Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation
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- Create Date：2021-06-01 11:54:15
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Blake J. Harris
- ISBN：0062276700
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
"A mesmerizing， behind-the-scenes business thriller that chronicles how Sega， a small， scrappy gaming company led by an unlikely visionary and a team of rebels， took on the juggernaut Nintendo and revolutionized the videogame industry--in development as a feature film from Sony PicturesIn 1990， Nintendo had a virtual monopoly on the videogame industry。 Sega， on the other hand， was just a faltering arcade company with big aspirations and even bigger personalities。 But all that would change with the arrival of Tom Kalinske， a former Mattel executive who knew nothing about videogames and everything about fighting uphill battles。 His unconventional tactics， combined with the blood， sweat， and bold ideas of his renegade employees， completely transformed Sega and led to a ruthless， David-and-Goliath showdown with Nintendo。 Little did he realize that Sega's success would create many new enemies and， most important， make Nintendo stronger than ever。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 school yards 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 United States against Japan。Based on more than two hundred interviews with former Sega and Nintendo employees， Console Wars is the tale of how Tom Kalinske miraculously turned an industry punch line into a market leader。 Blake J。 Harris brings into focus the warriors， the strategies， and the battles and explores how they transformed popular culture forever。 Ultimately， Console Wars is 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， give birth to a sixty-billion-dollar industry"--
Reviews
Frank
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I absolutely loved this book。 It was a great mix of nostalgia and information about an industry I am so wrapped up in。 This is a great history book for readers to check out。
Cypress
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I liked it。 The title is definitely misleading， as it should really be called "The Sega Story" due to how biased it was towards Sega。 Some of the dialogue the author created was a bit unrealistic， and I couldn't help but notice an odd number of typos and misspellings。 Call me pedantic， but if you're going to insert Japanese words into your book， at least spell them correctly （the author wrote "gaijan" instead of "gaijin，" "haduken" instead of "hadouken"）。 Nevertheless， I quite enjoyed reading ab I liked it。 The title is definitely misleading， as it should really be called "The Sega Story" due to how biased it was towards Sega。 Some of the dialogue the author created was a bit unrealistic， and I couldn't help but notice an odd number of typos and misspellings。 Call me pedantic， but if you're going to insert Japanese words into your book， at least spell them correctly （the author wrote "gaijan" instead of "gaijin，" "haduken" instead of "hadouken"）。 Nevertheless， I quite enjoyed reading about the business and the industry。 The book gripped me and it was certainly entertaining。 Was it 100% factually correct？ Probably not， but as long as you have some knowledge of this history before going in， it can be a fun narrative story of a pivotal moment in the video game industry。 。。。more
Bob Pore
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Fun read exploring both the cultural differences between Nintendo and Sega but also the cultural differences between doing business in Japan and the United States。 Certain parts dragged a bit and I would have liked to see a bit more reflection of the impact of the console war now 20 years later。
Arnold
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A super engaging and readable account of the US gaming industry in the early 1990s。 However， the enormous amount of invented dialogue between real people makes it hard to know where the line is between fact and diction。
David Szatkowski
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This book is quite long （550 pages） but does exactly what it promises - give the reader a close and inside look at one of history's most important corporate battles。 The reader learns a great deal about Nintendo， Sega， and the relative cultures that shaped both。 If you like random history， history of entertainment， or simply want to understand how corporate culture and governance effects a company this is a worthy read。 This book is quite long （550 pages） but does exactly what it promises - give the reader a close and inside look at one of history's most important corporate battles。 The reader learns a great deal about Nintendo， Sega， and the relative cultures that shaped both。 If you like random history， history of entertainment， or simply want to understand how corporate culture and governance effects a company this is a worthy read。 。。。more
Anthony Watt
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Some of my childhood explained！The Sega v Nintendo battles of the playground in the early 90’s were tame in comparison to the reality。 This book lays it all out from 1989 to around 1996。 It’s greatest achievement is helping you understand that Sega’s failure was mostly due to Sega！
