Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation

by Blake J Harris

In 1990 Nintendo had a virtual monopoly on the video game industry. Sega, on the other hand, was a faltering arcade company with big aspirations and even bigger personalities. But that would all change with the arrival of Tom Kalinske, a man who knew nothing about video games and everything about fighting uphill battles. His unconventional tactics, combined with the blood, sweat and bold ideas of his renegade employees, transformed Sega and eventually led to a ruthless David-and-Goliath showdown with rival Nintendo.

The battle was vicious, relentless and highly profitable, eventually sparking a global corporate war that would be fought on several fronts: from living rooms and schoolyards to boardrooms and Congress. It was a once-in-a-lifetime, no-holds-barred conflict that pitted brother against brother, kid against adult, Sonic against Mario, and the US against Japan.

Console Wars is the underdog tale of how Kalinske miraculously turned an industry punchline into a market leader. It's the story of how a humble family man, with an extraordinary imagination and a gift for turning problems into competitive advantages, inspired a team of underdogs to slay a giant and, as a result, birth a $60 billion dollar industry.

• ISBN10: 0062276700
• ISBN13: 9780062276704
• Publish Date: 2 June 2015 (first published 13 May 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Dey Street Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 576
• Language: English

Reviews

[adamfortuna]

I remember getting a Nintendo for Christmas in the late 80s and it shaping my entire childhood. Later on I'd go onto to get a Super Nintendo, a Genesis and a Playstation before heading to college and eventually buying any system I wanted. The systems that truely shaped my gaming experience were, without a doubt NES, SNES and PSX.

Console Wars goes into the history of Nintendo, Sega and Sony with the rise of the console industry in America. Having been a kid at the time, I did't know show much of an underdog Sega was at the time -- and how badly managed Sega was in Japan. Nintendo had it's problems as well. The story behind the creation of Donkey Kong Country was amazing and made me surprised the game even got made -- better yet that it was (possibly) the best game for that system.