Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Four (4) Way Play Adapter for Genesis (1993)

4 Way Play Adapter ad EA Sports

Original ad published in "KC Joe Montana" issue of Sega Force 
(1993, a supplement to EGM).
Press to view or download image in higher resolution.

EA tries to monopolise 4-player cooperative games


Many video game aficionados are quick to name Sega's Genesis as the best electronic sports console of any era. They are right. No console before or after the 16-bit powerhouse comes even close to enormous catalogue of sporting games done right for Sega's memorable system. Most of these games were simple and fast and featured excellent cooperative gameplay. Both EA and Sega tried to capitalise on this fact with 4-player adapters.



There are subtle differences between EA's 4 Way Play adapter and Sega's Team Player adapter. The third party console bolted straight into both of the console's controller ports. The official accessory went into one controller port and left the second open for up to 5-player cooperative play. There were some incompatibility issues between the two gadgets. Both of them functioned well on the major sports games and the unique Gauntlet 4. Sega released a second version of its adapter that resolved the problem. The first version of Sega's adapter was not compatible with EA's games. 

Both of these accessories would compete against the SNES' Multitap, developed by Hudson Soft and included in the famous Super Bomberman party pack. It also functioned with other games and was specially fun with the original Mario Kart, for example. 



But EA's bet came at a time when gamers were sceptical about Nintendo's dominance in the 16-bit world. After all, Genesis had proven an excellent console at the time of its release and the big N had still to show its technical superiority and vast catalogue of solid games. Between 1992 and 1994, Sega had a clear advantage in sports game market. It was natural for EA to sell an accessory that could take advantage of its great 16-bit sports games, even if that meant directly competing with Sega's offering. The list of compatible games is of course dominated by the US giant.



Now the printed ad for EA's 4 Way Play is something special. Rarely do you come across a bare-bones marketing material such as this. As you can see, there is no picture of the actual product, just the logo of it. It follows a traditional "Z" editorial pattern. But other than that, there was no way for the consumer to know what he had to buy. Maybe EA was confident enough that gamers would trust the brand's name. Or maybe the logo was more important than the actual peripheral, considering Sega's adapter was more or less similar in shape and size. 


4 Way Play Adapter for Genesis print ad copy

Now if you screw up, at least you got teammates to blame.

4 Way Play

Our new 4 Way Play adapter for Sega Genesis changes everything. Instead of 1 on1 or 2 against the computer, now you can also play 201. 2 on 2. 3 on 1. Or 4 against the computer. Which makes EA Sports Tournament Series games 4 times better than anything you've played.

EA Sports
If it's in the game, it's in the game.

Tournament Series 4 Way Play
Bill Walsh College Football
NHL '94
Madden NFL '94
Soccer '94

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