In the
history of computer and video gamesThe origin of video games lies in early cathode ray tube-based missile defense systems in the late 1940s. These programs were later adapted into other simple games during the 1950s...
, the
fourth generation (more commonly referred to as the
16 bit era) began on October 30, 1987 with the
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese release of Nippon Electric Company's (NEC) PC Engine (known as the
TurboGrafx-16The TurboGrafx-16 , known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
). Although NEC released the first fourth generation console, this era was dominated by the rivalry between
Nintendois a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel...
and
Segais a multinational video game software and hardware development company, and a home computer and console manufacturer headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan...
's consoles; the
Super Nintendo Entertainment SystemThe Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
(the Super Famicom in Japan) and the
Sega Mega DriveThe is a fourth-generation video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988 and Europe in 1990. The console was released in North America in 1989 under the name Genesis, as Sega was unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name in that region...
(named the Sega Genesis in North America due to trademark issues). Nintendo was able to capitalize on its previous success in the third generation and won a dominant market share in the fourth generation as well. Sega was also successful in this generation and began a new franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog, to compete with Nintendo's
Mariois a fictional character in his eponymous video game series, created by video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
series of games. Several other companies released consoles in this generation, but, with the exception of the
Neo GeoThe Neo Geo is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK. The hardware featured comparatively colorful 2D graphics and high-quality sound....
, none of them were widely successful. Nevertheless, several other companies started to take notice of the maturing video game industry and began making plans to release consoles of their own in the future.
TurboGrafx-16
The PC Engine was the result of a collaboration between
Hudson Softis a electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in Japan. It was founded on May 18 1973. Initially, Hudson dealt with personal computer products, but has expanded to the development and publishing of video games, mobile content, and video game peripherals. As of 2003, the company employs...
and
NEC, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
and launched in Japan on October 30, 1987. It launched in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
during August 1989, under the name TurboGrafx-16.
Initially, the PC Engine was quite successful in Japan, partly due to titles available on the then-new
CD-ROMCD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback, the 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data. CD-ROMs are popularly used to...
format. NEC released a CD add-on in 1990 and by 1992 had released a combination TurboGrafx and CD-ROM system known as the Turbo Duo.
In the USA, NEC used
BonkBonk is a video game character from NEC's TurboGrafx-16 console. Known in Japan as "PC-Genjin" and as "BC Kid" in PAL territories, Bonk was a mascot for NEC's console, though some Bonk games eventually saw releases on other consoles as well. A large-headed, bald caveman, his favored form of attack...
, a head-banging caveman, as their mascot and featured him in most of the TurboGrafx advertising from 1990 to 1994. The platform was well received initially, especially in larger markets, but failed to make inroads into the smaller metropolitan areas where NEC did not have as many store representatives or as focused in-store promotion.
The PC Engine failed to maintain its sales momentum or to make a strong impact in North America. The TurboGrafx-16 and its CD combination system, the Turbo Duo, ceased manufacturing in North America by 1994, though a small amount of software continued to trickle out for the platform. NEC released the 32-bit
PC-FXThe PC-FX is a video game console released in Japan on December 23 1994 by NEC Corporation. It is the 32-bit successor to NEC's PC Engine ....
console the same year in
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Plans were underway for a North American release of the PC-FX, but an already flooded market of platforms, including the more powerful
3DOThe 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in . Further renditions of the hardware were released in by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by Dave...
and
Atari JaguarThe Atari Jaguar was a video game console, released by Atari Corporation in . It was designed to surpass the Mega Drive/Genesis and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in processing power. It was in competition with 3DO and later consoles that made up the Fifth generation of video game...
systems, caused TTI, who by then had the US rights to the TurboGrafx platform, to halt its North American release plans.
In Japan, a number of more adult titles were also available for the PC-Engine, such as a variety of strip mahjong games (such as the Super Real Mahjong series), which set it apart from its competitors.
Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis was released in Japan on October 29, 1988. It was released in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
on August 14, 1989 under the name Sega Genesis, and in the rest of North America later that year. The Mega Drive was launched in Europe and Australia on November 30, 1990.
Sega initially had a hard time overcoming Nintendo's ubiquitous presence in the American consumer's home. That changed in late 1990, as Sega built their marketing campaign around their new mascot
Sonic the Hedgehog, trademarked Sonic The Hedgehog, is a video game character and the protagonist of the eponymous video game series released by Sega, as well as in numerous spin-off comics, cartoons and books. The first game in the franchise was released on June 23, 1991, in order to provide Sega with a mascot to...
, pushing the Genesis as the "cooler" alternative to Nintendo's console and inventing the term "Blast Processing" to suggest that the Genesis was capable of handling games with faster motion than the SNES. Their advertising was often directly adversarial, leading to commercials such as "Genesis does what Nintendon't" and the "'SEGA!' scream".
