History of video games/Platforms/Master System

Launch
The Sega Master System was preceded by the SG-1000.

On October 20th, 1985, the Sega Master System launched in Japan.

Legacy
Discontinued in Europe in 1996, the Master System sold over 20 million units. The Master System saw it's greatest success in Brazil, where it enjoyed a status similar to the NES in North America and remained popular and in production even in the year 2016. Elsewhere the Master System was a more modest success, where it sold 1 million units in Japan, 2 million units in North America, and 6.8 million units in Europe.

The Sega Master System was followed by the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Genesis.

Compute
The Sega Master System is powered by an 8-bit Zilog Z80 processor clocked at 3.58 megahertz, with an identical second source NEC D780C-1 CPU being used alternitively sometimes.

The Master System has eight kilobytes of RAM and 16 kilobytes of low latency VRAM.

The Master System uses a modified TMS9918 processor, called the Video Display Processor, with added features over the base design by adding mode 4. The VDP also includes a Texas Instruments SN76489 for sound.

SegaScope 3D Glasses
The glasses were released at a cost of ~$50 in North America, Europe, and Japan in 1987.

Game case
Games boxes for the Sega Master System games were made of durable plastic. Box art for these games was relatively uniform.

Alex Kidd
Read more about Alex Kidd in Miracle World on Wikipedia.

Phantasy Star
Phantasy Star is noted as an early example of a game with a female protagonist.

Read more about Phantasy Star on Wikipedia.