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A review by ejrathke
Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation by Blake J. Harris
3.0
I have somewhat conflicted feelings about this book. It could be because this is largely from the perspective of Sega America, which pins Nintendo as the antagonist, which...
My own biases come into play here. I've been playing Nintendo since I used to walk two doors down to play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mario with the neighbors two doors down. I've loved Nintendo for thirty years! I still love it! I never had any attachment to Sega or Sonic. And so to see this whole saga from their perspective is slightly alienating to me. Then! Late in the book, Playstation comes in as another antagonist! And I've been deep with Playstation since, like, 1998! I've owned every system they've made, excepting the PSP.
So there's a sort of internal conflict of interest and bias for me, because the enemies are the consoles I have the msot attachment to.
The bigger issue, though, for me, is that this book is mostly about marketing. It's not about game development or artistic vision and creativity. It's almost completely about how Sega executives formed a scrappy marketing campaign that went very strong for over two years, turning Sega from a nonentity to a major player in the videogame industry. Their aggressive marketing tactics allowed them to knock Nintendo from the singular dominant force in gaming to a company that was backpedaling just to stay relevant.
Harris drives home several times that Nintendo perceived Sega as simple marketing without a real product. Harris also reiterates constantly how committed to quality, fun games above anything else.
As you're watching this unfold, you're led to believe that Sega really was onto innovative products that dominated due to their technological sophistication. It's hard to parse, honestly, because the people you're following are only savvy marketers. Harris illustrates how many of them don't even understand the technology they're selling, but the gusto and frenetic energy of their marketing makes you buy into the hype, even as a reader.
But as we get deeper, we come to realize that Nintendo was correct. Their commitment to fun and QA led to them punishing Sega and reclaiming market dominance while Sega slipped back into obscurity. And so the console story became a story of Sony and Nintendo, rather than Nintendo and Sega or even Nintendo, Sega, and Sony. And I guess the problem with this book is that it makes you buy into the hype only to reveal to you that Sega was largely nothing but marketing hype.
It kind of leaves me with a shrug, honestly. I was interested in all of this as a history of the industry. I was even swept up in the characters, the story, the drama. So to have it come to mostly nothing...well, the book feels kind of like a waste of time. Especially since you're not spending time with the creators of the game, the creative forces who drove the industry. You're spending time with people who orchestrated innovative marketing campaigns.
I can see why this is interesting for a lot of people, but this is more like a history of early 90s business techniques and tactics in America than it is a history of videogames as a cultural force.
Ideologically, I also have little interest in treating marketing executives as heroes or scrappy underdogs.
So it goes The book is interesting and carries you along well with its story. It's just the story isn't really the one I was interested in reading.
Definitely recommended for people who are interested in business and corporate histories. Not as recommended for people who want to know more about videogames, how they're made, or who made them, or why they made them.
My own biases come into play here. I've been playing Nintendo since I used to walk two doors down to play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mario with the neighbors two doors down. I've loved Nintendo for thirty years! I still love it! I never had any attachment to Sega or Sonic. And so to see this whole saga from their perspective is slightly alienating to me. Then! Late in the book, Playstation comes in as another antagonist! And I've been deep with Playstation since, like, 1998! I've owned every system they've made, excepting the PSP.
So there's a sort of internal conflict of interest and bias for me, because the enemies are the consoles I have the msot attachment to.
The bigger issue, though, for me, is that this book is mostly about marketing. It's not about game development or artistic vision and creativity. It's almost completely about how Sega executives formed a scrappy marketing campaign that went very strong for over two years, turning Sega from a nonentity to a major player in the videogame industry. Their aggressive marketing tactics allowed them to knock Nintendo from the singular dominant force in gaming to a company that was backpedaling just to stay relevant.
Harris drives home several times that Nintendo perceived Sega as simple marketing without a real product. Harris also reiterates constantly how committed to quality, fun games above anything else.
As you're watching this unfold, you're led to believe that Sega really was onto innovative products that dominated due to their technological sophistication. It's hard to parse, honestly, because the people you're following are only savvy marketers. Harris illustrates how many of them don't even understand the technology they're selling, but the gusto and frenetic energy of their marketing makes you buy into the hype, even as a reader.
But as we get deeper, we come to realize that Nintendo was correct. Their commitment to fun and QA led to them punishing Sega and reclaiming market dominance while Sega slipped back into obscurity. And so the console story became a story of Sony and Nintendo, rather than Nintendo and Sega or even Nintendo, Sega, and Sony. And I guess the problem with this book is that it makes you buy into the hype only to reveal to you that Sega was largely nothing but marketing hype.
It kind of leaves me with a shrug, honestly. I was interested in all of this as a history of the industry. I was even swept up in the characters, the story, the drama. So to have it come to mostly nothing...well, the book feels kind of like a waste of time. Especially since you're not spending time with the creators of the game, the creative forces who drove the industry. You're spending time with people who orchestrated innovative marketing campaigns.
I can see why this is interesting for a lot of people, but this is more like a history of early 90s business techniques and tactics in America than it is a history of videogames as a cultural force.
Ideologically, I also have little interest in treating marketing executives as heroes or scrappy underdogs.
So it goes The book is interesting and carries you along well with its story. It's just the story isn't really the one I was interested in reading.
Definitely recommended for people who are interested in business and corporate histories. Not as recommended for people who want to know more about videogames, how they're made, or who made them, or why they made them.