Sweet TG-16! Part 1

I decided to go ahead and post this because I got a comment asking about the TG-16. It truly was an excellent system. In many ways it was a very over looked system. Nintendo and Sega ruled supreme in the market that it hoped to fight it's way into. Sadly, as a system, it failed. (At least in America) Why? In my humble opinion it was a mater of games. Not that the games for the TG-16 aren't good, but there simply aren't enough of them. The system never got enough developers behind it to produce the quantity of games that people expected to see.

Many might argue that quality matters more than quantity. Although in theory that makes sense it doesn't work in real life. Let's look at the facts. First, believe it or not, some people actually like Hillsfar for the NES. Now, by making that statement I have drawn a line in the sand. One side is saying “You lie! No one no where no how ever liked that game!” the other side is saying “What do you mean 'some people'?!?!? It's a classic! It may be THE classic!”. Quality is a very subjective term. If you like it then it must be quality.

I would agree that most TG-16 games are quality products and I think that is a generally popular view among people who have played many of them. However, quantity is not so subjective a matter. Nintendo and Sega cranked out three news games for every one new TG-16 game. When considering buying a new system I looked at the games. I loved the TG-16, my brother and I had actually picked one up and were headed for the checkout. Then we talked about it, my Dad weighed in on it. When all was said and done the TG-16 went back on the shelf and we walked out with a Genesis. Why? Sega seemed to be more alive as a company. They had more games. We thought we could expect new games for years to come. We were right.

More on Friday...