The Sega Master System is the successor of the ColecoVision

[Jess Ragan]

Examine the evidence. The SG-1000 was closely based on the specs of the ColecoVision (evidently Sega promised Coleco that they'd distribute the system in Japan, only to reverse engineer the hardware and make their own nearly identical system), and the Master System is an evolution of that hardware, with backward compatibility but a host of features to improve the gaming experience. Basically, the Master System is the ColecoVision II. If you wondered how a next generation ColecoVision would have turned out, the Master System is it.

[Austin]

Word.

[carlsson]

The MSX is also kind of similar to ColecoVision (but with different sound chip). Then there's MSX2 which was contemporary with the Master System. Both still use a Z80 but the custom chips drive in different directions. I've always wondered what would have happened if Sega had conformed to the MSX standard with both their console and initial computer offering, if the SMS would have been a console version of MSX2 (or a combined effort between Sega and Yamaha on the next generation).

[roots.genoa]

There are actually a ton of systems that used a similar hardware, even though only the SG-1000 and the MSX got a successor. That being said, I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve here.

[carlsson]

If you want to nit-pick, the UK computer Tatung Einstein, which has the same mix of Z80, VDP (actually TMS 9129) and AY sound chip, got an upgrade using the same Yamaha 9938 as in MSX2. Wikipedia tells me the Geneve 9640 (enhanced TI-99/4A) also used this chip. It means that unlike Sega who made the video proprietary for the SMS, Yamaha offered their updated VDP chip to multiple strains of computers.

 

I suppose if Coleco had made the ADAM a fully MSX1 compatible computer, they may have tried with MSX2 eventually if they weren't out of business before that.

[ZippyOasys]

 

Coleco would've survived 1984-85. By then Sega of Japan would approach them on localizing the Mark III, Coleco would say yes & branded it as the the Colecovision II or the Coleco Master System & probably would've marketed better than what Tonka did. Coleco would go the extra mile & add backward compatability for Colecovision cartridges.

[Jess Ragan]

On 5/2/2024 at 1:06 PM, roots.genoa said:

There are actually a ton of systems that used a similar hardware, even though only the SG-1000 and the MSX got a successor. That being said, I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve here.

Sparking conversation?

 

But I'm feeling playfully argumentative, so let's extend that analogy a bit. Coleco claimed that its system was the arcade experience brought home, while Sega went for the same marketing angle in its early advertising. Coleco used the antiquity of previous game consoles as a springboard for its own system, claiming it was a major advance over previous technology and that its system could do what past consoles couldn't. Sega positioned itself as the "leader of the 16-bit revolution" and claimed that "Genesis does what Nintendon't." Coleco took every opportunity to integrate their console with hot pop culture icons of the time, like Smurfs, Dukes of Hazzard, and their own Cabbage Patch Kids. Once Tom Kalinske came on board, Sega went in the same direction, with games based on Barney the Dinosaur, X-Men, Garfield, and other contemporary properties.

 

Of course Sega isn't literally the second coming of Coleco, but their marketing approaches were remarkably similar. And they both took a sledgehammer to the near-monopoly of a former industry leader as well. Atari never had the same towering presence in the market after ColecoVision, and Nintendo no longer controlled video games with an iron fist after the Sega Genesis found its footing. I think the two companies' histories pair up remarkably well.

[+5-11under]

From a technical point of view, yes, I think the SMS can be considered a successor of the ColecoVision.

[Geoff Oltmans]

Totally agree. In fact, I've recently expanded my collection to include the Master System and Game Gear as a result.

Edited May 8 by Geoff Oltmans

[Geoff Oltmans]

... now the other interesting possibility is if there's a proto-system that existed (cough, TI Ranger) that serves as a reference design for the Coleco Vision and MSX...

[Geoff Oltmans]

On 5/3/2024 at 9:30 AM, ZippyOasys said:

 

Coleco would've survived 1984-85. By then Sega of Japan would approach them on localizing the Mark III, Coleco would say yes & branded it as the the Colecovision II or the Coleco Master System & probably would've marketed better than what Tonka did. Coleco would go the extra mile & add backward compatability for Colecovision cartridges.

Could be... but then we wouldn't have had the awesome ADAM computer.

[ZippyOasys]

2 hours ago, Geoff Oltmans said:

Could be... but then we wouldn't have had the awesome ADAM computer.

Hindsight is only 20/20.... In the Twilight Zone.