Topic summary
16-bit era
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Fourth generation of video game consoles.
In the history of video games, the fourth generation of video game consoles, more commonly referred to as the 16-bit era, began on October 30, 1987, with the Japanese release of NEC Home Electronics' PC Engine (known as the TurboGrafx-16 in North America). Though NEC released the first console of this era, sales were mostly dominated by the rivalry between Sega and Nintendo across most markets: the Mega Drive (known as the Genesis in North America) and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (known as the Super Famicom in Japan). Cartridge-based handheld game consoles became prominent during this time, such as the Game Boy, Lynx, Game Gear, and TurboExpress.