digress.) Game Genie by Camerica/Galoob to the rescue! All you had to do is pop the Genie into the Genesis and insert your game cartridge into it, enter the right code for whatever cheat you wanted, and the game suddenly became a lot easier! (And you could use the Genie as a country converter cartridge for most games, too – but not officially…)

The Sega Channel by General Instrument

Sega Channel Long before Internet online games, Sega came up with the idea to offer games by download. This little box attached to the Genesis and to the cablevision line. Players paid a monthly service fee to get access to unlimited access to 50 or so games, plus limited previews of new releases, as well as special versions of fan favorites.The service is long gone, but still remembered fondly!

The Sega Power Base Converter

Power Base Converter Before the Sega Genesis was a hit, there was the Sega Master System. Although it never reached the market share dominance that the Genesis did, there were quite a few games and consoles sold. Rather than tossing out the old games (like Phantasy Star!) gamers could pick up the Power Base Converter, which attached to the Genesis and allowed those SMS games to be played on their new Genesis. 8-bit gaming goodness on their new 16-bit gamer powerhouse! Gamergasm!

Sega CD Accessory – Top and Side Mounts

Sega CD If you had the cash, the Sega CD was a must-have accessory. It came in two designs, a CD-player style for the older Genesis systems, which