Sega Card

Overview

Sega Card (known in Japan as Sega My Card) is an alternate media format for use with most variants of the Sega SG-1000 and Sega Master System. While they were cheaper to produce than cartridges, their limited 32KB storage size meant that only more limited games were produced for the format.

They are similar to Bee Cards (for the MSX) and HuCards (for the TurboGrafx-16).

Versions

Two versions of this format exist:

• The Japanese-exclusive Sega My Card, which holds a single Sega SG-1000 game.

• The Sega Card (known in Japan as Sega My Card Mark III), which holds a single Sega Master System game.

In addition, Sega has released a rewritable EPROM variant in Japan called the "Sega My Card EP". This variant allows users to use special kiosks to replace the game in the cartridge with a new one (either SG-1000 or Master System) at a cheaper price (similar to the Famicom Disk System).

Supported Systems

Games released in this format can be played on the following systems:

• All variants of the Sega SG-1000 only support the original My Cards with the use of the Card Catcher peripheral cartridge (sold separately).

• Both the Sega Mark III and the Japanese version of the Sega Master System supports both My Cards and Sega Cards through its built-in card slot (although the Card Catcher can be used instead).

• Non-Japanese versions of the Sega Master System (excluding the Master System II revision) are region locked and only supports Sega Cards.

• The Sega Genesis only supports most Sega Cards with the use of the Power Base Converter / Master System Converter / Mega Adapter peripheral cartridge (sold separately). The only game to not work correctly is F-16 Fighting Falcon (which uses an incompatible graphics mode). Incompatible with the Genesis 3 revision.

• The Sega Game Gear can support My Cards and Sega Cards through an unconventional series of unofficial adapters and the Card Catcher peripheral cartridge.