Talk:Master System/GA1

GA Review
The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.''

Reviewer: Indrian (talk · contribs) 18:35, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

I'll take this one on. Just to allay any concerns, I have read through the article closely before deciding to review it and do not think there will be any big surprises popping up. I believe we will be able to all come out of this GAN as friends. I look forward to working with you on any remaining issues. Detailed comments to follow soon. Indrian (talk) 18:35, 1 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Hey, I'm just glad you're willing to review it. As there aren't many sources on the Master System (although admittedly a lot more than what I found than when I did SG-1000), I'm actually glad you're willing to take this one up, Indrian.  I was hoping any potential accuracy issues could be weeded out, and I don't see any possible controversy spewing up in this one.   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 00:43, 2 April 2014 (UTC)

Sales Figures
✅ Well, I am going to start with the 20 ton elephant in the room and what is probably the only big issue that needs to be addressed, which is the topic of sales figures. There was a big discussion about this above that spilled out into the video game project talk page, and I think its fair to say this remains a concern. In short, we have two different sources that claim to give total system sales figures, a book that states 10 million and the IGN article that states 13 million. The IGN article is full of errors and apparently borrowed the figure from the generally partisan and unreliable history of Sega written by Sam Pettus and hosted by the Eidolon. Interestingly, if you add up available figures for the US, Japan, and Europe, you get 9.8 million, which rounds up to the amount given in the book source. There were also sales in Brazil, of course, but those are harder to pin down reliably. The best source we have is Retro Gamer, in which the president of Tec Toy stated that the company had sold two million of all Sega consoles by 1996 (I know there is a source currently in the article that gives 5 million for Brazil, and I will bring that up in more detail later when discussing sourcing).

