In 1987, 16-bit personal computers such as the Commodore Amiga
and Atari ST, and 16-bit arcade machines made video game
consoles look not so good. At this time, Nintendo had a 95%
market share in the US and 92% in Japan. It was no use for Sega
to continue battling with its Master System console. It was time
to try a new way of outdoing the competition. Sega's arcade
machines using System 16 technology had become very popular.
Sega CEO Hayou Nakayama decided it was time to bring this
technology into home videogame consoles. Sega began developing
their new 16-bit console based on System 16. Their final design
worked out so well that they used the technology to make three
new arcade boards (MegaTech, MegaPlay and System C). This now
meant that any game made for these arcade machines could be
almost perfectly ported to their new console. Sega also made
their console backwards compatible with the Sega Master System
with an add-on device later named the Power Base Converter. The
last issue was to give the console a