The beginning of the decade

At the end of the 80s, the most popular video game company was Nintendo. The Nintendo Entertainment System, their first home console, was released in 1985 and was a huge success. By 1989, it was practically as common of a household item as a VCR!

The Nintendo Entertainment System

There were a lot of video game companies at the time trying to create their own successful console, but Sega was Nintendo's closest competitor, with the Sega Master System released in the US in 1986. It was a minor success, but it couldn't come close to the NES in terms of popularity and brand recognition.

The Sega Master System

Some American video game companies, such as Atari, had successes in the early 80s with arcade games and home consoles. By the end of the decade, the most popular game companies and video game developers were Japanese. This trend, and the competition between Nintendo and Sega, would continue and grow even bigger into the 1990s.