The Sega SG-1000 - Sega's First Console!

[@mx3fto]

That stop frame annimation must have taken bloody hours. Don't think the effort goes unnoticed man. Keep up the fantastic work

[@myopiniondoesntmatter7068]

Wouldn't you just film it like normal and then pick out x number of frames needed? Its more effort than normal, but I don't think its hours of work if you have experience in editing software.

[@ryballs4569]

@@myopiniondoesntmatter7068 It doesn't make a difference if you video or photo as you still need the same precise repositioning per frame and yes it does take hours of work.

[@tgo007]

it's a nice touch but i'm all about efficiency. That took hours to do but doesn't really add to the video or get more views.

[@Jesse__H]

@@tgo007 Sometimes a nice touch is worth doing for its own sake. Joe isn't out to maximize views or pump out streamlined content. He makes bespoke videos on retro games. And I am here for it.

[@kloakovalimonada]

@@myopiniondoesntmatter7068 "like normal" you mean to film the console walking around like it normally does?

[@760creations]

You've genuinely done such a good job keeping the show fresh even after Dave's departure. It's commendable. Thanks for continuing to make excellent content, and long live Dave!

[@ProBreakers]

What did I miss? Dave left the show?

[@Windavinci]

I think he will return one day as long as Joe continues with this long enough

[@NcWcN1]

@@ProBreakers two-three years ago?

[@Vulpas]

@@NcWcN1 Time flies dang

[@danielhayes3607]

I think dave has gone through a mid life crisis. Check him out he still does a bit of yt

[@Fischlure]

The epilogue for this ep was hands down the best you've ever done. Absolutely wonderful.

[@chrisd6287]

38:29 adding in those Sinbads might be the greatest editing job I've ever witnessed. Thank you

[@TheSwede321]

A system rarely talked about. This is why Game Sack is my favorite gaming channel on KZbin!

[@StRoRo]

Still the only person on KZbin who knows how to place adverts correctly.

[@Boogie_the_cat]

Weird. I haven't seen an ad since 2008 so I just assumed he loved putting title card bumpers every 6 minutes. Now it makes a little more sense. Ads make you sterile.

[@thepthepthep]

I've warmed up to the SG-1000 in recent years, it's an interesting little system. I own an original console along with an RGB-modded SG-1000 II and I recently acquired a red SC-3000 which I love the look of

[@briantaylorcloe7725]

I may not wanna play for more than a handful of minutes (entire system) but I have to agree the design is really interesting and nice!! I would start a collection of each just to display next to my tv & my computers and such!

[@gamingblowsofficial]

You own three of these things…?

[@thepthepthep]

@@gamingblowsofficial That's right. I've always had a thing for Japanese 8-bit Sega hardware and I've always found that period to be an interesting part of Sega's history

[@tasken_lander_redux4775]

@@thepthepthep Where did you get your SG-1000 II modded may I ask?

[@mmpsp693]

This episode should be archived in a museum. It doesn't cover everything, but is a great overview of a piece of video-game history.

[@snookers5123]

"If you like fighting dudes with no pants, then be sure to play this game as soon as you can." Finally a game for the rest of us.

[@SufferingBabbo]

Really happy that you keep on rockin' , Thx for the Video , perfect for a rainy Sunday Morning!

[@necronomitom]

When you one day run out of video games you'll have to cover Sega's electro-mechanical stuff

[@ilikecurry2345]

And Nintendo's hanafuda cards.

[@BB-te8tc]

Interesting timing, as Jeremy Parish is wrapping up his Segaiden series that covered the SG-1000 as well.

[@partridgestorm]

Exactly what I was going to mention. Joe, you should check out his videos, if you haven't already. Y'know how you dedicate about an hour to the ENTIRE SG-1000 library? For the past year or so he's been dedicating a ten to fifteen minute video talking about a couple games at a time. Chronologically as they appeared in Japan. I love the SG-1000. Sure most of the games look and play like jank, but I can see the importance of its library of games and the importance of the system to the history of video games and SEGA.

