Sega Mega-CD

From Sega Retro

Sega Mega Drive with Sega Mega CD console

The Sega Mega CD (Japanese: メガCD, in North America Sega CD because the "Mega" branding was not used) is a hardware add-on for the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis that was released in Europe, Australia, Japan and North America. The device allows the user to play proprietary game CDs, audio CDs and CD+G discs.

The development of the Mega CD was top secret; game programmers didn't know exactly what they were designing for until the Mega CD was finally revealed at the Tokyo Toy Show in Japan. In Japan the Mega CD was aimed to compete against the PC Engine, which had a separate CD-ROM drive. (It was not meant to compete with the Super Famicom a.ka. Super Nintendo Entertainment System.)

The original Mega CD model was a CD tray unit that sat under the console. The cheaper Model 2 had a smaller, top loading drive that is attached beside the Mega Drive.

Markets

Japan

The Sega Mega CD was released first in Japan on December 1st 1991. Its retail price was about ¥49,800. Initially, it was a great success because of the inherent advantages of CDs (high storage capability and the low cost of media). The fact that it had a nice RPG catalog also helped.

The system sold 100,000 units during the first year of release in Japan. However, cost issues prevented more units from being sold.

United States

Sega of Japan did not speak to Sega of America about their Mega CD plans for that market until a few months after the Tokyo Toy Show in Japan. The Sega CD was announced at the Chicago CES on November 1992.

In the end, the Sega CD failed to convince American gamers, mostly due to the cost of the console. There just was not enough value for the price. Moreover, the game experience was little improved.

Sound was likely to be better if it included some CD audio tracks, but on the average, conventional games looked the same. Sega wanted to showcase the power of the Sega CD, and so focused on the "FMV" games rather than importing "extended" games that only expanded ordinary games by taking advantage of the extra storage space of the CD media. Sega insisted on licensing and producing primarily "full motion video" games similar to earlier Laserdisc games, that were universally panned by game reviewers. The single speed CD drive added load times to all games, and the 64-color graphics and underpowered processor (for video rendering) made these full-motion games look terrible.

Europe

In Europe the Mega CD was highly overpriced. It was released in April 1993 in the United Kingdom for £270. Its userbase was small as only 4% of European Mega Drive owners bought a Mega CD. Unlike the Mega Drive, which was a very successful console in Europe, only 60,000 of the 70,000 Mega CDs shipped to Europe were sold by August 1993.

Some European countries (Spain for instance), wouldn't get the original Mega CD at all, but instead would get the upgraded Mega CD 2, which also slowed sales.

Australia

The Australian release for the Mega CD was April 19, 1993.

Models

The following models were released:

  • Sega Mega CD I (Sega CD I in North America)
  • Sega Mega CD II (Sega CD II in North America). Redesigned to accommodate the Mega Drive/Genesis II and reduce manufacturing costs.
  • JVC Wondermega (X'eye in North American release, never released in Europe), this was a all-in one Genesis /Sega CD unit.
  • Sega Multimega (called Sega CDX in North America). A portable CD player that plays both Mega Drive and Mega CD games. It's identical internally to the Mega Drive model II.
  • Pioneer LaserActive Sega CD module, an add-on device that the user could add to a Pioneer Laseractive Laserdisc player.

Technical Specifications

CPU

Main CPU: Motorola 68000 16 bit processor running at 12.5 MHz

(Same as the Mega Drive/Genesis. Acts as a coprocessor along with the Genesis CPU. One must note that the Genesis clock speed is slower (7.67 MHz))

Graphics

  • Graphics Processor: Custom ASIC
  • Number of simultaneous colours on screen: 64 (Using programming tricks, this limit is increased to 128 colours via raster effects)
  • Colours available in Cinepak and TruVideo modes: 128 to 256 colours
  • Video size from 1/4 to full screen
  • Advanced compression scheme
  • Software-based upgrade

RAM

  • Main RAM: 6 Mbit
  • PCM samples: 512 Kbit
  • CD-ROM data cache: 128 Kbit
  • 64 Kbit Internal Backup RAM
  • 1 MBit Memory Card CD BackUp RAM Cart

The Mega CD also features sprite enhancement effects such as scaling and rotation, similar to that of the Super Famicom/SNES Mode 7.

Storage

  • 500 MB CD-ROM discs (equivalent to 62 min of audio data)
  • Access time: 800 ms
  • 1/4 screen B/W footage video: 1.5 to 4 hours
  • 1/4 screen color footage: 45 minutes
  • CD-ROM drive transfer rate: 150 Kbytes/s (1x)

(Above specs prior to compression)

