Sega Master System

Sega launched the SG-1000 in 1983 and, to compete better with Nintendo, followed it with the Mark III, released in Japan on October 20, 1985. Hideki Sato and Masami Ishikawa's team replaced the Texas Instruments graphics chip with an in-house design based on the System 2 arcade board. It was more powerful than the Famicom but sold poorly, because Nintendo barred its developers from publishing on other consoles. For Western markets, Sega of America renamed it the Master System and gave it a futuristic design.

It was shown at the 1986 Summer CES and launched in North America that September for $200, with a light gun and the Hang-On/Safari Hunt cartridge. It reached Europe in August 1987 and South Korea and Brazil in 1989; Japan got its own 1987 version with an FM sound chip. In the US it had only Activision and Parker Brothers as third-party publishers, and in 1987 Sega handed US distribution to the toy company Tonka. Nintendo kept its grip on Japan and North America.

It fared better elsewhere. In Europe, Virgin Mastertronic sold it as an alternative to computers such as the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, and by 1990 it was the continent's best-selling console; it stayed ahead in the UK, Belgium and Spain. In Brazil, Tectoy distributed it from 1989. The library varied by region: just over 100 games in North America and more than 300 in Europe. Highlights include Phantasy Star, Alex Kidd in Miracle World and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap.

The Mega Drive launched in Japan in 1988, and in 1990 Sega released the cheaper Master System II without the card slot. Production ended in North America in early 1992, while European releases continued into the mid-1990s. In Brazil, Tectoy has kept selling licensed variants, which is why many publications call it the longest-lived console. In 2009, IGN ranked it 20th on its list of the best consoles.