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Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation by [Harris, Blake J.]
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4.3 out of 5 stars 310 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • File Size: 6233 KB
  • Print Length: 587 pages
  • Publisher: Dey Street Books; Reprint edition (May 13, 2014)
  • Publication Date: May 13, 2014
  • Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B00FJ379XE
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray:
  • Word Wise: Enabled
  • Lending: Not Enabled
  • Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,669 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsFascinating information and absolutely worth reading; however, the authorial presence is far too strong
By Spotless Mind on May 19, 2014
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Console Wars largely chronicles the period between 1989 and 1995, when Sega battled Nintendo for dominance in the home console market, ending as Sony displaces Sega in the 32-bit era as Nintendo's main competitor. In a sense, it does serve as a sort of sequel to David Sheff's gold-standard account in "Game Over" of the rise of Nintendo in the 80's, which left off at the point where Sega's Genesis had just started to get a serious foothold in the market. However, the styles in which the two authors approach their subjects are very different, and it's interesting to compare them.
Sheff's Game Over contained very little conversational dialogue. He wrote his book like a reporter: documenting scenes and incidents by describing the people and particulars involved, the content of what they said, and the effect of their interactions. His book was full of individual quotes, but the large majority of them were presented matter-of-factly as accounts made by the subject either directly to the author in interview, or to another source of record which Sheff was citing. In-scene "dialogue" was used sparingly, and mostly limited to short lines that reflected exactly what was known by the subject or other observers to have been said, or something very close to it. This gave Sheff's book a journalistic crackle, keeping the pace moving, the flow of information constant, and the level of authorial distance removed enough that the reader always maintained a panoramic view of the bigger picture, and didn't get bogged down in superfluous, artificial detail.Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsConsole wars = marketing and sales wars?
By Donald R. Brown on June 4, 2014
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
I enjoyed the book overall, but was disappointed the book focused entirely on marketing and sales and basically ignored engineering and software development. There are occasional allusions to technology (16 bits vs. 8 bits, Nintendo's mode 7, Sega's Blast Processing, etc.) but basically this book implies the console wars were won and lost by the sales and marketing teams of Nintendo and Sega. The book is also very focused on the Sega Genesis and the NES/SNES. Very little is written on the Sega Saturn and its commercial failuree.

I understand the best engineering doesn't always win (Betamax), but the exclusive focus on marketing and sales seems unbalanced and superficial. I was hoping for a more balanced treatment of the subject including more details on the technical innovations in each generation of the console hardware and the incredible creativity and technical accomplishments of the game developers of this era. Instead, we are treated to stories of marketing and sales staff arguing over first-class airplane seats.
6 Comments 27 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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3.0 out of 5 starsEntertaining, but.................
By Conrad Hoss on May 7, 2015
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I'm torn here. I liked the book and it was entertaining like a movie. But the truth is still out there. This was too biased, even if the description warned me that it was going to be. It started off at 5 stars, then lost one when I realized I wasn't going to get Japan's side, and another one when I realized the writing wasn't that good. Many times the dialogue and descriptions feel like an amateur screenplay, although there are flashes of talent a la Michael Crichton.

It's shame "Console Wars" is basically a biography of Sega of America's Tom Kalinske (who is awesome, don't get me wrong) as opposed to a straight historical account of Sega vs Nintendo spanning from the early days until Dreamcast (which is not even mentioned in this book). I thought the book would have been more balanced, but Harris decided to make it from Mr. Kalinske's point of view, and makes usfeel sorry for him as an underdog who managed to make a dent in against "Goliath" (in the U.S.).

Since Tom is the "good guy", we don't get to question if he was too cocky, if he was justified to be so angry at Nintendo, if he was really sincere about being concerned with video game violence, or why his employees whispered in Al Nilsen's ear that they were going to quit after Al left.

