* North American launch date in 1994 for the 32X
** North American launch date in 2004 for the Nintendo DS

The Sega 32X system was designed to breath new life into the aging MegaDrive and Genesis video game console, which was being ripped apart by Nintendo’s juggernaut the SNES. Sadly, it didn’t do so well and quickly evaporated from store shelves. Despite the poor reception, it’s still has a birthday, so make sure you play your favorite title tonight. It shouldn’t be too hard to pick one, given the limited selection of good titles for that platform. It’s probably for the best that we don’t mention the Sega CD either… well, despite my obvious misgivings about the system, I know it is near and dear to a more than a few people. So Sega fans, on this happy day, I salute you!

The Nintendo DS needs no introduction, since many of you have an incarnation of that device sitting in your house right now. With over 149 million units sold worldwide, I think it could be considered a success. Let’s do a little math, shall we?

149,000,000 x $150 + (149,000,000 x (6 * $40)) = $58,110,000,000

That’s an average cost of $150 dollars per unit, and each unit having an average of 6 games which sell for an average of $40 each. Let’s assume that 70% of that amount went to pay for everything from manufacturing, to licensing, to marketing and employee salaries. We’re still talking close to $20 billion in the clear.

So Nintendo Corporation, while you sit upon your mountain of money contemplating this special day, we the bottom dwellers of society raise our filthy hands in a formal salute!

Categories: Nintendo, Reflections, Sega
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