Industry | Video games |
---|---|
Headquarters | Redwood City, California [1] |
TecMagik Entertainment Ltd. was a Californian video game development and publishing company that released games for 8-bit and 16-bit games consoles between 1991 and 1994. While the company moved on to developing games for original PlayStation and Nintendo 64 platforms, those games were cancelled prior to release.
The Nintendo 64 (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was the last major home console to use cartridges as its primary storage format until the Nintendo Switch in 2017. As a fifth-generation console, the Nintendo 64 primarily competed with Sony's PlayStation and the Sega Saturn.
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania and 1993 in South America. In Japan, it is called the Super Famicom (SFC). In South Korea, it is called the Super Comboy and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics. The system was released in Brazil on August 30, 1993, by Playtronic. In Russia and CIS, the system was distributed by Steepler from 1994 until 1996. Although each version is essentially the same, several forms of regional lockout prevent cartridges for one version from being used in other versions.
The Game Gear is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily competed with Nintendo's Game Boy, the Atari Lynx, and NEC's TurboExpress. It shares much of its hardware with the Master System, and can play Master System games through the use of an adapter. Sega positioned the Game Gear, which had a full-color backlit screen with a landscape format, as a technologically superior handheld to the Game Boy.
The Sega CD, known as Mega-CD in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan, October 15, 1992, in North America, and April 2, 1993, in Europe. The Sega CD plays CD games and adds hardware functionality such as a faster CPU and graphic enhancements such as sprite scaling and rotation. It can also play audio CDs and CD+G discs.
The Sega Saturn is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the successful Genesis. The Saturn has a dual-CPU architecture and eight processors. Its games are in CD-ROM format, including several ports of arcade games and original games.
The Master System is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured and developed by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 with graphical capabilities improved over its predecessors. The Master System launched in North America in 1986, followed by Europe in 1987, and then in Brazil and Korea in 1989. A Japanese version of the Master System was also launched in 1987, which features a few enhancements over the export models : a built-in FM audio chip, a rapid-fire switch, and a dedicated port for the 3D glasses. The Master System II, a cheaper model, was released in 1990 in North America, Australasia and Europe.
The Genesis Nomad, also known as Sega Nomad, is a handheld game console manufactured by Sega and released in North America in October 1995. The Nomad is a portable variation of the Sega Genesis home video game console. It could also be used with a television set via a video port. It was based on the Mega Jet, a portable version of the home console designed for use on airline flights in Japan.
In the history of video games, the fourth generation of video game consoles, more commonly referred to as the 16-bit era, began on October 30, 1987, with the Japanese release of NEC Home Electronics' PC Engine. Though NEC released the first console of this era, sales were mostly dominated by the rivalry between Sega and Nintendo across most markets: the Sega Mega Drive and the Super Nintendo. Cartridge-based handheld game consoles became prominent during this time, such as the Nintendo Game Boy, Atari Lynx, Sega Game Gear and TurboExpress.
The fifth generation era refers to computer and video games, video game consoles, and handheld gaming consoles dating from approximately October 4, 1993, to March 23, 2006. The best-selling home console was the Sony PlayStation, followed by the Nintendo 64 and Sega Saturn. The PlayStation also had a redesigned version, the PSone, which was launched on July 7, 2000.
1994 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country, Final Fantasy VI, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Virtua Fighter 2 and Doom II, along with new titles such as Daytona USA, Ace Driver, Alpine Racer and Tekken.
Ultimate Soccer is a 1993 soccer video game by Rage Software released for the Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System and Game Gear by request of Sega which even allowed their mascot, Sonic, to be featured in the game menus. While similar in name, it has no relations with the Ultimate Soccer Manager series, but was followed by Striker still for the Mega Drive/Genesis, Striker '96, released for MS-DOS, Sega Saturn, and PlayStation, and Striker Pro 2000, released for PlayStation and the Dreamcast. While never published to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Rage developed other games for the Nintendo console, including Elite Soccer, Manchester United Championship Soccer and World Soccer 94 – Road to Glory.
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, premiering in 1975 with a syndicated version airing in 1983. Since 1986, the syndicated version has been adapted into various video games spanning numerous hardware generations. Most versions released in the 20th century were published by GameTek, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1998.
The Sega Genesis, known as the Mega Drive outside North America, is a 16-bit fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System. Sega released it in 1988 in Japan as the Mega Drive, and in 1989 in North America as the Genesis. In 1990, it was distributed as the Mega Drive by Virgin Mastertronic in Europe, Ozisoft in Australasia, and Tectoy in Brazil. In South Korea, it was distributed by Samsung Electronics as the Super Gam*Boy and later the Super Aladdin Boy.
Online console gaming involves connecting a console to a network over the Internet for services. Through this connection, it provides users the ability to play games with other users online, in addition to other online services.
Ultracore is a run and gun video game developed by DICE. Originally due to be released for Amiga, Genesis, and Sega CD platforms, the game was canceled by its publisher, Psygnosis, in 1994 after it had been almost finished. The game was salvaged by publisher Strictly Limited Games and released together with the Mega Sg aftermarket console in March 2019. Ports for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita were released in 2020. A version compatible with original Sega Genesis systems was released in Japan in October 2019. Ports for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S were released in December 2023.
In the video game industry, a console war describes the competition between two or more video game console manufacturers in trying to achieve better consumer sales through more advanced console technology, an improved selection of video games, and general marketing around their consoles. While console manufacturers are generally always trying to out-perform other manufacturers in sales, these console wars engage in more direct tactics to compare their offerings directly against their competitors or to disparage the competition in contrast to their own, and thus the marketing efforts have tended to escalate in back-and-forth pushes.
Deadly Honor is the title of the forthcoming PlayStation and N64 title from TecMagik and is scheduled for release some time in the fourth quarter.