Computer stuff -> Sega Megadrive

Introduction

The Sega Megadrive is a 16-bit gameconsole which was released in 1989, before Nintendo released the SNES in 1990 in Japan, followed by the USA in 1991 and Europe in 1992. Like the Mastersystem compared to the NES, the Megadrive has a considerably faster CPU and is overall more powerfull than it’s Nintendo counterpart and unlike any of Sega’s consoles that followed, the Megadrive was quite succesfull.

In 1989 Sega released a second version (the Megadrive 2) which was technically exactly the same system, but it was smaller, had the headphonejack and the RF-output removed. It got a custom AV-output plug and a new power adaptor in return.

The Megadrive had several add-on modules released for it during it’s life:

• MegaCD
• 32X
• Powerbase converter

The MegaCD basicly added a CD-ROM drive to the Megadrive which allowed games to become much larger.
The 32X is a device that adds 32-bit power to the Megadrive. It made it considerably more powerfull, but still used cartridges.
The Powerbase converter is a device that is placed on top of the Megadrive to provide it with a Mastersystem cartridge slot making it fully backwards compatible to it’s predecessor.

A third version was released in 1997 in the USA called Genesis 3, which was still basicly the same system, but was even smaller than the Megadrive 2. Unfortunatly, the Genesis 3 was not compatible with the 32X and the MegaCD.

Like Nintendo developed the SuperFX chip for the SNES to display more complicated graphics like polygons, Sega developed the Virtua Processor (VP), it was then used to power Virtua Racing for the Megadrive.

Specifications

Processor: Motorola M68000 16 bit processor running at 7.67Mhz
Memory: 64 Kb RAM; 20 Kb ROM
Display Palette: 512
Onscreen colors: 64
Maximum onscreen sprites: 80
Resolution: 320 x 224
Sound: Yamaha YM2612 6 channel FM, Additional 4 channel PSG
Ports: separate R.F aerial and R.G.B outputs; (AUX connector – Megadrive 1 only); stereo headphone jack (original model only); 9 pin EXT port (Early original model only)
Source: www.retro-games.co.uk

Pictures