Master System

» Manufacturer: Sega » Year: 1986 » cost: £99.95 (launch), £35+ (today)

Much like Nintendo, Sega chose to redesign its flagship console for export markets in the mid-eighties, resulting in the makeover of the Mark III into the Master System. The black casing and strange diagram on the front of the console showed Sega pursuing a high-tech image, while the presence of a pause button on the console itself was an odd design choice carried over from the Japanese design. The system featured slots for both cartridges and low-cost cards, but the latter format was very limited and quickly phased out. The two-button joypads initially featured screw-in joystick attachments, but these were also phased out. The Master System design was eventually used in Japan for a deluxe version of the Mark III, featuring a built-in FM sound unit not present in the export model.

In North America, the format never gained major traction due to the overwhelming popularity of the NES. However, European distributor Mastertronic and Brazilian distributor Tectoy established the Master System as the dominant console in those regions. The original model is less common than the Master System II in these regions today, but it is considered a lot more desirable due to its support for composite AV and RGB SCART outputs.