The Sega Master System: The Underdog Console That Fought Nintendo
If you grew up in the 1980s and your best friend had a Sega Master System instead of a Nintendo, you probably remember feeling like you were part of some kind of secret underground gaming club. While every other kid on the block was obsessed with Mario, you were rocking Alex Kidd, blasting through Fantasy Zone, and wondering why nobody else seemed to understand how awesome your console was.
The Sega Master System was the scrappy underdog of the 8-bit console wars — a machine that was technically superior to the NES in almost every measurable way, yet somehow got absolutely steamrolled in North America. But here’s the thing that makes this story so fascinating: while Nintendo was dominating the United States, the Master System was quietly conquering the rest of the world.
This is the story of the console that refused to die.
From the SG-1000 to the Mark III: Sega’s Rocky Start
Before the Master System existed, Sega was already in the console game — literally. In 1983, the same year the video game industry in North America was busy imploding like a dying star, Sega released the SG-1000 in Japan. And in one of the greatest pieces of terrible timing in gaming history, they launched it on the exact same day as Nintendo’s Famicom: July 15, 1983.
