Pioneer TV Video Game Pack SD-G5

Pioneer TV Video Game Pack SD-G5
Manufacturer: Pioneer
Release Date RRP Code JP 1983 ¥19,80019,800 SD-G5

---

This short article is in need of work. You can help Sega Retro by adding to it.

---

The Pioneer TV Video Game Pack SD-G5 is a Pioneer SEED Television hardware expansion module, allowing play of both Sega SG-1000 and Sega SC-3000 game cartridges.

Hardware

Pioneer's SEED Television was an ambitious and novel idea, but one that came at a high cost to consumers.

The Pioneer TV Video Game Pack SD-G5 enables compatibility with Sega SG-1000 and Sega SC-3000 game cartridges, allowing respective games to be played by directly inserting them into the front of the television-embedded CompoPack. Pioneer also manufactured a version compatible with MSX game cartridges - the Pioneer TV Video Game Pack SD-R5.

SEED Television

The Pioneer System Component TV 'SEED' (パイオニア システム コンポーネント テレビ 「シード」), known in the United States as the Pioneer SD-25 Expandable TV, and commonly known as the SEED Television, is a video game-compatible television set developed and manufactured by Pioneer. First released in Japan in 1983, and later brought to the United States the same year, the system features interchangeable hardware expansions known as CompoPacks which expand the television set's audio and video capabilities.

"SEED" is an acronym for "system expandable", referring to the television's unique expandability. Its various CompoPacks work by being inserted directly into an empty space on the lower-front of the television, and can later be removed and swapped with different CompoPacks containing different hardware and features.

Background

As Japan was growing wealthier from the Japanese asset price bubble, so was the average Japanese consumer. With this newfound wealth came a push from the nation's electronics manufacturers in both pioneering technology and lower prices, and soon, the Japanese market for home electronics exploded, both home and abroad. One of these companies, Pioneer, began an internal project seeking to redefine consumer home television as "a unique proposal beyond the framework of television and display."

Release

Released in 1983, the SEED Television featured a novel expansion system: the bottom of the television set features an expansion bay in which users can insert separate hardware modules to enable different functionalities, like stereo television, karaoke, and even video games. While not an unheard-of idea in home electronics, this method of interchangeable hardware expansions is not normally integrated into the television set itself. By extension, the SD-G5 was among one of the first (and likely the very first) of these expansions to enable the device to interface with video games.

Reception

While innovative, the CompoPack's modern status as an obscure rarity indicates a lukewarm reception, and its high pricing would have significantly limited interest among the average Japanese buyer.

Legacy

The SEED Television and its interchangeable CompoPacks are the direct predecessor to Pioneer's LaserActive platform, which also features exchangeable hardware expansions (now known as PACs), similar internal coding schemes, and was also released exclusively in Japan and the United States.

Physical scans

SG-1000, JP