Controlling the games for the system is accomplished either by using the Magic Pen like a mouse, or by pressing the directional buttons on the console.

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.

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.

[8] In North America, Sega unveiled the Pico at the 1994 American International Toy Fair, showcasing its drawing and display abilities[9] ahead of its release in November.

Later, in August 1999, a remake of the Pico made by Majesco Entertainment was released in North America at a price of US$49.99, with Storyware titles selling at US$19.99.

According to Joseph Szadkowski of The Washington Times, "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.

"[19] 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.

[1] By contrast, Steven L. Kent claims that Sega of Japan CEO Hayao Nakayama watched the Pico "utterly fail" in North America.

The Copera is an enhanced variant of the Pico designed for musical education, with additional Yamaha FM sound hardware, stereo audio output, a microphone input, and two MIDI ports.

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.

[25] The ePICO is an educational console system targeted at young children sold by Sega Fave, released on October 10, 2024 in Japan.