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The Fourth generation of video game hardware (1987-2003) expanded the home console market. The generation started in the late '80s with the release of NEC's PC-Engine. The Mega Drive was released a year later to compete with the original NES as well as the PC-Engine. One year after that, both consoles came to North America as the TurboGrafx-16 and Genesis. The Neo Geo AES was also brought into the market as a home version of SNK's arcade machine, the Neo Geo MVS. One year after that, Nintendo released the Super Famicom in Japan and the Super Nintendo in North America. To compete with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, SEGA released the SEGA CD, as an add on to the Genesis. Nintendo tried to release a CD add on itself, but it was canceled, during this time Philips made its own console, the CD-i, using the Nintendo license. The last console released in this time was the Jaguar, which was a technology advance for the time, but failed to capture the market under Nintendo's control in the market.

Sales Comparison[ | ]

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History of video games
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Worldwide[ | ]

Console Units sold
Mega Drive/Genesis 46.671–51.485 million
Mega Drive/Genesis (1988) 40–44.814 million (2001)[s 1]
Mega CD/SEGA CD (1991) 6 million[18] (1996)
32X (1994) 665,000 (1994)[19]
Mega PC (1993) 6,000 (1994)[20]
Super Famicom/SNES 49.1 million
Super Famicom/SNES (1990) 49.1 million (2003)[21]
PC-Engine / TurboGrafx-16 14.92 million
PC-Engine / TurboGrafx-16 (1987) 10.5 million (2003)[22]
PC-Engine Duo 1.92 million (1996)[23]
PC-Engine CD-ROM²/TurboGrafx-CD (1988) 1 million (1993)[20]
PC-Engine GT/TurboExpress (1990) 1.5 million[24] (1995)
Others 1.5958 million
SNK Neo Geo / Neo Geo AES (1990) 1 million (1999)[20]
CD-i (1991) 570,000 (1998)[25][26]
Amiga CDTV (1991) 25,800 (1993)[27]

Asia[ | ]

In Singapore, the Genesis captured 50% of the market share, which it held from 1989 to 1991. During 1992 to 1995, the SNES captured and held a majority of the market share.[28]

In South Korea, the Mega Drive was officially released as the Samsung Super Gam*Boy/Aladdinboy. It sold 194,000 units as of 1993, beating the SNES (released as the Hyundai Super Comboy), which sold 80,000 units as of 1993.[29]

Japan[ | ]

The cumulative (including annual) sales of fourth-generation consoles in Japan:

Year Sales
PC-Engine Mega Drive LaserActive
[20]
Neo Geo
[20]
SNES
[30]
PC-Engine [30] PC-Engine Super System Card PC-Engine CD-ROM² Mega Drive [30] Mega CD [20]
1987 600,000[31]
1988 1,440,000
(+840,000)
400,000
1989 2,380,000
(+940,000)
1,000,000
(+600,000)
1990 3,690,000
(+1,310,000)
1,900,000
(+900,000)
1,440,000
[32]
1991 4,720,000
(+1,030,000)
300,000
[33]
700,000
[33]
2,600,000
(+700,000)
200,000 3,810,000
(+2,370,000)
1992 5,390,000
(+670,000)
[31]
600,000
[33]
(+300,000)
900,000
[33]
(+200,000)
3,000,000
(+400,000)
280,000
(+80,000)
7,390,000
(+3,580,000)
1993 5,790,000
(+400,000)
[31]
3,450,000
(+450,000)
700,000
[34]
(+420,000)
42,000 300,000 11,820,000
(+4,430,000)
1994 5,970,000
(+180,000)
1,900,000
[23]
3,550,000
(+100,000)
850,000
[34]
(+150,000)
14,470,000
(+2,650,000)
1995 6,000,000
(+30,000)[31]
1,920,000
[23]
(+20,000)
3,580,000
(+30,000)
16,250,000
(+1,780,000)
1996 700,000 16,860,000
[35]
(+610,000)
1997 800,000
(+100,000)
17,050,000
(+190,000)
[35]
1998 17,100,000
(+50,000)[35]
1999 17,130,000
(+30,000)[35]
2000 17,140,000
(+10,000)[35]
2001 17,150,000
(+10,000)[35]
2002 17,160,000
(+10,000)[35]
2003 8,000,000[36] 17,170,000
(+10,000)[35]
Total 8,000,000 (PCE)
9,920,000 (PCE & Duo)
10,820,000 (PCE, Duo, CD‑ROM²)
3,580,000
(SMD)
4,430,000
(SMD & CD)
42,000 800,000 17,170,000

