May (June 23, 1988 - July 19, 1992) sees the home video game market surpass its pre-Crash size, as well as the first time that no one company was dominant in the market with Sega and Nintendo's 16-bit era console war starting and reaching full swing.

May 1 / June 23-Aug. 9, 1988 - Nintendo Power magazine is first released.
May 2 / Aug. 10-Sept. 26, 1988
May 3 / Sept. 27-Nov. 13, 1988 - Super Mario Bros. 2 is released for NES.
May 4 / Nov. 14-Dec. 31, 1988 - Tengen produces the first unlicensed NES cartridges.
May 5 / Jan. 1-Feb. 17, 1989 - Sony Imagesoft, Sony's first video game venture, established.
May 6 / Feb. 18-Apr. 6, 1989 - Tecmo Bowl, the first game to feature real NFL players, released for NES.
May 7 / Apr. 7-May 24, 1989 - Tetris first appears on NES via Tengen. This is short lived, as Nintendo had the license to the game.
May 8 / May 25-July 11, 1989 - TMNT released for the NES.
May 9 / July 12-Aug. 28, 1989 - Game Boy released. Sega Genesis released.
May 10 / Aug. 29-Oct. 15, 1989 - TurboGrafx-16 released. Atari Lynx, the first color portable console, released.
May 11 / Oct. 16-Dec. 2, 1989 - TurboGrafx-CD, the first CD-based console, released as an add-on to TurboGrafx-16.
May 12 / Dec 3 89 - Jan 19 90 - "The Wizard" released, among the first movies to be used as a video game marketing tool. $3.4 billion in home video games was sold in 1989, surpassing the peak of 1982-1983.
May 13 / Jan. 20-Mar. 8, 1990 - Super Mario Bros. 3 released. Nintendo World Championships start.
May 14 / Mar. 9-Apr. 25, 1990 - Around this time, the NES is at its peak against a Sega Genesis that is still struggling to find its foothold in the market, a dying Master System, and a TurboGrafx-16 that never will find its foothold.
May 15 / Apr. 26-June 12, 1990 - The Game Genie is first released as an NES version.
May 16 / June 13-July 30, 1990 - INTV discontinues the Intellivision (approximate date)
May 17 / July 31-Sept. 16, 1990
May 18 / Sept. 17-Nov. 3, 1990 - Nintendo rescinds its strict licensing policy. Games can now be multi-platform with the NES, and third-parties can now make their own cartridges.
May 19 / Nov. 4-Dec. 21, 1990 - Nintendo World Championships are concluded. The TurboExpress, a portable TurboGrafx-16, is released. The first Madden football game comes out on consoles.
May 20 / Dec. 22-Feb. 7, 1991 - Nintendo and Sony first announce their intention to develop a CD-based addon for SFC.
May 21 / Feb. 8-Mar. 27, 1991 - Commodore CDTV released.
May 22 / Mar. 28-May 14, 1991
May 23 / May 15-July 1, 1991 - Nintendo/Sony announce combined SNES/CD add-on called the "Play Station". Sega drops the Genesis price to $149 to counter the upcoming $199 of the SNES. Sonic the Hedgehog is released on Genesis.
May 24 / July 2-Aug. 18, 1991 - The Neo Geo AES is released, which literally provides arcade games in the home.
May 25 / Aug. 19-Oct. 5, 1991 - The SNES is released.
May 26 / Oct. 6-Nov. 22, 1991 - The mayors of LA and Miami declare Nov. 5, 1991 "Nintendo Fun Day"
May 27 / Nov 23 91 - Jan 9 92 - Atari discontinues the 2600 and 7800. The Philips CD-i is released.
May 28 / Jan. 10-Feb. 26, 1992 - M.C. Kids is released for NES.
May 29 / Feb. 27-Apr. 14, 1992 - Zelda: Link to the Past released for SNES.
May 30 / Apr. 15-June 1, 1992 - TurboGrafx-16's price dropped to $70, signaling its decline in the console market.
May 31 / June 2-July 19, 1992 - Street Fighter 2 comes out on SNES. Sony president Norio Ohga decides to break with Nintendo on the "Play Station" project.