The Origin of Sega's 'Blast Processing': How a Marketing Term Shaped the 16-Bit Console Wars

In the early 1990s, the burgeoning video game industry witnessed one of its most intense battles: the 16-bit console war between Sega and Nintendo.

At the heart of this rivalry were the Sega Genesis (known as the Mega Drive outside North America) and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), two iconic systems that defined a generation.

Each company fought fiercely for dominance, leveraging every tool available—including some creative marketing tactics—to secure their place in gaming history. A standout moment from Sega’s marketing blitz in North America was the introduction of the term "Blast Processing." This phrase quickly became a hallmark of Sega’s campaign, touted as a revolutionary hardware advantage the Genesis held over Nintendo’s SNES.

Sega’s commercials and print advertisements underscored this so-called feature, implying superior speed and performance—even though its actual technical merit was questionable. The story behind "Blast Processing" begins with Scott Bayless, who served as Senior Producer at Sega of America between 1990 and 1994.

While Bayless is modest about his role in the company’s storied history, he played a pivotal part in many key decisions during Sega’s 16-bit era.

Reflecting on the origins of the marketing term, Bayless explained that the now-famous phrase emerged quite organically during a PR session.

As he recounted for a Sega CD technical interview, Bayless described how technical director Marty Franz had found a clever way to manipulate the Genesis display system.

By precisely timing the scan line interrupt and initiating a Direct Memory Access (DMA), developers could "blast data into the DACs," enabling more impressive static images and leveraging the console’s 8-bit per pixel capabilities.

Bayless noted, "Once I described this process using the word 'blast,' the PR team latched onto it, and before I knew it, 'Blast Processing' was born." Despite the technical underpinnings behind Bayless’s explanation, "Blast Processing" ultimately served more as a marketing buzzword than a meaningful hardware descriptor.

While the Sega Genesis did boast a faster central processing unit (CPU) than the SNES—the Motorola 68000 processor running at 7.6 MHz compared to the SNES's slower 3.58 MHz chip—and provided certain advantages in direct memory access (DMA) speeds and video RAM bandwidth, translating these specs into a consumer-friendly, catchy phrase was challenging.

In contrast to Nintendo’s readily demonstrable Mode 7 technology, which enabled eye-catching effects like rotation and scaling, the subtler strengths of the Genesis required a bit of marketing ingenuity. Since his time at Sega, Bayless has continued to contribute to the video game industry, holding positions at leading publishers and developers including Electronic Arts, Midway, Capcom, and Microsoft.

However, his inadvertent creation of the phrase "Blast Processing" has ensured his lasting association with one of gaming’s most memorable—and hotly debated—marketing campaigns. The legacy of "Blast Processing" lives on not just as a symbol of an era when console rivalries dominated playground discussions, but also as a testament to the power of creative marketing in shaping public perception.

Today, the battles between Nintendo and its competitors continue on platforms like the Nintendo Switch and digital storefronts such as the eShop, but the mythos of the 16-bit era endures—reminding us of an age when buzzwords could define a generation.

Nintendo Sega Origin Sega Genesis Sega Mega Drive SNES Scott Bayless Sega of America Sega CD Marty Franz EA Midway Capcom Microsoft