Difference between revisions of "Sega Mark III"

Revision as of 06:02, 13 March 2011

Sega Mark III

Manufacturer: Sega
Variants: Sega Master System

The Sega Mark III is a video game console made by Sega. It was the original Japanese incarnation of the Sega Master System.

History

The Mark III was released in Japan on October 20, 1985 to compete with the Nintendo Family Computer, following on from the SG-1000 and SG-1000 II which had proved unsuccessful. The Mark III was built similarly to the Mark II, with the addition of improved video hardware and an increased amount of RAM. Like the Mark II and Famicom, controllers (now SJ-152s) were designed to be stored on the sides of the system.

The system is backwards compatible with earlier SG-1000 titles. As well as the standard cartridge slot, it has a built-in slot for "Sega Cards", which are physically identical to the cards for the Sega SG-1000 "Card Catcher" add-on.

The Mark III was redesigned as the Sega Master System for release in other markets. This was mainly a cosmetic revamp; the internals of the console remained virtually the same. The redesigned console was itself released in Japan in 1987, but with the addition of a built-in Yamaha YM-2413 FM sound chip (this had been an optional extra on the Mark III), and Rapid Fire Unit.

Sega Master System game cartridges released outside Japan had a different shape and pin configuration to the Japanese Master System/Mark III cartridges. This may be seen as a form of regional lockout. Similar cartridge shapes were used in the rest of Asia and South Korea.

Once again neither the Mark III nor the Japanese Sega Master System were commercially successful when compared to Nintendo's Famicom, however the Mark III did fare slightly better than the Mark I and Mark II. The final Japanese game release was Bomber Raid, on February 4, 1989.

Specifications

CPU: 8-bit 3.579545 MHz Zilog Z80
Graphics: VDP (Video Display Processor) derived from Texas Instruments TMS9918

Up to 32 simultaneous colors available from a palette of 64 (can also show 64 simultaneous colors using programming tricks)
Screen resolutions 256x192 and 256x224
8x8 pixel characters, max 488 (due to VRAM space limitation)
8x8 or 8x16 pixel sprites, max 64
Horizontal, diagonal, vertical, and partial screen scrolling

Sound (PSG): Texas Instruments SN76489

4 channel mono sound
3 sound generators, 4 octaves each, 1 white noise generator

Sound (FM): Yamaha YM-2413

9 channel mono FM sound
available as plug-in module for Mark III
built into Japanese Master System
supported by certain games only

ROM: 64 Kbits (8KB)
Main RAM: 64 Kbits (8KB)
Video RAM: 128 Kbits (16KB)
Game Card slot

Physical Scans

JP box (front)

External Link

Mark III Console Database

83	84	85	86	88	90	91	93	94	98	06
Sega Home Video Game Systems
SG-1000	SG-1000 II			Mega Drive			Mega Drive II
SC-3000						Mega-CD	Mega-CD II		Genesis 3
		Sega Mark III						32X	Dreamcast
			Master System		Master System II
			AI Computer		Game Gear
								Saturn
							Pico			Beena

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

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 ==History==
-The Mark III was released in Japan on October 20, 1985 to compete with the Nintendo Family Computer, following on from the [[SG-1000]] and [[SG-1000 Mark II]] which had proved unsuccessful. The Mark III was built similarly to the Mark II, with the addition of improved video hardware and an increased amount of [[RAM]]. Like the Mark II and Famicom, controllers (now [[SJ-152]]s) were designed to be stored on the sides of the system.
+The Mark III was released in Japan on October 20, 1985 to compete with the Nintendo Family Computer, following on from the [[SG-1000]] and [[SG-1000 II]] which had proved unsuccessful. The Mark III was built similarly to the Mark II, with the addition of improved video hardware and an increased amount of [[RAM]]. Like the Mark II and Famicom, controllers (now [[SJ-152]]s) were designed to be stored on the sides of the system.
 The system is backwards compatible with earlier SG-1000 titles. As well as the standard cartridge slot, it has a built-in slot for "[[Sega Card]]s", which are physically identical to the cards for the Sega SG-1000 "Card Catcher" add-on.