When the arcade game
Mortal KombatMortal Kombat is a fighting game developed by Midway, released in arcades in 1992. After being published by Acclaim Entertainment for a home version, it was later returned to Midway. The game is the first title released in the Mortal Kombat series...
was ported for home release on the Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo decided to censor the game's gore, but Sega kept the content in the game, VIA a code entered at the start screen (A,B,A,C,A,B,B). Sega's gamble paid off, as its version of
Mortal Kombat received generally higher and more favorable reviews in the gaming press and outsold the SNES version three to one. This violence also led to Congressional hearings to investigate the marketing of violent video games to children, and to the creation of the
Interactive Digital Software AssociationThe Entertainment Software Association is the trade association of the video game industry in the United States. It was formed in April 1994 as the Interactive Digital Software Association and renamed on July 16, 2003...
and the
Entertainment Software Rating BoardThe Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games and other entertainment software in Canada and the United...
. With the new ESRB rating system in place, Nintendo reconsidered its position for the release of
Mortal Kombat IIMortal Kombat II is a 1993 arcade game and the second title in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series.-Development:To create the character animations for the game, actors were placed in front of a gray background and performed the motions, which was recorded by on a Hi-8 videotape, which had been...
, and this time outsold Sega's version. Sega, however, ran into a minor roadblock with the popularity of fighting games with advanced controls, because its controller only featured three action buttons. In response, Sega introduced a 6-button controller. Most new games could still be played with the original 3-button controller, however, but the company suggested its gamers buy and adopt the new 6-button model.
Despite the Genesis's success in North America, the Mega Drive was never popular in Japan. By late 1995, Sega was supporting five different consoles and two add-ons, and Sega of Japan chose to discontinue the Mega Drive to concentrate on the new
Sega SaturnThe is a 32-bit video game console that was first released on November 22 1994 in Japan, May 11 1995 in North America, and July 8 1995 in Europe...
. While this made perfect sense for the Japanese market, it was disastrous in North America: the market for Genesis games was much larger than for the Saturn, but Sega was left without the inventory or software to meet demand.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo executives were initially reluctant to design a new system, but as the market transitioned to the newer hardware, Nintendo saw the erosion of the commanding market share it had built up with the
FamicomThe Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe and Australia in . In most of Asia, including Japan , China, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines, it was released as the , commonly abbreviated as the...
(called Nintendo Entertainment System outside Japan). Nintendo's fourth-generation console, the Super Famicom, was released in Japan on November 21, 1990; Nintendo's initial shipment of 300,000 units sold out within hours. The machine reached North America in August or September 1991, and Europe and Australia in April 1992.
Despite stiff competition from Sega's Mega Drive console, the Super NES eventually dominated the American 16-bit console market, and would even remain popular well into the 32-bit generation. Nintendo's market position was defined by their machine's increased video and sound capabilities.
Neo Geo
Released by
SNKSNK may refer to:* SNK European Democrats* SNK Playmore, formerly known as just SNK, a Japanese video game company * SNK Union of Independents* Southeast Airlines ICAO code...
in 1990, the Neo Geo was a home console version of the major arcade platform. Compared to its console competition, the Neo Geo had much better graphics and sound, but the prohibitively expensive launch price of $649.99 USD made the console only accessible to a niche market. A less expensive version, retailing for $399.99, did not include a memory card,
pack-in gameA pack-in game is a game that is included with the purchase of a video game console.- Characteristics :Pack-in games are intended to be system-selling games that make good use of the positive features of a given system...
or extra joystick.
Add-ons
Nintendo, NEC and Sega also competed with hardware
peripheralA peripheral is a device attached to a host computer but not part of it whose primary functionality is dependent upon the host, and can therefore be considered as expanding the host's capabilities, while not forming part of the system's core architecture....
s for their consoles in this generation. NEC was the first with the release of the TurboGrafx CD system in 1990. Retailing for $499.99 at release, the CD add-on was not a popular purchase, but was largely responsible for the platform's success in Japan. Sega made two attempts: the
Sega Mega-CDThe is an add-on device for the Mega Drive video game console, designed and produced by Sega and released in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and North America. In North America, it was renamed Sega CD, as the name Mega-CD bore no obvious associative meaning in that market where the console...
(renamed Sega-CD in North America) and the
Sega 32XThe Sega 32X , codenamed Project Mars, is an add-on for the Sega Mega Drive video game console by Sega.In Japan, it was distributed under the name Sega Super 32X. In North America, its name was the Sega Genesis 32X...
