user code onto the GBA. For example, in December 2001, a flash memory cartridge plus writing hardware could be had for less than $200 U.S., and a $50 device emulates a netbooting master. By April 2003, the prices had come down to under $100 for the flash cartridge and writer and $30 for the boot cable. Because of this, a homebrew software development community has sprung up (see [http://www.gbadev.org/ gbadev.org]). Nintendo, however, has a history of viewing such devices as nothing more than piracy tools, since they can be used to copy cartridges containing copyrighted software. In February of 2002, Nintendo began sending threatening letters to some United States resellers of such devices. Previous lawsuits had banned the importation of similar devices for the 8-bit Game Boy.

Connectivity

homebrew The GBA also has a serial port for connecting to other GBA units in a setup similar to a token ring network over a bus physical topology. A GBA can also receive up to 256 KiB of bootstrap code through the port, even when no cartridge is present (sometimes known as multiboot or netboot). This is used for multiplayer GBA connections, where multiple GBAs can play with only one cartridge; one GBA with a cartridge sends boot code to the other cartridge-less GBAs. The serial port can (with a suitable cable) also connect to a standard RS-232 serial port for debugging purposes and (hypothetically) Internet play, although a TCP/IP stack has yet to be implemented in a GBA game. To link GBA games, a GBA link cable is required. To link regular GB or GB Color games, the older GB link cable is required, even if you're using two GBAs. A wireless adapter was released on September 7, 2004 in the U.S. It allows GBAs to be linked without cords, and with more than four players at a time. It came bundled with Pokémon FireRed. However, a game has to be designed with the wireless adapter in mind, and there are only [http://www.nintendo.com/gamelist?start=1&oord=asc&osort=title&sort=&cmd=&toggle=true&query=&tf=&cf=&sf=&ef=&rf=&pf=&af=New%21+Game+Boy+Advance+Wireless+Adapter&vf=&nf= a few such games].

Models

Game Boy Advance (original model)

The Game Boy Advance sold at a base price of $100 USD when it was released in North America. Prior to the release of the Game Boy Advance SP, the GBA was the fastest selling game console in history. As of 2005, the original model GBA has been discontinued in favor of the Game Boy Micro.

Game Boy Advance SP

Game Boy Micro In early 2003, Nintendo upgraded the Game Boy Advance giving it an internal light that can be turned on or off, a rechargeable lithium ion battery, as well as a folding case approximately half the size of the GBA. It was designed to address some common complaints with the original GBA. Since the release of the Game Boy Micro, an improved version of the SP that utilizes a backlight has been made available. The switch that controls the light now toggles between "normal" (which itself is already brighter than a Nintendo DS's screen), and "bright", an intense brightness level similar to LCD television sets. The light cannot be turned off completely while the system is on.

Game Boy Micro

In September 2005, Nintendo released a second redesign of the Game Boy Advance. This model again goes back to the Game Boy Advance horizontal orientation, is much smaller and sleeker, and was the first Game Boy model to feature a backlight. The Game Boy Micro also offers the user to switch between several colored faceplates to allow customization, a feature which Nintendo advertised heavily around the Micro's launch.

