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Mega Drive

Sega Genesis / Mega Drive
North American logo
European/Australasian logo
The original Japanese Mega Drive
Model 2 Genesis w/ 6-button controller
Top: Original Japanese Mega Drive
Bottom:
Sega Genesis Model 2
Other variations are pictured under Variations below
Manufacturer Sega
Type Home video game console
Generation Fourth generation
Release date
  • JP: October 29, 1988
  • NA: August 14, 1989
  • ROK: August 1990
  • PAL: November 30, 1990
  • BR: September 1, 1990
Retail availability 1988 – present
Discontinued
Units sold Sega: 30.75 million
Tec Toy: 3 million
Majesco: 1.5 million (projected)
Media ROM cartridge
CPU Motorola 68000 @ 7.6 MHz
Zilog Z80 @ 3.58 MHz
Display Progressive: 320x224 (NTSC) or 320x240 (PAL) pixels, 512 color palette, 61 colors on-screen
Interlaced: 320x448 (NTSC) or 320x480 (PAL)
Sound Yamaha YM2612
Texas Instruments SN76489
Online services Sega Meganet, Sega Channel, XBAND
Best-selling game Sonic the Hedgehog, 15 million
Backward
compatibility
Master System
Predecessor Master System
Successor Sega Saturn

The Sega Genesis, known as the Mega Drive (Japanese: メガドライブ Hepburn: Mega Doraibu?) in most regions outside North America, is a 16-bit home video game console which was developed and sold by Sega Enterprises, Ltd. The Genesis was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega first released the console as the Mega Drive in Japan in 1988, followed by a North American debut under the Genesis moniker in 1989. In 1990, the console was distributed as the Mega Drive by Virgin Mastertronic in Europe, by Ozisoft in Australasia, and by Tec Toy in Brazil. In South Korea, the systems were distributed by Samsung and were known as the Super Gam*Boy, and later the Super Aladdin Boy.

Designed by an R&D team supervised by Hideki Sato and Masami Ishikawa, the hardware was adapted from Sega's System 16 arcade board, centered on a Motorola 68000 processor as a primary CPU and a Zilog Z80 as a secondary processor. The system supports a library of more than 900 games created both by Sega and a wide array of third-party publishers and delivered on ROM-based cartridges. It can play Master System games when the separately sold Power Base Converter is inserted. The Genesis has benefited from several peripherals and network services, as well as multiple first-party and third-party variations of the console that focus on extending its functionality.


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Wikipedia

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