Description

The Sega Mega Drive is a 16-bit video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988, North America in 1989, and the PAL region in 1990. Led by Tom Kalinske, it was sold under the name Sega Genesis in North America as Sega was unable to secure legal rights to the Mega Drive name in that region. The Mega Drive was Sega's fifth home console and the successor to the Sega Master System.

The Mega Drive is part of the fourth generation era of consoles, and the first of its generation to achieve notable market share in Europe and North America. It was a direct competitor of the TurboGrafx-16 (which was released one year earlier) and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (which was released two years later). The Sega Mega Drive began production in Japan in 1988 and ended with the last new game being released in 2002 in Brazil.

With a lifespan of fourteen years and 29 million units sold, it became Sega's most successful console. What helped it accomplish this were clever marketing in the western world, an image and mascot totally opposite of its competitors, perhaps its unique hardware design and a vast library with many successful games. Although it had its graphical weaknesses compared to the TurboGrafx-16 and SNES, the powerful 16/32-bit processor was a key in seminal games such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Gunstar Heroes.

Today, the console lives on with games being downloadable on newer consoles, fan translations and indie game development.




source: wikipedia