Caio Everton
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Diferentão， cara de roteiro de Hollywood， mas ainda divertido de acompanhar。
Justin Bitner
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Probably more of a 4。5 or 4。75， but the amount of research and depth is impressive。 That said， it is a giant book for what ultimately covers only a brief period of the console battles。 And does it in a way that turns just about everything into a playlet rather than efficiently moving through details。I would love to know more about the consoles that have come after Sega Genesis and SNES as well， as I’m sure there are plenty of great stories。
Apostolos
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Quite an interesting story。 It picks up right after the Master System and ends with the Sega Saturn。 I would have liked to have known a bit more （Dreamcast era， and Sega getting out of the console business）， but maybe that's for another book :-） Quite an interesting story。 It picks up right after the Master System and ends with the Sega Saturn。 I would have liked to have known a bit more （Dreamcast era， and Sega getting out of the console business）， but maybe that's for another book :-） 。。。more
Brandon Merriman
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Awesome overview of an era of history I was too young to remember。 This book has negatively reshaped my perception of Nintendo as a long-time fanboy， and given me a new appreciation for its competitors。
Samantha
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This book consists of terrible writing by a Sega/Tom Kalinske fanboy。 It takes a compelling story and falsely breaks it down to Sega good/ Nintendo bad and Japan bad/ America good。It further fails to address the casual racism displayed by American Sega employees towards their Japanese colleagues- which goes far deeper than different working cultures。 It makes you wonder what the ‘racially charged’ literary endeavour that the writer refers to in the acknowledgements was！Finally it includes an inf This book consists of terrible writing by a Sega/Tom Kalinske fanboy。 It takes a compelling story and falsely breaks it down to Sega good/ Nintendo bad and Japan bad/ America good。It further fails to address the casual racism displayed by American Sega employees towards their Japanese colleagues- which goes far deeper than different working cultures。 It makes you wonder what the ‘racially charged’ literary endeavour that the writer refers to in the acknowledgements was！Finally it includes an infinite number of tedious anecdotes that fail to add to the story and would have benefited from better editing to cut it down to half of it gargantuan size of over 500 pages。 。。。more
Igor
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Maybe worth more stars but in my case I have heard this story so many times that this one did not trigger a lot of interest in me。
Max D'onofrio
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Interesting non-fiction approach where the stories are told in first-person。 Hard to imagine that the stories aren't embellished， but it was an enticing way to keep me involved in the story。 Enjoyed that the book was about video games， something I like but am not educated on the history of。 Interesting non-fiction approach where the stories are told in first-person。 Hard to imagine that the stories aren't embellished， but it was an enticing way to keep me involved in the story。 Enjoyed that the book was about video games， something I like but am not educated on the history of。 。。。more
Paulo Henrique
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Livro muito interessante。 Principalmente para quem curte a história do video game。
David Langlois
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Amazing book。I thought it would be a book about video game facts but what I got was a fully narrated story-driven non-fiction book mainly focusing on Sega's rise in the early 90s。 It felt like a fiction the way it's written and put together， not a non-fiction！I recommend to anyone who likes video games！ Amazing book。I thought it would be a book about video game facts but what I got was a fully narrated story-driven non-fiction book mainly focusing on Sega's rise in the early 90s。 It felt like a fiction the way it's written and put together， not a non-fiction！I recommend to anyone who likes video games！ 。。。more
Sean
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Super interesting subject matter， but the plot moves way too slow。 Could have been half the length and left out quite a lot of needless details。
Justin Norman
