Sprobe
From Sega Retro
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| Sprobe | ||||||||||
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| Made for: Sega Mega Drive | ||||||||||
| Manufacturer: Electronic Arts | ||||||||||
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The Sprobe or Sega Probe is an unofficial development kit created by Electronic Arts for the Sega Mega Drive.
The Sprobe dates back to the late 1980s, in which Sega were unable to meet demand for Mega Drive development kits. Not wishing to invest extra time and money, EA "borrowed" a development kit from an unnamed third party, and reverse engineered its contents, creating the Sprobe.
The Sprobe has all the features of a regular model 1 Mega Drive (housed within the Sprobe is the innards of a real console) plus debugging equipment and the ability to connect to a computer. Though it was never mass produced, a small number of copies were created for use throughout the company.
Very little is known about the "real" Mega Drive development kit, so comparing the two at this present time is impossible.
EA actually keeps a Sprobe on display at their headquarters.
Gallery
Front of unit
Insides, note the retail AC Adaptor used as part of the circuitry on the left
References