[game_preservation] Why is the TMSS Sega console referred to as "Genesis III" in the court case?
Martin Goldberg
wgungfu at gmail.com
Fri Sep 7 12:48:31 EDT 2012
Third major hardware revision. There's actually multiple hardware
revisions in each generation to track as well.
On Fri, Sep 7, 2012 at 9:24 AM, Frank Cifaldi <fcifaldi at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm guessing because internally at Sega it's the third hardware revision of
> the Genesis? As you yourself say, TMSS wasn't in the original release.
>
> On Fri, Sep 7, 2012 at 6:33 AM, Devin Monnens <dmonnens at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Still reading through Steve Kent's book, and pulled up another confusing
>> term. In the Accolade v. Sega Enterprises court case, they refer to Sega's
>> latest system int he court documents as the "Genesis III".
>>
>>> The most recent version of the Genesis console, the "Genesis III",
>>> incorporates the licensed TMSS. When a game cartridge is inserted, the
>>> microprocessor contained in the Genesis III searches the game program for
>>> four bytes of data consisting of the letters "S-E-G-A" (the "TMSS
>>> initialization code"). If the Genesis III finds the TMSS initialization code
>>> in the right location, the game is rendered compatible and will operate on
>>> the console. In such case, the TMSS initialization code then prompts a
>>> visual display for approximately three seconds which reads "PRODUCED BY OR
>>> UNDER LICENSE FROM SEGA ENTERPRISES LTD" (the "Sega Message"). All of Sega's
>>> game cartridges, including those disassembled by Accolade, contain the TMSS
>>> initialization code.
>>
>>
>> http://bulk.resource.org/courts.gov/c/F2/977/977.F2d.1510.92-15655.html
>>
>> The records also state that the "Genesis III" was released in October of
>> 1991, and the Genesis 3 wasn't released until 1998. (October also seems to
>> be when the Genesis Does What Nintendon't commercial was released - they
>> show the new Model 1 in the video.
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3YeqpD7HUY They're also showing it in the
>> Christmas 1992 video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JE7ajIl5YE and pretty
>> much every commercial I saw up until 1995, when the Model 2 is shown -
>> oddly, I haven't been able to locate a release date for the Model 2).
>>
>> We know that Onslaught by Accolade won't work on systems that have the
>> TMSS code because they put the header in the wrong place. Original Genesis 1
>> models will play them.
>>
>> From what I've gathered, the TMSS code was added in late Genesis 1 models.
>> The original ones say "High Definition Graphics" on the system itself. Later
>> models do not have this label and have the TMSS code, so they will not play
>> Onslaught. (However, you can play it using a Game Genie).
>>
>> Since the "Model III" is just an update of the Model 1, why is it called
>> Genesis III in the court records?
>>
>>
>> --
>> Devin Monnens
>> www.deserthat.com
>>
>> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.
>>
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>
>
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--
Marty
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