The book is a "reenactment book", like the book "Washington's Spies" by Alexander Rose. It's basically a style that tells history via reconstructed (or fictional) dialogue, so it feels like a novel, or in this case a screenplay. Harris had a disclaimer about how he massaged things, but it still is jarring and took me out of the story a few times because Harris just isn't a polished writer.Read more ›
1 Comment 7 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsAwesome flashback to the good ol' gaming days. Tons--I mean TONS--of insider scoop.
By Ryan J. Dejonghe TOP 1000 REVIEWER on May 13, 2014
Format: Hardcover
Oh man, this book is good. If you’re like me, an important part of your childhood revolved around saving princesses and hitting up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A on your controller. This book, CONSOLE WARS, brings it all back. And then some.

Word of warning: this book is hefty. Weighing in at 550 pages, this is a good chunk of verbiage covering half a decade of video gaming history. Is the journey worth it? Hell yeah!

Did you know that the Donkey Kong game was supposed to be a Popeye the Sailorman game? How about Tom Hanks being turned down for the Mario movie? And, are the rumors true: did Michael Jackson write music for Sonic 3? There’s a ton of information packed into the book. Every time I was tempted to skim ahead, something else caught my attention. The author, Blake Harris, weaves the dialogue and happenings that he collected from over 200 interviews into an interesting narrative that comes from all directions of the industry.

My personal story mirrors the boy in 8-BIT CHRISTMAS (if you haven’t read that book, do it). Santa usually stocked my tree with Nintendo-based presents. So, what interested me most in this book was the opposing history of Sega: mainly, how the underdogs took the proverbial bull by the horns and kicked its a**. When everything went wrong—prize fighter losing before game release; power outage at a major press conference; Walmart refusing to carry product—the folks at Sega owned the situation and rose to the top.

I was also especially interested in the nearness of a Sega-Sony merge. Can you imagine the state of video games if Sega released the Playstation with Sony? Nintendo had a chance, spurred Sony, and well…you’ll have to read about it all. Not to mention Sega of Japan’s involvement all along the way.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsAn excellent read for anyone interested in the business!

Blake Harris's novelization of Kalinske's marketing battle with Nintendo makes for an exciting retelling of this most seminal time in video game history. Read more

Published 5 days ago by Joseph DeClara
5.0 out of 5 starsWar is ugly...

What a great inside look into the Sega vs Nintendo war of the early 90's. As a consumer and big fan of videogames, it is fascinating to see what happens behind the scenes of these... Read more

Published 8 days ago by Jim
2.0 out of 5 starsInteresting content, told in a mundane fashion

I really wanted to like this book, but I really can't imagine a competitive "how the sausage was made" tale could be any more bland...

Published 12 days ago by Blake
5.0 out of 5 starsFantastic Book!

This is a fantastic book that dives into the golden years (for me at least) of video games. If you were/are a fan of the early 90s video game revolution I highly suggest you pick... Read more

Published 29 days ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat read, would recommend.

Fantastic job done by Blake Harris, very interesting to go on this roller coaster ride through Sega's tremendous uprising only to watch them crumble.

Published 29 days ago by Clinton Gilmore
5.0 out of 5 starsA labor of love.

Great behind the scenes interviews of what was really going on. Seeing things from Sega's perspective was pretty cool even though I was nintendo kid during this time.

Published 1 month ago by Boarder Renzen
5.0 out of 5 starsCool

I liked this book. Very helpful with trAnsmedia studies. Great read and I would definitely recommend. Thanks so much Amazon

Published 1 month ago
5.0 out of 5 starsRead this now

This is now one of my favorite non-fiction books of all time. You learn to love the people who worked at both companies — their big personalities, big ideas and big hopes. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Aaron Couch
5.0 out of 5 starsLoved it!

I loved this book and can't wait for the movies!

Published 1 month ago by Chris
3.0 out of 5 starsThese Are Some of the Errors I Caught. How Many More Did I Miss?

I'm more than halfway through the book (borrowed from the library) and intend to finish it.

Page 294: Dogs? Cats? Are there [sic] brains as objectionable? Read more

Published 1 month ago by Amazon Customer

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