Accessories

Nintendo has released many add-ons for the Game Boy Advance (GBA). These include: Wireless Adapter - Released in 2004, this adapter hooks up to the back of the Game Boy Advance. It replaces link cables and allows many people to link up to each other. It markets for $20 and came included with Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. Because it was released so late in its life, only 10-12 games support this hardware. The adapter's usefulness is most evident in Pokémon; FireRed/LeafGreen feature a "Union Room" where up to sixteen people can enter to battle or trade Pokémon. The adapter itself was not backwards compatible, leading to criticism that this accessory was more novel than useful, only available on a few games. Play-Yan - The Play-Yan is an MP3/MPEG4 player for the GBA and Nintendo DS. The cartridge is slightly bigger than normal GBA cartridge and includes a built-in headphone port as well as an SD Card slot. Music or videos that users have downloaded from the Internet can be transferred onto an SD Card and slotted into the Play-Yan device. Nintendo has released several mini games for the Play-Yan that can be downloaded from their website. The Play-Yan is currently available in Japan only, but a European release has been confirmed for early 2006. Since play-yan did not have a US release to coincide with Game Boy micro as rumored, an American release has been speculated for 2006 as well. e-Reader - The e-Reader is a rather bulky scanning device that plugs into the game cartridge slot of the Game Boy Advance. Specialized cards with codes along the side and bottom are slid through the slit, scanning the card into the Game Boy Advance. Many ideas for the e-Reader have included cards that scan classic games like Donkey Kong and Excitebike onto the handheld ready to play, as well as a collaboration with Super Mario Advance 4 to have cards that unlock content. Gamecube games like Animal Crossing had cards with unlockable content as well, and the Pokemon Trading Card Game playing cards also adopted the e-Reader codes. The e-Reader works with the Game Boy Player as well as the Game Boy Advance SP, but cannot fit into the Nintendo DS's Game Boy slot. It has been discontinued in America, but is still quite popular in Japan. Game Boy Advance Video - These highly popular cartridges contain two episodes of 30 minute cartoon programmes. First released in America in May of 2004, they cost $19.99 and included cartoons such as Pokémon, SpongeBob SquarePants, Sonic X and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Majesco has recently announced that Shrek, Shrek 2, and Shark Tale are all due out for GBA Video later this year and all three movies are in full. Unfortunately, these cartridges display an error when inserted into a GameCube via a Game Boy Player.

Unofficial accessories

GBA Movie Player - The GBAMP is a versatile gaming cartridge that allows people to play NES/Famicom games, watch movies (e.g. MPGs), see .TXT files, hear sound clips, etc. TV Tuner - Not much is known as of yet, but it does what it implies. It will most likely be what is being sold now on the Game Boy Advance, and that is to make the portable system into a portable television. Unofficial Game Boy Advance flash cartridges are also available. While they enable the distribution of homebrew applications and content, they may also facilitate the illegal distribution of copyrighted games.

Games

The Game Boy Advance has become the modern flagship of sprite based games. With hardware superior to the Super Nintendo it has proven that sprite based technology could improve and live side by side with the 3D games of today's consoles. The Game Boy Advance not only has your typical platformers, but also a huge collection of SNES style RPGs. It has also become a popular system for old school gamers due to the increasing amount of games ported from various 8-bit and 16-bit systems of the previous era. Through the use of flash cartridges and emulators the Game Boy Advance can even play NES and PC Engine games, as well as AGI based Sierra On-Line PC adventure games. Standout original titles include:
- Advance Wars
- Boktai
- Golden Sun
- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
- Fire Emblem
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
- Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
- Metroid Fusion
- Pokémon Ruby / Sapphire
- Wario Ware, Inc. Mega Microgame$

Screenshots

Image:GBA_Advance_Wars.png|Advance Wars
Intelligent Systems/Nintendo (2001) Image:GBA_Golden_Sun.png|Golden Sun
Camelot (2001) Image:GBA_Mario_Kart.png|Mario Kart Super Circuit
Nintendo (2001) Image:GBA_Metroid_Fusion.png|Metroid Fusion
Nintendo (2002) Image:GBA_Castlevania_Aria_of_Sorrow.png|Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Konami (2003) Image:GBA_Fire_Emblem_Fight.png|Fire Emblem
Intelligent Systems/Nintendo (2003) Image:GBA_Pokemon_Ruby.png|Pokémon Ruby
Nintendo (2003) Image:GBA_Wario_Ware_Inc_2.png|Wario Ware, Inc.
Nintendo (2003)

See also


- e-Reader
- List of Game Boy Advance games
- List of Game Boy colors and styles
- Nintendo DS

