Sega is entering the nostalgic trend of the miniature console. Yesterday at Sega Fes 2018, it announced that it will launch the Mega Drive Mini, a miniature version of the 16-bit Genesis (known as Mega Drive outside Japan), sometime in 2018. The company also announced that it would be bringing a number of games classics to the Nintendo Switch this summer.
Sega says that the Mega Drive Mini, whose provisional name is called, will be released along with the 30th anniversary of the console and will include a series of classic games. The company has dabbled in retro hardware before: it has licensed its name to the AtGames hardware company (which has also manufactured Atari retro consoles) to produce Genesis clones, including the Sega Genesis Flashback that Polygon was not a great fan of. On Facebook, AtGames revealed that the next Mega Drive Mini will feature its hardware technology.
It seems that the device follows the same style as Ninendo's popular NES Classic and SNES Classic devices, which allowed players to play a variety of preloaded games. The game will be available in Japan, at least to begin, according to Polygon . There is no information on what games will be available for the device.
Sega launched the original Mega Drive in Japan on October 29, 1988 and in North America on August 14, 1989, selling more than 30 million devices worldwide.
The company also recently licensed a selection of its classic games for iOS and Android phones. The owners of the switches can now play as well: Sega also announced that at least 15 games, including Sonic the Hedgehog Phantasy Star, and Thunder Force 4 will be released later this summer.