, neither of which were very successful. The Sega CD was plagued by a high price tag ($300 at its release) and a limited library of games. The 32X faced a number of problems, primarily technical and commercial: the peripheral would occasionally not work with some consoles, and some retailers were not able to meet the initial demand for the add-on, leading to shortages. A unique add-on for the Sega console was
Sega ChannelSega Channel was a project developed by Sega for the 16-bit Sega Genesis console. Starting in 1994, Sega Channel service was provided to the public by Time Warner Cable and TCI, which later was acquired by the old AT&T during its cable acquisition spree that formed AT&T...
. Sega Channel was a subscription based service hosted by local television providers. It required hardware that plugged into a cable line and the Sega.
Nintendo made an attempt with their successful
SatellaviewThe was a satellite modem add-on for Nintendo's Super Famicom system in Japan released in 1995. It retailed for ¥18,000 .The Satellaview system was developed and released by Nintendo to receive signals broadcast from satellite TV station WOWOW's satellite radio subsidiary, St.GIGA...
and
Super Game BoyThe Super Game Boy is an adapter cartridge for Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as the Super Famicom in Japan. The Super Game Boy allows game cartridges designed for use on the Game Boy to be played on a TV display using the SNES/Super Famicom controllers. When it was...
. The former was a satellite service released only on the
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese market and the latter an adapter for the Super Nintendo that allowed Game Boy games to be displayed on a TV in color. Interestingly, Nintendo, working along with
Sonyis a multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest media conglomerates with revenue exceeding ¥ 7.730.0 trillion, or $78.88 billion U.S. . Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game...
, also had plans to create a CD-ROM drive for the Super NES, similar to the Sega CD, but eventually decided not to go through with that project, opting to team up with
PhilipsKoninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , most commonly known as Philips, is a Dutch electronics company.Philips is one of the largest electronics companies in the world. In 2007, its sales were €26.79 billion...
in the development of the add-on instead. Sony decided to go ahead with the CD-ROM development and used the name "
PlayStationThe PlayStation is a 32-bit fifth generation video game console released by Sony Computer Entertainment in December ....
" for their own stand-alone CD-based console, overseen by former SNES sound-chip engineer,
Ken Kutaragiis the former Chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment , the video game division of Sony Corporation. He is known as "The Father of the PlayStation", and its successors and spinoffs, including the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and the PlayStation 3.Kutaragi was...
. The PlayStation went on to badly hurt
CD-iCD-i, or Compact Disc Interactive, is the name of an interactive multimedia CD player developed and marketed by Royal Philips Electronics N.V.. Though not originally marketed as a game console, it is infamous for being one of the biggest commercial failures in video game history...
sales, and Philips dropped the product line in 1998.
European and Australian importing
The fourth generation was also the era when the act of buying imported US games became more established in Europe, and regular stores began to carry them. This was especially popular with SNES games, due to several reasons, including the fact that the
PALPAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television encoding system used in broadcast television systems in large parts of the world. Other common analogue television systems are SECAM and NTSC. This page primarily discusses the colour encoding system...
region has a refresh rate of 50Hz (compared with 60 Hz for
NTSCNTSC, named for the National Television System Committee is the analog television system used in most of the Americas, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Burma, and some Pacific island nations and territories . is also the name of the U.S. standardization body that developed the broadcast standard...
) and a vertical resolution of 625 interlaced lines (
576576i is a standard-definition video mode used in PAL and SECAM countries. In digital applications it's usually referred to as "576i", in analogue contexts it's often quoted as "625 lines"....
effective), compared with 525/480 for NTSC.
This fact meant that a game designed for the NTSC standard without any modification would run 17% slower and have black bars at the top and bottom when played on a PAL television. Developers often had a hard time converting games designed for the American and Japanese NTSC standard to the European and Australian PAL standard. Companies such as
Konamiis a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
, with large budgets and a healthy following in Europe and Australia, readily optimised several games (such as the
International Superstar SoccerInternational Superstar Soccer is the name of a series of football video games developed by Japanese company Konami, mostly by their Osaka branch, Konami Computer Entertainment Osaka. It should not be confused with KCET's Pro Evolution Soccer series , which was originally developed for the...
series) for this audience, while most smaller developers did not.
Also, few RPGs were released in Europe because they would have needed to been translated into many different languages. RPGs tend to contain much more text than other genres, so one of the biggest problems was simply fitting all of the full translations into one cartridge. The cost of creating multiple full translations was also prohibitive. Only the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
and
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
saw any number of RPG releases, and even then the number was a fraction of what was being released in Japan. For the Mega Drive, there were numerous PAL releases of RPGs. Example includes
Phantasy Star II,
III and
IV,
Shining in the Darkness,
Shining Force and its sequel,
Sword of Vermilion,
Super Hydlide,
Landstalker,
Story of Thor,
Soleil and
Light Crusader. A few of them received French and German translations .
