The Sega Master System was designed to be the ultimate gaming machine. When Sega was designing the master system, the basis for the machine was a modular approach, including plans for not only the cartridge slot, but a tape deck, and a vinyl record deck as storage medium, and a holgraphic display chip. Projected performance would have classed it somewhere around the power of an N64, or roughly 200 Atari Jaguars. The final design would have cost over $10,000, and should have been 'future proof' for at least 12 years barring any significant upgrade packages.
Alas, fate is a fickle beast, and Sega were forced to redesign the Master System from scratch when it became apparent that many of the components would not exist for over 20 years.
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