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Okay, first off, I am not a spokesperson for the game I'm writing about so don't go there. Second....well that's it I'll just write what I found.

There is a new Traditional Japanese-Style RPG in development for the SEGA GENESIS/MEGA DRIVE. That means a new cartridge, like, in a box and stuff. Like you used to buy a decade ago. So much of this post needs to be in italics for emphasis that the whole damn thing would be italic. It is called "Pier Solar and the Great Architects". The official site is here:
Pier Solar - The new Sega Megadrive/Sega Genesis and Mega CD/Sega CD RPG
The small delevoping team has worked on it for years now, from an indie project to a full blown release by online order.
They released a demo for it about 9 months ago or something that I thought was fun, but the graphics and battle system, hell everything, has been updated. The game is up for pre-order (I sent mine already), for $35. That includes a Box, Cartridge, Manual and CD for OPTIONAL use with the Sega CD add on. The CD gives you much better sound.
They advertise this game as one of the biggest games for the Genesis, and some other technical jargon. If you don't have an old system, this is kind of useless news for you, unless it gets picked up someday somewhere else. The point of it is for people that want a break from today's RPG's and to celebrate the first Genesis game of the 21st century.
I think it's pretty cool and should be supported. A few magazines wrote articles about them and it should be released before or around summer.
There is no official release date(Says "Q2 2009") and I am not a liason for the developers, but figured that there are some people on here that might be interested.

EDIT: There is now a new gameplay video on their news page, and apparently you get much better sound with the CD that comes with it that is not required.

ty for posting this........

No problem. They have forums there too.

I don't really get it. Is this a cartridge for a 16-bit console? Is this a 16-bit console port to PC? Only the latter would make any sense.

It makes perfect sense, unless you have a closed mind about it. It is a cartridge, if you read around the site. It is really pretty professional quality looking, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the genesis. It is for people that like retro gaming and want to be able to pick up a Sega Genesis controller again. Many people still have one and they are availible from ebay and pawn shops and the like. It looks like a fun game, and as long as you're not all "I don't want to play an old game system, I have a nice new PC or a crappy 360 that's going to break soon!", it might be something you'll like. :laugh:
Oh and I like this smiley, so I'll use it out of context: :mischief:

rearviewmirror wrote:It makes perfect sense, unless you have a closed mind about it. It is a cartridge, if you read around the site. It is really pretty professional quality looking, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the genesis. It is for people that like retro gaming and want to be able to pick up a Sega Genesis controller again. Many people still have one and they are availible from ebay and pawn shops and the like. It looks like a fun game, and as long as you're not all "I don't want to play an old game system, I have a nice new PC or a crappy 360 that's going to break soon!", it might be something you'll like. :laugh:
Oh and I like this smiley, so I'll use it out of context: :mischief:

I'm all for old systems, but I always thought the Genesis was some kind of commercial fiasco, so I was surprised it would be popular enough to make another game for.
Personally, I'm much more into the SNES.

The Genesis was Sega's successful system. It competed with the SNES. The Saturn was a North American failure. The reason they are making it on the Genesis is because the SNES had a bunch of RPG's but the Genesis was more sports and action oriented. So they figured, "Let's make an RPG for the Genesis."

rearviewmirror wrote:The Genesis was Sega's successful system. It competed with the SNES. The Saturn was a North American failure. The reason they are making it on the Genesis is because the SNES had a bunch of RPG's but the Genesis was more sports and action oriented. So they figured, "Let's make an RPG for the Genesis."

Aha, thanks for pointing out. I never was too keen on Sega's systems, and they weren't really prevalent in Europe.
Still, it seems like an odd move: making a game for a system that's nearly 20 years old and whose players didn't seem to like RPGs anyway.

I can't explain it any better, I'd check out the website and read about why.

I already did, it just makes very little sense to me. Given all the costs of developing a game and distributing it, it looks like they're hard pressed to get break-even.

Yeah, well just the years of effort itself is amazing, the $35 charge for the game (I believe it covers shipping) is literally just to break even. This is basically what happens when an "indie" project gets taken somewhat seriously and a team of international developers and translators are determined. It will come with a nce box, full size manual, a cartridge with the logo stuck on it like any other game, and an optional CD for enhanced audio. You can select what languages you want it in and the box art. It's pretty astounding how they did this, and it should be an inspiration for people that want to do something in that business.

Not the most efficient business model, I think. The shipping, physical packaging and stockage costs obscene amounts.

I would say it's not a business. It's a passion. These developers all have day jobs. They go home to do this. For more than a few years. So business? No, I would not say so. They aren't trying to make a ton of money off this. It's a game for a long extinct system. Only person making something like that's got to be passionate about it. Gotta want it good. Maybe want to prove themselves. But no one would think that a project released online for a 20 year old game system would be a cash cow.

wow, talk about classic and passion,
i was totally blown off my seat when i saw this, there are still people who pay's tribute for such classic consoles, id say if i have the talent or knowledge, time specially id also do something for a old console that i like.
nonetheless id order this game too, i missed the old school feel of rpg's, those times you go the inn for a qick heal after dispersing all of your mp in grinding.
also i kinda like the character design, i just hope the story is also good.
ill be looking forward to this

That's pretty much it, it would seem: passion. I think that's why they do it. As for the quality of the characters; they were fairly interesting in the demo, but by now they've probably changed them around quite a bit, I'd imagine for the better. Graphically, this is going to be something that would have absolutely blown you away when the Genesis was still running hot and games were coming out. The graphics are many times better it would seem than traditional games like sonic the hedgehog.