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I have conflicting feelings about this book。 It's written as narrative nonfiction， which seems like a strange choice of style for events that took place not so long ago， in which the subjects could likely still be interviewed。 The result is a book with good dramatic structure and nice scene transitions， but which delivers a string of scenes where you're never sure how much of what's on the page actually happened。 It becomes clear after awhile that the author is injecting his own cheeseball style I have conflicting feelings about this book。 It's written as narrative nonfiction， which seems like a strange choice of style for events that took place not so long ago， in which the subjects could likely still be interviewed。 The result is a book with good dramatic structure and nice scene transitions， but which delivers a string of scenes where you're never sure how much of what's on the page actually happened。 It becomes clear after awhile that the author is injecting his own cheeseball style of dialogue into the speaking voice of most of the characters， and that they almost certainly didn't say much of what is attributed to them。 The characters often do and say things you'd expect to see in a b-movie adaptation of the story， where one character starts with a metaphor about "cold feet"， and another character responds by carrying that metaphor further （"I'd say they're *frozen*"）。 This kind of thing both kills lines that were fine on their own by playing off them for too long and results in dialogue that sounds obviously fake。 Overall it's a good story， and I don't think there's another book that lays everything out as well as this one， but the execution is frequently eye-rollingly painful。 It also focuses almost entirely on the marketing aspect of the console war。 I found this interesting， but other people might expect more of a focus on the games and their creators。 It's a bit like Mad Men but with video games as the subject matter， except without that show's grade of dialogue。 。。。more
Dave Courtney
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Way too long for the material we actually get。 It becomes easy after a while to see the same patterns repeating themselves over and over and over again within the narrative of this ongoing battle between Sega and Nintendo。 There's little doubt that the book at least appears to give far more weight to Sega as the general protagonist and fairly consistant underdog。 It's hard not to come to the end， even though we as readers should already know how it ends if we hold even a slight interest in the s Way too long for the material we actually get。 It becomes easy after a while to see the same patterns repeating themselves over and over and over again within the narrative of this ongoing battle between Sega and Nintendo。 There's little doubt that the book at least appears to give far more weight to Sega as the general protagonist and fairly consistant underdog。 It's hard not to come to the end， even though we as readers should already know how it ends if we hold even a slight interest in the subject matter， and feel a bit let down and disappointed。 There's something anti-climatic about the story of a company made into something only to become nothing， and I couldn't help bit feel some introspective tones flowing from the epilogue as it speaks of Kalinske， the mind behind Sega's once successful brand， finally bering able to give his time and energy to stuff that holds lasting value。 This is of course set alongside a final sentiment that Kalinske's contributions layed the groundwork for those （Disney， Sony， Microsoft） who emerged from the battle as the winners。 Although the book doesn't veer into any philosophizing， there is room to wonder about the limitations of the brazen kind of capitalism this narrative represents。 I'm not really a gamer。 From time to time I can enjoy playing games like Zelda， Mario， Fable and Madden， but by and large I have never really been interested。 And yet this war and these systems， and more pointedly the games that defined this era， are very much a part of my own childhood experience and memories。 As the book walks through the story of this era leading up to the arrival of the Playstation （which is where the book ends）， it was kind of fun being able to imagine much of this happening in the midst of my own formative years。 Tracking how and when these systems and games found their birth and their eventual premier's places me amongst the target audience that the work of Sega and Nintendo were attending to attract and formulate loyalty from。 You can see how thieir differing campaigns worked in terms of how it all uknowningly integrated itself into my life back then， even though I wouldn't have had a clue about all this backroom drama。 I found myself making some curious corelations in the narrative of this war and the emergence of streaming services on the television/movie front。 For example， the way it describes Nintendo's success on a monetary end fits in line with Disney in terms of their intendency to take the tried and true， or the old tricks， and imagine them in new ways。 The shift from the reliance old storytelling and standard bits to the expectation of a constantly changing and progressing technology mirrors the shift we see in the film industry from Hollywood to the Valley。 What goes hand in hand with this is the reality of people who know nothing about gaming （or in the working comparison "film"） but a lot about technology being the ones to direct this shift。 it all leads to a certain bittersweet reality。 There's something about pulling the cover off of how the sausage gets made that always feels a little unsettling。 It's easy to see how although many enjoy games， we remain pawns in a greater game whether we recognize it or care to admit it or not。 And hearing Kalinske's story makes me wonder about where that line between this relentless capitalist pursuit that is intended to drive innovation and the integrity of the art itself gets drawn， lost， blurred， or confused。 