Sports Pad

From Sega Retro

SportsPad3.jpg
Sports Pad
Made for: Sega Master System
Manufacturer: Sega
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Master System
JP
¥9,8009,800[1] SP-500
Sega Master System
US
3040

The Sega Sports Pad (セガ スポーツパッド) is a Sega Master System controller designed for sports games. The controller exchanges the standard Master System D-Pad with a trackball for 360-degree motion. It is an early example of an analogue controller for a home console; players move faster or slower depending on how much the trackball is rolled. Sega had previously pioneered the use of trackballs in video games with the 1978 arcade game World Cup.

There are two versions of the Sports Pad: a larger 1986 edition and a smaller 1988 variant. The 1986 version was intended for North America, but it only saw a limited release in Japan as a competition prize (alongside Great Ice Hockey) in late 1987/early 1988. It has extra switches to allow it to emulate the 8-directional movement setting for other games, but possibly due to an technical oversight, it is incompatible with the Sega Mark III. The 1988 version drops the switches and fixes Mark III support.

Neither version of the Sports Pad proved popular, with only three games officially supporting the peripheral. In Japan, the device was never sold separately, either packaged with Great Ice Hockey or Sports Pad Soccer.

Compatible games

Gallery

Magazine articles

Main article: Sports Pad/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Master System, JP
SportsPad SMS JP Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngSportsPad SMS JP Box Front.jpg
Cover
Master System, US
SportsPad SMS US Box Back.jpgNospine-small.pngSportsPad SMS US Box Front.jpg
Cover
SegaSportsPadInstructionSMSU.pdf
Manual

External links

References


Sega Master System
Topics Sega Master System | Technical Specifications (Hardware Comparison) | History | Boot ROM | Magazine articles | Promotional material | Merchandise
Hardware Asia | North America | Western Europe | Eastern Europe | South America | Australasia | Africa

Sega Mark III | Sega Game Box 9 | Master System Girl | Master System Super Compact | Kiosk | Sega System E

Add-ons Demo Unit II | Telecon Pack | FM Sound Unit | 3-D Glasses
Controllers SJ-152 | Control Pad | 3-D Glasses | Control Stick | Handle Controller | Light Phaser | Paddle Control | Rapid Fire Unit | Sports Pad | SG Commander
Misc. Hardware Action Replay | Card Catcher | Action Case | Freedom Connection | Playkit
Unreleased Floppy Disk Drive
Consoles-on-a-chip Arcade Gamer Portable | TF-DVD560 | DVD Karaoke Game DVT-G100 | Fun Play 20-in-1 | Handheld Electronic Games | Master System 3 Collection | Master System 3 | Master System Evolution | Master System Handy | PlayPal Plug & Play | Poga