1983
| July 1983 | SG-1000 |
| SC-3000 | |
| N-Sub | |
| Mahjong | |
| Serizawa Hachidan no Tsumeshogi | |
| Congo Bongo | |
| Yamato | |
| Star Jacker | |
| Aug. 1983 | Safari Hunting |
| Champion Tennis | |
| Oct. 1983 | Champion Baseball |
| Sega Flipper | |
| Othello Multivision | |
| Othello [Multivision] | |
| Guzzler | |
| Q*bert | |
| Nov. 1983 | Pop Flamer |
| Pacar | |
| Sega-Galaga | |
| Dec. 1983 | Monaco GP |
| Space Slalom | |
| Pachinko |
1984
| Jan. 1984 | Borderline |
| March 1984 | Champion Golf |
| Zippy Race | |
| Sindbad Mystery | |
| Exerion | |
| Pachinko II | |
| Golgo 13 | |
| May 1984 | Orguss |
| Space Mountain | |
| Sannin Mahjong | |
| June 1984 | Challenge Derby |
| July 1984 | SG-1000 II |
| Okamoto Ayako no Match Play Golf | |
| Safari Race | |
| Sept. 1984 | Lode Runner |
| Oct. 1984 | Champion Boxing |
| Champion Soccer | |
| Hustle Chumy | |
| Dec. 1984 | Space Armor |
| James Bond 007 | |
| Home Mahjong | |
| Flicky |
1985
| Jan. 1985 | Girl’s Garden |
| Feb. 1985 | Zaxxon |
| March 1985 | Champion Pro Wrestling |
| April 1985 | GP World |
| Konami no Shinnyuushain Tooru-kun | |
| Konami no Hyper Sports | |
| May 1985 | Star Force |
| June 1985 | Space Invaders |
| July 1985 | Card Catcher |
| Dragon Wang | |
| Zoom 909 | |
| Choplifter | |
| Pitfall II | |
| Doki Doki Penguin Land | |
| Othello [Sega] | |
| Sept. 1985 | Chack’n Pop |
| Bank Panic | |
| Oct. 1985 | Mark III |
| Drol | |
| Nov. 1985 | Elevator Action |
| Rock n’ Bolt | |
| Dec. 1985 | Soukoban |
| Hang On II | |
| Championship Lode Runner | |
| H.E.R.O. | |
| Champion Ice Hockey | |
| Bomb Jack | |
| Unknown | Graphics Board with Terebi Oekaki |
1986
| Feb. 1986 | C-SO! |
| Ninja Princess | |
| April 1986 | Champion Kendou |
| June 1986 | Super Tank* |
| July 1986 | Gulkave* |
| Sept. 1986 | Wonder Boy* |
| Oct. 1986 | Champion Billiards* |
| Nov. 1986 | The Castle** |
1987
| Feb. 1987 | Loretta no Shouzou: Sherlock Holmes |
| March 1987 | The Black Onyx |
*Estimated based on MicomBASIC coverage
**Estimated based on Weekly Famitsu coverage
A note on the chronology:
Piecing together a chronology for Sega’s SG-1000 line took some doing. The timeline you see here represents the best and most detailed sequence of software releases available for the console. Sega’s own public and internal record-keeping only tracks precise release dates for two games from the entire platform: Star Jacker (July 15, 1983) and Loretta no Shouzou (Feb. 1987). Beyond these bookends, the only firm release information available online for SG-1000 came from a variety of contemporary Japanese publications, most notably a collection of Game Machine magazines scanned by Gaming Alexandria.
A biweekly trade publication focused on the Japanese arcade industry, two issues of Game Machine (July 15, 1985 and May 1, 1986) featured retail release date lists for all current consoles in the Japanese home market: SG-1000, Othello Multivision, Famicom, and Super Cassette Vision. Those lists, which are complete for SG-1000 through Champion Kendou, directly contradict some of Sega’s own listings (which simply provide years for SG-1000 game releases, rather than breaking them down by month), but Game Machine’s data lines up more accurately with first-person accounts from Sega devs; for example, Sega cites Girl’s Garden as a 1984 release, but Yuji Naka has stated that it shipped in Jan. 1985—the same date given in Game Machine. My Segaiden video series used Sega’s dates and presented the library largely in catalog order, but the sequence presented in this book appears more accurate.
Special thanks: Gaming Alexandria, Kevin Bunch, and Tweakbod