Editing Sega CD (section)

==Reception and legacy==
[[File:Sega-Genesis-Model-2-Monster-Bare.jpg|thumb|A model 2 Sega CD with a model 2 Genesis and a [[32X]] attached. Each device requires its own power supply.]]
Near the time of its release, the Sega CD was awarded Best New Peripheral of 1992 by ''[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]''. Four separate reviews scored the add-on 8, 9, 8, and 8 out of 10; reviewers cited its upgrades to the Genesis as well as its high-quality and expanding library of games.<ref name="egmbuyersguide1993">{{cite magazine |date=January 1993 |title=Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]}}</ref> In 1995, four ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' reviewers scored it 5 out of 10, citing its limited game library and substandard video quality.<ref name="egmbuyersguide1995">{{cite magazine |date=January 1995 |title=Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]}}</ref> ''[[GamePro]]'' cited the same problems, noting that many games were simple ports of cartridge games with minimal enhancements; ''GamePro'' concluded that the Sega CD was merely "a big memory device with CD sound" rather than a meaningful upgrade. They gave it a "thumbs sideways" and recommended that Genesis fans buy an SNES before considering a Sega CD.<ref>{{cite news|title=System Shopper|work=[[GamePro]]|issue=53|date=December 1993|pages=46–49}}</ref> In a special Game Machine Cross Review in May 1995, ''[[Famicom Tsūshin]]'' scored the Japanese Mega-CD 2 17 out of 40.<ref>{{cite magazine |year=1995 |title=Game Machine Cross Review: メガ-CD2 |magazine=[[Weekly Famicom Tsūshin]]|issue=335 |pages=166 |language=ja}}</ref>

Retrospective reception of the Sega CD has been mixed, praising certain games but criticizing its value for money and limited upgrades over Genesis.<ref name="CDFollies" /><ref name="1UP" /><ref name="failure" /> According to ''GamePro,'' the Sega CD is the seventh-lowest-selling console; reviewer Blake Snow wrote: "The problem was threefold: the device was expensive at $299, it arrived late in the 16-bit life cycle, and it didn't do much (if anything) to enhance the gameplay experience." However, Snow felt that the Sega CD had the greatest ''Sonic'' game in ''Sonic CD''.<ref name="failure" /> ''[[IGN]]'''s Levi Buchanan criticized Sega's implementation of CD technology, arguing that it offered no new gameplay concepts.<ref name="CDFollies" /> Jeremy Parish of ''[[Gamer Network|USgamer]]'' wrote that Sega was not the only company of the period to "muddy its waters" with a CD add-on, and highlighted some "gems" for the system, but that "the benefits offered by the Sega CD had to be balanced against the fact that the add-on more than doubled the price (and complexity) of the [Genesis]."<ref>{{cite web|last=Parish|first=Jeremy|date=August 14, 2014|title=Sega Genesis 25th Anniversary: The Rise and Fall of an All-Time Great|url=http://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-true-16-bit-experience-segas-genesis-turns-25|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527115400/http://www.usgamer.net/articles/the-true-16-bit-experience-segas-genesis-turns-25|archive-date=May 27, 2015|access-date=May 27, 2015|work=[[USgamer]]}}</ref> In a separate article for ''[[1Up.com]]'', Parish praised the Sega CD's expansion of value to the Genesis.<ref name="1UP2">{{cite web|author=Parish, Jeremy|date=October 16, 2012|title=20 Years Ago, Sega Gave Us the Sega CD|url=http://www.1up.com/features/sega-cd-anniversary|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615202428/http://www.1up.com/features/sega-cd-anniversary|archive-date=June 15, 2013|access-date=December 11, 2016|website=[[1UP.com]]}}</ref> Writing for ''Retro Gamer'', Damien McFerran cited various reasons for the Sega CD's limited sales, including its price, lack of significant enhancement to the Genesis, and the fact that it was not a standalone console.<ref name="RetroinspectionCD"/> ''Retro Gamer'' writer Aaron Birch, defended the Sega CD as "ahead of its time" and said that game developers had failed to meet the potential of CD technology.<ref name="RetroGamer" />

Sega's poor support for the Sega CD has been criticized as the first step in the devaluation of the Sega brand. Writing for ''IGN'', Buchanan said the Sega CD, released without a strong library of games, "looked like a strange, desperate move—something designed to nab some ink but without any real, thought-out strategy. Genesis owners that invested in the add-on were sorely disappointed, which undoubtedly helped sour the non-diehards on the brand."<ref name="CDFollies" /> In ''GamePro'', Snow wrote that the Sega CD was the first of several poorly supported Sega systems, which damaged the value of the brand and ultimately led to Sega's exit from the hardware market.<ref name="failure">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/domestic/games/features/111822.shtml |title=The 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time |author=Snow, Blake |date=July 30, 2007 |magazine=[[GamePro]]|access-date=May 20, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070508014611/http://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/domestic/games/features/111822.shtml|archive-date=May 8, 2007}}</ref> Thorpe wrote that, while it was possible for Sega to have brushed off the Sega CD's failure, the failure of the Sega CD and the 32X together damaged faith in Sega's support for its platforms.<ref name=":0" />

Former Sega of America senior producer Scot Bayless attributes the unsuccessful market to a lack of direction from Sega with the add-on. According to Bayless, "It was a fundamental paradigm shift with almost no thought given to consequences. I honestly don't think anyone at Sega asked the most important question: 'Why?' There's a rule I developed during my time as an engineer in the military aviation business: never fall in love with your tech. I think that's where the Mega-CD went off the rails. The whole company fell in love with the idea without ever really asking how it would affect the games you made."<ref name="RetroinspectionCD"/> Sega of America producer Michael Latham said he "loved" the Sega CD, and that it had been damaged by an abundance of "Hollywood [[interactive film]] games" instead of using it to make "just plain great video games".<ref name="Sega-16 Michael Latham">{{cite interview|last=Latham|first=Michael|interviewer=Ken Horowitz|title=Interview: Michael Latham|url=http://www.sega-16.com/2005/02/interview-michael-latham/|access-date=May 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725023140/http://www.sega-16.com/2005/02/interview-michael-latham/|archive-date=July 25, 2015|url-status=live|work=Sega-16|date=February 8, 2005}}</ref> Former Sega Europe president Nick Alexander said: "The Mega CD was interesting but probably misconceived and was seen very much as the interim product it was."<ref name="Sega-16 Nick Alexander">{{cite interview|last=Alexander|first=Nick|interviewer=Ken Horowitz|title=Interview: Nick Alexander|url=http://www.sega-16.com/2008/09/interview-nick-alexander/|access-date=May 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032410/http://www.sega-16.com/2008/09/interview-nick-alexander/|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live|work=Sega-16|date=September 17, 2008}}</ref> Kalinske said that the Sega CD had been an important learning experience for Sega for programming for discs, and that it was not a mistake but not "as dramatically different as it needed to be".<ref name=":0" />