As Kalinske himself says at one point， when it comes to success it is all about the narrative。 It's about the story you can sell so that others will blindly buy。 This is as true for the streaming wars today as it is for the gaming wars then。 Sell a narrative and you come out on top。 What emerges in the end is that the expectation today from those growing up in this present age is that technology must always be changing in line with this story。 That has become the most important name of the game today。 Technology is what is driving the narratives we then need to sell regardless of whether it impacts our world for better or for worse。 It simply is。 Which is where some of that introspection comes from。 For example， with Kalinski wondering whether his legacy which ushered in the age of violence in vidoe games or with created the generation of kids growing up on video games was actually good or bad。 That is to a degree a moot point in the grand scheme of things when it comes to how this stuff works。 We become these things becuase it becomes the narrative that drives society， and these narratives emerge from places driven not simply by progress， but by the familiar game of success and winning hat translates across generations。 Despite being far too long， for my own experience reading this book it still managed to give me a good deal to ponder and think about in terms of war itself。 。。。more
Stephen Stripling
，
Incredible。 For being non-fiction， it reads just like a novel。 For being history， it reads just like a biography。 For being a second-hand account， it reads just like a memoir。 It is fascinating from beginning to end and describes the events and key figures in this era in such a way as to make readers feel like they actually know them and are somehow involved in their stories themselves。
Sophie Elmo
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Interesting story but， gosh--the writing was BAD。
Blake Brashear
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Pretty good view of the late 80's/early 90's development of console gaming systems and the battle mainly between Nintendo and Sega。 The story was told mainly from the CEO of Sega， Tom Kalinsky， but focused on other key players as well。 Overall I thought the narrative was interesting， but a little overly in detail， when the book couldve expanded and continued into the subsequent generations of consoles of Play Station and XBox， but that may have been beyond the scope of this book。 As a child of t Pretty good view of the late 80's/early 90's development of console gaming systems and the battle mainly between Nintendo and Sega。 The story was told mainly from the CEO of Sega， Tom Kalinsky， but focused on other key players as well。 Overall I thought the narrative was interesting， but a little overly in detail， when the book couldve expanded and continued into the subsequent generations of consoles of Play Station and XBox， but that may have been beyond the scope of this book。 As a child of this era that owned a Nintendo NES， Super Nintendo and eventually an N64， I appreciated the inside look into the marketing and development of the games and systems and how much of an influence Japan was with the Nintendo， and parts of the Sega environment。 。。。more
TEELOCK Mithilesh
，
If you were a gamer in the 90s， like I was， you probably have fond memories of playing classic NES games like Super Mario World， The Legend of Zelda， and Donkey Kong。 Or if you owned a Sega console， you’d mostly likely have spent a major portion of your childhood playing Sonic the Hedgehog and The Revenge of Shinobi。 While you enjoyed these games， you were probably not aware of the intense rivalry between Nintendo and Sega to control the gaming world。Based on over two hundred interviews with for If you were a gamer in the 90s， like I was， you probably have fond memories of playing classic NES games like Super Mario World， The Legend of Zelda， and Donkey Kong。 Or if you owned a Sega console， you’d mostly likely have spent a major portion of your childhood playing Sonic the Hedgehog and The Revenge of Shinobi。 While you enjoyed these games， you were probably not aware of the intense rivalry between Nintendo and Sega to control the gaming world。Based on over two hundred interviews with former Sega and Nintendo employees， Console Wars offers a behind-the-scenes sneak peak at one of the fiercest rivalries of the 90s。 To be more precise， this book chronicles how Sega， a small gaming company led by Tom Kalinske， took on the juggernaut Nintendo， and revolutionized the video game industry。 。。。more
Troy
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Really enjoyed the background and look into the sega vs Nintendo battle that I saw as a kid。 I didn't realize how it all happened。 The author writes in story form which works well。 It did get a little bogged down in details and slowed at the end just as Sega slowed。 Really enjoyed the background and look into the sega vs Nintendo battle that I saw as a kid。 I didn't realize how it all happened。 The author writes in story form which works well。 It did get a little bogged down in details and slowed at the end just as Sega slowed。 。。。more
David Sanz
，
