One of the misfits in gaming history, this year marks the Lynx's twentieth anniversary. Although ambitious at the time, the Lynx ultimately faded into obscurity.

Released in 1989, at a price of $189.95, the Lynx was the first to feature a full color, back lit LCD screen. Released the same year as the Game Boy, Lynx seemed to do reasonably well in it's first year. It has much better graphics than Game Boy, and stereo sound. It even had a couple of popular games like Paper Boy and Raiden.

But sadly, due to it's price, notoriously short battery life, and few quality titles, it started to fade away quickly. In 1991 the Lynx was slimmed down, the price was dropped and was given slightly better battery life, but not even that could save it. By 1992 it was all but extinct. The Lynx now has a small fan base, but any future hardware seems unlikely. A not so Happy Anniversary to the Lynx.

For those of you who weren't feeling old enough, this year the Genesis also hits the twenty year mark. The console that dared to knock Nintendo off their perch as number one console in the world, it's remembered as one of the best consoles ever made, and for it's notorious rivalry with the Super Nintendo. Launched in 1989, it was bundled with Altered Beast. In 1991 Sega launched it's signature game, Sonic, and by 1992 it had managed to gain a 55% market share over the Super Nintendo.

The Genesis was praised for it's wide assortment of games. Everything from shooters to RPGs. In 1993 Sega got the edge over Nintendo by having a uncensored version of Mortal Kombat on the Genesis. The Genesis was on top of the world. But two poor add-ons (Sega CD and 32X) dampened it's popularity. Along with Donkey Kong Country, Nintendo was slowly chipping away at Sega. Despite this, the Genesis was still on store shelves all the way into 1998.

Still one of Sega's most popular consoles, the games it spawned are still popular today. Emulation and game collections still make it a highly regarded console today. Happy anniversary Genesis.

This year also marks the tenth anniversary of Sega's last console, the Dreamcast. A bold, but unsuccessful attempt to put themselves back on top of the console world. Released in 1999, it sold 500,000 units in just two weeks. It featured revolutionary graphics at the time that even beat out some PC games.

While not the first console with online capabilities, (that would be the Saturn), it was the first to offer broadband internet play. It was well beloved by gamers, but was ultimately crushed by Sony's Playstation 2. Sega, who no longer produced hardware after the Dreamcast's failure, went on to produce software for all consoles.

A console ahead of it's time, and one that died too soon, the Dreamcast will always have a special place in videogame history.

Happy anniversary to the Lynx, Genesis and Dreamcast !

Technically, the Genesis was the first console to have online capabilities - while only in Japan, the Meganet was the first to do so.

But heck. I still remember all the 9-9-99 Dreamcast ads.

Not only in Japan. Here in Brazil we had a bank which used the Meganet, so people could access their account info. Here's how the cartridge looked inside. Some people even still have it for sale.

that's amazing. Am I right in supposing this is TecToy's doing? If only Sega of America has the same vision as them...

Yes it was. TecToy had a lot of good ideas back then, today they keep resurrecting both Master System and Mega Drive (and though Zeebo seems a good idea, the implementation doesn't seem to be going well). Mega Drive's last incarnation has a guitar controller and a built-in game called "Guitar Idol". I haven't seen the game yet, but the previous Mega Drive model had cellphone games included, so I guess calling it Mega Drive is really unfair to the original hardware.

Well, I guess they've took the "do what you know" stuff to word.

A console ahead of it's time, and one that died too soon, the Dreamcast will always have a special place in videogame history.

Amen!

I just got over the shock that it's been (almost) 10 years since I bought my DC and now you have to remind me that the Mega Drive came out 20 years ago... fuck.

edit: I also just discovered that I've apparently lost my copy of Soul Calibur, damnit!

I'm on my... third DC by now I think. I've worn the others out by playing too much on them. Probably one of my favorite consoles to this day. :)

I love the Dreamcast, even though I still haven't actually finished a single Dreamcast game. Also one of the nicest looking consoles IMO, and it's in white (which normally looks like crap)!

That doesn't make me feel old I remember how cool it was to play Pong

Ahh, Genesis, my first console, loved it and wish i still had it today, oh the good old days :) Genesis will forever stay in my heart as the best console ever.

But Dreamcast was a great console too! R.I.P Dreamcast! :(

That was quick! However on November 27, 2009 Dreamcast will be 11, as it was orignaly releaced in Japan on November 27, 1998 with the launch titles GODZILLA GENERATIONS (ゴジラ・ジェネレーションズ) ,Virtua Fighter 3tb (バーチャファイター３ｔｂ) ,Virtua Fighter 3tb Repeat Edition (バーチャファイター３ｔｂ リピート版) ,PenPen TRiIceLon (ペンペン トライアイスロン) & July (ジュライ) . Infomation of coarse from the wonderful source know as wikipeida.org.