1991
 |  The Super Nintendo. |
Nintendo releases the Super Famicom in America and calls the $249 console the Super NES (SNES). Journalists begin to wonder aloud whether Mario will be enough to convince NES-dedicated parents to make the investment in a new machine.
|  Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog. |
Sega unveils Sonic the Hedgehog, which it hopes is a force that will one day conquer the NES and SNES. Charmed by the character, critics are quick to support it but call the choice between Mario and Sonic a toss-up. Most pick Super Mario World as the better of the two.
SNES CD Player
Sony and Nintendo announce plans for Sony to develop a $700 CD player to work with the SNES.
|  The Game Genie. |
Galoob Toys releases the Game Genie, which infuriates Nintendo--the device lets players cheat in NES games and win more easily. Nintendo sees the Game Genie as a tool that reduces the long-term value of its games, and it attempts to prevent Game Genie sales.
Street Fighter II
Capcom releases Street Fighter II and brings new life to arcades filled with walk-and-punch clones and shooters. Teenagers flock to play Street Fighter II, and arcades purchase multiple machines and similar clones and begin to invest in more sophisticated racing simulations as well.
Atari Panther
Atari announces development of the Panther, a new 32-bit game system designed to compete against Sega and Nintendo.
1992
Genesis Software
Although they have contracts with Nintendo, Capcom and Konami talk actively with Sega about development for the Genesis. They ultimately release games but never devote their best teams to work on Sega software. Sega hurriedly prepares Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for a holiday release. The game sells like mad, and Sonic becomes a serious challenger to Mario's future success.
|  The Sega CD. |
Sega releases the Sega CD ($299) but denies developers easy access to development tools that would let them use the system's special graphics abilities (hardware sprite zooming and rotation). Sega of America focuses on developing a number of interactive movies.
JVC Wondermega
JVC introduces the Wondermega in Japan. The Wondermega is a combination Genesis and Sega CD and retails for $620.
Nintendo Divorces Sony and Marries Philips
Sony and Nintendo abandon their joint CD peripheral, which Sony had reputedly completed in prototype form. Rumors surface indicating that Sony lawyers had skillfully crafted an agreement that allowed Sony to reap publishing profits from SNES/Super Famicom CD-based games, profits Nintendo sought to retain. Nintendo announces plans to work with Philips to create a CD-ROM compatible with the Philips CD-i. Sony, disgusted, finishes work on a number of SNES games, scraps the old "PlayStation" developed for Nintendo, and sets its engineers to work on developing a 32-bit CD-only game machine to unseat Nintendo in Japan and the United States.
3DO Is Launched
3DO, a new company started by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, announces a new 32-bit gaming console. 3DO receives major backing from Panasonic, Time Warner, and MCA. 3DO does not plan to manufacturer any consoles itself. Hawkins' dream is that the 3DO console will become the standard that will be released by many different manufacturers.
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