Editing 32X (section)

===Development===
During the Winter [[Consumer Electronics Show]] in January 1994, Sega of America [[research and development]] head Joe Miller took a phone call in his Las Vegas hotel suite from Sega president [[Hayao Nakayama]], in which Nakayama stressed the importance of coming up with a quick response to the [[Atari Jaguar]]. Included on this call were Sega of America producer Scot Bayless, Sega hardware team head Hideki Sato, and Sega of America vice president of technology Marty Franz. One idea mooted by the Japanese team, referred to by former Sega of America producer Michael Latham as "Genesis 2",{{Sfn|Kent|2001|p=494}} was an entirely new independent console.<ref name="Retroinspection" /> This would have been a new Genesis model with an upgraded color palette and some limited [[3D computer graphics|3D]] capabilities thanks to integration of ideas from the development of the [[Sega Genesis#Sega Virtua Processor|Sega Virtua Processor]] chip.

According to Latham, Miller dismissed an upgraded Genesis as "just a horrible idea. If all you're going to do is enhance the system, you should make it an add-on. If it's a new system with legitimate new software, great. But if the only thing it does is double the colors...."{{Sfn|Kent|2001|p=494}} Miller said his idea was to leverage the existing Genesis as a way to keep from alienating Sega customers, who would otherwise be required to discard their Genesis systems entirely to play 32-bit games, and to control the cost of the new system in the form of an add-on.<ref name="Miller">{{cite web |author=Horowitz, Ken |date=February 7, 2013 |title=Interview: Joe Miller |url=http://www.sega-16.com/2013/02/interview-joe-miller/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233248/http://www.sega-16.com/2013/02/interview-joe-miller/ |archive-date=December 2, 2013 |access-date=January 10, 2014 |website=Sega-16 |publisher= |df=mdy-all}}</ref> From these discussions, the new add-on, codenamed "Project Mars", was advanced.<ref name="Retroinspection"/>

With Miller pushing for his American team to create the system,<ref name="Retroinspection" /> the 32X was designed as a peripheral for the existing Genesis,{{Sfn|Kent|2001|p=494}} expanding its power with two 32-bit [[SuperH]]-2 [[Central processing unit|processors]], the same as those that would be used in the Saturn but with a lower [[Clock rate|clock speed]].<ref name=":1" /> The SH-2 had been developed in 1993 as a joint venture between Sega and Japanese electronics company [[Hitachi]].<ref name="NG February">{{cite magazine|date=February 1995|title=Sega Saturn|url=https://archive.org/details/nextgen-issue-002/page/n37/mode/2up|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|publisher=[[Future plc|Imagine Media]]|volume=1|issue=2|pages=36–43}}</ref> The original design for the 32X add-on, according to Bayless, was created on a cocktail napkin,<ref name="RetroinspectionCD">{{cite magazine|author=McFerran|first=Damien|date=February 2009|title=Retroinspection: Mega-CD|magazine=[[Retro Gamer]]|issue=61|pages=82–87}}</ref> but Miller denied this.<ref name="Miller" /> In another account, Bayless claimed that Franz began designing the 32X on a hotel notepad, drawing two SH-2 processors with separate [[Framebuffer|framebuffers]].<ref name="Retroinspection" /> 

Although the new unit was a stronger console than originally proposed, it was not compatible with Saturn games.{{Sfn|Kent|2001|p=494}} This was justified by Sega's statement that both platforms would run at the same time, and that the 32X would be aimed at players who could not afford the more expensive Saturn.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Semrad|first=Ed|date=December 1994|title=EGM Goes One-on-One with Sega's Chief – Tom Kalinske|url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_65/page/n215/mode/2up|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|publisher=Sendai Publishing|issue=65|pages=191}}</ref><ref name="Allgame32X" /> Bayless praised the potential of this system at this point, calling it "a coder's dream for the day" with its twin processors and 3D capabilities.<ref name="Retroinspection"/> Sega of America headed up the development of the 32X, with some assistance from Sato's team in Japan. Shortages of processors due to the same 32-bit chips being used in both the 32X and the Saturn hindered the development of the 32X, as did the language barrier between the teams in Japan and the United States.<ref name="Retroinspection"/>

Before the 32X was launched, the release date of the Saturn was announced for November 1994 in Japan, coinciding with the 32X's target launch date in North America. Sega of America was tasked with marketing the 32X with the Saturn's Japan release occurring simultaneously. Their answer was to describe the 32X a "transitional device" between the Genesis and the Saturn; Bayless said this "just made us look greedy and dumb to consumers".<ref name="Retroinspection"/>