The 16-bit Wars

Sega's Genesis (the Mega Drive in Japan) launched in North America in August 1990, and the North American Super NES followed in 1991. What made this rivalry famous wasn't the hardware — it was the advertising. "Genesis does what Nintendon't" — at the time, industry convention held that you didn't name a competitor directly, and Sega was the first to cross that line. It touted speed, stacked its lineup with sports titles, and even mocked the SNES version of Mortal Kombat for toning down the blood. In 1991, Nintendo answered with "The Best Play Here," starring a young Paul Rudd, arguing for quality over quantity. Sega is said to have taken a majority share of the North American 16-bit market in 1992 (this figure is an industry estimate, and the sourcing is weak), before the SNES pulled ahead in 1994-95. Years of rivalry that sharpened both of them.