Fight of the Century
The tale of the most legendary rivalry in video games
Everyone loves a good rivalry. Sports buffs like to see their favorite team outplay the opposition. Hero vs Hero film Captain America: Civil War is about to take the movie world by storm. For fans of just about anything, a good competition can inspire passion like nobody’s business. As for me, I’m a video game fan. A big video game fan. And the world of games is no stranger to competition. Different companies are constantly trying to one up each other. As a result of this constant struggle to improve, the quality of games has continued to increase at an incredibly fast pace. Perhaps no rivalry in gaming is as storied as that of Sega and Nintendo, homes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario respectively. Both companies were once giants of the video game industry, fighting tooth and nail for success, and yet their fates could not have differed more. While Nintendo is still very much a force to be reckoned with, Sega has been relegated to being a third-party developer (in layman’s terms, this means that they focus on making games for the hardware of other companies). As Nintendo gears up to release its newest system in 2017 in the face of extreme competition from both other game consoles and mobile games, it behooves us to reflect on the past to gain a better idea of what may await us in the future.
Humble Beginnings
Let’s start at the beginning. In 1889, Fusajiro Yamauchi founded a small company that manufactured a type of Japanese playing cards known as “hanafuda”. Almost 100 years later, one of Fusajiro’s descendants and the president of the company at the time, Hiroshi Yamauchi, began exploring ways for this company to break into the video game industry. This effort initially manifested itself in the form of simple games with simple names, such as the eloquently titled “TV Game 6”. What nobody could have predicted, however, was that this small company named Nintendo would one day become the biggest name in the video game world.
In 1981, Nintendo’s first big hit was released, and boy, was it a doozy. After placing a large order for an arcade game known as Radar Scope, Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa realized that buyers simply weren’t interested in the game. Panicking, Arakawa begged Yamauchi for a solution. A young employee named Shigeru Miyamoto ended up being the answer to Arakawa’s prayers, developing a game that the Radar Scope machines could be easily converted into. That game was called Donkey Kong, and it was a massive success.
Soon, Nintendo was interested in branching out beyond the world of arcades and into the home video game market. In 1983, they released the Family Computer in Japan. Despite suffering from a rocky start due to technical issues, the Famicom went on to achieve great success in its homeland. This was not enough for Yamauchi, however. He wanted to expand worldwide, and where better to start then America? Thanks to a company called Atari, however, this would prove a most difficult prospect.
In 1983, a multitude of factors led to the complete crash of the home video game market in North America. Thanks to the runaway success of the Atari 2600 system, the popularity of games had been on the rise and everybody wanted a piece of the pie. Unfortunately, this led to an unsustainable proliferation of new games in the market, many of which were just plain awful (there was no time for quality control if you had any hope of cashing in on the latest crazes.) Customer confidence in Atari and their games took a nosedive in 1982 with the release of their version of Pac-Man, which simply couldn’t compare to its arcade counterpart in any way (seriously, compare this to this and tell me you wouldn’t be disappointed.) Unwilling to rest on their laurels, Atari geared up to capitalize on the popularity of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial by prepping a game based upon the film for release in time for Christmas. To meet this strict deadline, the game’s programmer was given the assuredly pleasant task of preparing the game, from start to finish, in a little over five weeks. Needless to say, the game was awful, and Atari’s fate was effectively sealed. Nintendo, however, was undeterred. Despite being told that they were insane to even try to market a video game console in America, Yamauchi was determined to go through with it.
In a 1986 newspaper interview, Yamauchi claimed that “Atari collapsed because they gave too much freedom to third-party developers and the market was swamped with rubbish games.” As such, when Nintendo began to explore the possibility of releasing its Family Computer in the North American market, they were keenly aware that they could not allow history to repeat itself- they wanted complete control of what games would be available to consumers. When the NES was released in America (the Famicom system had been renamed to the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES), it had a few revisions in place to help achieve this goal.
Clinging to the ideal of total control, Nintendo enacted a number of restrictions that would apply to all licensees, without exception. Every NES sold was equipped with a special security chip that acted as a sort of “lock”. Unless your game cartridge had the corresponding “key” chip, it could not be played on the NES. While this did indeed help to stave off a flood of awful games (Nintendo limited licensees to releasing five games per year, so there was strong incentive to make them good), it had the side effect of making Nintendo a lot of moolah. If you wanted to release a game for the NES, you had to go through them and play by their rules, as they were the only ones who knew how to produce the required chip. To avoid leaking this secret, Nintendo took on the responsibility of manufacturing all NES cartridges, and you can be sure that they happily charged their licensees for this “service”.
Soon enough, the 1983 video game crash was a distant memory and Nintendo was completely dominant. By 1990, an estimated one third of all United States homes had an NES. Companies were scrambling to stay on Nintendo’s good side, as by this time the market was far too big to ignore. If they didn’t learn to suck up to Nintendo, they couldn’t profit off of Nintendo’s massive install base. Nintendo’s rules were stern and uncompromising- in addition to the aforementioned yearly game limit, they both determined how many game cartridges of your game would be produced and prevented you from releasing your games on any competing consoles for two years. This meant that you were either with Nintendo or against them, and you didn’t want to be against them.
