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Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation by [Blake J. Harris]

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Blake J. Harris

Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation Kindle Edition

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Now a documentary on CBS All Access.

Following the success of The Accidental Billionaires and Moneyball comes Console Wars—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 video game industry.

In 1990, Nintendo had a virtual monopoly on the video game industry. Sega, on the other hand, was just 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 videogames 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.

Based on over two hundred interviews with former Sega and Nintendo employees, 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.

A best book of the year: NPR, Slate, Publishers Weekly, Goodreads

Print length

587 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Dey Street Books
Publication date

May 13, 2014
File size

5968 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ben Mezrich

Ben Mezrich, bestselling author of Bringing Down the House and Straight Flush, Reviews Console Wars

OK, full disclosure: I spent most of my twenties obsessed with GoldenEye on the Nintendo 64; I’ve got enough old videogame cartridges to build a medium-sized cartridge castle in my living room; and I’ve spent hours arguing the relative merits of Playstation versus Xbox. But Console Wars had me hooked from the first page. Written as narrative nonfiction, the story zings along at a breakneck pace. Compiling a massive amount of research into a well-executed dramatic arc, Harris tells the David vs. Goliath story of Sega’s epic battle against the gaming behemoth Nintendo. I especially enjoyed reading about the development of Sega’s mascot – and would-be Mario-killer – Sonic, the frenetic, frenzied little hedgehog that eventually shifted the balance between the two companies, changed the gaming landscape forever. The character of Tom Kalinske, the brilliant business guru (who’d resurrected Barbie, turning a back-of-the-closet, anachronistic doll into a contemporary, billion-dollar phenomenon) tapped to transform Sega from a small-scale Japanese arcade game outfit into a global competitor, is deftly drawn; from the very beginning, he faces a herculean task, not the least of which is his need to bridge the cultural chasm between American consumers and Japanese managers. Infighting, corporate greed, scrappy genius vs. antiquated business models – Console Wars has it all. A thoroughly good read!

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* At the dawn of the 1990s, Nintendo was the Goliath of the video-game industry. The company’s strictures on third-party development and its policy of understocking retailers contributed to the stranglehold on the market. But Tom Kalinske, who had rejuvenated Barbie and created He-Man for Mattel, was about to change that as the president and CEO of Sega. Like the pixels that together create a larger picture, Harris presents the various elements of the business in vivid color, from research and development to marketing, to show how Sega went from a joke to a market leader in just a few years. Along the way, Harris reveals the forces behind such decisions as Nintendo changing red blood to gray sweat in Mortal Kombat; the origin story of the nickname for Sonic’s sidekick, Tails; and even how Mario was supposed to be a certain spinach-guzzling sailor, in a manner that will engage both Gen X gamers and business-minded readers. Harris defines the players immediately, honing in on their most notable characteristics, and puts the reader in the thick of the meetings and deal-making with a confidence stemming from hundreds of interviews. Pegged for both documentary and feature-film adaptations, Console Wars is remarkably detailed and fast paced, pitting speedy Sonic against more-of-the-same Mario in a blow-by-blow account of the battle for supremacy in the burgeoning video-game industry. --Bridget Thoreson --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

[An] engaging narrative...This is an essential read for any interested in the evolution of video games and the rise and fall of Sega as a console contender.

-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"

Harris' meticulous history of the rivalry between Sega and Nintendo in the 1980s and 1990s proves to be listening gold with the skillful narration of Fred Berman...Berman delivers the story in a strong voice that keeps it moving while simultaneously providing rich vocal characterizations of the men and women involved. When delivering dialogue, he captures tone, projection, and tempo so well that listeners will often feel they're eavesdropping.

-- "AudioFile"

The book is a highly entertaining behind-the-scenes thriller in which price fixing, psychotically aggressive marketing schemes, and, occasionally, genuine innovation all come into play.

-- "Kirkus Reviews" --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Inside Flap

Named a "Best Book of the Year" by NPR, Slate, Publishers Weekly, and Goodreads

It was a once-in-a-lifetime battle that pitted brother against brother, kid against adult, Sonic against Mario, and the United States against Japan. . . .

In 1990, Nintendo had a virtual monopoly on the videogame industry. Sega was a faltering arcade company with big aspirations and even bigger personalities. But all that would change with the arrival of former Mattel executive Tom Kalinske. 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. But Sega's success would create many new enemies and make Nintendo stronger than ever.

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.

--IGN --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Blake J. Harris is a writer and filmmaker based out of New York. He is currently codirecting the documentary based on this book, which is being produced by Scott Rudin, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg. He will also serve as an executive producer on Sony's feature-film adaptation of Console Wars.

