 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 for the system , which became the Sega CD . The Sega CD was originally intended to equal the capabilities of the TurboGrafx @-@ CD , but with twice as much random @-@ access memory ( RAM ) , and sell for about JP ¥ 20 @,@ 000 ( or US $ 150 ) . In addition to relatively short loading times , Takami 's team planned for the device to feature hardware scaling and rotation similar to that found in Sega 's arcade games , which required the use of a dedicated digital signal processor ( DSP ) . However , two changes made later in development contributed to the final unit 's higher than expected price . Because the Genesis ' Motorola 68000 CPU was too slow to handle the Sega CD 's new graphical capabilities , an additional 68000 CPU was incorporated into the add @-@ on . In addition , upon hearing rumors that NEC planned a memory upgrade to the TurboGrafx @-@ CD , which would bring its available RAM from 0 @.@ 5 Mbit to between 2 and 4 Mbit , Sega decided to increase the Sega CD 's available RAM from 1 Mbit to 6 Mbit . This proved to be one of the greatest technical challenges during development since the Genesis ' access speed was initially too slow to run programs effectively . The cost of the device was now estimated at $ 370 , but market research convinced Sega executives that consumers would be willing to pay more for a state @-@ of @-@ the @-@ art machine . Sega partnered with JVC , which had been working with Warner New Media to develop a CD player under the CD + G standard , to develop the Sega CD . 
