Sega Genesis
The Sega Genesis, known as the in regions outside of North America, is a 16-bit home video game console developed and sold by Sega. The Genesis was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released the console as the Mega Drive in Japan in 1988, followed by North America as the Genesis in 1989. In 1990, the console was distributed as the Mega Drive by Virgin Mastertronic in Europe, Ozisoft in Australasia, and Tec Toy in Brazil. In South Korea, the systems were distributed by Samsung as the Super Gam*Boy and later the Super Aladdin Boy.
Sega Channel
In early 1995, Sega CEO Hayao Nakayama decided to end development on the Sega Genesis and its add-ons, the Sega CD and Sega 32X. This decision was made to support the Sega Saturn, which had been released in Japan already. This placed the release of the Sega Channel right at the height of the Genesis' decline from the market. At its peak, Sega Channel had over 250,000 subscribers, but by 1997, the number of subscribers had dropped to 230,000, two years after Nakayama made the decision to shift focus from the Genesis to the Saturn. Though Sega looked at options to bring the service to PCs, the service was eventually discontinued by July 31, 1998.