Nintendo released their second home console system, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super NES) in 1991. The first game, Super Mario World (the fourth in their Super Mario series) became an instant hit.
The next year, Sega introduced a CD-ROM expansion for their immensely popular Sega Genesis system, after Phillips had introduced the concept of CD's for home console systems with its CD-i. In 1983, Atari attempted to resurrect its market share in the home console market with the Atari Jaguar, the first home system to utilize 64-bit graphics. Unfortunately for Atari it did not catch on as hoped.
In 1995, a new player entered the home console market: Sony. Their Playstation would prove to become an immensely popular home console system. That year Sega also released their newest system: Sega Saturn that year. Both moved away from cartridges and instead utilized CDs.
With two new systems to compete with, Nintendo jumped back into the spotlight with Nintendo 64, featuring 64-bit graphics unlike anything seen in the home market
before. It failed to move into the CD world, however, and was the last home console system to utilize cartridges.
As the 90's wore on, Sega began to lose its place in the console market to newcomer Sony. They attempted to rectify this in 1999 with their new Dreamcast, but it would not be enough to stem the slowing market sales. By 2002 Sega had decided to leave the console field and only work on actual game development.
2000 saw the explosion of the Playstation 2 by Sony. The Playstation had clearly come to dominate over both Sega and Nintendo, and was now the primary player in the home console market. In 2001 another newcomer arrives on the home console scene: computer mega-corporation Microsoft with its X-Box.
Nintendo also came out with their newest home console product: GameCube. They had begun to lose market share for their home console systems, however, first to Playstation and now to X-Box. Fortunately with the release of Game Boy Color in 1998 and Game Boy Advance in 2001, they continued to be a major force in the handheld video play games market.
Today, fans of video games have many options like playing fighting games . While not as numerous as in the past, video arcades continue to collect the quarters of millions of people every day, featuring more advanced controls, graphics and mechanics than is possible on a home system.
Home consoles are the largest part of the video game market, with some sort of console system being a vital element of any proper home entertainment system. Computer games are another huge market, although one very different from more traditional video game fare. From their meager beginnings in the 50's and 60's, video games have become a defining element of modern life.
