Sega, vs Nintendo and the Battle That Defined a Generation
Blake J. Harris, Blake Harris: Console Wars (2014, Atlantic Books, Limited)
300 pages
English language
Published Nov. 16, 2014 by Atlantic Books, Limited.
From the Forward...
Nintendo was king of home videogame entertainment systems, then Sega came in and was a contender for the crown. Sega almost toppled Nintendo with their subversive and more adult-oriented games, and these games have led us to a world where GTA and Call of Duty are the top games, and the next step is to have the games incorporate stuff about us and our personal lives, and then sentient technology will inevitably disassociate from mankind and some robot like Skynet will rise up and destroy us all. Hence: the “Console Wars” between Nintendo and Sega is what began a series of events that will lead to the end of humanity as we know it.
It's very focused on Sega and Tom Kalinske I really like this era in gaming history so I didn't mind. A couple of times confusing due to non linear development. Very well narrated.
This was a fascinating time in history, and the book starts out with some great anecdotes, but the writing is terrible. I understand that history authors need to manufacture dialogue, but what he comes up with is chock-full of unbelievable cliches. And the entire 'war' is described only through the eyes of marketers, with everything else - the technological development, financial situation, view from the perspective of kids - elided.
Overall, not recommended. I hope someone writes a book about the same topic but spares us the dialogue.