North America[ | ]

The cumulative (including annual) sales of fourth-generation consoles in North America:

Year Sales
TurboGrafx‑16 SEGA Genesis [s 1] Super NES
TG16 TCD GEN [sn 1] GEN 3 Nomad SCD 32X
1989 300,000[20] 500,000[37]
1990 750,000[38]
(+450,000)
20,000[38] 1.5 million[2]
(+1 million)
1991 1.7 million
[39]
(+950,000)
100,000
[39]
(+80,000)
3.1 million
(+1.6 million)[4][5]
2 million
[20][40][41]
1992 7.6 million
(+4.5 million)
[6][42]
220,000
[6][20]
6.9 million
[34]
(+4.9 million)
1993 13.1 million
(+5.5 million)
[7][43]
(60% share)[44]
1.3 million
[34][45]
(+1,080,000)
11.3 million
[34]
(+4.4 million)
(37% share)[46]
1994 17.1 million
(+4 million)
(58%)[8]
1.5 million
[34]
(+200,000)
500,000
[8]
15 million[34]
(+3.7 million)
(36.43%)[10]
1995 2.5 million
[18]
19.2 million
(+2.1 million)
[9]
17.6 million
(+2.6 million)
[9]
1996 20,515,904
(+1,315,904)
(18.56%)[10]
18,725,892
(+1,125,892)
(15.88%)[10]
1997 20,993,824
(+477,920)
(4.12%)[10]
19,318,652
(+592,760)
(5.11%)[10]
1998 21,652,795
(+658,971)
(5.31%)[10]
2 million 19,518,453
(+199,801)
(1.61%)[10]
1999 22,083,808
(+431,013)
(3.53%)[10]
2.5 million
(+500,000)
1 million 19,533,105
(+14,652)
(0.12%)[10]
2000 22,138,145
(+54,337)
(0.67%)[10]
19,533,916
(+811)
(0.01%)[10]
2001 22,139,461
(+1,316)
(0.01%)[10]
19,533,930
(+14)
(0.0001%)
[10]
2003 20 million
[21]
Total 2.5 million
(TG16)
2.6 million
(TG16 & TCD)
24,639,461 (Genesis 1-3)
25,639,461 (Genesis 1-3 & Nomad)
27,139,461 (Genesis 1-3, Nomad, SCD)
27,639,461 (Genesis 1-3, Nomad, SCD, 32X)
20 million

Western Europe[ | ]

The cumulative (including annual) sales of fourth-generation consoles in Western Europe:

Year Sales
SEGA Mega Drive [34] Super NES
[34]
Amiga
CDTV

[27]
CD-i [47]
Mega Drive [34][48] Mega CD 32X Mega PC
1990 600,000[39]
1991 1,800,000[39]
(+1,200,000)
1992 5,400,000[39]
(+3,600,000)
2,030,000 33,000
1993 7,250,000[39]
(+1,850,000)
(60+% share)[44]
210,000 3,590,000
(+1,560,000)
25,800 280,000
(+247,000)
1994 8,270,000
(+1,020,000)
415,000
(+205,000)
65,000 6,000[20] 4,650,000
(+1,060,000)
1995 8,770,000
(+500,000)
486,000
(add-ons & PC)
4,900,000
(+250,000)
1996 8,970,000
(+200,000)
5,000,000
(+100,000)
1997 9,170,000
(+200,000)
5,050,000
(+50,000)
1998 9,656,000
(incl. add-ons & PC)

The regional sales figures for Western Europe:

