Holy Crap, Remember…The Sega Channel?

Ah, nostalgia! Be it that old cartoon, a favorite toy or a comic book from days gone by, isn’t it great, when out of the blue, the memories come flooding back, and you’ve no choice but to exclaim “Holy Crap! Remember…?”

Holy crap, PoP!ulation…even I barely remember this one.

Memories of the Sega Channel came flooding back to me recently, smack dab in the middle of a conversation about a completely different topic. Needless to say, that conversation was derailed. In fact, I’m still not sure that we ever came to a conclusion on what we were originally talking about.

Back in the day, no visit to my Grandparent’s house was complete without logging on to the Sega Channel. The Channel was a monthly subscription service that allowed access to a rotating library of Sega games, downloaded to your console in fairly short order. In essence, the Sega Channel was basically Netflix Instant Watch, 10 years before it’s time, for video games. (Before you comment, yes, I realize the technologies that powered the two services are completely different, but you can’t deny the concepts are similar.)

Each month the library of available games would refresh, offering subscribers a variety that would have been exceptionally costly to keep up with by buying single cartridges. On occasion, subscribers of the service would even receive special sneak previews of upcoming games. And, if we were really lucky, there would be an exclusive game not available in stores. Take THAT, other kids at school.

Admittedly, my memories of the Sega Channel still pale in comparison to the far more entertaining Nintendo 64, but in a day where I have the ability to download practically any form of entertainment I desire directly to my television, reminiscing about the Sega Channel is a nice reminder of one of the services that paved the way.

Filed Under: Columns • Holy Crap! Remember...

Tags: featured, Genesis, Holy Crap! Remember..., Sega, Sega Channel