The Sega Master System (first-generation “Model 1”, product code MK-2000) is an 8-bit home console released by Sega to compete directly with Nintendo’s Famicom/NES. Re-branded from the Japan-only Sega Mark III, the Master System introduced the distinctive black-and-red industrial design, a combo cartridge + “Sega Card” slot, and an edge expansion port supporting FM audio, 3-D glasses and future accessories. Although outsold by Nintendo in Japan & North America, it enjoyed major success across Europe, Brazil and Australasia, shipping an estimated ≈ 13 million units worldwide.
1985 – Sega launches the Mark III in Japan; hardware overhaul of the SG-1000 line.
1986 – Re-packaged for North America as the “Sega System”, quickly re-branded Master System under Tonka; bundled with Hang-On/Safari Hunt combo cartridge.
1987–1992 – Becomes the dominant 8-bit console across Europe, distributed by Virgin Mastertronic; library balloons to 300+ PAL titles.
Brazil – Tec Toy begins local production (1989) and continues updated revisions into the 2020s; > 8 million units sold in Brazil alone.
Global lifetime sales are estimated at ≈ 13 million (vs ~62 M NES).
Hidden “Snail Maze” game embedded in BIOS v1.3 – launch by holding ↑ + 1 + 2 at the Sega logo.
Original Japanese unit’s 3-D glasses used active shutter synced via the /NMI pin; later re-used on Mega Drive add-ons.
The console appears in Charlie Brooker’s _Black Mirror_ episode “Bandersnatch” (retro game-dev setting).
Tec Toy released Brazilian-exclusive ports: Street Fighter II, Mônica no Castelo do Dragão (Wonder Boy II reskin), sustaining the platform into the late 1990s.
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