(Sheff 15). While this may be a fairly substantial number, it pales in comparison with Nintendo’s sales. The Famicom sold 500,000 units in its first six months (Sheff 35). Nintendo easily sold more systems than Sega before the Master System was even released. Up until the takeoff of the next generation of video game consoles, Nintendo commanded nearly 85% of the market for home video games (Sheff 6).

Nintendo’s early command of the video game industry can solely be attributed to the man in charge of Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi. His shrewd business decisions did not allow the late-starting Master System to gain very much market share despite the technologically superior system. The Master System beat the Nintendo hands down in nearly every category even with the two systems quitecould say that Sega’s foray with Nintendo in the home video game market provided a very important learning experience. Sega did not make the same mistakes when it came to releasing the Mega Drive in Japan in 1988 and the American equivalent, the Genesis, shortly thereafter in 1989. Sega immediately licensed Electronic Arts to produce games for the new 16-bit system. This addition of game titles and the nearly two-year head start on the Nintendo 16-bit system allowed Sega to increase market share. The numbers vary from source to source, but at its pinnacle Sega caught up to if not surpassed Nintendo in market share. According to Segaweb.com, “The Genesis years are often what us Sega fans refer to as the golden age of Sega.” The battle may