Popular US games imported at this time included
Final Fantasy II (known in Japan as
Final Fantasy IVis a console role-playing game developed and published by Square in 1991 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game was originally released for the Super Famicom in Japan, but has been ported with minor changes to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as well as by TOSE to the Sony...
),
Final Fantasy III (known in Japan as
Final Fantasy VI, also known as Final Fantasy III in North America when it was first released, is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square in 1994 as a part of the Final Fantasy series...
),
Secret of ManaSecret of Mana, known in Japan as , is an action role-playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed and published by Square in 1993. The game was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in 2008, and is to be ported to Japanese mobile phones in 2009...
,
Street Fighter IIis a series in Capcom's Street Fighter saga of head-to-head fighting games, originally released as coin-operated arcade games. The Street Fighter II series started with the Street Fighter II game itself, released in as a sequel to Capcoms fighting game Street Fighter.Street Fighter II improved...
,
Chrono Triggeris a console role-playing game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. The game's story follows a group of adventurers who travel through time to prevent a global catastrophe...
, and
Super Mario RPG.
Comparison
| Name |
TurboGrafx-16/PC-EngineThe TurboGrafx-16 , known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
|
Sega Mega Drive/GenesisThe is a fourth-generation video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988 and Europe in 1990. The console was released in North America in 1989 under the name Genesis, as Sega was unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name in that region...
|
Neo GeoThe Neo Geo is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released in 1990 by Japanese game company SNK. The hardware featured comparatively colorful 2D graphics and high-quality sound....
|
Super Nintendo Entertainment System/Super FamicomThe Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
|
| Console |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Launch prices (USD) |
US$249.99 |
US$190.00 |
US$649.99 (Gold version)
US$399.99 (Silver version) |
US$199.99 |
| Release date |
|
|
|
|
| Media |
Data card
CD-ROM (add-on) |
Cartridge
CD-ROM (Sega CD add-on)
Data card (Master-Gear and Power Base Add-ons) |
Cartridge
CD-Rom (Neo Geo CDThe Neo Geo CD was released in 1994, four years after its cartridge-based equivalent, in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs. The system was originally priced at US$300 new. The unit's 1X CD-ROM drive was slow, making loading times very long with the system loading up to 56 Mbit of data...
- was released as a separate system)
Data card (Europe/Japan) |
Cartridge
Magnetic disc (Japan only)
CD-ROM (Aborted add-on)
FlopticalFloptical refers to a type of disk drive that combines magnetic and optical technologies to store large amounts of data on media similar to 3½-inch floppy disks. The name is a portmanteau of the words 'floppy' and 'optical'...
(Japan only) |
| Best-selling games |
Bonk's AdventureBonk's Adventure is a 2D platform video game developed by Red Company and Atlus and released in 1990 for the TurboGrafx-16. In Japan it was known as PC Genjin, a play on the Japanese name for the system, PC Engine...
|
Sonic the Hedgehog 2Sonic the Hedgehog 2, or simply Sonic 2, is a platform game developed by American studio Sega Technical Institute in collaboration with Sonic Team, and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis. It was released in Japan on November 21 1992 and in North America and Europe three days later on...
, 6 million (as of June 2006) |
King of Fighters, officially abbreviated KOF, is a series of fighting games by SNK Playmore . The series was originally developed for SNK's Neo-Geo MVS arcade hardware, which served as the main platform for the series until 2004, when SNK retired the MVS in favor of the Atomiswave arcade board and will move the...
|
Super Mario Worldis a platform game developed and published by Nintendo as a pack-in launch title for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It has gone on to become a critical and commercial success, becoming the best seller for the platform, with 20 million copies sold worldwide...
, 20 million (as of June 25, 2007) |
| Backward compatibility In technology, for example in telecommunications and computing, a device or technology is said to be backwards compatible if it allows input generated by older devices...
|
None |
Sega Master SystemThe Sega Master System is an 8-bit cartridge-based video game console that was manufactured by Sega and was first released in 1986. Its original Japanese incarnation was the Sega Mark III...
(using Power Base Converter) |
None |
Game BoyThe is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America on , and in Europe on . In Southern Asia, it is known as the "Tata Game Boy" It is the first handheld console in the Game Boy line...
(using Super Game BoyThe Super Game Boy is an adapter cartridge for Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as the Super Famicom in Japan. The Super Game Boy allows game cartridges designed for use on the Game Boy to be played on a TV display using the SNES/Super Famicom controllers. When it was...
) |
| Accessories (retail) |
- TurboGrafx-CD
- TurboTap
- TurboStick
- Super System Card
- TurboBooster
- TurboBooster Plus
|
Sega CDThe is an add-on device for the Mega Drive video game console, designed and produced by Sega and released in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and North America. In North America, it was renamed Sega CD, as the name Mega-CD bore no obvious associative meaning in that market where the console...
