1
0
The home game console market is a risky place for companies to bet their bucks, and this was as true in the late 1980s as it is today. But Sega managed to defy the odds with the Genesis (known outside North America as the Mega Drive), a 16-bit machine that made its way onto store shelves in 1988, nearly three years before the Super Nintendo.
Part of the console’s success was no doubt a heavy marketing campaign, showing off the stunning graphics and impressive library of titles. As part of that campaign, Sega dropped this nearly seven minute promotional video in March of 1990, proclaiming the Sega Genesis as the premier console for the decade ahead.
Sonic the Hedgehog had not yet been released,, so heavy emphasis was placed on the Genesis’ ability to provide an arcade-like experience at home, the holy grail for console manufacturers at the time. They also manage to wedge a full thirty-second ad for Tommy Lasorda Baseball, in which Tommy himself is too captivated by his own Genesis title to pay any attention to the real baseball game he’s supposed to watching over. Here’s the video in its entirety:
