The Sega Card, known in Japan as Sega My Card, is a memory card format used as game storage for the SG-1000/SC-3000 and the Mark III / Master System. Produced from 1983 to 1987 by Mitsubishi Plastics, the cards are plugged into onboard cardslots or into compatible adapters. Several versions of the format were created, including a rewritable one that allows new titles to be downloaded to a card. While substantially cheaper to produce than cartridges, the storage limitations of the format resulted in Sega exclusively distributing games on cartridges. Despite the failure of the Sega Card, NEC found more success with its own memory card format, the HuCard, which was the primary storage medium for its PC Engine game console.
History
The format was originally released in 1983 in the Japanese market, under the name My Card. Initially it was for use with the SC-3000 and the SG-1000 series of consoles via an optional accessory, the Card Catcher. Later Sega platforms, the Sega Mark III and the original Master System, have built-in card slots. The intention of the format was to provide cheaper distribution means than the more conventional game cartridges. The Sega Card product consists of less material and has smaller packaging. Sega Cards, while cheaper than cartridges, have significantly smaller storage capacities (4 to 32 KB of ROM), than contemporary cartridges, which have 16 to 512 KB of ROM. As games became larger, card releases gradually ceased. The final release, in Japan, was Woody Pop, released on 15 March 1987.
Sega published only a dozen games in the format for the Mark III/Master System (in 1986–1987) before moving on to producing solely game cartridges. The Master System II, a revised model of the console, has no Sega Card support, and all the Sega Card games released in Europe were eventually re-released in cartridge format, reflecting Sega's move away from cards.
Similar but incompatible formats, also manufactured by Mitsubishi Plastics, are used by other computers and consoles: the Bee Card on the MSX, and the HuCard on the NEC PC Engine.
Technical data
Capacity up to 32 KB
Thickness of about 2mm
35-pin (pin 17, pin 19 ground)
Types
There are four versions of the card. The original My Card was released for Sega's SG-1000 console (SG-1000 and SG-1000 II) and SC-3000 series (SC-3000 and SC-3000H). The cards are also compatible with the Tsukuda Original Othello MultiVision, an SG-1000 clone and the SG-1000-compatible Pioneer SD-G5 peripheral.
The second version of the card was for the Sega's Japan-only Mark III. The Mark III is also backward compatible with SG-1000 My Cards. The third version of the card, called the "Sega Card" was released for the Master System, the international version of the Mark III. The Power Base Converter has a card slot allowing for use of the cards on the Mega Drive/Genesis.
The final version of the format was the My Card EP, a rewritable version that was test marketed only in Japan.
SG-1000 My Card
The Card Catcher peripheral allows for use of the cards with the SG-1000. A limited edition version of the Card Catcher is bundled with two games, Zoom 909 and Dragon Wang. The games were also sold separately from the Card Catcher and allowed players to send away for a free adapter at the time.
The original SG-1000 models (SG-1000 and SG-1000 II) and the SC-3000 series (SC-3000 and SC-3000H), along with compatible hardware (the Othello Multivision Series and the Pioneer SD-G5) do not have built-in card slots, as they were released before the original My Card. Instead, they require the Card Catcher to be placed in the cartridge slot to use card-based games.
Card releases are distinguished from cartridge releases by their part numbers. Standard SG-1000 releases sport a 4-digit number, G-10XX, with a unique two-digit number at the end. Card releases only have a two digit number, C-XX. The numbering from the cartridge releases was continued with the card releases though, with subsequent card releases being given two-digit numbers that are higher than those from cartridge releases. Games released both on cartridges and cards retain the unique two digit number with the "10" removed from the part number (e.g. The cartridge version of Golf Champion is given the number G-1005 while the My Card release was given the number C-05).