SEGA Game Gear

The SEGA Game Gear is an 8-bit fourth-generation handheld game console, which primarily competed with Nintendo’s Game Boy, the Atari Lynx, and NEC’s TurboExpress. It shares much of its hardware with the Master System, and can play Master System games through the use of an adapter. Sega positioned the Game Gear, which had a full-colour backlit landscape screen with, as a technologically superior handheld to the Game Boy.

SEGA Game Gear TV Tuner

The SEGA Game Gear had a number of manufacturer accessories available for it, including a TV Tuner with a whip antenna which fitted into the Game Gear’s cartridge slot, making it into a handheld television – this was expensive (released at £74.99 or US$130), but contributed to the system’s popularity.

SEGA Master System II

The SEGA Master System II is as a cost-reduced version of the original Master System, with several components removed to reduce cost: the Sega Card slot (used for flat cards and 3D glasses), reset button, power LED, expansion port, startup music and logo, and – in most regions – the Master System’s A/V port was omitted, leaving only an RF output.

SEGA Mega Drive

The SEGA Mega Drive (1988), also known as the Genesis in North America (1989), is a 16-bit fourth-generation home video game console – it was SEGA’s third console, and the successor to the Master System. The Mega Drive was adapted from SEGA’s System 16 arcade board, using a Motorola 68000 CPU, a Zilog Z80 as a sound controller, and a video system supporting hardware sprites, tiles, and scrolling. It has a library of more than 900 games on ROM cartridges. Several add-ons were released, including a Power Base Converter to play Master System games.

SEGA Mega Drive II

In 1993, Sega introduced a smaller, lighter version of the Mega Drive, known as the Mega Drive II in Japan, Europe, and Australia, and Genesis (without the Sega prefix) in North America. This version omits the headphone jack, replaces the A/V-Out connector with a smaller version that supports stereo sound, and uses a simpler, less expensive mainboard that requires less power.

SEGA Saturn

The Sega Saturn is a fifth-generation home video game console developed by SEGA, the successor to the successful Mega Drive. The Saturn has a dual-CPU architecture and eight processors. Its games are in CD-ROM format, including several ports of arcade games and original games. The Saturn was initially successful in Japan but not elsewhere, being hindered by a surprise launch four months before its scheduled release date. After the debut of the Nintendo 64 in late 1996, the Saturn rapidly lost market share – at 9.26 million units sold worldwide, the Saturn is considered a commercial failure. Although the Saturn has several well-regarded games, its reception is mixed due to its complex hardware design and limited third-party support. The Saturn was succeeded in 1998 by the Dreamcast.

SEGA Dreamcast

The Dreamcast is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega, and the first sixth-generation console, preceding Sony’s PlayStation 2, Nintendo’s GameCube, and Microsoft’s Xbox. The Dreamcast’s 2001 discontinuation ended Sega’s 18 years in the console market.