The Genesis 3 is a cost-reduced budget release of the SEGA Mega Drive only released in North America under license from Majesco in 1998. The system features a revised motherboard that no longer includes the expansion port. This makes the Genesis 3 incompatible with the Mega-CD. The Genesis 3 launched at a recommended retail price of $49.95, which quickly fell to $19.99 due to a lack of interest in the system.

The console is also incompatible with the 32X and Power Base Converter due to additional revisions on the motherboard. Certain software is also made incompatible by these revisions. Virtua Racing is the main example, but games like Gargoyles are also incompatible due to a bug fix that was implemented in the console’s I/O controller. Gargoyles is specifically programmed to make use of the I/O controller bug, hence why it becomes incompatible with the Genesis 3.

The Genesis 3 is extremely lightweight in design as a part of its cost reduction. During its development a decision was made to even remove the power indicator LED and replace it with a bright orange sticker under the power switch to signify when the console is powered on.

The console is rather unique for its inclusion of an official 6 button controller that also features turbo functionality. This controller is also housed in a smaller form factor than previously available 6 button controllers from SEGA.

Specifications

CPU
Motorola 68000 @ 7.6 MHz
Zilog Z80 @ 3.58 MHz

Display
Progressive: 320×224, 256×224 (NTSC) pixels, 512 color palette, 61 colors on-screen
Interlaced: 320×448, 256×448 (NTSC)

Audio
Yamaha YM2612
Texas Instruments SN76489

RAM
72 kB of RAM
64 kB of video RAM

Storage
ROM Cartridge

Images

Images sourced from Wikipedia Commons