Let’s stop there, and go back in time for a little bit to focus on a certain other company. In 1952, a man named Marty Bromley founded a company named Service Games, which focused on exporting slot machines (which had been recently outlawed in the America) to Japan. In 1964, they merged with another company called Rosen Enterprises to form the Sega that we know and love today. This company primarily focused on amusement arcade machines (think Pinball). However, after the 1978 release of the classic game Space Invaders, Sega knew that they had to get in on the video game industry.
Like Nintendo, Sega had a presence within the arcade industry, but was hungry for a slice of the home console industry pie. Competing directly with the Famicom, Sega released the SG-1000 system in Japan. Unfortunately, it wasn’t nearly as successful as its competitor, and today the system is largely forgotten. Its importance should not be ignored, however, as it did lead to the creation of Sega’s console research and development division and gave them some valuable industry experience.
In 1985, Sega released a new console in Japan, known as the Sega Mark III. Upon being released in other territories (including America) it was rechristened as the Sega Master System. Although the Master System is remembered far more fondly today than the SG-1000, it was unable to put a significant dent in Nintendo’s success (though it was rather successful in South America). Sega’s fortunes, however, were about to change.
Mortal Combat
In 1988, Sega released their newer, more powerful 16-bit console known as the Mega Drive in Japan. In 1989, they followed this up with an American release, with the console being renamed as the Sega Genesis. The Genesis was easy to program for and offered chances to create some truly beautiful games, which gave it a certain edge over Nintendo’s NES and its successor, the Super Nintendo (also known as the SNES). Developers also found the Genesis attractive thanks to its much more relaxed licensing restrictions when compared to Nintendo’s systems.
With appealing technology and policies, the Genesis was poised to make a splash in the industry, making it easier than ever to make good games. And that’s all that should matter, right? If your games are no good, you are no good. The truth of the matter though is not that simple. If good games were all it took, then Sega’s Genesis would have put up a much better fight against Nintendo in its native Japan, where sales never quite picked up. So what exactly was the secret sauce that would convince so many American gamers to drink Sega’s Kool-Aid? The answer is marketing. Sega’s advertising team, comprised of a number of bold risk takers, were able to target a few key chinks in Nintendo’s armor in order to solidify themselves as a legitimate competitor in the home console space.
It does need to be said that the games Sega had on offer were a huge part of the Genesis’ success story. Games like Sonic the Hedgehog, which was available exclusively on Sega systems, are regarded as classics, even today. And even among games that were released on both the Genesis and the SNES, it was not uncommon for the Genesis versions to be better received. For instance, the Genesis version of Mortal Kombat greatly outsold the SNES version thanks to its inclusion of the graphical violence fans expected based on the original arcade release (the SNES edition was heavily censored.) Disney’s Aladdin was also released for both systems, and while which version is superior has been hotly debated for many years, the Genesis version had some clear advantages. Chief among these advantages was a unique “digicel animation” system, which allowed Disney’s actual animators to collaborate with the game’s developers. The result was that Sega’s Aladdin was far more beautiful (compare them yourself: SNES vs Genesis.)
We know that the Genesis had great games, but great games weren’t enough to combat the nigh impenetrable wall that was Nintendo. So, how exactly did Sega’s scrappy marketing make them stand out from the pack? They incorporated an extremely aggressive, borderline misleading advertising campaign against Nintendo. The message was clear: Nintendo was lame, and Sega was cool. Considering that games like Mortal Kombat were noticeably watered down on Nintendo’s system, who could argue against this? This idea was exemplified in what became something of a mantra for Sega: Welcome to the Next Level. Nintendo was for kids, and if you were ready to level up, it was time to buy a Genesis.
Sega wanted everybody to know that the Genesis was a more technologically advanced system than its competitor. This task became difficult, however, when it became apparent that the SNES was actually the more capable system- but that didn’t stop Sega’s marketers! Some background: one of the SNES’ claims to fame was its Mode 7 capability, which was enabled it to create 3-D like images at a time were 2-D was the standard. Sega had nothing like this, so they scrambled to to find something, anything, that they did have. Eventually, they learned that there was an obscure yet somewhat neat trick you could do with the hardware that helped the Genesis achieve faster processing speeds. It didn’t actually have much practical purpose for games and wasn’t simple to employ, but what mattered was that Nintendo couldn’t do it. There was one issue though: the name was boring as all get-out: Direct Memory Access, or DMA. So, they did what any competent marketing team would do, gave it a more exciting name, and BOOM. A legend was born. Say hello to Blast Processing, the grandfather of meaningless buzzwords.
Sega’s efforts paid off, for a time at least. By 1992, The Sega Genesis controlled 65% of the 16-bit system market in the United States, beating out Nintendo’s Super Nintendo Entertainment System. This is the first time Nintendo had not been the market leader since its legendary rise to power. Sega’s victory here was only temporary, but it solidified them as a real competitor. Striving to best Sega, Nintendo upped the ante and got to work producing even better, more beautiful games. One such game, Donkey Kong Country, boasted beautiful graphics that rivaled the best Sega had to offer. It went on to perform very well, contributing to the long term success of the SNES, despite its late 1994 release.