External links


- [http://www.gameboy.com/choose.jsp GBA Website] - The official website
- [http://www.cubed3.com/ Cubed3] - Interactive Nintendo Games Database
- [http://www.n-sider.com N-Sider] - Nintendo fansite database
- [http://www.gameboy-advance.net Gameboy-Advance.Net] - Information on GBA Flash Carts and how to emulate other systems on the GBA
- [http://www.obsession.se/pocket PogoShell] - Software to turn the GBA into a PDA system
- [http://www.gba-roms.net/free-gba-roms.htm GBA PD game roms] - homebrew freeware software catalog
- [http://www.bripro.com/gbagi/index.php GBAGI] - Emulator for running AGI base Sierra On-Line games on the GBA
- [http://www.vbalink.info/ VBALink] - Modified version of VBA emulator with link cable multiplayer and LAN support.
- [http://www.pdroms.com/ PDRoms] - Big homebrew software archive and homebrew release news
- [http://www.pocketheaven.com/ PocketHeaven] - A forum and many useful resources about GBA.
- [http://jason.spashett.com/mmegba/index.html GBA MME] - Game Boy Advance port of Microsoft Mobile Explorer Category:Handheld game consoles Category:Nintendo consoles Category:Sixth-generation video game consoles ja:ゲームボーイアドバンス

THQ

:Note: THQ (Territorial Headquarters) is also a regional administrative unit in the Salvation Army's quasi-military organizational structure. THQ Inc. is an American video game publisher and developer, based in Calabasas, California. It produces games for video game consoles and Windows-based PCs. The name "THQ" formerly stood for "Toy Headquarters", dating from when the company was also a toy manufacturer. However, THQ has produced only video games since 1994. In addition to intellectual properties such as Destroy All Humans! and Juiced, THQ is also the publisher of video games based on assets from Nickelodeon, Pixar, and the WWE. It also published several Sega titles for portable systems. THQ loses the rights to make WWE games in 2009.Activision is expected to hold the WWE license. THQ owns a number of studios which it operates with a good degree of independence.

Studios


- Heavy Iron
- Rainbow Studios
- Relic Entertainment
- ValuSoft
- Volition Inc.

Games


- Destroy All Humans!
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
- Dawn of War: Winter Assault
- Evil Dead: Regeneration
- Juiced
- Holy Magic Century
- Hot Wheels: Velocity X
- Red Faction
- Red Faction II
- Sonic Advance
- Sonic Advance 2
- Sonic Advance 3
- Spongebob Squarepants: Supersponge
- Spongebob Squarepants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman
- Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom
- Summoner
- The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius: Attack of the Twonkies
- The Spongebob Squarepants Movie
- WCW vs. The World
- WCW Nitro
- WCW Thunder
- WCW vs. nWo: World Tour
- WCW/nWo Revenge
- WWF WrestleMania 2000
- WWF No Mercy
- WWF SmackDown!
- WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role
- WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It
- WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth
- WWE SmackDown! Here Comes The Pain
- WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW
- WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006
- WWE WrestleMania X8
- WWE WrestleMania XIX
- WWE WrestleMania 21
- WWE Day of Reckoning
- WWE Day of Reckoning 2
- WWE RAW
- WWE RAW 2
- X: Beyond the Frontier
- X-Tension
- ZanZarah: The Hidden Portal

Upcoming Games


- The Outfit
- Company of Heroes
- Barnyard
- everGirl
- Rihanna: Music of the Sun - GameCube

External links


- [http://www.thq.com/ THQ.com] (official website) Category: Computer and video game companies ja:THQ

November 19

November 19 is the 323rd day of the year (324th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 42 days remaining.

