Difference between revisions of "Sega G80"

From Sega Retro

(Removed Atari Asteroids and Lunar Lander references, as they don't in any way resemble what was done with the G80 system.)
(Removed Atari Asteroids and Lunar Lander references, as they don't in any way resemble what was done with the G80 system. There isn't a special Z80 chip; the CPU uses a standard Z80A along with a custom 40 pin security chip, which are not game specific.)
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The '''Sega G80''' is an [[arcade]] system produced by [[Sega]] in 1981. It can be considered a successor to the [[Sega VIC Dual]] system, and was Sega's arcade platform of choice before the release of the [[Sega System 1]].
 
The '''Sega G80''' is an [[arcade]] system produced by [[Sega]] in 1981. It can be considered a successor to the [[Sega VIC Dual]] system, and was Sega's arcade platform of choice before the release of the [[Sega System 1]].
  
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The G80 was designed to be a more versatile system than those seen in arcade cabinets of the past. Rather than rely on bespoke cabinet designs for each game, Sega opted for a more cost-effective "Convert-a-Game" system (as it was marketed in the US), in which games housed on CPU boards could be easily swapped by arcade operators. The G80 system consisted of a card cage with a 6 slot backplane that could be used to make a system out of 10+ different boards, allowing to configure it as both a raster system if a raster video board was inserted, or a vector system that could display color vector graphics.
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The G80 was designed to be a more versatile system than those seen in arcade cabinets of the past. Rather than rely on bespoke cabinet designs for each game, Sega opted for a more cost-effective "Convert-a-Game" system (as it was marketed in the US), in which games housed on CPU boards could be easily swapped by arcade operators. The G80 system consisted of a card cage with a 6 slot backplane that could be populated in different game configurations from a selection of 10+ different pluggable boards, allowing it to be configured it as either a raster system if a raster video board was inserted, or a vector system that could display color vector graphics.
  
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The G80 gets its name from its Z80 CPU which was coupled with a custom security chip to prevent operators from abusing the swappable system.  The security chip would obfuscate the "ld (address),a" instruction (opcode 32h) differently based on the security chip instaslled — an early form of copy protection. The mangling system is [https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/machine/segag80.c rather complicated, and differs from chip to chip].
+
The G80 gets its name from its Z80 CPU which was coupled with a custom security chip to prevent operators from abusing the swappable system.  The security chip would obfuscate the "ld (address),a" instruction (opcode 32h) differently based on the security chip installed — an early form of copy protection. The mangling algorithms are [https://github.com/mamedev/mame/blob/master/src/mame/machine/segag80.c rather complicated, and differ from security chip to security chip].
  
 
The Sega G80 platform provided a basis for many reasonably successful vector-based games from the company, some of which, such as ''[[Space Fury]]'', ''[[Tac/Scan]]'', and, perhaps most famously, ''[[Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator]]'', saw home console/computer ports.
 
The Sega G80 platform provided a basis for many reasonably successful vector-based games from the company, some of which, such as ''[[Space Fury]]'', ''[[Tac/Scan]]'', and, perhaps most famously, ''[[Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator]]'', saw home console/computer ports.

Revision as of 22:22, 9 March 2016

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Sega G80
Manufacturer: Sega
Release Date RRP Code

The Sega G80 is an arcade system produced by Sega in 1981. It can be considered a successor to the Sega VIC Dual system, and was Sega's arcade platform of choice before the release of the Sega System 1.

The G80 was designed to be a more versatile system than those seen in arcade cabinets of the past. Rather than rely on bespoke cabinet designs for each game, Sega opted for a more cost-effective "Convert-a-Game" system (as it was marketed in the US), in which games housed on CPU boards could be easily swapped by arcade operators. The G80 system consisted of a card cage with a 6 slot backplane that could be populated in different game configurations from a selection of 10+ different pluggable boards, allowing it to be configured it as either a raster system if a raster video board was inserted, or a vector system that could display color vector graphics.

The G80 gets its name from its Z80 CPU which was coupled with a custom security chip to prevent operators from abusing the swappable system. The security chip would obfuscate the "ld (address),a" instruction (opcode 32h) differently based on the security chip installed — an early form of copy protection. The mangling algorithms are rather complicated, and differ from security chip to security chip.

The Sega G80 platform provided a basis for many reasonably successful vector-based games from the company, some of which, such as Space Fury, Tac/Scan, and, perhaps most famously, Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator, saw home console/computer ports.

Technical Specifications

List of Games

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