[@roberto1519]

I think it was on one of Jeremy's videos I learned the pachinko video games were real machines reproduced so they could practice at home before trying or coming back to the real thing, following consoles like the SNES and specially the PS1 has hundreds of those.

[@The_Wandering_Nerd]

@@partridgestorm Truly. Girl's Garden crawled so Sonic the Hedgehog could run.

[@BB-te8tc]

I suspect Joe might be aware of Jeremy's work what with all the TATE MODE clips over the years. He probably has a Flip Grip.

[@partridgestorm]

@@BB-te8tc Jeremy pronounces it "Tah-Te" mode. It's probably the correct way to say it. I would love Jeremy to drop a TATE MODE during one of his videos. It would blow my mind.

[@jagergerg9771]

You really do some amazing video editing. All of your videos are top-notch love the channel.

[@JimLeonard]

Fantastic overview. For those trying to grasp the time period, it helps to think of the MSX, the SG-1000, and the ColecoVision as effectively the same system: Same CPU, same sound capabilities, same graphics chip. Some of these games appeared on all three systems (interestingly, some ports were different; for example Congo Bongo on the ColecoVision looks a lot better)

[@baroncalamityplus]

A lot of times Colecovision had much better ports than the SG-1000. I've wondered why that is? It might just be the Colecovision ports had better programmers with fewer time restraints.

[@The_Real_DCT]

Also the colecovision can run SG 1000 and MSX games by just changing the timing and in the case of MSX adding additional ram via something like a super game module and of course MSX and SG 1000 can run colecovision games as long as the roms have been patched for timing differences

[@GeorgeLightpost]

One of your best ending skits yet, gave me a good laugh. Thanks for the steady output and consistently great content. Best wishes and good luck to you!

[@Hurry_Revive_Me]

Stop-motion is back! Joe, you're awesome. The exploded views you do on consoles is so legit.

[@channelsurfing]

I always appreciate your meticulous attention to detail Joe. Excellent video! Made my Sunday

[@adamunderwood1313]

I dunno why, but after watching the intro to this console it has made me want to get one. Thanks Joe

[@bsalapek]

My old DS had a Master System/SG-1000 emulator on it and I loved discovering these old games.

[@Jesse__H]

The SG-1000 is a real gap in my retro game knowledge, so I'm looking forward to this one!

[@Swordslinger-hb1ns]

Many of the games on the SG-1000 were simple ports from the slightly more powerful MSX platform btw.

[@Vulpas]

Same, NES aside, I've never played anything that old aside from a few 2600 games.

[@Vulpas]

Same, NES aside, I've never played anything that old aside from a few 2600 games.

[@vinnykster]

​@@Swordslinger-hb1ns Interesting stuff. I also didn't know anything about the SG1000. That's why these GS videos are awesome filling in the gap as I explore my Super Console X Pro games from various systems including the 1000 AND MSX.

[@MicahBuzanMUSIC]

"The thought of that dragon wang will keep you trying again, and again, and again."

[@neo6289]

Thanks Joe! I don't want to play anything here but enjoyed the video a great deal

[@WhoniverseReview]

I think it's interesting how some of the games look like early, budget NES games, while others look like ZX Spectrum games with those single-colored transparent sprites.

[@matiasd.7755]

At very first look, they might. But NES is way more graphically impressive. NES has 3 color sprites vs SG1000 one color sprites. NES has 3 colors + 1 bg color tiles vs sg1000 only two colors per 8x1 pixel stripe. Every pixel on NES is composed of two bits but only one bit per pixel on the sg1000. No hardware scroll. NES has a maximum of 25 (selected from 64) colors per display vs only 16 on the sg1000.

[@LordArikado]

It makes sense when you look at the home console market at the time. The Famicom/NES was built with the goal of providing an arcade-quality experience at home, specifically ports of Nintendo's big arcade games of the time. The SG-1000, meanwhile, was attempting to compete with systems like the Intellivision and the Colecovision, but wound up pitted against the Famicom instead.

