The Mega Drive was released in Japan on October 29, 1988. Sega announced a North American release date for the system (under the name of Sega Genesis) on January 9, 1989. The European release was on November 30, 1990. Following on from the European success of the Sega Master System, the Mega Drive became a very popular console in Europe. Unlike in other regions where the NES had been the dominant platform

The Sega Mega Drive is a 16-/32-bit video game console released by Sega in Japan in 1988, North America in 1989, and the PAL region in 1990. Mega Drive was the name used in Japan and Europe, while 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 Sega's fifth home console and the successor to the Sega Master System, with which it is electronically compatible.

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 in Japan under the name PC Engine, but at about the same time as the Genesis in North America) and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (which was released two years later). The Sega Mega Drive began production in Japan in 1988 and ended with the last new licensed game being released in 2002 in Brazil.

With over 29 million units sold, it became Sega's most successful console. The console has a legacy with certain games available on the console being offered as downloads to be played on newer consoles, fan translations and indie game development.

The Sega Mega Drive's CPU is a 16/32-bit Motorola 68000 which is a 32-bit microprocessor sitting on a 16-bit-wide data bus, similar to Intel's 16/32-bit 386SX.

The maximum addressable memory is 16 megabytes from the ROM to the RAM. The 68000 runs at 7.61 MHz in PAL consoles, 7.67 MHz in NTSC consoles.The Mega Drive also includes a Zilog Z80 as the sound CPU and to provide complete Master System compatibility with only a passive adaptor. The Mega Drive has 64 KB of RAM.

Manufacturer: Sega
Date: 20th November 1990

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH32312. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.