Review
Games War sets out in detail the commercial, product and marketing strategies employed by Sega and Nintendo during the heady years of 1987-1995 and the successes and failures that resulted. Games War describes how the video games market was created, how its output was met rapturously by the young, and cynically by the hold; how massive the numbers really were; and perhaps most significantly of all, how, with the arrival of new competitors such as Sony, the foundations have already been laid for another boom in 1996 and beyond. Chapters deal with the definition and dynamics of the video games market; game hardware; game software; the battle for games sales and market share; the tactics used to increase sales; how retailers managed video games; parental and social response to video games; and predictions for the next major platform launches in 1995/9. Games War is a masterpiece of research and writing, and will be of great interest to observers of the contemporary American business scene in general, and the video marketplace in particular. -- Midwest Book Review
