Gaming : Sega SG-1000 (Third Gen)

Sega SG-1000

Technical Specifications

CPU: NEC 780C (clone of Zilog Z80)
3.579545MHz for NTSC, 3.546893MHz for PAL

Main RAM: 8 Kbits (1 KB)

VRAM: 128 Kbits (16 KB)

Sound: Texas Instruments SN76489
4 channel mono sound
3 sound generators, 4 octaves each, 1 white noise generator

Screen resolution: 256x192 (16 colors)

Ports:
1 Cartridge
1 RF output
1 joystick port (for player two, the first player's joystick is connected internally)
1 expansion port (compatible with the SK-1100 keyboard)

Graphical Changes : 

This console could display 32 sprites at any time on screen and also had a colour count of 16 and also having a resolution of 256×192 resolution. It had a little more resolution and also provided 8 more colours that the artist could work with from the previous generation.

History

The SG-1000 is a video game console utilizing cartridges for games. It was manufactured by Sega and was released 1983. It marked Sega's first steps into the video game console industry. The console initially did not provide that much success but its value lay in the experience gathered for future systems. 2 Million consoles where sold world wide. 

Nintendo Famicom

The console was held back from the beginning because it was going to be released on the same date as the Nintendo Famicon, so it had to be released on a later date. It had some support from Konami but the console was abandoned in 1985 with a few later releases the last being The black Onyx in 1987. 






The SG-1000 did have some competitors through its lifespan, Epoch,Tomy,Takara,Bandai,Casio and Nichibutsu. These where all systems which fell into oblivion with the major success of the Famicon. The SG-1000 though not the best successful console managed to fare better than the rest of these consoles but never manged to stay on top of the console market, this might be credited to the exclusive arcade games brought to the system. Another thing that set this console backward was its computer counter part, The SG-3000 which contained all the features and more making the console a little redundant. 

Dina 2 in one 

The original console was also released in New Zealand where it was distributed under the name Grandstand. the console never reached North America or any other part of the world though the dina 2 in one SG-1000 compatible was released in the US by Telegames. With this being said the SG-1000 was the worst performing video game console in terms of units sold though the company still profited from it .




In July 1984 Sega had released another version of the console, marking it as the SG-1000 II which had hardware changes, the rear expansion port was moved to the front and changed the controllers to to have a similar appearance to that of the Famicon. This version was only known to be released outside of Japan in Taiwan where it was distributed by Aaronix

Othello Multivision

There where several clones of the SG-1000, one being the Othello multivision form the licensed game manifacture Tsukuda Original. The plan was to focus more on creating a computer game standard which allowed companies to focus more on games rather than hardware. Another was The Dina 2 in one which was produced bu Bit Corp which was likly to be produced without a licence. This console had the ability to run Coleco Vision games and was distributed in North America by Telegames under the name Telegames Personal Arcade. The SG-1000 was also released in "module" form as the Pioneer TV Video Game Pack SD-G5.

All forms of these consoles failed to win the marked Sega was aiming for, this lead to the creation of the Sega Mark III, They improved on the video hardware and increased the RAM. This system would later be the starting point of the Sega Master System. These two consoles are backward compatible with the SG-1000.

Commercials 

References 

Wikipedia. 2015. SG-1000. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SG-1000. [Accessed 23 April 15].

SegaRetro. 2015. SG-1000. [ONLINE] Available at: http://segaretro.org/SG-1000. [Accessed 23 April 15].

Video Console Game Library. 2015. SG-1000. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg80-sg1000.htm#page=reviews. [Accessed 23 April 15].