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The Mega-CD (メガCD Mega Shī Dī) is an add-on device for the Mega Drive video game console, designed and produced by Sega and released in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and North America. In North America, it was renamed Sega CD, as the name Mega-CD bore no obvious associative meaning in that market where the console was named "Genesis" instead of "Mega Drive". The device adds a CD-ROM drive to the Mega Drive, allowing the user to play CD-based games and providing additional hardware functionality. In addition, the add-on can also play audio CDs and CD+G discs. The development of the Mega-CD was confidential; game developers were not made aware of what exactly they were working on until the add-on was finally revealed at the Tokyo Toy Show in Japan. The Mega-CD was designed to compete with the PC Engine CD (TurboGrafx-16 CD) in Japan, which had a separate CD-ROM drive. The first version of the Mega-CD sits underneath the Mega Drive console and loads CDs via a motorized tray. A second version places a top-loading CD-ROM drive to the right of the console, and is intended primarily for use with the redesigned Sega Mega Drive 2. Both versions of the Mega-CD are compatible with the intial two versions of the Mega Drive console, but not with the Mega Drive 3 or Genesis 3.
[edit] Markets[edit] JapanThe Mega-CD was released first in Japan on December 12, 1991[1]. Its retail price was ¥49,800. By March 1994 the MEGA-CD had sold 380,000[3] units in Japan, which meant that 11% of Japanese Mega Drive owners had purchased the add-on unit. [edit] North AmericaThe Sega CD had been announced at the Chicago CES on January 1992. The advertising boasted full-motion video clips and CD audio soundtracks. Games delivered these, though because of the limited color palette of the Genesis video display hardware and limited data bandwidth of the system, especially considering that the CD-ROM drive was only a 1X speed unit, motion video was heavily dithered and usually limited to a rectangle in the center of the screen about 1/4 of the full screen size. [edit] Europe
.jpg) In Europe the Mega-CD was released in April 1993. 60,000 of the 70,000 Mega-CDs shipped to Europe were sold by August 1993. Some European countries (Spain for instance), would not see a release of the original Mega-CD, but the Mega-CD 2. [edit] AustraliaThe Mega-CD was released on April 19, 1993 in Australia. [edit] BrazilThe Sega CD 2 was launched in the Brazilian market exactly at the same time of the North American release. Since the original Sega CD was never released there, it was simply called "Sega CD". However, because several Mega-CD units imported from Japan were already in the market, it was informally known as "Mega-CD". It was manufactured locally by Tec Toy. [edit] Reception Sega wanted to showcase the power of the Mega-CD, however with the actual capacity of Genesis/Mega Drive cartridges being small (hundreds of Genesis cartridges could fit on one CD), there really weren't many companies ready to adapt to the larger capacity of the storage medium, especially when they were hindered by the game systems' limitations. Seeing the technology already in use for laserdisc classic arcade, and even a few titles on the PC Engine, video seemed to be the best choice at the time. So they focused on "FMV" games. Sega started off licensing and producing primarily "full motion video" games similar to earlier Laserdisc games, that were initially praised by reviewers (for example: Gamepro's "SWAT PRO" magazine initially gave Sewer Shark a perfect score, then later re-reviewed it with a much lower score as their feelings toward the system changed) Eventually, most FMV games became universally panned by game reviewers, no matter which console the game was designed for. The Mega CD's limited 512-color palette, combined with the processor not being well-suited for video, did not lend itself well to reproducing video, resulting in grainy images running at a lower framerate and resolution in most games. Another criticism of the software library was that most titles consisted of "shovelware," in which a developer takes an existing title and adds minor new content (usually a CD audio soundtrack, or video sequences) while not expanding the original game itself. Few titles received major changes, but two exceptions were Earthworm Jim which featured additional levels and game changes, and The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin, which featured many changes, which drastically restructured the game, making it less linear, and adding animated cut scenes. Despite a