The Sega AI Computer (''AIセガコンピュータ'') is a

home computer Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a s ...

launched by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

in 1986. It was released in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

only, with plans to be released in North America under the name Sega DI 8300. Its purpose was to be used in schools, and thus featured only edutainment software. The computer used a large rectangular

touchpad A touchpad or trackpad is a type of pointing device. Its largest component is a tactile sensor: an electronic device with a flat surface, that detects the motion and position of a user's fingers, and translates them to 2D motion, to control a Cu ...

that was customizable via custom overlays bundled with most of its programs.

Technical specifications

* CPU:

16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...

NEC V20 at 5 MHz *

ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

: 512 KB total (as actually found in system) ** 2x64 KB system ROM ("Operating System,

Prolog Prolog is a logic programming language that has its origins in artificial intelligence, automated theorem proving, and computational linguistics. Prolog has its roots in first-order logic, a formal logic. Unlike many other programming language ...

") ** 1x128 KB character ROM ** 2x128 KB speech ROM * RAM: 128 KB * Software on Sega My Cards (128 KB to 256 KB). * Software on

audio cassette The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog audio, analog magnetic tape recording format for Sound recording and reproduction, audio recording and playback. Invented by L ...

s. * Video :

Yamaha V9938 The Yamaha V9938 is a video display processor (VDP) used on the MSX2 home computer, as well as on the Geneve 9640 enhanced TI-99/4A clone and the Tatung Einstein 256. It was also used in a few MSX1 computers, in a configuration with 16kB VRA ...

(Resolution 256x212) with 64 KB VRAM. * Sound: SN76489 PSG * Inputs: Touch surface with overlays, 8-directions pad + 3 buttons. * Inputs: Microphone input. * Inputs/Outputs: a RS232

Centronics Centronics Data Computer Corporation was an American manufacturer of computer printers, now remembered primarily for the parallel interface that bears its name, the Centronics connector. History Foundations Centronics began as a divisio ...

port * Cassette drive : 9.6 kb/s. * Optional keyboard peripheral. * Optional Sound Box peripheral with a YM2151 FM chip.

Emulation

It was emulated in 2024 by the M.E.S.S. emulator.

Software

There are 22 known releases.

References

{{reflist

External links

Infos and photos for Sega AI Computer

Segaretro article
Home computers Computer-related introductions in 1986