One of our forum's members, goatdan, seems to have "cracked the code" on how to determine if a U.S. Genesis Model 1 has the "Sega License" copyright screen at power up. It has nothing to do with the looks, what ports it has or even serial numbers, but rather the FCC ID code that gets placed on all electronic devices. On the underside of the Genesis you should see a label that has "FCC" on it. The following are the two types of IDs that are on the Model 1's: FJ846EUSASEGA: original model made before September 1, 1991. Doesn't have lockout chip or copyright screen. FJ8USASEGA: original model made after September 1, 1991. Has a lockout chip and copyright screen. Here are the known games that won't work on models with the lockout chip. Use of a Game Genie may help with these, but some games (marked with an asterik '*') were later revised to be compatible with the lockout chip: Budokan Ishido * Mega Drive imports Onslaught * Populous Populous Starflight Zany Golf
