The Console Wars I

[Ayen]

In the 1990's two video game companies battled for supremacy in a world gone mad. Shipping out console after console, handheld systems, platformer trademarks and advertisements that made kids on playgrounds argue with each other non-stop about which was better. Otherwise known as the bit wars, 8bits versus 16bits, a bit war that would come to an end with the launch of the Super Nintendo, but the war was only getting started. And now I take you back to those years to finally decide which brand name will stand tall, and which brand name will fall! Without further ado...

nintendo-logo.jpg
Color TV Game, NES, Game Boy, SNES, N64, Game Boy Color
Mascot: Mario

VS

Sega Logo.jpg
SG-1000, Master System, Megadrive/Genesis, Game Gear, 32X, Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast
Mascot: Sonic

BEGIN!

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I'm putting all of my money on SEGA right now. They'll be making consoles forever, I just know it!

[Pike]

Both systems were great and had a lot of gems on them but I have to give the slight edge to Nintendo for having slightly more gems on their system. I love love LOVE Sonic but I can't in good conscience put it above Yoshi's Island, Super Mario World, Super Mario RPG, DKC (especially 2), Uniracers, Tetris Attack, FF6 and so forth. Also had the better sound system. LOVE me some Genesis music but when you YouTube games that were released on both consoles and compare the music on them... that's when the SNES truly is what Genesisn't.

As an aside does anyone else remember when this console war was SERIOUS BUSINESS to us kids?

EDIT: Oh is this more than SNES/Genesis? It's Nintendo vs. Sega as companies? That's tougher; still gotta go with Nintendo I think.

[Ayen]

I decided to throw them all in there just for the sake of one major bloodbath. The introduction was just a bit of history.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

As a kid or whatever, SEGA not coming out with another system after the Dreamcast really was a shock. I couldn't imagine the gaming console market without Nintendo and Genesis.

Nintendo does get the edge as a company, though. Mainly for the reasons Pike listed above... In general, the Nintendo consoles just had more gems. Genesis had some great games, but not as many. Genesis also made some real marketing/decision making flaws which led to the downfall of the company.

[Mirage]

OOC: I think we should all keep in character and type as if we are actually in the year 1990, communicating on a BBS through dialup connections. No talk about things that are yet to happen!


Come on guys, what's PC doing on that list? Everybody knows that Amiga is where it's at when it comes to multimedia and games on computers. An immense amount of games, real multitasking operating system, dozens of peripheral equipment available, including a number of joysticks and gamepads to fit every true gamer's needs. Also, you can play a lot of older generation amiga games on the newest model, for those of us who are into more oldschool games.

[Pike]

I think we should all keep in character and type as if we are actually in the year 1990, communicating on a BBS through dialup connections. No talk about things that are yet to happen!

My dad works at Nintendo

[Ayen]

Nintendo wins it, and I would have said the same in 1999 (please note the consoles list goes as far as the Dreamcast which came out in 98) for one simple reason: Nintendo just has better games. Sega best point IMO was the Megadrive/Genesis and after that I can barely remember any of the games that came out on Saturn and Dreamcast and even with the Genesis a lot of the games on there you could also get on the SNES. The Dreamcast was a good system and ahead of its time but all of that doesn't mean much when you hardly have any games worth noting.

[Del Murder]

What sane person would think Sega won the console wars?

[Ayen]

I can't tell if you're joking or not (story of my life) but this thread is about which side you thought was personally better not who actually won.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

Sega and Nintendo are pretty cool, but I've heard tell of another system called the TurboGrafx-16 (also known as the PC Engine elsewhere). I don't know nothing about NEC, but this thing is boasting 16 BITS!!! So many bits!

[Bolivar]

It's kinda unfair to compare the brands because Sega really struggled on almost every system except the Genesis. Of course Nintendo had the better enduring legacy. I never owned a game gear but when I finally emulated it the games were way ahead of their time compared to what I had on my gameboy.

As far as the Genesis and SNES, they both had such a deep and diverse library of classics, it's redundant to suggest that one of them had more. It's going to come down to which one you played the most regardless of any attempt to rationalize why.

[Ayen]

Welp, this was a gross miscalculation on my part. Should have stuck with my original idea of this being a SNES/Genesis thread or pit Nintendo against PlayStation, probably would have been more even.

Oh well, I'll wait a bit before making another one. There's still a chance someone from the Sega side will remind us the Virtual Boy existed.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

The Virtual Boy was ahead of it's time and a great piece of hardware. Nintendo is what Genesisn't.

I actually have never played a Virtual Boy. I've always wanted to just to see how bad it really is.

What about the Atari Jaguar, everyone? 64 BITS!

[Ayen]

What about the Atari Jaguar, everyone? 64 BITS!

I like how together with the Jaguar CD it looks like a toilet.