BIOS

  • Size: 1 Mb
  • Used for games, CD player, CD+G viewing, karaoke (limited to Japanese systems) and regional lockout
BIOS Revisions
BIOS Version Machine Download CRC
0.98 Pioneer LaserActive 0.98 (NA Version) (info) ("Us lsr 930329.zip" does not exist) 8c3e3945
0.98 (Asian Version) (info) ("Jp lsr 930329.zip" does not exist) 9f5771d2
1.00 Original Mega CD, Victor WonderMega 1 (Asia), Sega WonderMega (Asia) 1.00p (Asian NTSC Bios) (info) ("Jp mcd1 911217.zip" does not exist) 9d2da8f2
1.00s (Asian PAL Bios) (info) ("Jp mcd1 911228.zip" does not exist) 550f30bb
1.00w (Sega WonderMega Bios) (info) ("Jp wmg 920206.zip" does not exist) d21fe71d
1.00 (European PAL Bios) (info) ("Eu mcd1 921027.zip" does not exist) 529ac15a
1.04 Pioneer LaserActive 1.04 (NA Version) (info) ("Us mld 930922.zip" does not exist) 2ed602d7
1.10 Original Sega CD 1.10 (North American) (info) ("Us scd1 921011.zip" does not exist) c6d10268
2.00 Sega/Mega CD 2
Victor WonderMega 2 (Asia)
JVC X'eye (North America) 		2.00 (1st NA Version) (info) ("Us scd2 930314.zip" does not exist) 8af65f58
2.00w (2nd NA Version) (info) ("Us scd2 930601.zip" does not exist) 9f6f6276
2.00c (Asian Version) (info) ("Jp mcd2 921222.zip" does not exist) dd6cc972
2.00 (1st European Version) (info) ("Eu mcd2 930330.zip" does not exist) 0507b590
2.00w (2nd European Version) (info) ("Eu mcd2 930601.zip" does not exist) 4d5cb8da
2.00x (X'eye) (info) ("Us xeye 931227.zip" does not exist) 290f8e33
2.00 (Wondermega) (info) ("Wondermega 2.00 Bios.zip" does not exist) N/A
2.11 Sega/Mega CD 2, Aiwa CSD GM1 (Japan) 2.11w (NA Version) (info) ("Us scd2 930621.zip" does not exist) 2e49d72c
2.21 Sega Multimega (Europe & Japan), CDX (North America), Linguaphone Education Gear (Japan) 2.21x (MultiMega) (info) ("Eu mmg 930916.zip" does not exist) aacb851e
2.21x (CDX) (info) ("Us cdx 930907.zip" does not exist) d48c44b5

Audio

The Mega CD adds 10 sound channels to the 10 provided by the Mega Drive's sound chips.

  • CD Digital Audio
    • 2-channel stereo
    • 44.1 kHz sampling rate
  • Ricoh RF5C164 PCM chip provides 8 sound channels:
    • Sound format: Mono PCM (converted to stereo by doubling the input on both channels and adjusting the volume individually for each)
    • Maximum sample rate: 32 kHz

Other specifications:

  • 16-bit DAC
  • 8x internal over-sampling digital filter
  • Frequency Range: 20 Hz - 20 KHz
  • Signal-to-Noise Ratio: > 90 dB @ 1K
  • Channel Separation: > 90 dB
  • Input: Mixer cable for Genesis Model 1 compatibility.
  • Output: Stereo RCA connectors.

Other

Dimensions: 301mm x 212.5 x 112.5
Weight: 1.4 kg (3.1 lbs)

Games

The five games marked with an asterisk(*) were later released in enhanced form, requiring both the Mega CD and 32X to be played, and taking advantage of the latter's improved graphics (see Sega Mega CD 32X).

Gallery

  • South Korean "CD Aladdin Boy"

  • South Korean "CD Aladdin Boy II"

Box Scans

  • US MkI retail box (front)

  • US MkI retail box (back)

  • JP MkI retail box (front)

  • JP MkI retail box (back)

External Links


Sega Mega Drive
Topics Technical specifications (Hardware comparison) | History | List of games | Magazine articles | Promotional material | Merchandise | Cartridges | TradeMark Security System
Hardware Japan | North America | Western Europe | Eastern Europe | South America | Asia | South Korea | Australasia | Africa
EZ Games | Genesis 3 | LaserActive | Mega Jet | Mega PC | Mega Play | Mega-Tech System | Mega 6 | Nomad | Teradrive | Mega Drive Mini | Mega Drive Mini 2
New Mega Drive | Tianli VCD/DVD Players | "Consoles on a chip" | Licensed clones (Magic 2 | Mega Game II | Power Pegasus | Super Bitman)
Unlicensed clones
Add-ons Game Box | Power Base Converter | Mega-CD | 32X (Mega-CD 32X) | Mega Modem | Demo System DS-16
Cases Sega Genesis Nomad Carrying Case | System Carry Case
Controllers Control Pad | Six Button Control Pad | 6 Button Arcade Pad | Arcade Power Stick 6B | Konami Justifier | MK-1470
Action Chair | Activator | Arcade Power Stick | Keyboard | MegaFire | Mouse | Mega Stick | Menacer | Remote Arcade System | Ten Key Pad | Third Party Controllers
Accessories 4 Way Play | AC adaptor | Cleaning System | Control Pad Extension Cord | Game Factory | Genesis Speakers | Headset | HeartBeat Catalyst | Microphone | Region converter cartridges | Mega Terminal | Nomad PowerBack | RF Unit | SCART Cable | Stereo Audio Video Cable | Team Player | Video Monitor Cable | Third-party AC adaptors | Third Party Accessories
Network services Sega Channel | Sega Game Toshokan | Mega Anser | Mega Net | TeleBradesco Residência | XB∀ND
Development tools ERX 308P | ERX 318P | Sprobe | SNASM68K | SNASM2 (Mega Drive) | SNASM2 (32X) | PSY-Q Development System (Mega Drive) | PSY-Q Development System (32X) | 32X CartDev | Sega Mars Development Aid System | Sega 32X Development Target
Unreleased Edge 16 | Floppy Disk Drive | Mega Play 1010 | Sega VR | Teleplay System | Video Jukebox
Sega Home Video Game Systems
83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11
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
Retrieved from "https://segaretro.org/index.php?title=Sega_Mega-CD&oldid=23801"