The Master System (マスターシステム, Masutā Shisutemu?) (abbreviated to SMS) is a third-generation 8-bit cartridge-based video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1986 in North America, seven months after the original NES,[13] and in 1987 in Europe. Its original Japanese incarnation was the Sega Mark III, which was first released in 1985.