#mega pc

[thethirdbear]

[techtimechronicles24]

🇯🇵 Step into the world of Sega Corporation personal computers and explore their unique contributions to the realm of computing and gaming! From the pioneering SC-3000 to the innovative TeraDrive and the Amstrad Mega PC.

💻 Kicking off the lineup is the SC-3000 (Sega Computer 3000), Sega's inaugural foray into the world of personal computing. Released in July 1983 in Japan, the SC-3000 served as the home computer counterpart to the SG-1000 video game console. With its 8-bit architecture and built-in keyboard, the SC-3000 offered gamers and hobbyists a platform for both gaming and programming, setting the stage for Sega's future innovations in the computing space.

💾 Fast forward to 1991, and Sega partnered with IBM to create the groundbreaking TeraDrive—an IBM PC compatible system with an integrated Mega Drive. This innovative fusion of gaming and computing allowed users to seamlessly switch between playing Mega Drive games and utilizing PC applications, showcasing Sega's commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology and entertainment.

⌨️ Last but not least, the Mega PC, manufactured by Amstrad under license from Sega in 1993, offered a unique combination of a standard Amstrad PC with Sega Mega Drive hardware bundled inside. Unlike the TeraDrive, the Mega PC featured separate circuitry for the Mega Drive, enabling users to share the dual-sync monitor and speakers between the two systems.

[mrs-chief]

finally got my Mega PC up and running and...I’m emotional. 

I grew up distinctly Not Rich. I had my power and water shut off multiple times. I didn’t go on vacations. I didn’t have the latest and greatest of anything--computers especially. 

I spent my childhood on a rotating cast of custom computers slapped together from garbage-picked parts, frankensteined from thrift store finds and the very rare “new” part. As you can imagine, these weren’t great. And I know it’s a massive privilege to even have electricity, let alone a computer and internet, but growing up “middle class” in the American Midwest came with a certain expectation of some level of wealth that we simply didn’t have. But I digress. My computers burned out all within about 3 years of each other, at which point I would cobble together another one to try and limp myself along through schoolwork and the occasional very lightweight game. 

I didn’t own a store-bought, brand new, factory-built computer until three years ago when I bought my custom laptop from HP. And I love her to death. It’s the best computer I’ve ever owned. It’s my best friend and my workhorse. 

But now I have the Mega PC, and Mega PC is not a misnomer by any stretch. It didn’t even blink at the benchmark tests I threw at it. Hell, I have an RTX 2070 in it. It’s a beast. 

And I just...never thought I’d be at this point in my life. I never thought I’d have a computer capable of handling what I throw at it, or that I’d be in a financial situation where I could afford one. And granted, this was paid for by student loan refunds and whatever I could save up from my minimum-wage, part-time job and the few rare commissions. But when I got into my major, I was scared to death that I wouldn’t make it simply because of the financial barriers processing power inherently throws up. I thought I’d be sad and frustrated and left behind in the world of game development and basically all forms of computering because I couldn’t afford the right hardware.

And it’s made me realize more and more that I don’t want your 120 fps. I don’t want your real-time raytracing. I don’t want your six teraflops. I want to make games (and see more games being made) that 10 year old me could have played. I want more text adventures, more 2D platformers, more Twine and Quest and RPG maker games. Because at the end of the day, we should be trying to make gaming and game making more accessible. If we want to tell these stories, we have to do our best to tell these stories to everyone, regardless of hardware. 

[oneheadtoanother]

Amstrad Mega PC

[tumblokami]

The Amstrad Mega PC, released in 1993, is a very unique European-only IBM PC compatible. With a 25MHz 80386 CPU and 1MB of RAM, this computer had a secondary mode to allow playing Mega Drive games on the special monitor that came with the computer! It even supported playing Japanese and American games as well, for region-free gaming!

Unlike the Teradrive, the Mega PC handled the Mega Drive hardware differently. Rather than be directly integrated with the mainboard, the 7.67MHz 68000 and 3.58MHz Z80 were relegated to an add-on card inside the computer, connected with a 16-bit ISA slot. The computer, outside of Mega Drive mode, couldn't utilize much of the hardware, but it could use the audio hardware as a SoundBlaster-type audio card.

The mainboard was designed by Western Design Center (the guys responsible for the 65816 used in the Apple IIGS and Super Nintendo), and Amstrad simply shoved a Mega Drive into it. There are a LOT of unpopulated ports and expansions that a do-it-yourselfer could go in and install extra functionality, such as a standard PC joystick port, and extra video RAM (it could be doubled to a max of 512KB). But, the system's underpoweredness (something shared with the Teradrive) and its high cost (£999.99) drove potential customers away. Amstrad tried to save the system by cutting the price down to £599.99, changing the CPU to a faster 80486, and upgrading the RAM up to 16MB, but by then it was too late. The system, along with the Teradrive, faded away into obscurity.

[raytube]

[01110011011010000110100101110100]

MEGA PC!?

I'm not entirely sure if he counts. He's made by a company called Amstard under a license from Sega to build and release a home computer/console.

He's half Genesis half PC.

and he's squishy.