Fred Berman has won several AudioFile Earphones Awards as well as the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. He is an actor of theater, film, and television whose credits include Broadway's The Lion King, Law & Order, and Directing Eddie, among others. He was featured in Entertainment Weekly for his work on the Walking Dead audiobook series.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Back Cover

Named a "Best Book of the Year" by NPR, Slate, Publishers Weekly, and Goodreads

It was a once-in-a-lifetime battle that pitted brother against brother, kid against adult, Sonic against Mario, and the United States against Japan. . . .

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00FJ379XE
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dey Street Books; Illustrated edition (May 13, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 13, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 5968 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 587 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #169,093 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #15 in Company Business Profiles (Kindle Store)
- #30 in Sports & Entertainment Industry (Kindle Store)
- #62 in Business Infrastructure

Customer Reviews:
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Top reviews from the United States

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Dan D.

Just the facts, sir. Please!

Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2017

Verified Purchase

This book has a good story to tell, I just wish it was told in a different way. The author creates "conversations" between the figures in the book and the dialogue can be pretty cheesy, especially in the later stages of the book.

My favorite parts are the back stories when new characters are introduced, because they are not told in that manner. They are well written and interesting and I think I would have liked to see the whole book written that way.

And, the intro by Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg is just horrible. The book takes itself way more seriously than they do and they do it a real disservice. If they take the movie they are making based on this book just as seriously, it's in real trouble.

30 people found this helpful

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SPAM

Not exactly what I expected.

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2019

Verified Purchase

After hearing about this book for years and the upcoming movie (or TV mini-series), I finally decided to give it a read as I'm a huge fan of the war between Nintendo and Sega. I was a kid when it all went down and I thought Nintendo was the the best... that is until a friend showed me Sonic the Hedgehog. I soon swapped my SNES for a Genesis, then later I swapped it back for a SNES, then again for a Genesis, rinse and repeat. I guess those Saturday Morning cartoon ads really worked! Why I never just got both is beyond my understanding today as an adult.

The author obviously (by reading the acknowledgments at the end of the book) became very good friends with Tom Kalinske (then president of Sega of America) and the book is very kind to him as a result and in many ways bias. I understand that Nintendo had an iron grasp on the industry, but they did save it (in North America). They were simply trying very hard to avoid another crash. I don't blame them. They were maybe a bit too strict in retrospect and viewed Sega (rightfully) as reckless and a danger to the re-emerging industry. Nintendo's failing was they didn't notice gaming was here to stay until it was too late.

Since this is the middle of my review, I'd like to point out that a lot of content in the middle of this book seemed like filler. I found myself scratching my head about what I was reading and how it pertained to Sega VS Nintendo.

The book builds up Sonic 2s day (Sonic 2's worldwide release) for what seemed like many chapters, yet it largely glossed over the Sega CD failure. It also didn't bother to make the connection that while Nintendo was planning it's own CD add-on, mistakes were made to where the project was dropped allowing them front row seats to the disaster that could've been their own future. Instead Nintendo smartly opted to upgrade the cartridges and not the system. This seems like a no-brainer today and something the book again left out that Sega did eventually do with Virtua Racing on Genesis. Also, while the Genesis did pull-ahead of SNES for a bit, Nintendo did make a comeback and ultimately won the console wars. It was actually Sony that crushed Nintendo, not Kalinske (Sega).

A quick synopsis of the book would be: Sega of America built itself up (with the help of Japan) and destroyed itself (with the help of Japan). Sonic took them to places that seemed unimaginable, but countless failed add-ons brought them down to their knees. Nintendo twiddled their thumbs, until it was too late. Both companies passed on joining Sony and inadvertently helped create The Sony Playstation that still dominates the gaming industry as of this review.

13 people found this helpful

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Tess Young

The worst "nonfiction" book I've ever read

Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2020

Verified Purchase

Console Wars is a book that covers the marketing and business strategy of two competing video game companies during the 1990s: Nintendo, the Big Guys, and Sega, the Underdogs. What "sets it apart" is that it's not written like a traditional nonfiction book, with 3rd person accounts and a more distanced view of the subject matter--rather, it's hacked together to imitate the storyline of a screenplay or novel. Even though nobody tells you that in the book's description, I didn't mind it at all. At first.

This thing is 600 pages: picture about two inches of thickness. It's weeks of reading if you can put away 2-3 chapters a day. I would open it up on the bus to work, so it took me a couple of months. When I was halfway through, I was furious that so much of my time had been wasted with what turned out to be pages and pages and pages of irrelevant tangents, and made-up banter that sounded so fake, it could be pulled from the pages of a junior-high student's livejournal fanfiction. I fell for the stupid sunk cost fallacy though and finished the damn thing, and I became even more mad because I realized it WAS a fanfiction. About Tom Kalinski, the "protagonist" of the book.