Events


- 461 - St. Hilarius becomes Pope.
- 1493 - Christopher Columbus goes ashore on an island he first saw the day before. He names it San Juan Bautista (later renamed Puerto Rico).
- 1794 - The United States and the Kingdom of Great Britain sign Jay's Treaty, which attempts to clear up some of the lingering problems left over from the American Revolutionary War.
- 1816 - Warsaw University is established.
- 1850 - Alfred Lord Tennyson becomes Poet Laureate, a position he held until his death in 1892.
- 1863 - American Civil War: Union President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address at the military cemetery dedication ceremony in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
- 1881 - A meteorite lands near the village of Großliebenthal, southwest of Odessa, Ukraine.
- 1916 - Samuel Goldfish (later renamed Samuel Goldwyn) and Edgar Selwyn establish Goldwyn Company (the company later became one of the most successful independent filmmakers.)
- 1924 - In Los Angeles, California, famous silent film director Thomas Ince ("The Father of the Western") dies of a heart attack in his bed (rumors soon surface that he was shot dead by publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst.)
- 1941 - World War II: Battle between HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran. The two ships sink each other off the coast of Western Australia, with the loss of 645 Australians and about 77 German seamen.
- 1942 - World War II: Battle of Stalingrad - Soviet Union forces under General Georgy Zhukov launch the Operation Uranus counterattacks at Stalingrad, turning the tide of the battle in the USSR's favor.
- 1944 - World War II: US President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the 6th War Loan Drive, aimed at selling US$14 billion in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.
- 1946 - Afghanistan, Iceland and Sweden join the United Nations.
- 1954 - Sammy Davis, Jr. loses his left eye in an automobile accident in San Bernardino, California.
- 1959 - Ford Motor Company announces the discontinuation of the unpopular Edsel.
- 1961 - Michael Rockefeller, son of New York governor Nelson Rockefeller, disappears in the jungles near Atsj, Papua New Guinea.
- 1967 - The Establishment of TVB, the first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong.
- 1969 - Apollo program: Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms") and become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.
- 1973 - American football player Lance Rentzel is arrested for exposing himself to a ten-year-old girl; he is later sentenced to five years' probation.
- 1977 - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel, when he meets with Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and speaks before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement.
- 1977 - Transportes Aereos Portugueses Boeing 727 crashes in Madeira islands killing 130
- 1979 - Iran hostage crisis: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini orders the release of 13 female and black American hostages being held at the US Embassy in Tehran.
- 1984 - A series of explosions at the PEMEX petroleum storage facility at San Juan Ixhuatepec in Mexico City ignites a major fire and kills about 500 people.
- 1985 - Cold War: In Geneva, US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet for the first time.
- 1985 - Pennzoil wins a US$10.53 billion verdict against Texaco, in the largest civil verdict in U.S. history, stemming from Texaco establishing a signed contract to buy Getty Oil after Pennzoil had entered into an unsigned, yet still binding, buyout contract with Getty.)
- 1990 - Pop group Milli Vanilli are stripped of their Grammy Award because the duo did not sing at all on the “Girl You Know It’s True” album. Session musicians had provided all the vocals.
- 1994 - In Britain, the first National Lottery draw was held. A £1 ticket gives a one-in-14-million chance of correctly guessing the winning six out of 49 numbers.
- 1996 - Lt. Gen. Maurice Baril of Canada arrives in Africa to lead the multi national force in Zaire.
- 1997 - In Des Moines, Iowa, Bobbi McCaughey gives birth to septuplets in the second known case where all seven babies were born alive.
- 1998 - Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee begins impeachment hearings against US President Bill Clinton.
- 1998 - Vincent van Gogh's Portrait of the Artist Without Beard sells at auction for US$71.5 million.
- 1999 - Shenzhou 1: The People's Republic of China launches its first Shenzhou spacecraft.
- 1999 - In Istanbul, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ends a two-day summit by calling for a political settlement in Chechnya and adopting a Charter for European Security.
- 2004 - The Malice at The Palace brawl between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers occurs.

