MCGA was the high-end graphics standard used by IBM in their PS/2 range of computers. MCGA screen modes included 320x200x256 and 640x480x2. It was not compatible at all with VGA or EGA, although some early VGA DOS software included support for it. MCGA must have been developed at some time in the mid-Eighties. It allowed me to use DeluxePaint 2 in all its 256-colour glory way back in 1989 (the machine - my dad's - came with MCGA support in 1987 but there was practically no software that supported it, and in fact, the IBM dealer didn't even know that the machine had this functionality). It also allowed me to run Night Shift and Prince of Persia, really, really slowly.

According to Michael Abrash's book, MCGA on the PS/2 Model 30 (the machine my Dad has) was the reason that VGA generally only offers 320x200 in 256 colours: VGA could go as high as 320x400x256, but MCGA, having less memory, could not.