Sega Genesis Mini Delayed To 2019

The Sega Genesis Mini has been delayed to 2019. Originally announced with a 2018 release date, the little system is now scheduled to arrive next year, Sega announced in a tweet.

Gematsu translated the Japanese tweet and quotes Sega as saying it decided to push back release in part to allow the company to launch the console around the world simultaneously.

Sega added that it wants the Sega Genesis Mini to have a "level of quality that Sega fans expect," according to Gematsu. The delay also apparently relates to the fact that Sega is looking to "rethink the design of the device," according to the site.

The Sega Genesis Mini, or Mega Drive as it was known in Japan, was announced back in April. At the time, Sega said it was scheduled to launch in 2018 but did not share any other details.

It won't be the first mini version of the Sega Genesis. The officially licensed Sega Genesis Flashback console from AtGames was a major disappointment.

Plug-and-play consoles have proven to be incredibly popular, at least in the United States. Sales of such consoles grew by a factor of 21x in August 2018 compared to last year; year to date, dollar sales of plug-and-play consoles jumped 400 percent. The NES Classic leads the way in terms of total units sold in 2018, while the SNES Classic, which is more expensive, has driven the most dollar sales.