Nation(s) Sales
Mega Drive [34] SNES
[34]
Amiga CDTV CD-i
Mega Drive Mega CD 32X Mega PC
United Kingdom (1994)[48] 4,000,000 80,000 35.000 1,700,000
France (1994) 1,300,000 65.000 5,000 1.000.000
Belgium (1994) 160,000 7,000 2,000 70,000
Germany (1994) 800,000 140,000 10,000 1,400,000 25,800[27]
Italy (1994) 400,000 10,000 5,000 200,000
Netherlands (1994) 160,000 13,000 3,000 130,000
Spain (1994) 450,000 30,000 5,000 300,000
Others (1994) 1,900,000 70,000 500,000
Platform Total 9,170,000 415,000 65,000 6,000 [20] 5,050,000 25,800 280,000 [47]
9,656,000

Notes[ | ]

Sales Numbers[ | ]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Mega Drive/Genesis:
    Worldwide sales
    1st party: over 38.314 million[sn 1]
    3rd party: 3−4.5 million[sn 2][sn 3]
    SEGA Nomad: 1 million[14]

    Regional sales
    North America: over 24.144−25.644 million (over 22.144 million 1st party[sn 1] + 1−2.5 million 3rd party[sn 2] + 1 million SEGA Nomad[14])
    Brazil: 3 million[sn 3]
    Japan: 3.58 million[15]
    Western Europe: 9.17 million[16]
    Other: 3.42 million[17] (left over from initial 29 million,[sn 1] may or may not include overlap with Tec Toy's pre 1995 sales)

Sales Notes[ | ]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 SEGA has never released a total sales figure for the SEGA Genesis. However, there is a detailed history of SEGA's first party North American sales through 1998 totaling over 20.998 million, a number confirmed by the New York Times' statement "some 20 million 16-bit Genesis consoles in the United States alone" in 1998;[1] total North American sales had reached over 22.144 million by 2001.

    North American sales history
    1989-1990: 1.5 million[2][3]
    1991: 1.6 million[4][5]
    1992: 4.5 million[6]
    1993: 5.5 million[7]
    1994: over 4 million[8]
    1995: 2.1 million[9]
    1996: 1.32 million[10]
    1997: 477,920[10]
    1998: 658,971[10]
    1999: 431,013[10]
    2000: 54,337[10]
    2001: 1,316[10]
    Total: over 22.144 million

  2. 2.0 2.1 Majesco sold between 1 and 2 million units of their North American only SEGA Genesis 3 by the end of 1998.[11] 2.5 million units were sold by the time of its discontinuation[12] in 1999.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Tec Toy has sold over 3 million units of their own Mega Drives in Brazil (as of July 30th, 2012).[13] However, it is unknown if Tec Toy's pre 1995 sales are included in the initial 29 million or not. The Mega Drive is still produced and sold by Tec Toy to this day.

References[ | ]

