SG-1000

The SG-1000 (エスジー・セン, Esujī Sen), which stands for Sega Game 1000, is a cartridge-based video game console manufactured by Sega. This system marked Sega's first entry into the home video game hardware business, and while the system was not very popular, it provided the basis for the more successful Sega Master System.

History
The SG-1000 was test marketed in Japan in 1981 and first released to the Japanese market in July 1983 for ¥15,000. The console reached minor success in that market and sold moderately well within Asia until 1985. The system was launched in New Zealand as released by Grandstand Leisure Limited, Australia and in other countries, such as Italy, Spain, and South Africa. The console in its original form was never launched in North America.

Game manufacturer Tsukada Original produced the Othello Multivision, an SG-1000 clone. Bit Corp's Dina 2-in-1 ColecoVision clone was brought to North America by a company called Telegames. Telegames called its clone the Telegames Personal Arcade, which could play ColecoVision and SG-1000 games.

A caveat is the SG-1000's surprisingly wide availability on Taiwan's secondary market. This console is highly significant in Taiwan as one of its first and best-remembered consoles, where it was manufactured and sold (very briskly) under license as "阿羅士" ['Lou Shi'].

Taiwan, among a few other countries, also received a "Mark IV" version of the console (most likely a modified Sega Master System II) and the Mark naming convention was further extended to the Mega Drive/Genesis ('Mark V').

Emulation
The Gametap subscription gaming service includes an emulator of the SG-1000 console. As of June 15, 2007, eleven SG-1000 titles were available for play. The open source emulators MESS, blueMSX, and MEKA are able to emulate the SG-1000 console, among other consoles. Sega Master System emulators are usually able to play SG-1000 games, as the real Sega Master System also had that capability.



SG-1000 Mark II
In July 1984, Sega released an updated version of the console called the SG-1000 Mark II. It is functionally identical to the Mark I, but has a re-styled shell and the connector for the optional plug-in SK-1100 keyboard has been moved from the rear to the front. It was initially priced at ¥15,000. A computer version of this console, with a built-in keyboard, was called the SC-3000, which would go on to outsell the SG-1000.

The SG-1000 runs all SC-3000 games and applications, with the exception of Music and Basic Cartridges. The machine could be used just like the SC-3000, provided one had the keyboard attachment ready. The console also had an optional game card reader add-on called the Card Catcher that allowed for the use of Sega game card software.

The Card Catcher would become built into the SG-1000 Mark III, as well as the first version of the Sega Master System.

SG-1000 Mark III
The SG-1000 Mark III, a yet newer version in Japan with improved video hardware and an increased amount of RAM, would be redesigned and released in the western world as the Sega Master System.

Specifications

 * |CPU: NEC 780C (clone of Zilog Z80)
 * 3.579545 MHz for NTSC, 3.546893 MHz for PAL
 * Main RAM: 16 kbit (2 kB)
 * Video RAM: 128 kbit (16 kB)
 * Video processor: Texas Instruments TMS9928A
 * 256x192 resolution
 * 32 sprites
 * 16 colors


 * Sound: Texas Instruments SN76489
 * 4-channel mono sound
 * 3 sound generators, 4 octaves each, 1 white noise generator
 * Ports:
 * 1 Parallel
 * 1 Cartridge
 * 1 Cassette
 * 1 Composite video
 * 2 Joystick
 * 1 Keyboard (Mark II only)