[@megashadow3789]

Now need a Colecovision episode.. been waiting for years :) (I know i'll probably be waiting forever)

[@juiceala]

Excellent episode Joe, well done 👍 A bunch of these games I played on MSX back in the day, also Othelo is Reversi

[@Left-Earth]

_That Sinbad the actor's face was cracking me up._ 😂

[@recorderdude]

Funnily enough, we actually got the second half of borderline as "thunderground" for Atari 2600!

[@ytmhcubed]

Ah yes, the legendary adventurers, Gamesack and Gamesackz. God bless them.

[@REzado63]

I've been waiting like 10 years for you to do an episode on this Joe thank you so much

[@Zacht1980]

I love the stop motion sequences. Great work!

[@amerigocosta7452]

A machine that when released was way too tied to the past, while at the same time the Famicom would move things forward. Still I quite enjoy H.E.R.O., I like all versions of it but this one is nicer to look at and it has music, so not too bad.

[@robbyrobot3303]

Once you run out of conventional consoles, I'd love to see you cover arcade systems that had swappable media like the SEGA Naomi or Taito's F3. You can load anything onto a Naomi with a Netdimm and Raspberry Pi setup. And Darksoft has been creating multi-carts for other arcade hardware like Tatio's F3 or the CPS Capcom systems

[@richardreaves9964]

Just so I can add a comment. Pitfall II The lost Cavern was on 2600, and several other consoles of the era. I never heard The Mayan Adventure referred to as Pitfall II.

[@RappingNinja]

Correct. The Mayan Adventure has never been “Pitfall 2”. There is only one Pitfall II.

[@TimCampbell76]

This console was never on my radar even during my retro collection phase. Really appreciate this video. Thanks!

[@jdd3786]

It's amazing that this came out the same day the Famicom did. The graphics look like the missing link between the evolution of Atari to the NES.

[@ChrisLeeW00]

Wow chapters?! This channel now has mega power.

[@gigteevee6118]

I was surprised how playable Girls Garden was when I sceptically first tried it….then I saw who created it and everything made sense. Great overview of a system we never got in the UK.

[@patrickbaker4514]

I love the look of the console, looks like a race car

[@nioxic77]

ive never even seen or heard about this console before... thanks for covering it! awesome content - as always

[@Jesse__H]

7:13 The nonchalant way Joe said "You're a Chack'n" killed me 😁

[@handsomedubbledee]

I don't really think I ever left a comment here on the channel. Just want to tell Joe thank you for all the episodes you have done. It's been the highlight of my Sundays. Been a subscriber since almost the beginning of the channel. I love Game Sack. And Joe....Greendog sucks 😂

[@djm9937]

I truly love the little sketches at the end of your videos :)

[@stephenking5370]

I'll never get tired of your humor and brilliance of video game reviews. Thanks so much

[@Zaborpila]

It's funny to see so many straight MSX game conversions, specially Konami games. It's like adding that extra memory expansion would turn the SG-1000 into a MSX console. I suppose they shared a lot of their hardware

[@Worp3music]

Because despite the lover memory it has almost teh same specs. I am surprised we do not see spectrum conversions on this machine.

[@HHog]

Tank Battallion was also released on the NES under the name "Battle City".

[@arcadeperfectreviews2653]

Who would have thought I'd be watching a complete SG1,000 review in 2022? Gamesack makes everything worth watching.

[@XshakeninjaX]

Thank you for all the great videos

[@rockdesu]

It's 1am but no matter I'm still going to watch this. Finally you cover this console. Sega sure has come a long way.

[@mikeoxmaul4685]

It's 4AM here. I always wait for the episode of Game Sack before sleeping.

[@QF_Dan72]

3pm for me

[@rockdesu]

@@mikeoxmaul4685 same. 👍

[@rockdesu]

@@QF_Dan72 oh... Never to late or early to sleep 😂

[@rockdesu]

@@Gatorade69 coffee time.