  1. Stephanie Strom (1998-03-14). "SEGA Enterprises Pulls Its Saturn Video Console From the U.S. Market". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/14/business/international-business-sega-enterprises-pulls-its-saturn-video-console-us-market.html?pagewanted=1. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jU9LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=miMNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5346,882338
  3. Hisey, Pete (1991-11-04). New technology fans video war - 16-bit video games. Discount Store News. Retrieved on 2011-01-17
  4. 4.0 4.1 Elrich, David (1992-01-24). Nintendo and SEGA face off on game market at WCES. "SEGA's 1991 sales figure of 1.6 million" 
  5. 5.0 5.1 http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zEWLzTG8AaoC&pg=PA64
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Reuters (1993-01-10). SEGA Vows 1993 Will Be The Year It Overtakes Nintendo. Buffalo News. Retrieved on 2011-01-17
  7. 7.0 7.1 Greenstein, Jane (1994-06-17). SEGA values 16-bit blitz at $500 million. "SEGA expects Genesis hardware sales in 1994 to be the same as last year, 5.5 million units." 
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 SEGA threepeat as video game leader for Christmas sales; second annual victory; SEGA takes No. 1 position for entire digital interactive entertainment industry. Business Wire (1995-01-06). Retrieved on 2011-01-17
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Game-System Sales. Newsweek (1996-01-14). Archived from the original on 2013-05-13 Retrieved on 2011-12-02
  10. 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 10.15 10.16 10.17 10.18 Matthew T. Clements & Hiroshi Ohashi (October 2004). Indirect Network Effects and the Product Cycle: Video Games in the U.S., 1994-2002. NET Institute 12, 24. Retrieved on 2011-09-21
  11. Pettus, Sam (2004-07-07). Genesis: A New Beginning. SEGA-16. Archived from the original on 2008-05-16 Retrieved on 2008-03-06
  12. G. Kandal (2009-10-15). Flashback La MegaDrive. Team AAA. Retrieved on 2011-01-17
  13. Théo Azevedo (2012-07-30). Vinte anos depois, Master System e Mega Drive vendem 150 mil unidades por ano no Brasil (Portuguese). UOL. Retrieved on 2012-10-18 “Base instalada: 5 milhões de Master System; 3 milhões de Mega Drive”
  14. 14.0 14.1 Blake Snow (2007-07-30). The 10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time. GamePro. Archived from the original on 2010-03-23 Retrieved on 2010-01-02 (Archive)
  15. Nintendo Wii almost at 8 million sold. GameZine (2009-04-01). Retrieved on 2011-01-17
  16. See Western Europe below
  17. "Video game market share up to the end of fiscal year 1994". Man!ac Magazine. May, 1995. 
  18. 18.0 18.1 Blake Snow (2007-07-30). The 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time. GamePro. Archived from the original on 2007-05-08 Retrieved on 2008-10-25
  19. Man!ac Magazine staff (May 1995). "Videospiel-Algebra" (in German). Man!ac Magazine (Cybermedia Verlagsgesellschaft mbH). 
  20. 20.00 20.01 20.02 20.03 20.04 20.05 20.06 20.07 20.08 20.09 20.10 Sales numbers from magazine scans (part 2)
  21. 21.0 21.1 Super NES. Classic Systems. Nintendo. Archived from the original on 2007-01-01 Retrieved on 2007-12-04
  22. 8 million in Japan, 2.5 million in United States
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 Famitsu, Issue # 392, Page 8 (March 1996)
  24. Snow, Blake (2007-07-30). The 10 Worst-Selling Handhelds of All Time 1. GamePro. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12 Retrieved on 2008-07-05
  25. Blake Snow (2007-07-30). The 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time. GamePro. Archived from the original on 2007-05-08 Retrieved on 2008-10-25
  26. 350,000 units as of June 1994
  27. 27.0 27.1 27.2 Amiga sales for Germany (as of 31/12/1993), Marketing Division Commodore Frankfurt
  28. Benjamin Ng Wai-ming, "Japanese Video Games in Singapore: History, Culture and Industry", Asian Journal of Social Science, Vol. 29, No. 1 (2001), pp. 139-162 [141], Brill Publishers
  29. Game World (South Korea)
  30. 30.0 30.1 30.2 Japanese Hardware Shipments
  31. 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 Annual Japanese Hardware Shipments
  32. Nintendo Historical Shipment Data (1983 - Present)
  33. 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 FY 93/94 to FY97/98 hardware sales
  34. 34.00 34.01 34.02 34.03 34.04 34.05 34.06 34.07 34.08 34.09 34.10 34.11 Screen Digest. Screen Digest. March 1995. p. 60. 
  35. 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 35.5 35.6 35.7 Consolidated Sales Transition by Region (PDF). Nintendo (2010-01-27). Archived from the original on 2010-02-14 Retrieved on 2010-02-14
  36. Parish, Jeremy (2014-08-01). TurboGrafx-16 at 25: Remembering the Little PC Engine That Could (en-US).
  37. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19900123&id=XcAcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3H4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2643,6188824
  38. 38.0 38.1 http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/225466/stalled_engine_the_turbografx16_.php?page=3
  39. 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 39.4 39.5 Sales numbers from magazine scans
  40. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19920110&id=IV0xAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TgcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3802,6316567
  41. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=19911103&id=2useAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pUcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4864,527272
  42. Electronic Gaming Monthly, issue 44, March 1993, page 4
  43. http://vidgame.info/sega/sega1994.htm
  44. 44.0 44.1 Electronic Games, issue 15 (December 1993), page 148
  45. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/25/business/video-game-maker-making-the-switch-to-pc-hardware.html
  46. http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/1994-02-20/nintendos-yamauchi-no-more-playing-around
  47. 47.0 47.1 IDATE: Executive Summary, September 1997, page 33
  48. 48.0 48.1 UK Installed Bases (EA)
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