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DF Retro's Failed Consoles: We Play Every 32X Game [Part Two]

Link.

John completes his playthrough of every single game available for Sega's mushroom-shaped disaster - the Sega 32X, or Mega Drive 32X. And not only that, but each title has platform comparisons where available, plus a full breakdown of which components run on the Mega Drive/Genesis and which parts are handled by the add-on. You won't want to miss this

Well done, John. Now take some rest before Kiwami etc comes out.

Edit: Article.
 

ElTorro

I wanted to dominate the living room. Then I took an ESRAM in the knee.
DF Retro has become one of my favorite gaming shows on YouTube. dark10x is doing a great job.
 

MarkusRJR

Member
Awesome! I loved the first part.

I hope we get to see more videos on obscure gaming consoles from DF Retro. Most videos covering retro consoles on YouTube don't get into anything technical.
 

rabhw

Member
Just here to say that I'm super excited to watch the second part, and that I look forward to a new episode DF Retro every weekend!

Keep up the great work.
 

kubev

Member
The Jaguar DOOM clip had me hoping for a Jaguar episode, but I'm definitely looking forward to the DOOM episode.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
The Jaguar DOOM clip had me hoping for a Jaguar episode, but I'm definitely looking forward to the DOOM episode.
My friend, you are in luck. Thanks to a poster on Gaf I was able to hook up with a guy that isn't too far from my location who just happens to own basically every single Jaguar game. He's willing to lend me anything necessary to make a great Jaguar episode. So, yes, the Jag is going to get a massive episode all its own this fall!
 

kubev

Member
My friend, you are in luck. Thanks to a poster on Gaf I was able to hook up with a guy that isn't too far from my location who just happens to own basically every single Jaguar game. He's willing to lend me anything necessary to make a great Jaguar episode. So, yes, the Jag is going to get a massive episode all its own this fall!

Nice to hear! Thanks for the response!
 

EmiPrime

Member
No, it's basically the preview for DigitalFoundry.net which means it's just unlisted and viewable. It'll go officially live tomorrow.

Cool, was nice to see it early. Just as good as part one. :)

I hope you cover the 32X prototypes in the Doom special (and the 7 extra level rom hack while you are at it), they provide a fascinating insight into how the game was made in such a short space of time: from being full-screen and using the PC version's maps to the bordered window and slightly simplified maps in the final version. Makes you wonder what Carmack could have achieved with the system if given more than a couple of months by a shambolic Sega rushing the 32X to market. Full-screen, all the levels and an authentic soundtrack that uses the PWM instead of midis being put through GEMS' audio blender?

Or sod all that and just have an id made version for the Saturn ready for that launch instead!
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
DOOM is probably the most interesting game DF Retro will ever cover. Sure there might be more versions of Tetris but it doesn't change that much most of the time.
 

border

Member
I wish they would publish these videos with timestamp links. I don't want to have to scrub through the video a minute at a time to find the title I want to hear discussed.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
I wish they would publish these videos with timestamp links. I don't want to have to scrub through the video a minute at a time to find the title I want to hear discussed.
Oh, that's a good idea. Maybe I'll do that in the morning.
 
Love these videos - can't wait to see Doom covered. Are we talking every official conversion or every conversion? Like, are homebrew ports counting? Because if so... man, that's like every console SNES onwards. The official ones are much more intriguing since more modern versions tend to be quick source ports.

Oh, and for the Jag episode. That will be absolutely massive. I think it has over 100 games not counting the CD? That's gonna be a long one to make, and then you have all the unreleased/dev/homebrew stuff that has to be mentioned too. Hope you're ready for that.
 
Brilliant video. I really like how the technical explanation is thorough, but also accessible for those of us not aware of the intricacies of hardware. Its really detailed, but also really understandable.

I always like it when you talk about the rarity of games - its something I find personally fascinating, how some games end un quite-inexplicably becoming legendarily rare and expensive. Great stuff!
 

Ceallach

Smells like fresh rosebuds
Love these videos - can't wait to see Doom covered. Are we talking every official conversion or every conversion? Like, are homebrew ports counting? Because if so... man, that's like every console SNES onwards. The official ones are much more intriguing since more modern versions tend to be quick source ports.