Sega 32XThe Sega 32X , codenamed Project Mars, is an add-on for the Sega Mega Drive video game console by Sega.In Japan, it was distributed under the name Sega Super 32X. In North America, its name was the Sega Genesis 32X...
MouseIn computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...
MenacerThe Menacer is a wireless lightgun created by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis video game console in 1992, as a response to the Super Scope by Nintendo. The Menacer is made up of three interconnected sections. The main section alone can be used as a pistol. A skeletonized shoulder stock...
Power Base Converter
Sega Activator
MultitapA multitap is a video game console peripheral that increases the number of controller ports available to the player, allowing additional controllers to be used in play...
|
Neo Geo Controller Pro
Neo Geo Memory Card
Neo Geo CDThe Neo Geo CD was released in 1994, four years after its cartridge-based equivalent, in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs. The system was originally priced at US$300 new. The unit's 1X CD-ROM drive was slow, making loading times very long with the system loading up to 56 Mbit of data...
|
Super Scope The Super Scope, or Nintendo Scope in Europe and Australia, is the official Super Nintendo light gun. It was released in the European and North American markets, with a limited release in Japan due to a lack of consumer demand...
MultitapA multitap is a video game console peripheral that increases the number of controller ports available to the player, allowing additional controllers to be used in play...
Super Game BoyThe Super Game Boy is an adapter cartridge for Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as the Super Famicom in Japan. The Super Game Boy allows game cartridges designed for use on the Game Boy to be played on a TV display using the SNES/Super Famicom controllers. When it was...
SNES MouseThe Super NES Mouse is a peripheral released by Nintendo in 1992 for the Super Nintendo video game system . Originally designed for use with the game Mario Paint, the SNES Mouse was sold in a bundle with the game for $59.95 in the United States and included a plastic mouse pad...
Super AdvantageThe SNES Advantage was a large joystick produced by Asciiware, sold for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The device was meant to rest on a flat surface at a comfortable level, such as a tabletop, or the floor while the player was seated behind it, but was often used while resting on a...
|
| CPU |
HuC6280A The HuC6280 8-bit microprocessor is Japanese company Hudson Soft's improved version of the WDC 65C02 CPU. The most notable product using the HuC6280 is NEC's TurboGrafx 16 video game console.-Description:...
(modified 65SC02)
1.79 or 7.16 MHz |
Motorola 68000The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
7.67 MHz (7.61 MHz PAL) |
Motorola 68000The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
12 MHz
Zilog Z80The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed and sold by Zilog from July 1976 onwards. It was widely used both in desktop and embedded computer designs as well as for military purposes...
4MHz |
Nintendo-custom 5A22The Ricoh 5A22 is a microprocessor produced by Ricoh for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. The 5A22 is based around the 16-bit CMD/GTE 65c816, itself a version of the WDC 65C816 .All of the above mentioned processors are based on the MOS Technology 6502 family of...
(based on 65C816)
3.58 MHz (3.55 MHz PAL) |
| Memory |
8 KiB work RAM
64 KiB video RAM |
64 KiB main RAM
64 KiB video RAM
8 KiB audio RAM |
64 KiB main RAM
74 KiB video RAM
2 KiB audio RAM |
128 KiB main RAM
64 KiB video RAM
64 KiB audio RAM |
Worldwide sales standings
| Console | Units sold |
|---|
Super Nintendo Entertainment System/FamicomThe Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super NES is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
|
49 million (as of August 4, 2007) |
Sega Mega Drive/GenesisThe is a fourth-generation video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988 and Europe in 1990. The console was released in North America in 1989 under the name Genesis, as Sega was unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name in that region...
|
29 million (as of May 15, 2007) |
TurboGrafx-16/PC EngineThe TurboGrafx-16 , known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
|
10 million (as of July 30, 2007) |
Mega-CDThe is an add-on device for the Mega Drive video game console, designed and produced by Sega and released in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and North America. In North America, it was renamed Sega CD, as the name Mega-CD bore no obvious associative meaning in that market where the console...
(Mega Drive/Genesis add-on) |
6 million (as of July 30, 2007) |
CD-iCD-i, or Compact Disc Interactive, is the name of an interactive multimedia CD player developed and marketed by Royal Philips Electronics N.V.. Though not originally marketed as a game console, it is infamous for being one of the biggest commercial failures in video game history...
|
570,000 (as of July 30, 2007) |
Sega 32XThe Sega 32X , codenamed Project Mars, is an add-on for the Sega Mega Drive video game console by Sega.In Japan, it was distributed under the name Sega Super 32X. In North America, its name was the Sega Genesis 32X...