[@teddym2808]

I have to say I'm impressed with the animated crowd in the boxing game. Very cool video doing every officially released game and some unofficial. Must watch for any retro Sega fan.

[@warchild9381]

Thanks to Game Sack, I learned a new word in the English language, "malapropism". Thanks Joe, watching your videos makes me more smartest.

[@indieemil]

The stop motion and that ending skit - perfection 👌

[@bhirawamaylana466]

that 1 MEGA POWER wake me up, thank you Joe now I lack my sleep

[@TheMultiGunMan]

Thank you for this video. I've been interested in collecting for this system for quite awhile now and this video helps out a lot.

[@Housestationlive]

oh you know what ? mega sg has an adaptator to run sg-1000 games!!

[@MegaPadVM]

Great video! Even I don’t care for this system you made the video fun and entertaining. I enjoyed watching it and learning what kind of games are on the system. I can’t imagine how long it took you for making the video! Playing and getting a feel for each game, game capture, putting it together with amazing transitions, writing and recording for each game and off course taking appart the console and getting shots of the process. Amazing job as usual!

[@christianpalmer225]

If you´re ever looking for content, an episode like this about the TI 99/4a and its games would be awesome. The sound chip was essentially the same as the Master System, and the graphics card was similar to the ColecoVision and MSX (and likely the SG-1000 too). It was hampered by a 16kb memory limit, which kept its 16-bit CPU from fulfilling its potential. They did manage to get a working version of Dragon´s Lair running on it recently, which is pretty awesome, and there´s a guy named Rasmus who puts out some amazing homebrew for it that blows away what came out during the system´s lifetime. Anyway, if you ever need an idea...

[@larryinc64]

7:11 - The Castle was ported to the NES under the new name 'Castle Quest' If you liked that one, the NES version is probably worth checking out. Though you can sometimes get stuck in rooms, but the Player 2 controller lets you bring up a menu to reset the current screen.

[@arccrenshaw8391]

crazy that video games survived this era...really puts the "video game crash " of the late 80s into perspective...

[@moeschizlac]

Wow a 4-bit console. The graphics are pretty good for a 4-bit console.

[@Joe-Rad]

I am impressed they were able to license Sinbad's image. More games need Sinbad.

[@bdillmore40]

Fantastic video! Absolutely loved it! The SG-1000 is one of a couple Sega consoles I still don't own. That stop motion in the beginning is amazing! Seriously loved that!

[@ricardoojeda2963]

Everytime I feel down, this channel always keeps my hopes up. Thank you for bringing us joy with each new video Joe. Keep up the good work! :D Long live Game Sack!

[@Sven912]

Great too see a new video. At work right now. Gonna watch when I get home 👍

[@theomacer3094]

Joe describing Bomb Jack as a gentleman kinda made my day

[@christianlong1907]

I guess you can say the SG-1000 was Sega’s true Genesis!

[@RemoWilliams1227]

Love it

[@kiwicedric687]

Hi Joe and thanks for NOT make me regret starting video games experience with this console!! I don't know if here in France the SG1000 was released but majority of gamers started with master system. I think if i knew the SG1000 at the time i wouldn't be a sega fanboy ^^ Very good video as usual

[@Tactical-92Yankee]

Been waiting for you to do this specific episode Joe. Knowing your a Sega guy, I know this will be great.

[@laidback93]

I always wanted to know more about Sega's earlier systems. Thanks Joe!

[@gluttonousmaximus9048]

With one episode you beat Jeremy Parish to completing the Segaiden series on SG-1000. Good job!

[@Ashura96]

Had a chance to play an SG-1000 a few years ago and man the controller left a lot to be desired.

[@vasopel]

all the rubbers inside would have hardened after so many years...

[@Ashura96]

@@vasopel true, although the owner of the console had spent time modifying them they still felt pretty flimsy.

[@vasopel]

@@Ashura96 I see...