Births


- 1464 - Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (d. 1526)
- 1563 - Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester, English statesman (d. 1626)
- 1600 - King Charles I of England (d. 1649)
- 1600 - Leo Aitzema, Dutch historian and statesman (d. 1669)
- 1617 - Eustache Le Sueur, French painter (d. 1655)
- 1700 - Jean-Antoine Nollet, French abbot and physicist (d. 1770)
- 1711 - Mikhail Lomonosov, Russian writer and polymath (d. 1765)
- 1722 - Leopold Auenbrugger, Austrian physician (d. 1809)
- 1722 - Benjamin Chew, Chief Justice of colonial Pennsylvania (d. 1810)
- 1805 - Ferdinand de Lesseps, French diplomat and Suez Canal engineer (d. 1894)
- 1831 - James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States (d. 1881)
- 1833 - Wilhelm Dilthey, German philosopher (d. 1911)
- 1843 - Richard Avenarius, German philosopher (d. 1896)
- 1859 - Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov, Russian composer (d. 1935)
- 1862 - Billy Sunday, American evangelist (d. 1935)
- 1875 - Mikhail I. Kalinin, President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (d. 1946)
- 1883 - Ned Sparks, Canadian actor (d. 1957)
- 1887 - James B. Sumner, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
- 1888 - José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player (d. 1942)
- 1889 - Clifton Webb, American actor (d. 1966)
- 1893 - René Voisin, French classical trumpet player
- 1897 - Quentin Roosevelt, son of United States President Theodore Roosevelt (d. 1918)
- 1898 - Arthur R. von Hippel, German-born physicist (d. 2003)
- 1899 - Allen Tate, American poet and critic (d. 1979)
- 1900 - Mikhail Lavrentyev, Russian scientist (d. 1980)
- 1900 - Anna Seghers, German writer (d. 1983)
- 1905 - Tommy Dorsey, American bandleader (d. 1956)
- 1907 - Jack Schaefer, American author (d. 1991)
- 1909 - Peter Drucker, American management theorist (d. 2005)
- 1912 - George Emil Palade, Romanian cell biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1915 - Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr., American physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974)
- 1917 - Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (d. 1984)
- 1919 - Alan Young, British-born American actor (Mister Ed)
- 1920 - Gene Tierney, American actress (d. 1991)
- 1921 - Roy Campanella, baseball player (d. 1993)
- 1922 - Yuri Knorosov, Russian epigrapher (d. 1999)
- 1924 - William Russell, British actor
- 1926 - Jeane Kirkpatrick, U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations
- 1929 - Slavko Avsenik, Slovenian musician
- 1929 - Norman Cantor, Canadian medieval scholar (d. 2004)
- 1933 - Larry King, American television interviewer
- 1935 - Bob Gibson, baseball player
- 1935 - Rashad Khalifa, Egyptian imam (d. 1990)
- 1936 - Dick Cavett, American talk show host
- 1936 - Yuan T. Lee, Taiwanese-born chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1938 - Ted Turner, American businessman
- 1939 - Tom Harkin, U.S. Senator
- 1941 - Dan Haggerty, American actor
- 1942 - Calvin Klein, American clothing designer
- 1942 - Sharon Olds, American poet
- 1943 - Aurelio Monteagudo, Cuban-born Major League Baseball player (d. 1990)
- 1947 - Bob Boone, baseball player and manager
- 1947 - Lamar S. Smith, American politician
- 1949 - Ahmad Rashad, American football player and sportscaster
- 1951 - Lord Falconer, British lawyer and politician
- 1953 - Robert Beltran, American actor
- 1953 - Tom Villard, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1956 - Ann Curry, American journalist
- 1957 - Ofra Haza, Israeli singer (d. 2000)
- 1958 - Michael Wilbon, Sports Analyst
- 1960 - Elizabeth Hulette, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)
- 1960 - Allison Janney, American actress
- 1961 - Meg Ryan, American actress
- 1962 - Jodie Foster, American actress
- 1963 - Terry Farrell, American actress
- 1963 - Jon Potter, British field hockey player
- 1965 - Laurent Blanc, French footballer
- 1966 - Gail Devers, American athlete
- 1966 - Rocco DiSpirito, American chef
- 1966 - Jason Scott Lee, American actor
- 1969 - Terrence Carson, American actor
- 1972 - Sandrine Holt, Canadian actress
- 1973 - Savion Glover, American choreographer, actor, and dancer
- 1975 - Sushmita Sen, Indian beauty queen and actress
- 1976 - Jun Shibata, Japanese singer and songwriter
- 1985 - Chris Eagles, British footballer