(Mega Drive/Genesis add-on) |
200,000 (as of July 30, 2007) |
Handheld systems
The first
handheld game consoleA handheld game console is a lightweight, portable device with a built-in screen, games controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place...
released in the fourth generation was the
Game BoyThe is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America on , and in Europe on . In Southern Asia, it is known as the "Tata Game Boy" It is the first handheld console in the Game Boy line...
, on April 21, 1989. It went on to dominate handheld sales by an extremely large margin. Despite featuring a monochrome screen, when its closest competitor, the Atari Lynx, included color graphics, a backlight, and networking capabilities, its comparatively short battery life and high price proved to be the Lynx's undoing. Two major franchises made their debut on the Game Boy;
Tetris; the Game Boy's
killer applicationA killer application , in the jargon of computer programmers and video gamers, has been used to refer to any computer program that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware like a gaming console, operating system or other software...
, and
Pokémonis a media franchise published by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video game-based media franchise in the world,...
. The third major handheld of the fourth generation was the
Sega Game GearThe is a handheld game console which was Sega's response to Nintendo's Game Boy. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress....
. It featured graphics capabilities comparable to the Master System, but it also inherited the same shortcomings as the Lynx. While it did not sell as few units as the Lynx, its bulky design and low battery life caused it to be pushed to the sidelines.
Other handheld consoles released during the fourth generation included the
TurboExpressThe TurboExpress or PC Engine GT in Japan was a portable version of the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine , released by NEC in 1990 for $249.99 .It was the most advanced handheld of its time and could play all the TurboGrafx-16's games The TurboExpress or PC Engine GT (Game Tank) in Japan was a portable...
, a handheld version of the TurboGrafx-16 released by NEC in 1990, and the Game Boy Pocket, an improved model of the Game Boy released about two years before the debut of the
Game Boy ColorThe is Nintendo's successor to the Game Boy and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27 1998 in UK. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than the Game Boy Pocket. As with the original Game...
. While the TurboExpress was another early pioneer of color handheld gaming technology and had the added benefit of using the same game cartridges or 'HuCards' as the TurboGrafx16, it had even lower battery life than the Lynx and Game Gear; about three hours on six AA batteries; and numerous hardware problems, selling only 1.5 million units by 2007.
Comparison
| Console |
Game BoyThe is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America on , and in Europe on . In Southern Asia, it is known as the "Tata Game Boy" It is the first handheld console in the Game Boy line...
|
Atari Lynx |
Sega Game GearThe is a handheld game console which was Sega's response to Nintendo's Game Boy. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress....
|
TurboExpressThe TurboExpress or PC Engine GT in Japan was a portable version of the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine , released by NEC in 1990 for $249.99 .It was the most advanced handheld of its time and could play all the TurboGrafx-16's games The TurboExpress or PC Engine GT (Game Tank) in Japan was a portable...
|
| Image |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Launch price |
¥12,500
US$89.95 |
US$189.99 |
¥14,500
US$149.99
AUD $155 |
US$299.99 |
| Release date |
Japan April 21, 1989
US August, 1989
EU 1990 |
US September 1989
EU 1990 |
Japan October 6, 1990
EU US 1991
Australia 1992 |
Japan November 16, 1990
US 1991 |
| Units sold |
118.69 million (as of October 30, 2008), including Game Boy ColorThe is Nintendo's successor to the Game Boy and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27 1998 in UK. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than the Game Boy Pocket. As with the original Game...
units |
less than 500,000 (as of July 30, 2007) |
11 million (as of July 30, 2007) |
1.5 million |
| Media |
Cartridge |
Cartridge |
Cartridge |
Datacard |
| Best-selling games |
TetrisTetris was a pack-in title included with the Game Boy at the handheld's release in 1989. It is a portable version of Alexey Pajitnov's Tetris. It was the first game compatible with the Game Boy Game Link Cable, a pack-in accessory that allowed two Game Boys to link together for multiplayer purposes...
, 35 million (pack-inA pack-in game is a game that is included with the purchase of a video game console.- Characteristics :Pack-in games are intended to be system-selling games that make good use of the positive features of a given system...
/ separately).
Pokémon Red, Blue, and GreenPokémon Red and Pokémon Blue are the first installments of the Pokémon series of role-playing video games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. They were first released in Japan in 1996 and later released in North America, Europe and Australia over the following three...
, approximately 20.08 million combined (in Japan and the US) (details). |
Unknown |
Sonic the Hedgehog 2Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a side-scrolling platform video game developed by Aspect Co., Ltd. and released by Sega for their Master System and Game Gear formats. The Master System version was released in Europe on October 16 1992, and in Brazil around the same time...
|
Unknown |
Software
While many of them originated in the 8-bit era, many of the major franchise titles came of age and solidified their grip on the market in the 16-bit era.