[@jasonhubbard6775]

A 48-minute Game Sack video? LET'S GO!!!

[@Swordslinger-hb1ns]

This console was basically an enhanced ColecoVision with slightly faster ram. The Nintendo Famicom just blows it away in every category.

[@JMFSpike]

That (and the fact that it sold poorly) is exactly the reason why it was quickly abandoned and replaced with the Master System. It didn't do any better then the SG-1000 in Japan, but it was a major success in Europe and South America.

[@ostiariusalpha]

Sega and Nintendo were both responding to the performance capabilities of the ColecoVision, but whereas Sega said to themselves "I can do that." Nintendo said "I have to do much better than that." The Mark III/Master System would have probably done better in Japan than it did, but between the Famicom's entrenched market dominance and the introduction of the far more powerful PC-Engine, it never had a chance to take off.

[@JMFSpike]

@@ostiariusalpha Great points and great post. Up vote for you.

[@Swordslinger-hb1ns]

@@JMFSpike quite true despite Sega launching the Master System on Boxing Day (December 26) in Europe.

[@danielespeziari5545]

I always love to watch videos on the SG1000, especially Jeremy Parish's ones. I consider this console a curiosity and an important piece of history, but not something I'd really like to play. The Master System, on the other hand, is very underrated and I love mine.

[@Bootyhunter1971]

I have my Wii modded and all these games along with the Master system and MegaDrive (Genesis), some of them are fun for a few min and something "different" worth a look and definetely worth throwing on a modded Wii.

[@DJSpaceRetrotunes]

30:21 Orguss, the ancestor of Master System's "Transbot"!

[@raycerx87]

I remember throwing a bunch of SG-1000 games on my Wii when it was my dedicated emulator. Underrated for sure.

[@marafolse8347]

This is one of my favorite consoles of all time. I think Black Onyx on this for example is an incredible achievement. The music I think is actually fantastic, I never tired of it

[@romanb.6528]

i'm surprised because a lot of the games i played on nes it turns out were originally on sega

[@BennBirch]

Best Outro Sketch EVER!!! It had me dead! Also the episode was good too.

[@lblost6109]

“Neither is incorrect, neither is incorrect either” 😂 Great content as always, cheers Joe! 👍

[@ashleymorton9623]

One of the best channels out there

[@gunpuncher3817]

Had the SG-1000 released even just a year earlier, I think that it could have done even better than it did in its home market. But positioning what was basically just a Colecovision directly up against the NES had to have smashed a huge dent in the systems market penetration. Still, it's fascinating to see how Sega made up for it purely through their own stellar craftsmanship, as primitive as the games are. It's also funny to see you, Joe, the ultimate Sega Fanboy, bewilderedly try to tackle games that were wayyy before your time lol. That Commodore 64 video's gonna be hilarious. Great work again, Joe!

[@Level1Sword]

Never heard of the SG-1000 until Classic Game Room. Sometimes I think Sega likes being the underdog.

[@rsmith02]

No, they just started as the underdog and then battled their way to the top (before getting steamrolled by Sony).

[@the8wave]

I almost feel nostalgic when hearing the intro music. Does the AVGN know that you as well are “gonna take you back to the past”?

[@DigiPen92]

25:11 That Knight character from Knightmare looked a lot like Shovel Knight. Also in 38:30, why is Joe inserting a random face on the footage for the Sindbad Mystery game? Was the enemy character below the insert random faces were used as censorship?