somewhat lackluster library of games, the console introduced some notable franchises. The Lunar series, which despite the relatively narrow circulation the two titles on the Mega-CD received, went on to be critically acclaimed and became a cult classic, with both games receiving remakes for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in the late '90s; and a prequel to the series for the Nintendo DS in 2005. The English publisher of the two Lunar titles, Working Designs, also published another RPG for the platform, entitled Vay. While it received generally positive reviews, the game did not obtain the same popularity as the Lunar titles. Working Designs also published Popful Mail for the Mega-CD. Another notable title was the cult-classic Snatcher, a cyberpunk digital comic released by Konami and designed by Hideo Kojima and the only version of the game released in English. One exclusive game that was published for the Mega-CD is the now-famous Sonic the Hedgehog CD, or Sonic CD. Sonic CD has been praised for its visual style, superior CD sound, and an innovative time-travel mechanic, allowing players to explore four versions of each stage. The Mega-CD was awarded Best New Peripheral of 1992 by Electronic Gaming Monthly.[4] [edit] ModelsThe following models were released:
[edit] Technical specificationsThe Mega-CD specifications are as follows:[5] [edit] CPUThe main CPU is a 12.5-MHz 16-bit Motorola 68000 processor. The Mega Drive has the same processor, but at a lower clock rate of 7.67 MHz (NTSC) / 7.61 MHz (PAL). In the combined system, both processors run concurrently for Mega-CD games, and the Mega-CD processor is idle for Mega Drive games. [edit] Graphics
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[edit] BIOSWhen the Mega Drive + Mega-CD is powered on, the Mega Drive CPU gets control first. If a cartridge is inserted, the Mega Drive ROM starts it, and the Mega-CD remains idle, except for the audio mixer, which passes through the Mega Drive audio to its RCA outputs. If the cartridge slot is empty at power-up, the Mega-CD CPU gets control and starts its BIOS, which checks the disc while displaying a Mega-CD (or Sega CD) title animation with music utilizing the sound hardware of both the Mega Drive and the Mega-CD together. If a game disc is inserted, it automatically loads the game after a few seconds, or immediately if Start is pressed on the controller. If a regular audio CD or a CD+G disc is inserted, it waits for button A, B, or C on the first controller to be pressed, then starts the GUI CD/CD+G player software in ROM. It will also run this software on a game disc if A, B, or C is pressed before the game auto-starts. From the CD player, it is also possible to enter a utility to manage items in the game backup RAM and RAM carts, or to start an inserted Mega-CD game disc (without resetting the console). On all second revisions of the Mega-CD boot ROM, if the user has a Mega Mouse or Sega Mouse plugged into control port 2, this may be utilized as a pointing device instead of using a traditional control pad. If no disc is inserted, it prompts on screen for one while playing the title animation and music. Except when a game disc is in the drive, if no button is pressed at the Mega-CD title screen, the animation and music will loop indefinitely. In the original Mega-CD model which has the motorized front-loading tray, pressing reset while the title screen is displayed will open the tray (eject the disc) or close it (load the disc). At all other times (without a cartridge inserted), pressing reset will return to the Mega-CD title screen, but will not open the tray. It is impossible to open the motorized tray with a cartridge inserted, as the BIOS which controls it will not run then. In the later version of the Mega-CD with the top-loading drive, resetting or powering off may leave the disc spinning, and the only way to stop the disc before opening the tray is to switch off the system and wait 15 to 30 seconds for it to spin down (under the light friction of the spindle motor bearings) or to enter the CD player mode and play or pause the disc, then stop (in BIOS v2.00, maybe others). After the disc can be heard to spin down while the lid is closed, whereas just pointing to Stop and pressing a button will not spin down the disc when the player is not in play or pause mode.
[edit] AudioThe Mega-CD adds the Ricoh RF5C164 chip, which gives 8 extra sound channels, all capable of sampled sounds, to the Mega Drive's YM2612 and SN76489 chips. (which provide a total of 18 channels, with the YM2612's 6 channels and PSG's 4)
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