Metroidis a series of science fiction adventure video games conceived by designer Makoto Kanoh and artist Hiroji Kiyotake and produced by Nintendo. Metroid chronicles the missions of bounty hunter Samus Aran who protects the galaxy from the depredations of the Space Pirates and their attempts to harness...
,
Zeldais a high fantasy action-adventure video game series created by game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka and developed and published by Nintendo. The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, adventure, puzzle solving, and role-playing. The series centers on Link, the main playable...
,
Star Fox,
KirbyThe series is a fantasy video game series developed by HAL Laboratory and Nintendo, and produced by Nintendo. The gameplay of a majority of the games in the series consists mainly of action, platform and puzzle-solving elements...
,
Dragon Quest, published as Dragon Warrior in North America until the 2005 release of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King — which is also the first main series game to be released outside Japan and North America, is a series internationally best-selling console role-playing game titles created by...
,
Final Fantasyis a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of science-fantasy console role-playing games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
,
Seiken DensetsuThe Mana series, known in Japan as , is a medieval-fantasy action role-playing game series from Square Enix, created by Kōichi Ishii. The series began as a handheld side story to Square's flagship franchise Final Fantasy, although most Final Fantasy-inspired elements were subsequently dropped,...
(
Secret of ManaSecret of Mana, known in Japan as , is an action role-playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed and published by Square in 1993. The game was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in 2008, and is to be ported to Japanese mobile phones in 2009...
),
Sonic the Hedgehogis a platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis system. It is the inaugural game in Sega's flagship Sonic the Hedgehog video game series, and was the first title developed by Sonic Team. The game was released in 1991 in North America, Europe, and Japan...
,
Donkey Kong,
Street Fighter,
Mortal KombatMortal Kombat is a best-selling series of fighting games created by Ed Boon and John Tobias in 1992. Mortal Kombat began as a series of arcade games, which were picked up by Acclaim Entertainment for the home console versions. Then Midway Games exclusively created home versions of Mortal Kombat....
,
Mega Man XThe Mega Man X series was the second Mega Man franchise released by Capcom. It debuted December 17, 1993 in Japan on the Super Famicom/Super NES. It is the first continuation in plot of the series, preceded by the classic Mega Man series...
, and many others had either their first releases or some of their most popular titles during the 16-bit era.
Sonic the Hedgehogis a platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis system. It is the inaugural game in Sega's flagship Sonic the Hedgehog video game series, and was the first title developed by Sonic Team. The game was released in 1991 in North America, Europe, and Japan...
was
Segais a multinational video game software and hardware development company, and a home computer and console manufacturer headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan...
's bid to compete head-to head with Nintendo's Mario franchise. Debuting in 1991, Sega's marketing of the Sonic franchise was key to Sega's success in the video game market during the early years of this generation. Though a critical and commercial success,
Sonic the Hedgehog and later series games were not able to surpass Mario in popularity.
Metroid II was released for the Game Boy and
Super Metroid, also known as Metroid 3, is an action-platform video game and the third game in the Metroid series. It was developed by Nintendo Research & Development 1 and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. The game was released in...
was released in 1994 on a comparatively large 24
megabitA megabit is an SI-multiple of the unit of bit for digital information storage or transmission. The International Electrotechnical Commission's standard IEC 60027 specifies the symbol to be Mbit, but Mb is also in common use....
cartridge for the SNES. Super Metroid still is regarded by many gaming organizations as one of the "best games of all time."
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console, and the third installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was first released in Japan in 1991, and was later released in North America and Europe in 1992...
, courted popularity that was larger than that of its predecessors on the NES. It was one of the few action-adventures to be released early in the SNES's lifecycle.
Zelda IIis an action role-playing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and it is the second installment in The Legend of Zelda video game series. It was originally released in Japan on the Family Computer Disk System less than a year after the release of the...
on the NES had been mostly action-based and was side-scrolling, while
A Link to the Past drew more inspiration from the original
Zelda game with its top-down adventure format.
Dragon Quest V, known in Europe without the "V", is a console role-playing game and the fifth installment in the Dragon Quest video game series. Originally developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix Corporation, Dragon Quest V was the first title in the series to be released for the Nintendo Super Famicom ...
and
VI, Dragon Quest: Realms of Reverie in Europe, is a console role-playing game developed by Heartbeat and published by Enix for the Super Famicom as a part of the Dragon Quest series. It is the last Dragon Quest game in the Zenithia trilogy. It was released on December 9, 1995 in Japan...
were released on the Japanese Super Famicom, as well as remakes of the first three games originally released for the NES and a dungeon crawler spin-off:
Torneko's Great Adventure, which started Chun Soft's popular
Fushigi no Dungeonis a series of roguelike video games, most of which were developed by Chunsoft, but with select titles in the series developed by other companies with permission from Chunsoft to use the name....
series.
