Post by solidbatman on May 30, 2010 9:17:51 GMT -5
1987
TurboGrafx 16
Developed by NEC and Hudson Soft, the TurboGrafx 16 was a weak console that attempted to compete with Sega and Nintendo in North America. The TF 16 was touted as a 16 bit console but the system was built on an 8 bit processor. It sold well at it's release but failed to capture the market. Nintendo still had a lock on third party developers in the US so the TF 16 lacked third party support. In Japan, the system was more successful. Companies such as Konami were on board with NEC in Japan but Nintendo's American development policy hurt the TF 16. The high price hurt the system as well. At $400, it was too expensive for mainstream consumers. In 1995, the TurboGrafx 16 was discontinued. NEC would later partner with Sega to help produce the Dreamcast.
1988
Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
Called the Mega Drive in Japan, the Genesis was a powerful system released in the US in 1989. The Genesis benefited from it's release date. Launched a year before the Super Nintendo, the Genesis captured a good portion of the market. The system first competed with the NES over which it had superior graphics and sound. Still, it was ignored in Japan. In the US, due to brilliant marketing, the Genesis pushed the TF- 16 out of the market. Using slogans such as "Genesis does what Nintendon't.", Sega attacked the NES and launched a well run ad campaign.
The Genesis was considered the cooler system of the time. Even though it had great success in the US, it failed to gain a clear lead in the US market as the Genesis and the SNES went back and forth throughout the most of the lifespan of the system. Several add ons were released for the Genesis such as the SegaCD and the 32X. The SegaCD allowed the Genesis to play games on CD, which have much more space than cartridges. The 32X was built in 1994 to introduce 64 bit gaming. Containing two 32 bit processors, it was a failure due to price and the announcement that the Sega Saturn would be released the next year. The Genesis was a good system that was slightly less powerful than the SNES but a huge improvement over the NES. The Genesis remained popular until it was discontinued in favor of the Sega Saturn.
1990
Neo Geo
The Neo Geo was an overpriced system released by SNK. An arcade version of the Neo Geo was released called the MVS. Originally the Neo Geo, or the Advance Entertainment System (AES), was rented to commercial establishments. After SNK found that there was interest in a home version of the system, they released a console priced at $650. With less audio capabilities than the Genesis and SNES, the Neo Geo had better video RAM than the Genesis. The MVS arcade is still repaired by SNK but in 2007, SNK stopped repairing Neo Geos. The last game was released by SNK in 2004. Some attribute it's high price tag to giving the console a cult like following. The Neo Geo never was able to compete with Sega or Nintendo head on but managed to outlast the Genesis and SNES.
Super Nintendo/Super Famicom
Sega is responsible for making Nintendo design a new system. Due to the Genesis's successful launch in the US, NES sales were dropping. Nintendo did not want to create a new system but the NES's limitations forced their hand. The initial Japanese release was a huge success. The console only had two games originally, F- Zero and Super Mario World. In the North American release, these games were accompanied by SimCity and Gradius III.
With the SNES, third party developers began developing for all systems. Nintendo's censorship policy was also abandoned after Mortal Kombat's success on the Sega Genesis. Nintendo had released the SNES version censored and the game sold much better on the Sega Genesis. After the creation of ESRB to rate video games based off content, Nintendo dropped it's censorship policy. When Mortal Kombat II was released, the SNES version outsold the Genesis version.
Nintendo would unknowingly create a new competitor when it contracted Sony to develop a CD Rom add on to the SNES. The deal fell through and Sony used the designs to create the Playstation. The graphics of later SNES game rivaled those of 32 bit systems that were beginning to be released in 1993 and 1994. The SNES has double the main RAM of the Genesis and 8 times the audio capability. In the US, the SNES was discontinued in 1999 and in Japan, it was discontinued in 2003. Nintendo of Japan repaired the systems until 2007. The SNES and Genesis proved the home video games could thrive in American and Japanese markets and that home video games were here to stay.
