[HN Gopher] Converting from the Game Gear to the Master System
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Converting from the Game Gear to the Master System
Author : stevekemp
Score : 78 points
Date : 2022-07-31 16:23 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (nicole.express)
(TXT) w3m dump (nicole.express)
| marcodiego wrote:
| The Master System was very very similar to the MSX computer.
| AFAIK, it uses the same sound chip, the video modes are a subset
| of the other and the only real difference between both systems
| was memory mapping and access to peripherals.
|
| My hypothesis is that SEGA wanted to compete against the 8bit
| famicom launching something that allowed easy porting of MSX
| games, so the console could quickly gain a lot of good games. I
| don't know why that didn't materialized. It probably has to do
| with exclusivity contracts between Nintendo and publishers and
| also because the Master System arrived late to the game. This is
| a shame because it was a considerably powerful compared to the
| famicom[1][2].
|
| SEGA killed it quickly in the US and Japan and successfully
| competed on the next generation with the Genesis/Mega Drive
| against the Super NES. The Master System had some success in
| Europe and in Brazil it lasted at least until early 2000's. In
| late 90's it got a very advanced port, considering it was an
| 8-bit console, of Street Fighter 2 made by TecToy released
| exclusively in Brazil which is very a valuable item among
| collectors.
|
| [1]
| https://www.copetti.org/images/consoles/mastersystem/diagram...
|
| [2]
| https://www.copetti.org/images/consoles/nes/diagram.f88808f2...
| Cyberdog wrote:
| Was the Master System significantly more affordable than the
| MSX? If not, I could see how Japanese consumers would find it a
| better deal to buy the more capable full system instead.
| Reminds me of how Commodore's attempt to make a game console
| that was just a more limited C64 was dead in the water.
| daneel_w wrote:
| It's sort of similar to the _MSX2_ , but far from similar to
| the MSX1.
| fredoralive wrote:
| The SG-1000, Sega's first console, uses the same chip combo as
| MSX (the Sega Mark III / Master System a couple of years later
| adds the extra video modes), but it was released a few months
| before MSX. It was also released on the same day as the
| Famicom. So the timing doesn't really work quite right for easy
| MSX ports being a design consideration.
|
| The ColecoVision also uses the same set of chips, and was
| released before, however...
| JohnBooty wrote:
| This is a shame because it was a considerably powerful
| compared to the famicom
|
| This is 100% true: the base Master System is more powerful than
| the base NES in terms of RAM, and onscreen colors, ability to
| do split screen / multilayered scrolling, and a few other key
| metrics.
|
| Though, the slightly fuller picture is that the Famicom's
| weirdly unique architecture made it able to be "upgraded" by
| hardware on the game carts themselves.
|
| So in practice, many flagship NES titles quickly surpassed
| those on the Master System by various technical measures.
| marcodiego wrote:
| Nintendo also had something I think is a great idea when
| developing the NES: the video hardware had its own bus to the
| cartridge. This probably saved many cycles keeping the
| processor busy with other things instead of transferring
| content to the video RAM. It also allows better use of the
| system's very limited RAM and video RAM.
|
| I don't know if there was any patent related to this, and I
| can't understand why SEGA didn't copy it. Maybe it could make
| the console more expensive since SEGA didn't produce their
| own chips and maybe they were really expecting to make ports
| easier.
|
| I still think a bus connecting the video hardware to the
| cartridge could make the Master System way more powerful.
| JohnBooty wrote:
| God, yeah. It's very difficult for me to look at retro game
| hardware design decisions without obsessing over "what if?"
| scenarios.
|
| My favorite (and by that I mean, "most agonizing") what-
| if's concern the Genesis/Megadrive.
|
| I don't have handy links, but:
|
| - There was some sort of hardware fail that prevented clear
| sample playback. The sound chip could play back crystal
| clear samples but in reality, this was impossible to
| achieve thanks to some issue (DMA? bus? something?) and in
| reality, sampled sounds on the Genesis sounded like butt
|
| - The Genesis' limited color palette and number of onscreen
| colors relative to the SNES and even the TG16 was kind of
| painful. I remember reading that one reason for this
| limitation was the need to include backwards compatibility
| with the SMS in the Genesis' video chip -- a feature few if
| any cared about or used. Arrrrgh.
|
| A Genesis with color to rival the SNES/TG16 would have been
| such a fearsome beast.
| breakingcups wrote:
| I really enjoyed this author's writing style, it's rare that I
| laugh out loud at a technical article.
| kakariko wrote:
| arriu wrote:
| I guess this makes sense from a business perspective. Why build
| something brand new when you can reuse.
|
| I love the technical breakdown.
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