Una joya que engancha de principio a fin。 Lástima que se acabe con la salida de Kalinske， porque eso lo acerca más a una biografía de este señor que a una guerra real。 Me gustaría saber qué pasó con la Dreamcast y la debacle posterior， y ver qué cabezas rodaron en SOJ。 No sé si una película de esto funcionaría pero desde luego tiene todos los ingredientes para resultar interesante。
Camilo Rodríguez Gaviria
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Whoa！ It took me forever to finish it。 The overall story is interesting， but it feels it was prolonged for too long。 Also， throwing names everywhere， half expecting the reader to know who that person has done。I think it could be much shorter， and much more exciting。 For a book about the story of video game consoles， little is about the subject itself。 Most is about corps fighting each other， marketing campaigns， and internal feuds。I’m a SEGA fan， and was expecting for the mention of the Dreamcas Whoa！ It took me forever to finish it。 The overall story is interesting， but it feels it was prolonged for too long。 Also， throwing names everywhere， half expecting the reader to know who that person has done。I think it could be much shorter， and much more exciting。 For a book about the story of video game consoles， little is about the subject itself。 Most is about corps fighting each other， marketing campaigns， and internal feuds。I’m a SEGA fan， and was expecting for the mention of the Dreamcast， but never happened :（ 。。。more
Travis Wolf
，
It's hard for me to be objective about a book that I read once a year， but on my third time through Blake J。 Harris' history of gaming in the early nintenties I realized that I care more about the subject matter than the book itself。 If Console Wars is a definitive book about the video game industry， it's more because of a lack of focus in non-fiction spaces than the book's quality。 There's definitely some great information in Console Wars， but it's all buried beneath fictional conversations whe It's hard for me to be objective about a book that I read once a year， but on my third time through Blake J。 Harris' history of gaming in the early nintenties I realized that I care more about the subject matter than the book itself。 If Console Wars is a definitive book about the video game industry， it's more because of a lack of focus in non-fiction spaces than the book's quality。 There's definitely some great information in Console Wars， but it's all buried beneath fictional conversations where every director of marketing is as snarky as any Aaron Sorkin character。 Harris feels like the class of writer who chose literature only as a backup to screenwriting。 The result is a non-fiction book where settings and conversations from thirty years ago feel a bit too specific， casting serious doubts that this book has any educational value。Some other thoughts:- The chapter titles range from fine （The Next Level）， to annoying （The Underdog Days of Summer）， to embarrassing （Kings of the Jungle）- I listened to the audiobook this time and the narrator only has three voices: regular guy voice， Brooklyn guy voice， and offensive Japanese guy voice- This book makes me hate Nintendo every time I read it- Harris keys in on the big struggle being Sega of America versus Sega of Japan but what's weird is the way he positions SOA as the hero of the story。 For being a book about two Japanese video game companies it's uncomfortably western focused。- Wil Wheaton didn't narrate this audiobook so it gets like one extra star on that alone 。。。more
Mark Andrew Roberts
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Great way of reliving my youthLoved this book。 Shows how Sega went from a little upstart against the mighty Nintendo， all the way to being an equal， and even slightly ahead， only to drop the ball when they went for the next gen （32 bit） consoles and surrendered their position。Never knew that they had been so close to an alliance with Sony， how different things could have been if the PlayStation had been a joint venture！Great read for 30 something's that had any of the big 2s consoles and love vi Great way of reliving my youthLoved this book。 Shows how Sega went from a little upstart against the mighty Nintendo， all the way to being an equal， and even slightly ahead， only to drop the ball when they went for the next gen （32 bit） consoles and surrendered their position。Never knew that they had been so close to an alliance with Sony， how different things could have been if the PlayStation had been a joint venture！Great read for 30 something's that had any of the big 2s consoles and love video games。 。。。more
Adri Rojo
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Mira que de normal no me molan los libros de historia。 Pero este es la hostia。 A la minima que sepas de videojuegos， sabes que existe mario y sonic。 Pues el libro explica la creación del puto erizo azul de mierda。 Tambien te hace ver como funcionaba SEGA y un poquito de Nintendo en su momento。
Dustin Witmer
，
A little bit of a fan book for the Sega Genesis and the Sega of America president during that era。 It’s a decently written business book， and is an easy read for those of us whose adolescent video gaming prime was during the Sega Genesis versus Super Nintendo war of the early 90s that this book describes。
Sam
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