Console War II September 16, 2010

In the wake of the 8 bit gaming renaissance, led by powerhouses Nintendo and Sega, the Second Console War began…

The initial salvo was launched by SEGA when they abandoned their Master System and opted instead to develop the next gen system first.  The year was 1989, and as the last decade of the millennium loomed, we all waited expectantly for a home system that could mimic the graphics available in an arcade system.  Up to that point, home gaming had been limited to MIDI music, a smallish 8 bit palette and graphics (if you could call them that) that…uh, well…let’s tell the truth folks, were blocky and malformed.

I don’t know if I can convey this with precision, but do you have any idea how awesome it was to finally be able to play Golden Axe at home, and have that experience closely replicate the arcade game? (Be advised, as I was writing this I paused to beat Golden Axe in the MAME).  Think about what mindset we were in when we played the awful, awful Altered Beast and the game was actually speaking to us when we powered up.  It was completely mindblowing, we were actually able to understand what was being said, this represented a ginormous leap in gaming.

For two years, I bade my time, for two years I awaited as Nintendo tooled around with 16 bit gaming until they finally launched the Super NES.  Things would never, ever, be the same again.

OK, confession time.  I worked on weekends with my uncle at the beach selling shishkebabs, corn on the cob, octopus and conch salad, I worked from about 10:00 to almost 22:00 for about $5.00 a night.  Sometimes he felt generous and he’d gimme $10.  At any rate, I didn’t complain because he took me to school every morning, so it was kinda like paying him back for the favor.  I worked for my uncle until I had accumulated $100, $100 that I used to contribute towards the purchase of my Super NES.  I said all that so that you could understand the depth of my bias.  Now…let’s compare, shall we?

When you put the Genesis and the  NES side to side, there really is no basis for comparison.  The SNES outshines the Genesis in every category, sound, music, colors, graphics, the list is near endless, and just when you’re done discussin’ hardware, now you have to talk about software.  The SNES had some pretty spectacular titles, Super Mario World was a gaming gem, as were Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Metroid and the 3 Star Wars Games.  All this and I haven’t started talking about Street Fighter, Killer Instinct, Blackthorne, Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, The Secret of Mana, NBA Live and NBA Jam.  Granted, the Genesis had its share of stupendous titles like Sonic, El Viento, Aliens, Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Chakan, Aladdin (which was hand drawn – and had great music), X-Men, Cool Spot (SNES had this too, Genesis version was better) and Shining Force.

For the most part the second console war ended in a tie, both Nintendo and SEGA huge winners, with cart sales shooting through the roof.  There were many people that I knew that had both consoles, but the majority sided with one company over the other.  Then everything changed.

At the time there was a third player on the field, the Turbografx-16.  It never achieved significant market penetration, but what they did do was develop a CD add-on before anybody else.  They were also the first company to launch an RPG with animated sequences.  These accomplishments took place in relative obscurity and put very little pressure on either company.  But because SEGA was always trying to stay a step ahead of Nintendo, they made a move that had never been attempted before.  They were able to convince their gamers to purchase an add-on to their their dying 3 year old console, the SEGA CD.  Now, I’ll admit it, I bought a Sega CD, and those  games were basically identical to their regular versions except for the interspersed movie/animated sequences, but it didn’t amount to the leap in gaming that I had expected.  But I’ll tell you what, Prince of Persia on Sega CD was awesome, so was Lunar: The Silver Star Story and its sequel, then there was Snatcher, Ecco the Dolphin, Lethal Enforcers and Silpheed.

Sadly, the $300 investment was not to be rewarded with a decent gaming library, rather the system would be relegated to the hall of Forgotten Gaming Peripherals, where things like the 32x, Power Glove, Super Scope, and Sega Activator go to die.

In order to attempt to stay competitive, Nintendo made a deal with media giant Sony.  Sony agreed to develop a 16 bit CD peripheral to attach it to the SNES, but sadly this was not to be, at the last minute Nintendo abandoned the project, opted to simply skip 32 bit gaming, and develop the N64.  Sony was left high and dry.  Instead of rolling over and taking the production, research and development losses, Sony decided to jump into the gaming industry, and  the Sony PlayStation was the clarion call for the Third Console War.