Star Fox was the first SNES game to feature the
Super FXThe Super FX is a coprocessor chip used in select Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game cartridges. This custom-made RISC processor was typically programmed to act like a graphics accelerator chip that would draw polygons to a frame buffer in the RAM that sat adjacent to it...
chip. This game also marked the first quest to stop the evil Andross from taking over the Lylat System. There had been a
Star Fox 2is an unreleased video game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was to be the second of the Star Fox series and the direct sequel to Star Fox. Both Argonaut Games and Nintendo developed the game, with Nintendo planning to publish it. The Japanese version was completely finished except...
with new characters in development for the SNES, but this game was canceled in the beta stages because of the approaching release of the N64.
Final Fantasy Vis a console role-playing game developed and published by Square in 1992 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game first appeared only in Japan on Nintendo's Super Famicom . It has been ported with minor differences to Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's Game Boy Advance...
was released only in Japan, while
Final Fantasy IVis a console role-playing game developed and published by Square in 1991 as a part of the Final Fantasy series. The game was originally released for the Super Famicom in Japan, but has been ported with minor changes to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as well as by TOSE to the Sony...
and
Final Fantasy VI, also known as Final Fantasy III in North America when it was first released, is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square in 1994 as a part of the Final Fantasy series...
were released in North America with their original numeration shifted. While the series was very successful in
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
early on, it was not until the release of
Final Fantasy VIIis a console role-playing game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation, in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers, and released on the PlayStation Network...
on the PlayStation that it reached blockbuster status outside Japan.
Secret of ManaSecret of Mana, known in Japan as , is an action role-playing game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System developed and published by Square in 1993. The game was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in 2008, and is to be ported to Japanese mobile phones in 2009...
reintroduced the
Seiken Densetsu series, originally conceived as a
Final Fantasy spin-offA spin-off is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one, such as television series based on a pre-existing one, or a new company formed from a university research group or business incubator...
, to Europe and North America.
Street Fighter IIis a series in Capcom's Street Fighter saga of head-to-head fighting games, originally released as coin-operated arcade games. The Street Fighter II series started with the Street Fighter II game itself, released in as a sequel to Capcoms fighting game Street Fighter.Street Fighter II improved...
, an SNES port of the arcade original, was the second game in the series that produced a lasting fanbase and set many of the trends seen in fighting games today, most notably its colorful selection of playable fighters from different countries across the globe. As of 2008, it is
Capcomis a leading international developer and publisher of video games headquartered in Osaka, Japan. It was founded in 1979 as Japan Capsule Computers, a company devoted to the manufacturing and distribution of electronic game machines...
's best-selling consumer game of all time.
Phantasy Staris the first installment in Sega's renowned series of the same name. It was released for the Sega Master System in Japan on December 20, 1987, and then in North America in 1988. It is considered one of the pioneers amongst console role-playing games, both for its advanced graphics technology, and...
was Sega's RPG franchise that was established 1987 on the Sega Master System. It was the first console RPG game to reach Europe; almost a decade before
Final Fantasy VIIis a console role-playing game developed by Square and published by Sony Computer Entertainment as the seventh installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was released in 1997 for the Sony PlayStation, in 1998 for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers, and released on the PlayStation Network...
. Three sequels were released to the Mega Drive. With its sci-fi theme, the franchise was unique from fantasy-themed
Dragon Quest, published as Dragon Warrior in North America until the 2005 release of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King — which is also the first main series game to be released outside Japan and North America, is a series internationally best-selling console role-playing game titles created by...
and
Final Fantasyis a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of science-fantasy console role-playing games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...
.
Thunder Force IIThunder Force II is a scrolling shooter developed by Technosoft. It was first released in Japan in 1988 for the Sharp X68000 computer. A year later, it was ported to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis game console and released in Japan , Europe, and the United States...
,
IIIThunder Force III is a scrolling shooter game developed by Technosoft. It is the third chapter in the Thunder Force series. It was released in 1990 in Japan, Europe and the United States for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis game console. During the same year, it was retooled into an arcade game named...
and
IVThunder Force IV is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up video game developed by Technosoft as the fourth installment of the Thunder Force series. It was released in 1992 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console in Japan and the United States, and in 1993 in Europe. In the USA, Sega of America decided to...
were all released for the Mega Drive, but the third game never reached Europe and the fourth was called
Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar (sic) in the US.
Seeking to follow the example of the above titles, several more franchises were born during this era, many of which have not survived to the present day. While game sequels were far from uncommon during the 8-bit era and even before, it was at this time that the potential for continuing series games was realized.