Oh, and for the Jag episode. That will be absolutely massive. I think it has over 100 games not counting the CD? That's gonna be a long one to make, and then you have all the unreleased/dev/homebrew stuff that has to be mentioned too. Hope you're ready for that.
No way can they can cover homebrew ports. That is almost very console ever. There is a fucking spectrum port ffs.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
My friend, you are in luck. Thanks to a poster on Gaf I was able to hook up with a guy that isn't too far from my location who just happens to own basically every single Jaguar game. He's willing to lend me anything necessary to make a great Jaguar episode. So, yes, the Jag is going to get a massive episode all its own this fall!

Amazing, it would be awesome to hear a lot about its tech too (apparently with a few more months in the oven the system would have been considerably more powerful as hey rushed the design out with s heavy bug... it would be awesome to shed light on Tom and Jerry and how developers approached then in games).
 

Man God

Non-Canon Member
For awhile I thought I had slipped into a alternate dimension where Time Gal didn't have a 32x CD version. But no, that's just this normal reality.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Love these videos - can't wait to see Doom covered. Are we talking every official conversion or every conversion? Like, are homebrew ports counting? Because if so... man, that's like every console SNES onwards. The official ones are much more intriguing since more modern versions tend to be quick source ports.

Oh, and for the Jag episode. That will be absolutely massive. I think it has over 100 games not counting the CD? That's gonna be a long one to make, and then you have all the unreleased/dev/homebrew stuff that has to be mentioned too. Hope you're ready for that.
No, it'll just be official console ports. Home brew is going too far and wouldn't be that interesting. The official ports, though, are mostly very different from one another.
 

Phediuk

Member
The 32X was such an ill-conceived disaster. Sega pretty much never had another success after it came out. They went from on top of the world to rock bottom within like 2 years.
 

Oemenia

Banned
Great work as usual dark, you pretty much cover everything.

It's really great to see an in-depth look at the system, most discussion doesn't go beyond how Sega killed themselves with the add-ons.

Edit: I haven't seen the entire video yet but what are the chances of you covering the Mega CD? That was a system with an actually great library of games and I'd love too hear about the technical side too.
 
No, it'll just be official console ports. Home brew is going too far and wouldn't be that interesting. The official ports, though, are mostly very different from one another.
Without saying too much... even the post fifth gen ports? I'd assume those were all fairly the same more or less.
 

-hadouken

Member
Well that's the definitive look at the 32X in the bag! May those two vids live long and prosper.

Any chance we'll see that 8bitdo vid prior to the SNES mini, or you'll be too backed up?
 

lazygecko

Member
dark10x, I think you've made a mistake in your examples splitting the 32X audio output from the vanilla hardware. You've disabled the YM2612 FM channels, but the complementary SN/PSG chip is still active, and you seem to be treating it as though it were part of the 32X.
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
My favourite show of youtube! I would like this to be a weekly show, but i understand is a lot of work and time to make an episode.
 
Looking forward to diving into Part 2. As someone who only somewhat knew of the 32X at the time and knew a bit more about Sega CD, it's great to see a compilation like this.
 

Agent X

Member
Oh, and for the Jag episode. That will be absolutely massive. I think it has over 100 games not counting the CD? That's gonna be a long one to make, and then you have all the unreleased/dev/homebrew stuff that has to be mentioned too. Hope you're ready for that.

Just off of the top of my head, during the Jaguar's active market life (1993-1996), there were around 70 cartridge games, and around 12 CD games released. There were also another 10-15 cartridges and 2-3 CDs released between 1997-2002 by some other companies such as Telegames and Songbird Productions, which were games that were intended to be released in 1996 if Atari hadn't withdrawn from the market.

No, it'll just be official console ports. Home brew is going too far and wouldn't be that interesting. The official ports, though, are mostly very different from one another.

Could I ask you what groups of Jaguar games are under consideration for coverage? Will it just be the '93-'96 stuff, or would you include some of the '97-'02 games also? The latter group includes some interesting games like Worms, Zero 5, Protector, Skyhammer, Iron Soldier 2, BattleSphere, and Total Carnage. These were not homebrew developments, but intended to be fully licensed commercial releases.
 
Fantastic series, it was great to get a deeper look into a system that ended up passing me by. I really hope they continue this in the future and cover the likes of the Amiga CD32, Atari Jaguar, 3DO, Phillips CDi, Amstrad GX4000 and such that all popped up and flopped around the same era.
 
The more I watch these things the more I think about the 32X and how awful it was for 60fps 2D gaming, it really was a bodge job extension.

If the mega cd came out with the power of the 32x included the first time around it would have been cool but man, sega were really pulling at different strings at that time.
 

M-PG71C

Member
Been waiting for this one, very excited!!! I love his work and his passion for old school gaming, this is going to be a real joy ride.
 
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