The Sega 32X is an add-on for the Sega Mega Drivevideo game console. It was distributed under the name Super 32X (スーパー32X Sūpā Sātī Tsu Ekkusu) in Japan, Sega Genesis 32X in North America, Sega Mega Drive 32X in the PAL region, and Sega Mega 32X in Brazil.
The 32X was designed to expand the power of the Mega Drive and serve as a holdover until the release of the Sega Saturn. Independent of the Mega Drive, the 32X utilizes its own ROM cartridges and had its own library of games.
Unveiled at June 1994's Consumer Electronics Show, Sega presented the 32X as the "poor man's entry into 'next generation' games...". The product was originally conceived as an entirely new console by Sega of Japan and positioned as an inexpensive alternative for gamers into the fifth generation of game consoles, but at the suggestion of Sega of America, the console was converted into an add-on to the existing Mega Drive and made more powerful, with two 32-bit central processing unit chips and a 3D graphics processor.
Despite these changes, the console failed to attract either developers or consumers as the Sega Saturn had already been announced for release the following year. In part because of this, and also to rush the 32X to market before the holiday season in 1994, the 32X suffered from a weak library of titles. With sales only reaching as high as 665,000 units, the 32X is still considered a commercial failure.
