After announcing a Mega Drive Mini 2 for Japan, Sega has decided to….KIND OF release a Genesis 2 in America. At the moment you can buy one, but that won’t be the case for long: Sega will only manufacture one-tenth the amount of Mini 2s that they made of Mini 1s. Sega of Japan is handling the whole thing and the miniconsoles have to be shipped from there, adding an extra shipping fee of $20 to the price of $99. In other words, this isn’t for everyone.
A month ago Sega of Japan revealed they were working on a sequel to 2019’s Genesis Mini, or Mega Drive Mini as it was called everywhere else. The first Genny Mini was part of the “mini consoles” craze from late last decade that saw rise to the NES Mini, SNES Mini, Playstation Mini and any other kind of miniaturized retro console from the 80s or 90s you can think of (except the N64).
Remember that “mini consoles” craze from a few short years ago? There were mini plug-and-play versions of the NES, SNES, Genesis, Playstation and even TurboGrafx-16. Every company that once had a console in the 80s and 90s had their turn and then the fad died out. This is why we’re kind of startled to be reporting that the Genesis Mini is getting a follow-up sequel mini in Japan.
Today was the day Sega revealed the final ten (or is it?) games for the Genesis Mini they plan to release this fall. Unlike the junky “Genesis Flashback” put out by AtGames in years past, this will be a much classier, much better built mini-console developed by M2, the best retro emulation studio in the world.
Sega threw us a curveball this morning with the next ten games announced for their Genesis Mini. The list includes a game no American kid had in their collection…although under special circumstances, they may have had the ability to briefly play it.
Late last month, Sega revealed their Genesis Mini — an unsurprising response to the craze over mini plug-and-play consoles, mostly of the Nintendo variety.
Nintendo sure laughed all the way to the bank with their Classics line of mini-consoles. It’s still difficult to track down a SNES Classic, though it has gotten much easier since its release. And when the NES Classic is reissued this summer it’s guaranteed to move millions. Sega must really regret licensing their retro console rights to a junky company that sells knockoff Genesis shells in drugstores.