The long version can be found at the wikiproject talk archives linked above (warning: its long and not very compelling reading), but the short version is that consensus was to use a range of 10-13 million to account for all sources. I personally do not think the IGN source should be used at all, but since IGN is considered a reliable source I will not fail the article over its inclusion (it may deserve closer scrutiny in FAC, however). I believe the range needs to be reinstated, however, in order to account for all reliable sources as well as project consensus. If you feel differently, however, I would also appreciate your input.
 * I've read the arguments in the Master System talk page; it's really tough to follow it. Admittedly, though, I haven't had my hand in this article at all before recently, so I wasn't a part of that debate.  I didn't feel comfortable with the IGN number either, but it was backed a little by a comment in Retro Gamer which mentioned a difference of 49 million units between the Master System and NES (the IGN article mentioned 13 million for Master System and 62 million NES, which is a 49 million unit difference), and it does feel awkward and concerning to me.  This is especially because we've previously discredited the IGN 29 million number for the Genesis in the same article, although the same Retro Gamer article that mentions a 49 million unit difference also says the Genesis sold 40 million, which is what we came up with when working on that FAC.  Had there not been this correlation, I wouldn't have used it at all and felt it was just entirely inaccurate, but it seems close, although I use it with reprehension in this case.  Looking at the individual numbers, I did take the Tec Toy numbers of 2 million of all Sega consoles by '96, and from experience with research in Sega Genesis I'm willing to bet more than half of those were Master System consoles.  (The 5 million is as of 2012, but Tectoy never stopped manufacturing the Master System and still does today, so it's by all means a recent number showing of the console's endurance in Brazil).  Together amongst the numbers provided, they do roughly add up higher than 10 million if Brazil is counted, which it by all means should be.  The "book" source is The Encyclopedia of Game.Machines by Winnie Forster, and one thing that worries me there is that it combines SG-1000 with Master System, though the lines are a little blurred and I'd say the Mark III, but not SG-1000 or SG-1000 II are really "Master System" sales.
 * I wouldn't mind a range at all, as long as it can be well-sourced on both ends, and I'm sure there's got to be more than just IGN and Retro Gamer out there, although I haven't had a whole lot of luck finding them. This range isn't like the nightmarish 29-40 million units we worried about with the Genesis, it's a matter of 3 million as a gap (though the article once did say 14.8 million, which I haven't seen a reliable source for anywhere).  What do you feel is the appropriate range for this article?   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 00:43, 2 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Well, I think this one is quite tricky to be honest. I personally do not think any of the reliable sources are accurate on this one, but on the flip side I don't have a better figure than they do either.  This is a different situation from Genesis, where we knew the 29 million figure was wrong because we could prove it only counted sales through the end of 1994.  We know that in the US the system sold between 1.5 million and 2 million (Game Over says 2, but there are other news reports from the time that say 1.5).  We don't know Japan; we just have that one report from Business Japan of 1 million by the middle of 1986.  No way of knowing if those are shipped or sold figures.  My gut instinct is that it probably sold less in Japan than in the US since it had a similar market share in a smaller market (by population, not by dollar spend, which was actually greater than the US market) and was superseded by the PC Engine and Megadrive so soon after launch.  Europe was the big one with at least 6.8 million based on the Screen Digest estimates.  Brazil is the wildcard.  If the book giving the 10 million figure got that number from reputable sources, my guess is that it is a combination of US, Japan, and Europe and is believable as a figure for those three markets.  If the 13 million figure comes from reputable sources, which I highly doubt since it appears to have originated with Sam Pettus and his horribly inaccurate and partisan Sega history, it may be a legitimate figure if you add Brazil and the rest of the world to the US, Japan, and European figures.
 * Or if the Japanese figures include the Mark III, for that matter. I'm no fan of Sam Pettus' work either; he even published a book recently on it (Service Games: The Rise and Fall of Sega Enterprises) and I felt the need to warn the Sega task force that it is not a reliable source because it was self-published by him.   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 12:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Based on the fact that both the 10 and 13 million figures are within the realm of possibility and both are presented in reliable sources, I think we should go with a 10-13 million unit range with appropriate sourcing. I think it would also be appropriate to mention in parentheses or in a footnote or wherever that the system is still sold in Brazil and that these sources do not take into account recent sales.  Obviously, in the infobox and article we can also give some of the breakdowns we have for different regions.  I don't believe any of that is a perfect solution, but this is one case where I think verifiability has to take precedence over truth since the truth is currently unknown and unknowable. Indrian (talk) 18:04, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
 * I took a look at the link you added last night to the discussions at the project... wow. The things I missed while on retirement... that would have been a fun one to discuss and debate.  Anyway, I'd be good with a little WP:VNT here, and 10-13 million would be good with me.  I'm not so sure the truth is "unknowable", but it is certainly beyond our means right now and may not be published somewhere we can ever get access to in the current day.   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 12:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Sounds like a plan. When I say "unknowable" I meant from currently available sources.  Hopefully someday this will become more clear.  Its a shame Sega is not as open as Nintendo when it comes to sales figures. Indrian (talk) 19:00, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

