The Sega Pico, also known as is an educational

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that Input/output, outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home video game console, home consoles, which are generally placed i ...

Sega Toys is a Japanese toy company and animation studios, owned by Sega Sammy Holdings. The company was founded when Yonezawa Toys, Japan's largest post-war toy manufacturer, was absorbed into Sega in 1991 as Sega-Yonezawa. Sega Toys have created toys for ...

. Marketed as "

edutainment Educational entertainment (also referred to as edutainment) is media designed to educate through entertainment. The term was used as early as 1954 by Walt Disney. Most often it includes content intended to teach but has incidental entertainment ...

", the main focus of the Pico was

educational video game An educational video game is a video game that provides learning or training value to the player. Edutainment describes an intentional merger of video games and educational software into a single product (and could therefore also comprise more ...

s for children between 3 and 7 years old. The Pico was released in June 1993 in Japan and November 1994 in North America and Europe, later reaching China. It was succeeded by the Advanced Pico Beena, which was released in Japan in 2005. Though the Pico was sold continuously in Japan through the release of the Beena, in North America and Europe the Pico was less successful and was discontinued in early 1998, later being re-released by

Majesco Entertainment Majesco Entertainment Company (formerly Majesco Sales Inc.) is an American video game publisher and distributor based in Hazlet, New Jersey. The company was founded as Majesco Sales in Edison, New Jersey in 1986, and was a privately held company ...

. Releases for the Pico were focused on education for children and included titles supported by licensed franchised animated characters, including Sega's own ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...

'' series. Overall, Sega claims sales of 3.4 million Pico consoles and 11.2 million game cartridges, and over 350,000 Beena consoles and 800,000 cartridges.

Design and software

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

, the physical shape of the Pico was designed to appear similar to a laptop. Included in the Pico is a stylus called the "Magic Pen", and a pad to draw on. Controlling the games for the system is accomplished either by using the Magic Pen like a

mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...

, or by pressing the directional buttons on the console. The Pico does not include a screen, and instead must be connected to a monitor through the Composite video output. Touching the pen to the pad allows drawing, or moving/animating a character on the screen. Cartridges for the system were referred to as "Storyware", and took the form of

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

s with a cartridge slot on the bottom. The Pico changes the television display and the set of tasks for the player to accomplish each time a page is turned. Sound, including voices and music, also accompanied every page. Games for the Pico focused on education, including subjects such as music, counting, spelling, reading, matching, and coloring. Titles included licensed animated characters from various franchises, such as ''Disney's The Lion King: Adventures at Pride Rock'' and ''A Year at Pooh Corner''. Sega also released titles including their mascot,

, including ''

Sonic Gameworld As the '' Sonic the Hedgehog'' series of platform games has grown in popularity, its publisher Sega has expanded the franchise into multiple different genres. Among these are several educational video games designed to appeal to young children. T ...

'' and ''

Tails and the Music Maker As the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series of platform games has grown in popularity, its publisher Sega has expanded the franchise into multiple different genres. Among these are several educational video games designed to appeal to young children. The ...

''. According to former Sega console hardware research and development head Hideki Sato, the development of the Sega Pico was possible due to the company's past work on the MyCard cartridges developed for the

SG-1000 The is a home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was Sega's first entry into the home video game hardware business. Developed in response to a downturn in arcades starting in 1982, the SG-1000 was created on the advice of Hayao Nakay ...

, as well as on drawing tablets. The sensor technology used in the pad came from that developed for the 1987 arcade game ''World Derby'', while its CPU and graphics chip came from the Genesis.

History

At a price of , the Pico was released in Japan in June 1993. In North America, Sega unveiled the Pico at the 1994 American International Toy Fair, showcasing its drawing and display abilities ahead of its release in November. The console was advertised at a price of approximately

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

160, but was eventually released at a price of . "Storyware" cartridges sold for . The Pico's slogan was "''The computer that thinks it's a toy.''" The Sega Pico won a few awards, including the "National Parenting Seal of Approval", a "Platinum Seal Award", and a gold medal from the "National Association of Parenting Publications Awards". After a lack of success, Sega discontinued the Pico in North America in early 1998. Later, in August 1999, a remake of the Pico made by

was released in North America at a price of , with Storyware titles selling at . The Pico would later be released in China in 2002, priced at . In early 1995,

Sega of America is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...

reported that it had sold 400,000 units in North America. In 2000, Sega claimed that the Pico had sold units. As of April 2005, Sega claims that Pico consoles and software cartridges had been sold worldwide. The Pico was recognized in 1995 by being listed on Dr. Toy's 100 Best Products, as well as being listed in ''

Child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

'' as one of the best computer games available. According to Joseph Szadkowski of ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

'', "Pico has enough power to be a serious learning aid that teaches counting, spelling, matching, problem-solving, memory, logic, hand/eye coordination and important, basic computer skills." Former Sega of America vice president of product development Joe Miller claims that he named his dog after the system because of his passion for the console. By contrast, Steven L. Kent claims that Sega of Japan CEO

Hayao Nakayama is a Japanese businessman and was the former President and CEO of Sega Enterprises, Ltd from 1983 to 1999. Early life and career Nakayama was born into a family of doctors, and was expected to pursue medicine as a career. However, Nakayama de ...

watched the Pico "utterly fail" in North America.

Advanced Pico Beena

The Advanced Pico Beena, also known simply as Beena or BeenaLite, is an educational console system targeted at young children sold by

, released in 2005 in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It is the successor to the Pico, and marketed around the "learn while playing" concept. According to Sega Toys, the focus of the Advanced Pico Beena is on learning in a new social environment, and is listed as their upper-end product. Topics listed as being educational focuses for the Beena include intellectual, moral, physical, dietary, and safety education. The name of the console was chosen to sound like the first syllables of "Be Natural". Compared to the Pico, Beena adds several functions. Beena can be played without a television, and supports

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

via a separately sold additional Magic Pen. The console also supports data saving. Playtime can be limited by settings in the system. Some games for the Beena offer adaptive difficulty, becoming more difficult to play based on the skill level of the player. The Beena Lite, a more affordable version of the console, was released on July 17, 2008. As of 2010, Sega estimated that 4.1 million Beena consoles had been sold, along with 20 million game cartridges.

Notes

References

External links

* -

Pasopico Land
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Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...

of Japan {{good article

Pico Pico may refer to: Places The Moon * Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin Portugal * Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde * Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribeir ...

1990s toys Products introduced in 1993 Products introduced in 1994 Products and services discontinued in 1998 Products and services discontinued in 2005 Fourth-generation video game consoles

Advanced Pico Beena The Sega Pico, also known as is an educational video game console by Sega Toys. Marketed as "edutainment", the main focus of the Pico was educational video games for children between 3 and 7 years old. The Pico was released in June 1993 in Japa ...