Everything about Sega Sg-1000 totally explained
The, 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 wasn't 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, 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". This was striking in that in the same time period from 1981 to 1986, Famicom games were widely pirated as standalone and multi-carts (replete with rudimentary switch banks to select the active ROM), as well as no less than three different pirated versions of the
Atari 2600 with boastful monikers characteristic of the times ("冒險家" ['Adventurer'], "賓果" ['Delight'], "強棒創造者" ['SteadfastCreator']).
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').
Availability
The SG-1000 is an extremely rare and sought after console, and has been known to be sold at hefty prices of upwards of $300 for a used one, on various auction sites, such as
eBay.
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 to become the
Sega Master System. It was recently announced that the system will be available on the Wii's
Virtual Console.
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Specifications
Further Information
Get more info on 'Sega Sg-1000'.
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