Launch

 * In a recent interview with Kotaku, Mark Cerny, who was an SMS game developer at Sega, discusses the company's software strategy of pushing out lots of titles in a short period of time, which really affected quality. I think this is important to mention in conjunction with the lack of third-party support.  Even most of the first party software was substandard.
 * A comment in an interview with a single primary source decades after the fact on a blogsite doesn't seem to be an appropriate basis to justify inserting this generalization about the quality of the entire MS library into the lead. (Sega may have produced more games than Nintendo, but even the claimed three months of development time Cerny experienced doesn't sound too irregular for the period.) Do experts and historians cite a policy of rushed deadlines as crucial to the system's lack of commercial success, or describe its first-party titles as substandard? If not, then it doesn't belong, personal opinions notwithstanding.TheTimesAreAChanging (talk) 21:09, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the feedback. It looks like I was a bit hasty on this one.  Now that I dig a little deeper, I think this referred more to the early SG-1000 titles than stuff being done in the Master System era, so I am going to go ahead and table this one.  I am tabling based on time period though, not source quality.  A respected and knowledgeable game designer speaking generally about a work environment he personally experienced to a journalist is a perfectly valid source of information.  The short development cycles are corroborated by interviews Yuji Naka has given stating that he completed his first game in three months and that his boss actually wanted it done in one.  You are wrong on development times though.  There are plenty of interviews with 8-bit developers that between them establish that a game usually took 6-9 months of development time in the period, so three months is ridiculously short. I do agree on reflection that more sourcing would be needed to highlight something like that it in the lead. Indrian (talk) 22:06, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Agreed; we've already learned the lessons of what happens when you only get a month to program a video game.  Red Phoenix  let's talk... 12:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the correction, Indrian. I don't know much about 8-bit game development.TheTimesAreAChanging (talk) 01:32, 6 April 2014 (UTC)
 * I have restored the Cerny info, albeit in a more appropriate section. Personally, I disagree that the Master System's library was substandard--in fact, I had a blast playing Fantasy Zone on the Wii Virtual Console recently (even if the final boss is nearly impossible)--but you know what they say about opinions. I really don't know why I took such exception to Indrian's proposed addition; I was in a foul mood, and perhaps a little disappointed by what I saw as a blatant POV push in the lead. In retrospect, I clearly jumped the gun in attacking a good faith contribution. Cheers,TheTimesAreAChanging (talk) 05:37, 16 April 2014 (UTC)
 * No problem. I imagine it was jarring seeing it in the lead.  I just snuck it in because I had been rewriting portions of the lead generally and had planned to follow up with more info in the article body.  It was never meant to be a lead only kind of thing, and I was planning to refine the concept a bit.  Once I realized that Cerny was mostly just talking about the early SG-1000 period, I decided to drop it.  There were certainly some interesting games on the system and the addition was never meant to be a POV disparagement. I like the way you added it back in. Indrian (talk) 19:36, 16 April 2014 (UTC)


 * ✅ I took the info about the FM synthesizer in Japan out of the lead just because I felt it broke the flow and was perhaps a smidge too much detail for that section. This section should probably briefly mention that the change from Mark III to Master System was largely cosmetic, but that in Japan the FM synthesizer was also built into the system.
 * That's fine; you have a good point. I had it there to distinguish Mark III from Master System a bit, but it absolutely was a largely cosmetic difference.   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 12:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)


 * ✅ Mastertronic only distributed the Master System in the UK in 1987. France and Germany each had its own distributor.  The European launch ended up being pretty much a disaster because Sega was unable to provide the promised inventory, which drove the French distributor into bankruptcy and caused the German distributor to drop the product.  Virgin/Mastertronic then took on Europe-wide distribution in 1988.  This is all described by Nick Alexander, former head of Virgin Games and Sega Europe, in an article on the history of Virgin Games in Retro Gamer.  I do not have that article in front of me right now, but I would be happy to add this information and the sourcing later if you like.
 * If you've got that, that'd be great. My access to Retro Gamer is somewhat limited and costs me per issue, so I'm pretty selective on which ones I buy and review myself.   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 12:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
 * I'll get this in. Indrian (talk) 19:02, 7 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Sorry it took me so long to return to this, but the info has been incorporated and sourced now. Indrian (talk) 16:44, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

Game Gear

 * ✅ I am not sure this section fits well here. I am not advocating removing it, but perhaps it should come at the end of the history section so as not to break up the flow of the Master System info.
 * I'd be fine with that. I had it where it was to fit chronologically, but I can also see why it would work as well at the end of that section.   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 12:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