Deaths


- 498 - Pope Anastasius II
- 1478 - Emperor Baeda Maryam of Ethiopia (b. 1448)
- 1492 - Jami, Persian poet (b. 1414)
- 1557 - Bona Sforza, Queen of Sigismund I of Poland (b. 1494)
- 1577 - Matsunaga Hisahide, Japanese warlord (b. 1510)
- 1598 - Yi Sun-sin, Korean admiral (killed in battle) (b. 1545)
- 1630 - Johann Schein, German composer (b. 1586)
- 1649 - Caspar Schoppe, German scholar (b. 1576)
- 1665 - Nicolas Poussin, French painter (b. 1594)
- 1672 - John Wilkins, English Bishop of Chester (b. 1614)
- 1682 - Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Royalist commander in the English Civil War (b. 1619)
- 1692 - Thomas Shadwell, English poet and playwright
- 1723 - Antoine Nompar de Caumont, French courtier and soldier (b. 1632)
- 1772 - William Nelson, American colonial governor of Virginia (b. 1711)
- 1773 - James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, Irish politician (b. 1722)
- 1785 - Bernard de Bury, French composer (b. 1720)
- 1798 - Wolfe Tone, Irish republican (b. 1763)
- 1804 - Pietro Guglielmi, Italian composer (b. 1728)
- 1810 - Jean-Georges Noverre, French dancer and ballet master (b. 1725)
- 1822 - Johann Georg Tralles, German mathematician and physicist (b. 1763)
- 1828 - Franz Schubert, Austrian composer (b. 1797)
- 1850 - Richard Mentor Johnson, American politician (b. 1780)
- 1883 - William Siemens, German engineer (b. 1823)
- 1887 - Emma Lazarus, American poet (b. 1859)
- 1897 - William Seymour Tyler, American educator and historian (b. 1810).
- 1915 - Joe Hill, American labor activist (executed) (b. 1879)
- 1918 - Joseph Fielding Smith, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1838)
- 1924 - Thomas Ince, American film director (b. 1882)
- 1938 - Lev Shestov, Russian philosopher (b. 1866)
- 1942 - Bruno Schulz, Polish writer and painter (shot) (b. 1892)
- 1960 - Phyllis Haver, American actress (b. 1899)
- 1967 - Charles Watters, US Army chaplain (b. 1927)
- 1974 - George Brunies, American musician (b. 1902)
- 1976 - Sir Basil Spence, British architect (b. 1907)
- 1985 - Stepin Fetchit, American actor and dancer (b. 1907)
- 1988 - Christina Onassis, daughter of billionaire, Aristotle Onassis. (b. 1950)
- 2004 - Piet Esser, Dutch sculptor (b. 1914)
- 2004 - John Robert Vane, British pharmacologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1927)
- 2005 - Erik Balling, Danish TV and film director (b. 1924)

Holidays and observances


- Church of England - Hilda of Whitby
- Also see November 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Mali - Liberation Day
- Monaco - Monegasque National Day
- Oman - Birthday of Sultan Qaboos bin Said
- Puerto Rico - Discovery of Puerto Rico (1493)
- United States - Equal Opportunity Day;
- United Arab Emirates - Pilgrimage
- World Toilet Day

External links


- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/19 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20051119.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- November 18 - November 20 - October 19 - December 19 -- listing of all days ko:11월 19일 ms:19 November ja:11月19日 simple:November 19 th:19 พฤศจิกายน

Sega Genesis

Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis

Shinobi

Shinobi (忍び) can refer to:
- A Ninja
- A character and three titles in a series of videogames known as the Shinobi series. Category:Japanese terms

Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis

The Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis was a 16-bit video game console released by Sega in Japan (1988), North America (1989), Europe (1990) and most of the rest of the world as the Mega Drive. It debuted under the name "Genesis" in North America, as Sega was unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name in that territory.