Because the writer wanted to frame this person as the hero of the story, always doing his best, always the good guy, he --as many more educated reviewers of this book pointed out-- completely left out chunks of relevant events and perspectives to uphold that narrative. The most chilling to me was blaming most of the failures of the business on Sega of Japan, while excluding SOJ's viewpoint entirely--instead, the overseas branch is frequently described as "shifty", "mysterious", "jealous", and "untrustworthy", even going so far as to project those labels to a Japanese man who had worked at SOA for many years.

The final straw for me was that there was no Index anywhere in this book, in other words no references or any way for me know what had been made up or what actually happened. As far as I'm concerned, you can't call this anything but fiction, and it's scary to think people are reading this to try and learn about video game history.

If you do want to learn about video game history, or you want a good story, look elsewhere.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Good history on consoles, but I wish it was more "documentary" and less "character driven story."

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2017

Verified Purchase

A good history on the 8 and 16-bit era of consoles, and the continuous one-upmanship between the frontrunners of the industry at the time (Nintendo and Sega).

Unfortunately, the timeline felt a bit confusing and a lot of the dialogue and depictions felt a bit embellished. Also, I feel quite a bit was embellished, and there was too much focus on Tom Kalinske's role and Sega's position as the industry underdog. It feels more like a character driven story with Kalinske as protagonist than a documentary or history on that generation of consoles.

I'm glad I read it, but do take some of it with a grain of salt. Still completely worth a read if you're curious about the "behind the scenes" aspects of the 8 and 16-bit era Nintendo and Sega company politics.

10 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Thedrisk

Great read not without its flaws

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 14, 2014

Verified Purchase

This charts Tom Kalinske career at Sega so from 1991 to 1996 and covering a golden period in gaming history, with the Megadrive, Saturn and Nintendos NES and SNES and N64. Then going into the rise of Sony and the Playstation. The book switches only occasionally to Nintendo and Sony, with almost all from Sega of Americas point of view.

Blake Harris reportedly interviewed 500 people at Sega and Nintendo for this book, but I suspect most were marketing guys and girls and most in Sega. For this book is essentally a marketing story, dont expect to meet the writers of the game beyond the tiniest mention and yet chapters on the latest Sega advert. This isnt a criticism just an observation upon its focus.

It is written in a novelised form, with dialogue to make you cringe, but Blake Hartis does a good job of making a dry topic a great read never the less through this style.

I pride myself on knowing quite a bit on the subject of video game history and this book is generally good and although the research is patchy (particuarly when discussing Nintendo) and the dialogue the characters speak are highly suspect and couldn't exist outside a Mills and Boon novel... still most events described it is accurate.

Also the book is very US centric to the point of Xenophobia, the Sega of Japan are portrayed as bumbling idiots and one time explained as all cowards unlike the Sega of Amerca who must all wear capes with S emblazed upon their chests such is there flawless and constant heroic decision making. I can't vouch either way personally how Sega of Japan were, but I strongly believe they were far better than this book portrays them. It basically reeks of egotistical people recounting a story where nostalgia and hindsight makes them all into flawless heroes.

The book has mistakes in it and the mistakes and ommissions seem bizarre until you realise that Blake has mostly interviewed the suits in marketing and so you are dealing with those peoples mistaken knowledge... examples such as Nintendo going from Hanafuda cards straight to electric console (missing the all important toys) , bizarre statements like Mario was built as a Joust clone, to unforgivable mistakes in the book like Mario Kart was the first game to shock the world with Mode 7... or Rare software chose the ZX Spectrum as it was the most powerful system available.

Reading the above you probably are wondering why I have given it four stars? Well despite its mistakes I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and for the most part the events described are very accurate and bang on (i would say 95% right), and when combined with a writer able to make the story both interesting and compelling.

At its heart its a David and Golliath story, with Sega thwarting the giant that was Nintendo. Treat the book as Hollywood war film blockbuster, that is expect it to have a slant from reality about the importance of America and to be willing to bend the truth and occasionally break it, all to ensure that the central story arc isn't diminished. Accept that as I did and you will find much to enjoy and love with this book.

I just hope Blake Harris considers releasing the transcripts of all his interviews as I would love to be able determine the reality from the Hollywood in the book.

25 people found this helpful

Pilch

A very interesting read, but with a few issues

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 25, 2017

Verified Purchase

I picked this up for 99p during a Kindle deal, as a gamer myself it sounded like an interesting read. It does a good job of setting the scene, showing where Nintendo and Sega started and how they came to be giants of the industry. There are some great stories in here, especially some of the Expo and store/price war ones, and will take people of a certain age on a nostalgia trip.

