After years of third-party replicas doing the rounds and generally being of poor build quality, Sega is stepping in and releasing their own first-party miniaturisation of the 16-bit classic, the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis.

Although formally announced last year, the first 10 games out of 40 were announced today in Tokyo, Japan by Sega. These include 'Ecco the Dolphin', 'Space Harrier II', 'Castlevania: Bloodlines', and 'Comix Zone'.

Here's the list so far.

The console will be available from September 19th, 2019 and will include the classic controller in its original size and with wires, as well as HDMI cables, power cables and all the necessary parts to bring back the gaming experience of your childhood.

Now, you're probably thinking that there are already Sega Mega-Drive miniature consoles on the market already, and you'd be correct. AtGames, a third-party manufacturer, previously made Sega Mega Drive / Genesis consoles. However, the build quality and emulation was deemed particularly poor by players, which ultimately led to Sega cancelling their licence with AtGames and taking over the build for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Mini.

Since then, the design and emulation was handled by M2, a Japanese game developer who worked with Nintendo on several classic titles for the Wii Virtual Console. In fact, Sega actually pushed back the release until 2019 last year in order to ensure that the build quality for the Genesis / Mega Drive Mini was up to scratch.

Of course, the fear with all of this for Sega is that given how badly the AtGames Sega Genesis / Mega Drive consoles were received by players, they might have spurned potential buyers who aren't willing to shell out another €70 or €80 again.

While not yet confirmed, it's likely that the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive will be on sale here in Ireland at the same time as everywhere else, with the price point expected to mirror the US and Japanese markets.