The Super Famicom release

The Super Famicom was finally released relatively late to the market in Japan on 21 November 1990 and released as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (officially abbreviated the Super NES or SNES and commonly shortened to Super Nintendo) in North America on 23 August 1991 and in Europe in 1992. Its main rival was the 16-bit Mega Drive, known in North America as Genesis, which had been advertised aggressively against the nascent 8-bit NES. A console war between Sega and Nintendo ensued during the early 1990s. From 1990 to 1992, Nintendo opened a World of Nintendo shops in the United States where consumers could test and buy Nintendo products.