The main issue is with the language in the ‘real-life’ conversations between people involved. I know you have to allow some leeway when interviewees are recalling conversations that took place around 25 years before, but Blake Harris is putting words in these people’s mouths and the way he has these people talking to each other is at times laughable and unrealistic. I found myself closing the book during chapters which had large chunks of these conversations to come back to the book another time, they can be too much. It’s like something from a cheesy daytime soap opera.

There is also a strong Sega bias. This book does lift the lid on some questionable business practices from Nintendo, which had a 90%-odd control of the console market at one time, but they always seem to be presented as stuffy and controlling, where Sega tend to be presented as bright, breezy, and faultless. It’s clear from the book that Sega made mistakes too, but these are always excused - and nearly always attributed to Sega Japan - whereas any Nintendo mistakes are picked apart. The book largely ignores markets outside North America (understandable perhaps when this is where the author hails from).

I don’t want to be too down on the book as overall it was a decent read. Take the cringeworthy conversations out and you are left with a very well-researched book with interesting input of the big hitters from the time, and the facts and figures to back things up where necessary.

3 people found this helpful

Sparky

Great way of reliving my youth

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

Loved 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.

Mr. N. Long

Narrow in scope, but entertaining

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 26, 2014

Verified Purchase

I bought this book because I was very much an 80’s Nintendo kid and there has been quite a bit of buzz about it.

The first thing that must be said about it is that this is a book with a very narrow scope. It’s not a history of the console wars, it’s not even a history of Sega (check out Service Games for a better book on this subject). Instead it is a history of how Tom Kalinske successfully marketed the Mega Drive to become the dominant console in early 90’s America before Sega spectacularly shot themselves in the foot with the Sega CD /32X / Saturn debacle.
Non Americans should be aware that markets outside of the US are largely ignored.

Despite it’s limitations it’s a very detailed and clearly well researched book and even people who’ve read quite a bit on the subject will probably learn something. It’s written in an engaging novel like style and is an enjoyable read (though the imagined dialogue is horrific) For people considering a purchase it’s important to realise that it is at it’s heart a book about marketing not video games, or tech.

Though there is little doubt that Tom Kalinske was a marketing genius and pulled off one of the all time underdog upsets when Sega USA pushed Nintendo in the second place spot, the book is guilty of being a bit of a rose tinted love letter (The author even name checks him as a “Great guy” in the acknowledgements).

Most of the achievements of Sega are attributed to him and his team while seemingly blaming anything bad that happened on Japan. This is especially jarring with the 32X which is portrayed as something that was foisted on him when most sources agree that it was largely Sega USA’s baby and developed by a team under his control.
Perhaps worst of all the book asks the question why Sega Japan was so hard on Sega USA and comes to the conclusion “No one knows, probably jealousy” without acknowledging that Sega USAs overspending and price slashing saddled Sega with large debts that restricted their ability to compete with the Playstation.

Despite all these complaints it’s an entertaining book as long as you take it with a substantial pinch of salt and I’m sure most gamers of the early 90’s will enjoy the warm glow of nostalgia.

11 people found this helpful

Kiran_mk2

Great read for all Sega and Nintendo 16-bit fans

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 22, 2016

Verified Purchase

As a massive Nintendo fan in the early 90s I approached this book with some trepidation. After all, the book was about how Nintendo's Japanese rivals Sega turned from also-ran into world-leaders during the exciting times at the dwan of the 16-bit era. I needant have worried, however as the book is an increadibly fascinating insight into how the US videogame industry developed at breakneck speed. It tells the story of a collection of American executives pushing back against the conservative nature and cautious approach of Sega Japan (still typical for Japanese companies to this day). While Nintendo attempted to exploit their near monopoloy at the end of the 80s, Sega US grew by spotting the gaps Nintendo left, advertising to make fun of Nintendo and looking to work in partnership with those who also disliked Nintendo's control. From making the most of their new mascot, to guerilla marketing approaches to get the US retail giants such as Toy R Us and Walmart onside. For Nintendo fans such as myself, there is still plenty of information about the history of Nintendo and, indeed, how they came to dominate the 8-bit market and establish such draconian terms on their partners. This was actually a bit of a downer for me to see how oppressive and dictorial Nintendo were to their so-called partners, turning on them at the drop of a hat - perhaps illustrated best when Nintendo abandoned Sony for Philips to develop a CD-drive addon. The first Sony knew about this when Nintendo announced it at E3! Also surprising is how little most of the executives knew (or cared) about video games. Written in a way where you always want to read another chapter the book reads very well.
As anyone who was into their 8 and 16-bit consoles in the UK will know, Nintendo treated Europe very much as a 2nd class society (long delays for game releases - if they were released at all - which were unoptimised for the region and very high prices) and sadly the book doesn't touch on this market, focussing on the the US market. From my memory of the time, the SNES was clearly the better console although the Mega Drive had some fantastic games but as the book shows - it's not always how good something is, it's about how it is marketed.