The original PlayStation’s impressive 3D capabilities have somewhat overshadowed it over the years, but SEGA was actually a company that was deeply committed to 3D gaming from the very beginning. In arcades, they were producing 3D games on a completely different level from their competitors, and they were constantly experimenting with new ideas on the home console side as well.
If you look at the Mega Drive version of Virtua Racing, SEGA managed to bring over an arcade-quality experience by adding a special processor directly into the cartridge. Seeing that success, they likely realized that a dock-on device with its own dedicated hardware could allow the Mega Drive to handle 3D games—especially SEGA’s arcade-style 3D titles. That idea eventually became the 32X.
At the time, the Mega Drive (Genesis) was incredibly popular in North America, so the concept definitely had potential. The problem was its timing. The 32X launched around the same period as SEGA’s next-generation console, the Sega Saturn, which created confusion in the market. If it had been released even a year earlier, giving players earlier access to games like Virtua Fighter and Virtua Racing, it might have achieved much stronger sales.
And by the way, the Mega Drive shown in the video is a custom modification that combines the console and the 32X into a single integrated unit. 😆