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. 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 the successor to the Sega Master System and was Sega's third home console and second to be sold outside of Japan.
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 (SNES) (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.
