====== Sega Master System (1986) ======
===== Features =====
* CPU: 3.6 MHz, 8-bit Z80 processor
* RAM: 8K
* Video RAM: 16K
* Custom video controller (VDP) derived from the TI chip TMS9918/9928
* Resolution: 256x192 tile-based screen in 16 colors
* Sprites: 64 at 8x8, 8x16 or 16x16
* Color Palette: 64; 32 max on screen (16 for sprites, 16 for background)
* Scrolling: Hardware up/down/left/right - all or part of screen.
* Sound chip: Generic SN76489 sound chip (PSG) made by Texas Instruments
* Sound output: 3 square-wave sound and white noise/periodic noise channel
* Music: Yamaha YM2413 FM sound chip
===== Known Issues =====
This driver runs just about everything!
To do (see source): SMS lightgun support, SMS 3D glass support
MESS supports several Sega Master System revisions. You can switch between them, changing the -bios parameter. At command line,
== sms / smssdisp ==
"-bios 0" or "-bios alexkidd" = US/European BIOS with Alex Kidd in Miracle World (1990)
== smspal ==
"-bios 0" or "-bios alexkidd" = US/European BIOS with Alex Kidd in Miracle World (1990)
"-bios 1" or "-bios sonic" = European/Brazilian BIOS with Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
== sms2kr ==
"-bios 0" or "-bios akbioskr" = Samsung Gam*Boy II with Alex Kidd in Miracle World (1990)
== sms1 ==
"-bios 0" or "-bios bios13" = US/European BIOS v1.3 (1986)
"-bios 1" or "-bios hangonsh" = US/European BIOS v2.4 with Hang On and Safari Hunt (1988)
"-bios 2" or "-bios hangon" = US/European BIOS v3.4 with Hang On (1988)
"-bios 3" or "-bios missiled" = US/European BIOS v4.4 with Missile Defense 3D (1988)
"-bios 4" or "-bios proto" = US Master System Prototype BIOS
== sms1pal ==
"-bios 0" or "-bios bios13" = US/European BIOS v1.3 (1986)
"-bios 1" or "-bios hangonsh" = US/European BIOS v2.4 with Hang On and Safari Hunt (1988)
"-bios 2" or "-bios hangon" = US/European BIOS v3.4 with Hang On (1988)
"-bios 3" or "-bios missiled" = US/European BIOS v4.4 with Missile Defense 3D (1988)
== smsj ==
"-bios 0" or "-bios jbios21" = Japanese BIOS v2.1 (1987)
===== History and Trivia =====
The Sega Master System or SMS for short, is an 8-bit cartridge-based video game console that was manufactured by Sega. Its original Japanese incarnation was the SG-1000 Mark III. In the European market, this console launched Sega onto a competitive level comparable to Nintendo, due to its wider availability, but failed to put a dent in the North American and Japanese markets. The Master System was released as a direct competitor to the NES/Famicom. The system ultimately failed to topple its Nintendo competitor, but has
enjoyed over a decade of life in secondary markets, especially Brazil.
The Sega Master System was rereleased in a smaller handheld form factor in late 2006. This small handheld device is powered by 3 AAA batteries, has a brighter active matrix screen, and contained 20 Game Gear and Sega Master System games. It was released under several brands including Coleco and PlayPal. More details about this device are available here.
== SMS in Japan ==
The SG-1000 Mark III came after the SG-1000 Mark I and SG-1000 Mark II. It was released in Japan on October 20, 1985.
Typical of the era, game consoles had a mascot character. Sega's first mascot was Opa-opa from Fantasy Zone, as referenced in the manual for Zillion. Later on, especially in Western territories where Fantasy Zone was less popular, Alex Kidd emerged as a mascot. It is unclear if his mascot status was ever official, or if it was simply perceived because of the similarity to the Mario games that represented the competing Nintendo console.
The Master System had a second release in Japan, in 1987, under the new Master System name.
The Japanese Master System included a built-in 3D glasses adapter, rapid fire, and a Yamaha YM2413 FM sound chip, all of which were separate accessories for the Mark III.
== SMS in North America ==
The system was redesigned and sold in the United States under the name Sega Master System in June 1986, less than a year after the Nintendo Entertainment System was released. The Master System was subsequently released in other locales and markets (including the above mentioned second release in Japan in 1987) under the new Master System name.
Though the Master System was a more technically advanced piece of hardware than the NES, it did not attain the same level of popularity among consumers in the United States.
Its lack of success in the U.S. has been attributed to various causes, among them the difference in game titles available for each platform and the slightly later release date of the Master System. The licensing agreement that Nintendo had with its third-party game developers had a profound impact. Indeed, the agreement stated that developers would exclusively produce games for the NES. The Master System sold 125,000 consoles in the first four months. In the same period, the NES would net 2,000,000. Hayao Nakayama, then CEO of Sega, decided not to use too much effort to market the console in the NES-dominated market.
In 1988, the rights to the Master System in North America were sold to Tonka, but its popularity continued to decline. The move was considered a very bad one, since Tonka had never marketed a videogame system and had no idea what to do with it.
In 1990, Sega was having success with its Sega MegaDrive / Genesis and as a result took back the rights from Tonka for the SMS. They designed the Sega Master System II, a newer console which was smaller and sleeker but which, to keep production costs low, lacked the reset button and card slot of the original. In an effort to counter Nintendo's Super Mario Brothers, the new system included Alex Kidd in Miracle World, or later Sonic the Hedgehog, playable without any cartridges. Sega marketed the Master System II heavily; nevertheless, the unit sold poorly in North America.
By 1992, the Master System's sales were virtually nonexistent in North America and sales in this market ceased. Sales were poor in Japan as well, due to the dominance of the main competitor, the Nintendo Famicom. The Master System left the Japanese market during 1989.
