12 Mind-Blowing Facts About The Sega Mega Drive

12. It Was Sega's Last Great Hope

Due to the success Sega has experienced in both Europe and North America, a lot of gamers often forget that the corporation's main goal initially was to make a splash in their native Japan. Needless to say, this wasn't easy, especially with heavy competition coming from Nintendo, who experienced great success with the Family Computer (often shortened to Famicom). Released on the same day as the Famicom in 1983, the SG-1000 was Sega's great white hope for going head-to-head with Nintendo and dominating the market, but it wouldn't be nearly as successful as the competition. The SG-1000 did so badly that it would never see release outside of the Japanese market. Years later, the Sega Mega Drive - following on from the Master System, another console which failed to hit hard in Japan - was considered Sega's last ditch attempt. Yet again, Nintendo would triumph with the Super Famicom (SNES) in the 'Land Of The Rising Sun', which meant looking outside of their homeland was the only option for Sega.
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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.