UPDATE: We now have official pricing for the Mega Drive Mini in the UK, Europe and Australia – details below.
We've known for some time now that Sega was planning on releasing a Genesis Mini retro console, but up until now details have been thin on the ground. We do now finally have a release date for the box: September 19.
Kotaku reports that the announcement was made on stage at Sega Fes 2019. The Sega Genesis Mini will hit stores for $79.99 (£69.99/€79.99/AU$139.95).
Outside of the US, the retro console will take on its original Mega Drive branding and name (Genesis was a rebadging done for the US market) – you can check out the box shot for that version of the console below.
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It also appears that non-Japanese versions of the retro gaming box will come with three-button controllers that connect via USB. The Japanese version is set to ship with six-button controllers.
Games, games, games
We know some of the 40 games that'll be bundled with the box too: Altered Beast, Castlevania: Bloodlines, Comix Zone, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Ecco the Dolphin, Gunstar Heroes, Shining Force, Sonic The Hedgehog, Space Harrier II and ToeJam & Earl will be included in the US, UK, Europe and Australia.
In Japan the line-up includes Sonic 2, Puyo Puyo 2, Shining Force, Castlevania Bloodlines, Powerball, Gunstar Heroes, Comix Zone, Rent-a-Hero, Space Harrier II and Madou Monogatari Ichi (some of which were originally Japanese exclusives).
Finally, Sega did say that the M2 studio behind some of its retro game reboots would be taking care of software development on the Genesis Mini.
Sega follows both Nintendo and Sony in releasing a retro version of one of its classic consoles, but we'll have to wait until September to see if there's enough built up nostalgia for the launch of the Genesis/Mega Drive Mini to be a hit.