== SMS in Europe ==
In Europe, the Master System was very successful. Sega marketed the Master System in many countries, including several in which Nintendo did not sell its consoles.
It had some success in Germany, where it was distributed by Ariolasoft beginning in winter 1987. In France, during the time the Sega Master System has been on sale, the console was distributed by the Virgin Group. In the United Kingdom, it was distributed by Mastertronic, who later merged with the Virgin Group.
The Europeans had garnered lots of third party support for the SMS and as a result, it was able to outsell the NES in Europe, as opposed to what happened in Japan and North America where the console was discontinued much earlier.
The Master System was supported until 1996 in Europe, the same time as it was with its successor, the also successful MegaDrive. Both were discontinued so that Sega could concentrate on the new Sega Saturn.
== SMS in Oceania ==
Sales of the SMS in Australia were exceptional as it was far more popular than the NES there; the SMS was able to gain greater market share there than that in North America due to Sega distributors Ozisoft having strong ties with retailers.
In New Zealand it was largely successful as well - due to NES having a weak influence - and was supported until 1997.
== SMS in Brazil ==
Brazil was one of the SMS most successful markets. It was marketed in that country by Tec Toy, Sega's Brazilian distributor.
A Sega Master System III (and even a semi-portable SMS VI) had been released in that market and several games had been translated into Portuguese. The characters in the said games had been modified so that they appealed to Brazilian mainstream audiences (for example, Wonder Boy in Monster Land featured Mônica, the main character from a popular children's comic book in Brazil, created by Maurício de Sousa).
Brazil also produced 100% national titles, like "Sítio do Pica Pau Amarelo" (based on Monteiro Lobato workmanship) and "Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum" (from the TV Cultura series). One of the more notable Master System consoles in Brazil was the compact wireless Master System Compact developed by Tec Toy.
The console transmitted the A/V signal through RF, dispensing cable connections. It was produced from 1994 to 1997 and is still a target for console collectors. A similar version, called Master System Girl, was also released in an attempt to attract female consumers. The only difference in this version was a strong pink casing and pastel buttons.
Later in its life in Brazil, Game Gear games had been ported to the Master System and several original Brazilian titles were made for the system.
Tec Toy also produced a licensed version of the wildly popular fighting game "Street Fighter II" for the Master System. Despite the limitations of the console, the game turned out to be fairly well received.
The console production was familiar to the Brazilians, which explains the success in that market. The Master System is still being produced in Brazil. The latest version is the "Master System III Collection". It uses the same design as the Master System II (Master System III in Brazil), but is white and comes in three versions: one with 74 games built-in, other with 105 games and another with 112 games.
However, in Brazil, it is hard to find the 3-D Glasses, the Light Phaser and even cartridges, leaving most Brazilians with only built-in games.
== Media input ==
One of the most unique features of the Sega Master System was its dual media inputs: one cartridge slot and one card slot. The card slot accepted small cards about the size of a credit card. Most cards were games, but one card served an entirely different purpose. The 3-D glasses plugged into the console via the card slot, and allowed 3-D visual effects for specially designed cartridge games. In this fashion, both media inputs worked in tandem.
== Game controllers ==
* Standard controllers: The Master System controller was considered extremely durable. However, there were only 2 buttons, one of which additionally performed the function of the traditional "Start" button; the pause button was on the game console itself. The original controllers, like Sega's previous systems, had the cord emerging from the side; during 1987 they changed the design to the now-typical top emerging cord. These early controllers also included a screw-in thumbstick; these were later omitted and the D-pad on the controller was redesigned without a screwhole for the thumbstick. When the game Street Fighter II was released (in Brazil only), a new six-button controller similar to the Sega Mega Drive controller was also released. The current Brazilian Master System consoles comes with two of those six-button controllers. The controller used the prevailing de facto standard Atari-style 9-pin connector and could be connected without modification to all other machines compatible with that standard, in
cluding the Atari 2600, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum with Kempston interface or similar.
* Light Phaser: The Light Phaser is a light gun modeled after the Zillion gun from the Japanese anime series of the same name. The design also mirrored the 1980s trend of actual laser tag gun appearances.
* 3-D Glasses: The 3-D Glasses used a shutter system to close the left and right lens rapidly to create a 3D effect. Some NES games, like Rad Racer and 3-D World Runner, also claimed to be 3-D, but used much cheaper red-cyan 3D glasses. The true Nintendo 3-D glasses which works with those games were only released for the Famicom in Japan. The Master System glasses can only be used in the original Master System since it hooks up directly to the card port not found in the Master System II. Such a system allows 3-D graphics in full color. A disadvantage is that it halves the effective frame-rate, which some users can perceive as flicker. The same technique, has been used with similar glasses for some 3-D films in movie theaters, though have been replaced by newer methods that wouldn't work on a home TV. Only six Master System games were 3-D compatible.
//(info from Wikipedia)//
===== Links =====
* SMS Power -- http://www.smspower.org/
* SMS Museum -- http://www.alexkidd.com/
* Sega 8bit -- http://www.sega8bit.com/
* UK SMS Page -- http://www.severedbbs.u-net.com/fletcher/SMS.html
* Charles MacDonald's GG & SMS Infos -- http://cgfm2.emuviews.com/sms.php
* [[wp>Sega_Master_System]]
===== Other Emulators =====
* MEKA -- http://www.smspower.org/meka/
* KEGA Fusion -- http://www.eidolons-inn.net/tiki-index.php?page=Kega
* SMS Plus -- http://cgfm2.emuviews.com/smsplus.php
* FreezeSMS -- http://freezesms.emuunlim.com/
Generated on Sun Jul 19 10:17:28 2009