TurboGrafx 16
Developed by NEC and Hudson Soft, the TurboGrafx 16 was a weak console that attempted to compete with Sega and Nintendo in North America. The TF 16 was touted as a 16 bit console but the system was built on an 8 bit processor. It sold well at it's release but failed to capture the market. Nintendo still had a lock on third party developers in the US so the TF 16 lacked third party support. In Japan, the system was more successful. Companies such as Konami were on board with NEC in Japan but Nintendo's American development policy hurt the TF 16. The high price hurt the system as well. At $400, it was too expensive for mainstream consumers. In 1995, the TurboGrafx 16 was discontinued. NEC would later partner with Sega to help produce the Dreamcast.
1988
Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
Called the Mega Drive in Japan, the Genesis was a powerful system released in the US in 1989. The Genesis benefited from it's release date. Launched a year before the Super Nintendo, the Genesis captured a good portion of the market. The system first competed with the NES over which it had superior graphics and sound. Still, it was ignored in Japan. In the US, due to brilliant marketing, the Genesis pushed the TF- 16 out of the market. Using slogans such as "Genesis does what Nintendon't.", Sega attacked the NES and launched a well run ad campaign.
The Genesis was considered the cooler system of the time. Even though it had great success in the US, it failed to gain a clear lead in the US market as the Genesis and the SNES went back and forth throughout the most of the lifespan of the system. Several add ons were released for the Genesis such as the SegaCD and the 32X. The SegaCD allowed the Genesis to play games on CD, which have much more space than cartridges. The 32X was built in 1994 to introduce 64 bit gaming. Containing two 32 bit processors, it was a failure due to price and the announcement that the Sega Saturn would be released the next year. The Genesis was a good system that was slightly less powerful than the SNES but a huge improvement over the NES. The Genesis remained popular until it was discontinued in favor of the Sega Saturn.
1990
Neo Geo
The Neo Geo was an overpriced system released by SNK. An arcade version of the Neo Geo was released called the MVS. Originally the Neo Geo, or the Advance Entertainment System (AES), was rented to commercial establishments. After SNK found that there was interest in a home version of the system, they released a console priced at $650. With less audio capabilities than the Genesis and SNES, the Neo Geo had better video RAM than the Genesis. The MVS arcade is still repaired by SNK but in 2007, SNK stopped repairing Neo Geos. The last game was released by SNK in 2004. Some attribute it's high price tag to giving the console a cult like following. The Neo Geo never was able to compete with Sega or Nintendo head on but managed to outlast the Genesis and SNES.
Super Nintendo/Super Famicom
Sega is responsible for making Nintendo design a new system. Due to the Genesis's successful launch in the US, NES sales were dropping. Nintendo did not want to create a new system but the NES's limitations forced their hand. The initial Japanese release was a huge success. The console only had two games originally, F- Zero and Super Mario World. In the North American release, these games were accompanied by SimCity and Gradius III.
With the SNES, third party developers began developing for all systems. Nintendo's censorship policy was also abandoned after Mortal Kombat's success on the Sega Genesis. Nintendo had released the SNES version censored and the game sold much better on the Sega Genesis. After the creation of ESRB to rate video games based off content, Nintendo dropped it's censorship policy. When Mortal Kombat II was released, the SNES version outsold the Genesis version.
Nintendo would unknowingly create a new competitor when it contracted Sony to develop a CD Rom add on to the SNES. The deal fell through and Sony used the designs to create the Playstation. The graphics of later SNES game rivaled those of 32 bit systems that were beginning to be released in 1993 and 1994. The SNES has double the main RAM of the Genesis and 8 times the audio capability. In the US, the SNES was discontinued in 1999 and in Japan, it was discontinued in 2003. Nintendo of Japan repaired the systems until 2007. The SNES and Genesis proved the home video games could thrive in American and Japanese markets and that home video games were here to stay.
