Sega SG-1000

Manufactured By

SEGA Enterprises

Launch Year

Japan: 1983

Launch Price

Japan: ¥15,000

Media

SG-1000: Cartridge, Sega Card (with Sega Card Catcher accessory)

SG-1000 II: Cartridge, Sega Card

Competitors

Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System, MSX

Discontinued

Japan: 1984 (Sega SG-1000)/1985 (Sega SG-1000 II)

Units Sold (rough estimates)

Worldwide: 2 million units

History

The SG-1000 was Sega’s first foray into the console market. Having seen some success in the arcades, Sega sought to bring the arcade experience home and released the SG-1000 on 15 July, 1983. This is notable for being the exact same day Nintendo released their Famicom video game console, which would soon come to completely dominate the home console market in Japan and eventually the United States.

The Original Sega SG-1000
Credit: SegaRetro.org

In comparison to its main competitor, the SG-1000 was lacking as far as hardware is concerned. It did not harness the same power as the Famicom, and design-wise it also projected a look of simplicity. The SG-1000 was a top-loading unit that accepted cartridges only. The base unit has a power switch, RF output and an expansion port. There is also a controller hardwired into the unit, similar to the Famicom, but a second controller can be attached via a port on the right-hand side of the unit. In comparison, both the Famicom’s controllers are hardwired into the unit. Sega would later release an adapter cable which allowed the use of detachable controllers as standard, replacing the hard-wired joystick.

The Original SG-1000 Controller
Credit: SegaRetro.org

The console itself shares an almost identical hardware configuration to the ColecoVision, the only major exception being a faster VRAM chip supplied by Fujitsu. The similarities between the two consoles would later allow an unauthorised clone, the Telegames Personal Arcade, to play both SG-1000 and ColecoVision games. It also made the porting of SG-1000 games to the ColecoVision an easy task, leading to many unofficial SG-1000 conversions making their way over to Coleco’s console.

The ColecoVision
Credit: retrogamer.net

Sega simultaneously released the SC-3000, which was essentially an SG-1000 with more program RAM and a greater capacity for hardware expansion. It was released as a home computer, utilising a keyboard and designed to compete with entry level home computers. The SC-3000 had an add on which allowed for data recording on cassettes, as well as floppy disk and printer support. It saw a degree of success in sales and was released in limited quantities in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Despite outselling the SG-1000, this was to be the only time Sega entered the computer market by themselves. Support for the SC-3000 was discontinued around 1985, with sales at the end of 1983 standing at around 120,000 units.

The Sega SC-3000
Credit: http://www.sc-3000.com

The SG-1000 also had a keyboard attachment, but generally speaking those wanting to use a Sega device for computing purposes would have opted for the SC-3000 instead. Having been through a sale and corporate restructure, Sega would release an updated version of the SG-1000 – the SG-1000 II – in July 1984, retailing at ¥15,000.

The Sega SG-1000 II
Credit: shopify.com

Although technically an updated model, there wasn’t anything radically different about the SG-1000 II. The expansion port was moved to the front of the console, and both controllers were now detachable. The controller itself was redesigned, and able to be stored at the side of the console, a design cue taken from the Famicom. The SG-1000 II also had the ability to play Sega Card games  – the SG-1000 had required an accessory called the C-1000 Card Catcher to play these games. Sega Card game compatibility would continue to be built into the future Mark III and Master System I consoles.

The Sega Card Catcher
Credit: picclick.com

With the Famicom now having established dominance over the Japanese console market, the SG-1000 II had made no significant impact and failed to improve on the SG-1000’s humble sales. After just two years, the SG-1000 line was effectively retired when the Sega Mark III debuted in 1985 with much advanced hardware capabilities.

The Sega Mark III Console
Credit: https://segadoes.files.wordpress.com

In terms of games, the official SG-1000 library comprises 68 cartridge releases and 29 Sega Card games, bringing the total to 97 games. All games are compatible between the SG-1000 and SG-1000 II, but 26 of the cartridge games require the keyboard accessory or the SC-3000 to work. There were very few notable games released for the system, though Sonic the Hedgehog creator Yuji Naka’s first game, Girl’s Garden, was an SG-1000 release. In general, SG-1000 games are characterised as having poor graphics and difficult controls, especially in comparison to the polished Famicom titles being released around the same period.

Girl’s Garden for the SG-1000 (Artwork)
Credit: Wikipedia

The Othello Multivision was a fully licensed SG-1000 clone built by a company called Tsukuda Original, released in Japan in 1983. It came with the game Othello built-in, hence the name. Rather than use a controller, it had the controls built onto the front the unit. A revised 1984 model added support for a second detachable controller. This unit was compatible with the official keyboard accessory and played all SG-1000/SC-3000 cartridges. There are very few SG-1000 clones and the Multivision was not successful.

The Othello Multivision
Credit: http://8-bit-dreams.blogspot.co.uk/

There was also a very rare accessory called the Pioneer TV Game Video Pack SD-G5, which was an add on designed for the Pioneer SEED television set in Japan which allowed the user to play SG-1000 and SC-3000 games. Sales figures are unknown, but it is unlikely many were sold.

The Pioneer Video Game Pack SD-G5
Credit: http://henly.at.webry.info

Technically, the SG-1000 hardware did see limited release outside of Japan in the form of the unauthorised Telegames Personal Arcade, previously released by Bit Corporation as the Dina. It was released in the United States in 1986 and able to play both ColecoVision and SG-1000 cartridges, due to the aforementioned similarities between the hardware of the two systems. SG-1000 compatibility was never officially advertised, assumedly due to there being no official licensing agreement from Sega. This system came bundled with the game Meteoric Shower, which was built into the console. SG-1000 cartridges were compatible, and Sega Card games could in theory be played if the compatible Sega Card Catcher was connected. It should be noted that this peripheral would have been difficult to obtain in the United States in the 1980’s.

The Dina/Telegames Personal Arcade Console
Credit: http://atariage.com/

There was also an official release of the SG-1000 in New Zealand, marketed by a company called Grandstand. They dropped the SG part of the name and simply branded the console the Sega 1000. It was otherwise identical to the SG-1000. Grandstand ultimately dropped support for the Sega 1000 in 1986, following the release of the Mark III and the Master System’s impending arrival, but the console is considered to have sold well in this territory.

Grandstand’s Sega 1000 
Credit: http://www.master-system.info

Despite trailing far behind the Famicom, the SG-1000 was still ultimately considered a minor success for Sega and the company is likely to have made a small profit from the console. Lessons learned from the SG-1000 and SG-1000 II would be put to use when creating the Mark III and Master System consoles, but the Famicom would continue to rule the Japanese and American console markets for the rest of the 1980’s.

The SG-1000 in Blue
Credit: SegaRetro.org

Sources

Wikipedia
SegaRetro.org