|
Post by bkk on Aug 28, 2015 20:04:28 GMT
The grey ones are the original SMS IIs manufactured in Japan during 1990/early 1991. Here's a Chinese one ( 3006-15 / PAL-D), and some French ones ( 3006-09 / RGB). Later in 1991 they outsourced SMS II manufacturing to China & Thailand, which made the more common black version (which probably never made it to the US as they discontinued SMS in 1991). SMS II was gradually released in different countries throughout 1990 and 1991, with some countries such as the UK not receiving it until late 1991, probably too late to receive the original Grey made in Japan model. I guess it depended on how much SMS I stock each country had. Looking at the SMS II service manual from April 1991 they list the following models; Territory Model No.
America MK-3006 Canada MK-3006-22 Australia MK-3006-03 N. Zealand MK-3006-04 China MK-3006-15 Germany MK-3006-18 France MK-3006-09 Most of those have grey variants, although neither Canada or Germany have been confirmed in this thread yet. Edit: Grey Canadian variant.
|
|
|
Post by bkk on Aug 11, 2015 20:16:47 GMT
There's a lot of "New old stock" SMS games with the Halifax stickers on Ebay Italia. Here's an example; €9.99. It looks like these were used to create repros with new cases with Halifax stickers and new cart shells, probably new catalogues too. That's why these all look fine in the fake, but it's let down by the Smurfs 2 specific items that they had to reproduce. Edit: The funny thing is that they seem to have reproduced it to look the same as the older game (with catalogue, hologram, and shrink wrap), whilst the legit game from several years later doesn't seem to have had any of those.
|
|
|
Post by bkk on Aug 1, 2015 11:00:37 GMT
They originally had plans for a 128KB card, so they probably still thought it would be a viable format whilst the Export SMS was in development. The first 12 games were all card games, and the first cartridge game (Fantasy Zone) didn't actually get released until after the export SMS was first shown at the 1986 Summer CES. The Export SMS was also developed extremely quickly; The first 256KB game (Space Harrier) released at the end of 1986, and the last 32KB game (Woody Pop)* released in March 1987. It probably wasn't as practical to increase the size of cards as fast as cartridges. Still, they continued to market them for some time, with the last overseas release being the US version of Spy. Vs. Spy in October 1988, with the European announcement of them being phased out and being replaced by cartridges coming in the first issue of S - The Sega Mag (October 1989). The SMS II was shown at the 1990 Summer CES, so the phasing out of the cards was probably planned in advance of that. *Edit: Actually the last 32KB game was probably the European card release of Bank Panic, reviewed in the December 1987 issue of "Power Play", and with "Now there are no limits®" on the cover which dates it to the second half of 1987. I forgot that never got released in Japan or the US.
|
|
|
Post by bkk on Jul 26, 2015 10:19:55 GMT
UK with Alex Kidd, that makes more sense as I've seen a boxed US console with Hang On built in which used the older style box with a sticker over the Hang-On / Astro Warrior cartridge picture with "Hang On Game Now Built Into Power Base. Separate Game Cartridge Not Included" on it. I guess this box is from the transition to Alex Kidd built in. I don't think those ever made it to the US before they released the SMSII there. Alternatively it could be a generic box used for refurbished/repaired units. It's very rare either way.
|
|
|
Post by bkk on Jul 21, 2015 23:39:43 GMT
Very unusual, maybe there when they redesigned the packaging there was a brief period where it was still just v1.3 before they started to include built in games. That's still strange as those generally bundled either a cartridge or a card. Where did this show up?
|
|
|
Post by bkk on Jul 20, 2015 8:00:26 GMT
Here's what happened. Sega discontinued manufacturing the SMS in early 1996. Most European countries had already stopped supporting the SMS, but some smaller ones like Portugal and Greece were still supporting it so imported PAL Master System Compact IIIs and an assortment of games from TecToy for the 1996 holidays. Taz in Escape From Mars didn't get released in Brazil until March 1997, so I'd guess that it was originally meant to release for the 1996 holidays, but got delayed and missed the window for a Portuguese release.
|
|
|
Post by bkk on Jul 12, 2015 18:28:30 GMT
No SMS stuff in Thailand (beyond retro stores importing Japanese stuff), lots of bootleg GG & MD stuff if you know where to look.
|
|
|
Post by bkk on Mar 22, 2015 13:54:25 GMT
From Computer Trade Weekly, September 28, 1992;
|
|
|
Post by bkk on Mar 11, 2015 23:27:58 GMT
French SMS and SMS2 only have RGB output, you'll need an RGB SCART cable and a suitable display.
|
|
|
Post by bkk on Feb 13, 2015 16:19:44 GMT
|
|