The fourth generation of video game consoles began on October 30, 1987. The fourth generation (also called the 16-bit generation) began with the release of Nippon Electric Company's (NEC) PC Engine. Although NEC released the first fourth-generation console, this generation was dominated by Nintendo and Sega. Nintendo became the largest worldwide market share in the fourth generation. Sega was also successful in this generation. It began a new franchise, "Sonic the Hedgehog". This was done so Sega could compete with Nintendo's "Mario" series of games. Many other companies released consoles in this generation. However, none of them were successful, except for Neo Geo from SNK.