If you grew up in the 90s like I did, then you probably remember the rivalry between Nintendo and Sega; the very first console war.
Nintendo had a stranglehold on the video game market after the infamous crash of 1983. Because of this, they had very strict guidelines and limitations that publishers were expected to follow, and if they didn’t, then Nintendo wouldn’t allow them to release their games on the NES.
A small Japanese video game company called Sega then stepped in to try and do things a little bit different, and they weren’t afraid to go after the bully on the block.
With ad campaigns aimed squarely at Nintendo, they eventually put a huge gash in the market share for the video game industry in the early to mid 90s.
Without spoiling too much more, the book Console Wars by Blake J. Harris goes into much greater detail, chronicling the rise of both companies, and how each brought video games into the zeitgeist of America.
I cannot recommend this book enough. It’s funny, and definitely shines a light on something that I didn’t even think about as a kid… I just remember getting to play great games on each companies respective systems and having so much fun.
Do yourself a favor: read this book!!!