Transition and Decline

 * ✅ As I mentioned in the sales figure discussion above, there are some newspaper sources that gave total North American Master System sales at 1.5 million rather than two million. I think a range is appropriate here, and I would be happy to provide the necessary sourcing.
 * If you've got it, that'd be great. Some of these little discrepancies, when added up, might be where we have the difference between 10 and 13 million units.  Of course, that's just speculation, but it's certainly a possibility.   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 12:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
 * I added this in. The article is from October 1991, so it is missing a few final sales, but there is no way it sold an additional 500,000 in that time with both the SNES and Genesis on the market so it still represents a lower viable estimate than the one presented in Game Over. Indrian (talk) 20:16, 7 April 2014 (UTC)
 * ✅ So as promised, I wanted to talk about the 5 million Brazil figure. Is that website a reliable source?  Not knowing Portuguese or the Brazilian video game journalism scene, I am not qualified to answer that myself.  If it can be proven reliable, I have no problem with it.  If it can't be though, it needs to be removed.
 * The source here is Universo Online, kind of like America Online but in Brazil. They're an online service provider, but have their own news and interests pages, and all that jazz just like AOL does.  According to their article here, they're one of the largest providers in Brazil.  Their Alexa rank is #112 in the world, and #5 in Brazil, so their website is huge and well-known.   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 12:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
 * I see no harm in keeping this in for now. My only other concern would be whether everything posted there is under editorial oversight, or whether there is self-published stuff mixed in.  Just because the site is generally reliable, this article may not be for that reason.  If this ever goes to FAC it probably bears a little more scrutiny just to make absolutely sure it is above reproach. Indrian (talk) 19:08, 7 April 2014 (UTC)
 * All right. I'd hope an expert in Portuguese (perhaps a Brazilian editor with sourcing knowledge) would be willing to take a look if we come to that, and suggest alternatives if it doesn't fly.  I'm sure it will at some point with this rewrite, but it may take a little while to bring it there.   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 00:32, 8 April 2014 (UTC)

Technical Specifications

 * ✅ I believe the FM syntheziser is internal only on the Japanese Master System.
 * Finally found it. I missed this earlier because my best source for tech specs on it came straight from Sega of Japan's website, and Japanese translations tend to be incredibly awkward because of the large language structure differences between Japanese and English.  Having reread it over carefully, I can see it does say that, and I'll put it in.   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 12:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)


 * ✅ A little more info on the Master System II would be nice. It should mention some of the specific components removed (expansion port, card reader) and mention that it actually came with built-in games.
 * I found this and added it. Built-in games are mentioned in the game library section, though I've expanded it to include Alex Kidd in Miracle World and Sonic the Hedgehog as well, which were built-in and also sourceable.   Would you recommend moving this up into tech specs, then?   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 12:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
 * I think leaving it in the game library is fine, but the article could still be more clear about which games were built-in in which specific versions of the console. Indrian (talk) 19:11, 7 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Slight issue here - I really don't have that in a reliable source. Retro Gamer is not specific and just lists them as built-in games, while Sega of Japan's website, normally fantastic about having pages about individual models and some specifics (such as in the Sega Saturn article) doesn't have that here.  Allgame also does not identify which built-in games link to which version of the console, and I'm really not 100% myself except that it logically goes in chronological order: Snail Maze, Hang-On, Alex Kidd, Sonic.   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 00:31, 8 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Well, lets go ahead and call this good for now then. If and when this goes to FAC, I will try to dig up additional sourcing. Indrian (talk) 16:42, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

Game Library

 * ✅ "Cards were cheaper to manufacture than the cartridges and included titles such as Spy vs. Spy" Singling out this one game seems odd.
 * I threw in Super Tennis as well now.  Red Phoenix  let's talk... 12:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)

Reception and Legacy
And that's it. Other than deciding on sales figures, there is really very little work needed on this one. I am going to place this, but we should be done here in relatively short order. Indrian (talk) 19:14, 3 April 2014 (UTC)
 * ✅ Once we decide how to handle sales figures, this section will obviously need some tweaking.
 * Tweaked the numbers on the total overall, but what we do on some of the individuals will obviously result in more adjustments.  Red Phoenix  let's talk... 12:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
 * I took out the regional numbers here only because they are already covered in other places in the article. If you want to reincorporate them in a different way that does not feel repetitive, I am fine with that.  I am going to close this one for now. Indrian (talk) 16:44, 11 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Good. Aside from us discussing sales figures, gaining some of the sources you have, and the reliability of the Brazilian sources, I believe everything's addressed.   Red Phoenix  let's talk... 12:58, 4 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Yes, we are nearly there. Still a little tweaking on a couple of minor points and the integration of the Retro Gamer material about the European launch along with the sales figure stuff. Indrian (talk) 19:13, 7 April 2014 (UTC)
 * Sorry it took me a couple of days to get back to the last few things. This article was already in good shape when it was brought to GAN and the changes above have ironed out the few issues that remained.  I am pleased to pass this article to GA.  Well done! Indrian (talk) 16:54, 11 April 2014 (UTC)