[@lurkerrekrul]

Lode Runner - Collect all the boxes and then climb a/the ladder to the top of the screen to advance to the next level. Sometimes the enemies pick up boxes and carry they for a while. Some bricks are phantom blocks that you'll drop through while some (without a pattern on them) are solid and can't be dug. Press the button to dig a hole. Enemies will get caught in the hole, but free themselves after a few seconds. If they're carrying a box, they will drop it when they fall in a hole. You can walk across the heads of enemies (in holes, or even just normally) and if the hole closes up with an enemy inside, they die and respawn at the top of the screen. Sometimes you need to dig multiple holes in a row to be able to drop down through multiple layers of bricks. Some levels require puzzle solving to figure out how to get all the boxes without trapping yourself. For example, you need to get creative to collect those two boxes in the center of that screen shown in the video. Personally, I love this game and finished all the levels on the C64 (although I used unlimited lives and didn't do them all in one sitting). Championship Lode Runner - was a collection of harder levels for people who had completed all 150 levels of the original game. Flipper - The gameplay looks like every real pinball machine I've ever played. Hit the ball with the flipper, it goes up, hits one thing and immediately rolls back down. I swear the balls in a real machine must weight about 2-3 pounds each. I have never in my life seen the ball bounce around hitting multiple bumpers and targets like you see in videos about pinball machines. Rock N' Bolt - You should only need to screw one of the bolts in a platform for it to count. You don't need to screw all of them.

[@Groglor]

nice phantasy star 2 music at the start

[@25hztolife14]

Something new that you have never talked about. Now to see the video.

[@spockhozzer7207]

Thank you for this, Joe. I always enjoy these console library videos

[@lorddalek]

Three flavors (almost) same console: Colecovision, MSX1, SG-1000/Othello Multivision

[@liquidninja6654]

Love how you’re covering something so old. Please do Atari and Coleco next!

[@cessnaace]

I own a Japanese SMS, which is backwards compatible with games for their previous systems.

[@PiyuMusica]

You look like a young Ron Perlman, respect.

[@sonicdoesfrontflips]

This console is officially considered 3rd gen, but the specs are very similar to that of the Colecovision, which is considered 2nd gen. And since the Master System is unmistakably 3rd gen, I like to consider the SG-1000 a 2.5-generation console.

[@RemoWilliams1227]

That makes sense.

[@KingMob4313]

6:10 - That sound! As soon as I heard it, I knew it was a Compile game. Craziness.

[@GregsGameRoom]

The Atari 2600 may be more primitive but the games are certainly more fun.

[@captaincommando2602]

I need an episode dedicated to the Nintendo DS and another 'Left in the Arcade' video.

[@Housestationlive]

@27:40 finally a simple platformer older than 8bit era, that makes mw want to try this machine!!!

[@mymusicpaws]

I get so geeked up every time I see a new GS upload!

[@vinnykster]

Regardless of it's primitive nature, this is very cool and interesting and funny watching this episode of GS and checking out my library of SG-1000 games on my Super Console X Pro.. I've been doing the same with the Sega Matter System and Genesis games included on it as well. I did the same with the Super Nintendo games included as well ( it has a ton of those ) Even tho I grew up on Atari 2600/5200 I moved on to other things in the late 80's/90s. So now I'm catching up with what I missed or not 😂. GS is VERY informative and cool. As for the SG-1000, as a home system it seems it is a first draft both the console and games for Sega.They were like let's just put out some stuff and see what works and what doesn't. Then improve things going forward. Everything has to start somewhere. 👾

[@Chicomite]

As soon as the Krikzz made his Master Everdrive for Master System, I got one and loaded it up, and found out it plays SG-1000 game roms. But it was hard to find interesting games, of course I tried Gal's Garden, it's cute. I like that shooter from Compile, but I really liked Ninja Princess. I didn't grow up with a Master System, so I didn't play The Ninja until I got that SMS Everdrive, and I kinda like Ninja Princess a tiny bit more. Still both fun games. I always liked the way the SG-1000 console looks, very R2-D2. And for those games I was playing with a Genesis or Master System controller, so that helps with the comfortability. We could use a new episode on the modern "limited" game scene, it has recently blown up, Europe is coming out with a ton of companies lately. They'll offer games which you have no idea if you'll have a chance to get a physical copy elsewhere. And it's frustrating because these are foreign companies, your bank isn't gonna allow every transaction, sometimes you gotta call the bank and ask them to put that payment through, such a hassle. I've already missed out on some cool stuff.