Sega Pico

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Sega Pico
Manufacturer: Sega
Release Date RRP Code

The Sega Pico, known in Japan as the Kids Computer Pico (キッズコンピューター・ピコ) and later the Kids Communication Pico, is a video game console made by Sega, aimed at young children between the ages of 2 and 8. It was Sega's first "educational" console, running in parallel with more traditional games consoles aimed at the mass market. It stands as one of the most successful devices of its kind.

The Pico is a hybrid device, with similarities to game consoles, graphics tablets, and electronic book readers. Like a traditional console, the unit plugs into a television. Pico cartridges are affectionately called "storyware", as each cartridge is shaped like a book. The user interfaces with the game through the use of a "Magic Pen", buttons and other peripherals.

History

Background

By the time of the early 1990s, electronic toys were on the rise, and Sega, a company at its peak decided to create a home console geared towards a younger audience. The result was the Sega Pico, a device derived from the popular Sega Mega Drive console. "Pico", like "Mega", is an SI prefix, in this case equating to 10⁻¹².

At the time, there were virtually no rival products on the market, certainly none which had been shipped internationally, and it would take a great many years until Sega would face some serious competition (namely from VTech and LeapFrog).

Release

Japan

The Sega Pico was initially released in Japan in June of 1993. Unbeknownst to many, the Pico stands as one of Sega's most successful consoles in the region and received continous support for over ten years.

The Sega Pico was initially manufactured solely under the Sega brand; however, its success led Yamaha releasing a few versions of its own (similar to Hitachi and Victor's respective HiSaturns and V-Saturn Sega Saturn consoles). There have been numerous Sega Pico models, though the most notable change was that in 2001, where the brand was changed from "Kids Computer Pico" to "'Kids Communcation Pico", with added internet functionalities. At this point all sales were began to be handled by the Sega Toys branch, which remains in control to this day.

It is estimated that nearly 300 Pico games were released in Japan in total. The console was eventually discontinued in Japan in 2005.

North America

In North America, the Pico was less successful. Debuting in 1994, the console only enjoyed a few years of support before being discontinued in February of 1998. Only 20 Pico games were released in North America.

The Pico won critical acclaim amongst Toy and Edutainment companies in the US and by 1996 the Pico had an installed base of 400,000 units. Like the Sega Mega Drive, the North American distribution rights were picked up by Majesco after the console's popularity began to dwindle, and in 1999, Majesco reissued Sega Pico systems at the reduced price of $49.99, $100 less than the previous asking price.

Europe

The Pico was released in Europe and enjoyed a similar run to the US model. All European cartridges are yellow, and (at least) English, French, German and Spanish variants of each game exist.

Little is known about the Pico's European endeavours - it is presumed to have fared worse than North America as slightly fewer games were released in the region, though sources state its lifespan was about the same (1994–1998).

Brazil

In Brazil, the Pico was distributed – as all Sega products of the time were – by Tec Toy. Brazillian Picos have a slightly different colour scheme from the rest and presumably had games translated into Portuguese.

South Korea

The Pico was also released in South Korea. The South Korean model seems to have fared slightly better than the Pico did in the west.

Asia

Pico models have also been spotted in the large and complex region for which Sega uses the single name "Asia".

Legacy

Despite being of Sega's most popular consoles, the Sega Pico is woefully under-documented. Its target audience (for the most part, Japanese children under 9) and subject matter means very little is understood about the system and it is not widely desired by fans of retro gaming.

In Japan, the Pico was followed by the Advanced Pico Beena, a similar but more powerful device. Elsewhere Sega strayed away from trying to please the market for young children, preferring to back projects by LeapFrog and other similar companies. There was a relatively strong relationship between Sega and LeapFrog at one point, with Sega Toys distributing LeapFrog products in Japan, and Sega producing games such as Sonic the Hedgehog for the LeapFrog Didj.

Hardware

The Sega Pico uses hardware derived from the Sega Mega Drive.

The console plugs into a TV, and when the book pages are turned, the TV's screen changes to an animated replica of the page being viewed. Games are controlled using a "magic pen" similar to the stylus on a Nintendo DS or a tablet. A touch screen controls an on-screen cursor, though there is also a D-pad and a selection button on the left hand side of the unit.

Technical specifications

• CPU: 16-bit Motorola 68000
• RAM: 64 KB of Main RAM
• Video RAM: 64 KB
• ROM: "Storyware" cartridges of various sizes.
• Video: YM7101 ASIC, which was replaced with an FQ8007 ASIC in newer units.
• Sound: Texas Instruments SN76489 programmable sound generator and an NEC µPD7759 PCM chip.
• Input: "Magic pen" with an action button at its tip, a four button directional pad, and one on-board action button.

Pico models

Main article: Sega Pico Models/Revisions

Emulation

Because the Pico’s hardware is based upon that of the Mega Drive, several Mega Drive emulators (e.g. Kega Fusion) can in fact run Pico ROMs. However, support for non-hardware elements of the Pico experience, most notably game books, is dependent upon the programmer specifically adding support for these – as well as the person who created the backup of the game including all necessary files, chiefly scans of the storyware cartridge’s pages. Thus, Pico emulation has become notorious for being difficult, chiefly because of the need to scan and digitally represent each page of the game.

In May 2008, a PC-based emulator capable of emulating the controls and games of Pico was released, under the name of PicoDrive. It came about due to the release of several prototype Pico ROMs, which were released by sonic:drx just over 2 months earlier.

List of games

This is a list of games that were released for the Sega Pico in the US and PAL territories. For Japanese games, see Japan Region Pico games.

• A Year at Pooh Corner
• Adventures in Letterland With Jack and Jill
• Alex and Alice
• Berenstain Bears' A School Day
• Crayola: Create a World
• Ecco Jr. and the Great Ocean Treasure Hunt!
• The Great Counting Caper With the 3 Blind Mice
• The Lion King: Adventures at Pride Rock
• Magic Crayons
• Math Antics with Disney's 101 Dalmations
• Mickey's Blast Into the Past
• Muppets on the Go
• Musical Zoo
• Pepe's Puzzles
• Pink Panther's Magic Island
• Pink Panther's Shapes and Colors
• Pocahontas Riverbend Adventures
• Richard Scarry's Huckle and Lowly's Busiest Day Ever
• Scholastic's The Magic School Bus
• Sesame Street: Alphabet Avenue
• Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld
• Tails And The Music Maker
• Sonic Jr. (unreleased)

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