History

Development

Although the Sega Master System had proved a success in South America and Europe, it failed to ignite much interest in the North American or Japanese markets, which by the mid-to-late 80s were both dominated by Nintendo with 95% and 92% market shares respectively. Hoping to dramatically increase their share, Sega set about creating a new machine that would be at least as powerful as the then most impressive hardware on the market - the 16-bit Commodore Amiga and the Atari ST home computers. Since the System 16 arcade games that Sega was making were very popular, Hayao Nakayama, Sega's CEO at the time, decided to make their new home system a 16-bit one. The final design worked great and fit in well with Sega's three new arcade boards; the Mega-Tech, Mega Play, and the System C. Any arcade game made for these systems could easily, and thus rapidly, be made to work on the new console (a process known as porting). The first name Sega thought of for their console was the MK-1601, but Sega decided to use "Sega Mega Drive" as the name. "Mega" had the connotation of superiority, and "Drive" had the connotation of speed and power. They went with that name for the Japanese, European, Asian, Australian and Brazilian versions of the console. The U.S. version went by the name Genesis due to a trademark dispute, while the South Korean versions were called Super Gam
- Boy (수퍼겜보이) and Super Aladdin Boy (transliterated from 수퍼알라딘보이; this was the Korean version of Mega Drive 2). The Korean-market consoles were licensed and distributed by Samsung Electronics.

Japanese release

The Mega Drive was released in Japan in October 29, 1988 for ¥21,000, almost exactly a year after the first console popularly classed as a 16-bit machine - the NEC PC Engine. Although this initially caused slow sales, the Mega Drive soon eclipsed the earlier machine in popularity. However, after the release of the PC-Engine CD add-on and the Nintendo Super Famicom, the Mega Drive soon lost ground. The Mega Drive was not as popular as the two aforementioned systems in Japan.

European release

The European release was on November 30, 1990 in the United Kingdom, priced at £189.99. The first UK shipment of 30,000 units was sold at retailers Comet, Dixons, Rumbelows and Toys R Us (Foulger, 2000).

North American release and further development

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 USD at launch. It was released in the rest of North America on September 15 with the price reduced slightly to $190. The Genesis initially competed against the 8-bit NES, over which it had superior graphics and sound. Nonetheless, it had a hard time overcoming Nintendo's ubiquitous presence in the consumer's home and the huge catalog of popular games already available for it. In an attempt to build themselves a significant consumer base, Sega decided to focus on slightly older buyers, especially young men in their late teens and early 20s who would have more disposable income and who were anxious for more "grown-up" titles with more mature content and/or more in-depth game play. As such, Sega released titles such as Altered Beast and the Phantasy Star series. Although the NES and Nintendo's impending SNES were still threats to Sega's market share, they had forced the theoretically competitive TurboGrafx 16 system into relative obscurity, thanks in part to NEC's poor North American marketing campaign. Eventually, the main competition for the Genesis became Nintendo's 16-bit SNES, over which it had a head start in terms of user base and number of games, reversing the problem Sega had faced against the NES. The Genesis continued to hold on to a healthy fan base composed significantly of RPG and sports games fans. The release of Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991 began to threaten Nintendo's up-to-then stranglehold on the number one console position in the USA. Sonic was released to replace former mascot Alex Kidd, and to provide the "killer app" that Sega needed. This sparked what was arguably the greatest console war in North American video gaming history, at least up until that point. By 1992, Sega was enjoying a stronghold on the market, holding a 55% market share in North America. Faced with a slight recession in sales and a brief loss of market share to the SNES, Sega again looked to Sonic to rejuvenate sales. The release of the highly-anticipated Sonic the Hedgehog 2, coinciding with an aggressive ad campaign that took shots at Nintendo fueled Genesis sales a while longer and boosted Sega's market share percentage back up, to an astounding 65%. Less than a year later, in 1993, Sega released a redesigned version of the console at a newly reduced price. By consolidating the internal chipset onto a smaller, unified motherboard, Sega was able to both physically reduce the system's size and bring down production costs by simplifying the assembly procedure and reducing the number of integrated circuits required for each unit. Aside from the release of the Sega CD and 32X add-ons for the Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega's last big announcement came in the form of a partnership with Time Warner in the U.S. to offer a subscription-based service called Sega Channel, which would allow subscribers to "download" games on a month-by-month basis.

