The Genesis, Sega's entry into the video game market, was released in Japan in 1988 as the MegaDrive. The console, with its 16-bit processor, gave Nintendo its first run for its money. Sega arcade games translated well to the Genesis, and 3rd party game designers began to defect from Nintendo and produce for the more advanced Genesis. Sega also released Sonic the Hedgehog in 1991, a direct response to Nintendo's Super NES. The game capitalized on the speed of the Genesis processor and soon became a hit.