First released on July 15th 1983, the SG-1000 (or Sega Computer Video Game SG-1000) was SEGA’s first home console and released on the same day as Nintendo’s Famicom/NES. The console would never gain the same traction as the infinitely more popular Famicom and would be discontinued the following year. A total of 68 games were released on cartridge and supported by the SG-1000. 29 games were released on the smaller SEGA Card format, but these are only compatible with the later SG-1000 II and Mark III/Master System. 26 of the cartridge titles also require a keyboard peripheral to work. Additional peripherals can be connected via a port of the right-hand side of the system. The SG-1000 has a single controller which is hardwired to the system. One title in particular is noteworthy: Girl’s Garden marks the first development from a young Yuji Naka who would later find fame as the programmer for the original Sonic the Hedgehog title on the Mega Drive. All SG-1000 software is compatible with the later SG-1000 II and the Mark III/Master System.

Specifications

CPU
Zilog Z80 @ 3.58 MHz

Graphics
256 × 192 resolution, 16 colors, 32 on-screen sprites

Sound
Texas Instruments SN76489A

RAM
1 KB RAM

Storage
ROM cartridge