Decline in Market Share

The failures of the Sega CD and 32X, a lack of effective advertising, and disputes between Sega of America and Sega of Japan had taken their toll on the company. By 1994, Sega's market share had dropped from 65% to 35%, and the official announcements of newer, more powerful consoles, such as the Saturn, Playstation, and N64 signaled that the 16-bit era was drawing to a close. Interest in the Genesis suffered greatly as a result, compounding its already falling sales. In 1996, less than a year after the debut of their Saturn console, Sega quickly brought their participation in the 16-bit era to an end by discontinuing production of the Genesis and its associated accessories. (see Video game market).

Resurgent popularity in North America

In recent years, the Genesis has had something of a revival, led largely by the grey market trade in both unlicensed cartridges (for instance, the biblically-themed output of Wisdom Tree) and dumped ROMs, which are played through emulators such as Kega Fusion, Gens or Genecyst. There is also a trend towards home programming of the Genesis, using the PC-based SGCC. In the 2000's, there came a trend toward plug-and-play TV games, and Radica has released a licensed, self-contained version of the Sega Genesis for the North American market, called [http://www.radicagames.com/index.cfm?event=showProdDetail&id=85&categoryId=9 Play TV Legends Sega Genesis], which contains six popular games in a 'Genesis' control pad. It does not have a cartridge slot, and thus is a dedicated console. However, Benjamin Heckendorn, of Atari portablizing fame, has proven that is in fact possible to connect a cartridge slot to this with some soldering.

Variations of the Mega Drive and Genesis

Sega Mega Drive (Japan)


- Japanese-language settings
- Headphone jack
- AUX Port marked A/V OUT
- 9-pin EXT. port
- Supports Sega Mega-CD and Sega Super 32X
- Has a cartridge lock
- Gloss black finish
- On the circular molding, in purple is the text "AV Intelligent Terminal High Grade Multipurpose Use". At the bottom of the circle is a purple square section with a red power indicator LED.
- Cooling vents are located on the left side.
- "Mega Drive" is printed in white on the lower right of the console to the left of the SEGA logo.
- The reset button and start button on the joypad are blue.

Sega Mega Drive (Europe, Australia, and New Zealand)


- Converted to display PAL 50-Hz signal
- English-language settings
- Unable to play Japanese Mega Drive games due to shape of cartridge and console. However, adapters were sold to play Japanese games in the European model.
- Cartridge lock removed
- The text "High Definition Graphics · Stereo Sound" located behind cartridge port (only found on earlier models).
- The reset button and the start button are white.
- Model number 1600-05 (original model), 1601-05 (second variation without "High Definition Graphics - Stereo Sound" text or EXT port)

Sega Mega Drive (Brazil)


- Converted to display PAL-M (60Hz) signal
- English-language settings
- Unable to play Japanese and European Mega Drive games due to region limitation. However, adapters were sold to play Japanese and European games in the Brazilian model.
- Cartridge lock removed
- It was the only version to be manufactured outside Japan. Toymaker TecToy was the factory behind it.
- The text "High Definition Graphics · Stereo Sound" located behind cartridge port (only found on earlier models).
- The reset button and the start button are white.

Sega Mega Drive (Asia)

Asia This console is a variant of the European Mega Drive and often mistaken for a Japanese Mega Drive.
- No text printed around circle
- Larger "16-Bit" logo used
- "Start" and "Reset" button are blue
- Identical to European Mega Drive with PAL output
- Used Japanese Mega Drive logo and packaging similar to the Japanese version
- Games packaged the same as European with the same labeling. However, the cartridges are shaped like Japanese Mega Drive games.

Sega Genesis (North America)


- Headphone jack
- AUX Port marked A/V OUT
- 9-pin EXT. port
- Supports Sega CD and Sega 32X
- Gloss black finish
- Cooling vents are located on the left side
- Reset and start buttons are gray
- "Sega Genesis" in white on top of machine below cartridge slot
- Model number MK-1601

Sega Mega Drive 2 (Japan)


- New squared shape
- No headphone jack
- One cust