The End of the Battle
Unfortunately for Sega, its next console would not be so successful, especially in America. The successor to the Genesis, the Sega Saturn, released in 1994 in Japan and 1995 in America, sold a measly number of units. Friction between the US and Japanese branches of Sega led to some baffling decisions, such as releasing the console in America on the same day it was announced. Considering how excellent the Genesis advertising team was, what better way to reward them then to not give them the chance to market the system at all, am I right? Meanwhile, Nintendo’s next system, the Nintendo 64, performed more admirably. While not as successful as its predecessors, it did well overall, especially in America.
Unfortunately for Sega, its followup to the Saturn, the Dreamcast, would prove to be the final nail in the coffin. Sega officially left the gaming hardware business following the commercial failure of the Dreamcast. It’s not even like the Dreamcast’s games were bad, either! In fact, its library is lauded among enthusiasts as one of the finest in history (I dare you to find a game cooler than Jet Set Radio). What went wrong? Most accept that it buckled under the pressure of Sony’s PlayStation 2, which was more powerful and had more features (such as DVD playback.) Just as quickly as Sega rose to prominence, so did they fade back into relative obscurity. Nintendo began to face some issues this time too, as its newest system, the GameCube, failed to pick up significant traction. While it still outperformed the Dreamcast by a significant margin, it failed to live up to even the sales of the Nintendo 64.
While Sega was down for the count, Nintendo was about to experience unprecedented success with the double whammy of the Wii and Nintendo DS systems. Bragging motion controls and touch controls respectively, these innovative machines took the world by storm, with sales numbers most could only have dreamed of. These two consoles exemplify one of Nintendo’s most admirable qualities- that is to say, they’re risk takers. They didn’t hesitate to release the NES in America, despite the video game crash of 1983 acting as a nearly insurmountable barrier. And when the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube didn’t perform as well as they’d have liked, Nintendo threw caution to the wind and redefined what gaming could be. This strategy of innovation worked, and it is a strategy that I believe Nintendo will need if they are to survive going forward. This is because while the Wii and DS were successful, its next console was not.
The Future
Nintendo’s followup to the Wii, the Wii U, has not done so hot, to put it lightly. For the Wii U, Nintendo focused on incorporating an iPad-like tablet controller, at the expense of better graphics. Unfortunately though, the Wii U has seen dismal sales in the battle against its technologically superior competitors. Furthermore, in the face of all of the tablets and smartphones that already exist, the Wii U’s controller simply wasn’t innovative enough to catch the attention of audiences. The Nintendo 3DS, the successor to the DS, has done well enough for itself, but it too hasn’t reached the highs of its predecessor.
Speaking of tablets and smartphones, I’d like to illustrate just how much of a threat they pose to Nintendo by sharing a story. I’ve got a cousin named Adam. Like most four-year-olds, he’s cute as a button, and loves Darth Vader, Spider-Man, and, you guessed it, video games. We had our last family get-together around half a year ago, and it didn’t take him long to notice that the game I was playing was different from what he had. You see, Adam had an iPad loaded with the usual suspects: Angry Birds Star Wars, Temple Run, and so on. I was equipped with my beloved Nintendo 3DS, of course. As soon as he caught a glimpse of the glory that is Super Mario 3D Land, he knew that he had to give it a shot. Impressed with his refined taste in gaming, I passed my 3DS over and prepared to savor watching him get his first taste of “Nintendo magic”.
Unfortunately, the controls posed more of an obstacle than I had anticipated. He just couldn’t use the buttons. I tried to explain it. He still couldn’t use the buttons. I tried to explain it, again. He got bored and went back to his buttons-free iPad. He didn’t ask to try my games again. The very innovation that Nintendo once boasted about is now being used as a weapon against them. These new, easy to control and oftentimes free-to-play gaming experiences are accessible to a much wider audience than any of Nintendo’s systems, thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and tablets among the general populace. If Nintendo is to survive, I believe that they will need to redefine themselves again.
Nintendo has already begun making moves in an effort to carve out a place for themselves once again. They recently released their first ever smartphone game, Miitomo. It shows a willingness to adapt and change, which bodes well for the company. I believe that moves like this are necessary. With competitors like Sony and Microsoft offering more traditional experiences with their PlayStation and Xbox systems, Nintendo’s best chance at success is to continue to distinguish themselves from the pack. Perhaps this is why they succeeded where Sega failed. While Sega’s systems were doubtlessly great, they were also very traditional. While this worked well against Nintendo with the Genesis, where Sega was able to establish itself as the hardcore gamer’s machine, it was not a sustainable strategy. Nintendo risked going down this path with the Nintendo 64 and GameCube, but they realized their mistake in time to reverse their fortunes. Now more than ever, Nintendo needs to replicate this comeback, lest they end up like their fallen rival, Sega.
Whatever lies in Nintendo’s future, you can bet I’ll be there to experience it firsthand. For better or for worse, I’m a diehard Nintendo fan and I can’t wait to see what they’ve got cooking.
