Editing Sega CD (section)

=== Development ===
Shortly after the release of the Genesis, Sega's Consumer Products Research and Development Labs, led by manager Tomio Takami, were tasked with creating a CD-ROM add-on. It was originally intended to equal the capabilities of the TurboGrafx-CD, but with twice as much [[random-access memory]] (RAM).<ref name="Takami">{{cite magazine|title=Behind the Screens at Sega of Japan|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=29|volume=3|date=December 1991|pages=115, 122}}</ref> In addition to relatively short loading times, Takami's team planned to implement [[2.5D|hardware]] [[scaling (geometry)|scaling]] and [[rotation]] similar to that of [[List of Sega arcade system boards|Sega's arcade games]], which required a dedicated [[digital signal processor]].<ref name="Takami"/><ref name="Siliconera">{{cite web|author=Sato|date=September 18, 2013|title=Sega's Original Hardware Developer Talks About The Company's Past Consoles|url=http://www.siliconera.com/2013/09/18/segas-original-hardware-developer-talks-about-the-companys-past-consoles/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202230217/http://www.siliconera.com/2013/09/18/segas-original-hardware-developer-talks-about-the-companys-past-consoles/|archive-date=December 2, 2013|access-date=December 21, 2013|website=[[Siliconera]]}}</ref> A custom graphics chip would implement these features, alongside an additional [[sound chip]] manufactured by [[Ricoh]].<ref name=":0" /> According to Kalinske, Sega was ambitious about what CD-ROM technology would do for video games, with its potential for "movie graphics", "rock and roll concert sound" and 3D animation.<ref name=":0" /> 

However, two major changes were made towards the end of development that dramatically raised the price of the add-on. Because the Genesis' [[Motorola 68000]] CPU was too slow to handle the Sega CD's new graphical capabilities, an additional 68000 CPU was incorporated.<ref name="Takami" /> This second CPU has a [[clock speed]] of 12.5&nbsp;MHz, faster than the 7.67&nbsp;MHz CPU in the Genesis.<ref name=":0" /> Responding to rumors that NEC planned a memory upgrade to bring the TurboGrafx-CD RAM from 0.5&nbsp;[[Mbit]] to between 2 and 4&nbsp;Mbit, Sega increased the Sega CD's available RAM from 1 to 6.5&nbsp;Mbit.<ref name="Takami" /> This proved to be a technical challenge, since the Sega CD's RAM access speed was initially too slow to run programs effectively, and the developers had to focus on increasing the speed.<ref name="Siliconera" /> The estimated cost of the device rose to US$370, but market research convinced Sega executives that consumers would be willing to pay more for a state-of-the-art machine.<ref name="Takami" /> Sega partnered with [[JVC]], which had been working with [[Warner Communications|Warner New Media]] to develop a CD player under the [[CD+G]] standard.<ref name="Sentinel" /><ref name="economist">{{cite news |title=Sega v Nintendo: Sonic Boom |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=January 25, 1992 |id={{ProQuest|224134880}} {{subscription required}}}}</ref>

Sega of America was not informed of the project details until mid-1991. Despite being provided with preliminary technical documents earlier in the year, the American division was not given a functioning unit to test.<ref>{{cite web|last=Horowitz |first=Ken |url=http://www.sega-16.com/2012/03/interview-scot-bayless/ |title=Interview:Scot Bayless |work=Sega-16 |date=March 1, 2012 |access-date=November 11, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303233609/http://www.sega-16.com/2012/03/interview-scot-bayless/ |archive-date=March 3, 2012}}</ref> According to former executive producer Michael Latham: "When you work at a multinational company, there are things that go well and there are things that don't. They didn't want to send us working Sega CD units. They wanted to send us dummies and not send us the working CD units until the last minute because they were concerned about what we would do with it and if it would leak out. It was very frustrating."<ref name="segacd">{{cite book|last=Kent|first=Steven L.|title=The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World|publisher=Prima Publishing|year=2001|isbn=0-7615-3643-4|location=Roseville, California|pages=439–460}}</ref> 

Latham and Sega of America vice president of licensing Shinobu Toyoda assembled a functioning Sega CD by acquiring a ROM for the system and installing it in a dummy unit.<ref name="segacd" /> The American staff were frustrated by the Sega CD's construction. Former senior producer Scot Bayless said: "[It] was designed with a cheap, consumer-grade audio CD drive, not a CD-ROM. Quite late in the run-up to launch, the quality assurance teams started running into severe problems with many of the units—and when I say severe, I mean units literally bursting into flames. We worked around the clock, trying to catch the failure in-progress, and after about a week we finally realized what was happening." He said the problems were caused by certain games excessively seeking to different tracks on the disc (as opposed to continuously playing / streaming), leading to overheating of the motors which repositioned the laser head assembly.<ref name="Eurogamer">{{cite web|author=McFerran, Damien|title=The Rise and Fall of Sega Enterprises|year=2012|website=[[Eurogamer]]|url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-22-the-rise-and-fall-of-sega-enterprises|access-date=July 25, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140216124431/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-22-the-rise-and-fall-of-sega-enterprises|archive-date=February 16, 2014}}</ref>