The '''Super Nintendo Entertainment System''' ('''SNES''', '''Super NES''' or '''Super Nintendo''' for short), known as the '''Super Famicom''' in [[Japan]], and the '''Super Comboy''' in [[South Korea]] is a 16-bit [[video game]] console first released in 1991 by [[Nintendo]]. It was the successor to the company's [[NES|Nintendo Entertainment System]] and predecessor to the [[Nintendo 64]]. Although the hardware is extremely similar, each have a regional lockout chip to prevent a console from one region from playing games from another. The SNES was the best-selling console of the 16-bit era of video games, despite having a late start against its main competitor, the [[Sega Genesis]].