Twenty Years of the Mega Drive

[Pulsar_t]

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=269562

Nintendo were totalitarian weren't they? Sega's contribution to the console market is indeed underappreciated by today's gamers.

[MrPopo]

Yeah, Nintendo was very draconian back in the day. I think it was necessary based on the state of the industry at that time in order to build back consumer trust, but Sega did a good job of getting those policies removed. However, the article did point out the big difference between Sega and Nintendo that caused one to get out of the hardware market, while the other stayed.

When Sega wanted a leg up on the competition, they released new hardware, either addons or consoles, while completely dropping the old format, which alienated a lot of people. But you look through the slow Nintendo years of the N64 and the Gamecube, and Nintendo always stood by their consoles, which meant that Nintendo fans knew that they'd get great first party titles and support, and then they'd get some good third party titles as well, if not at the quantity that the other guys did.

[Pulsar_t]

That's true, the Master System was catered to in Europe but when Sega stretched themselves too thin with the Mega CD and 32x they had to abandon everything (Sega of Japan's call) in order to support the Saturn, and it worked but sadly only in Japan.

[d123456]

MANDATORY Racketboy article material.

[RemyC]

you look through the slow Nintendo years of the N64 and the Gamecube, and Nintendo always stood by their consoles, which meant that Nintendo fans knew that they'd get great first party titles and support, and then they'd get some good third party titles as well, if not at the quantity that the other guys did.

Nothing but the truth. You buy a nintendo system, and you KNOW you'll get quality mario, metroid, and zelda titles.

[GagaMan]

Sega's contribution to the console market is indeed underappreciated by today's gamers.

Here here! Everything retro related seems to be about Nintendo most of the time (except on this site of course) as if Nintendo were perfect and you needed no one else. Sega has become the Internet's whipping boy to the point where most are undermining just how important they were to gaming back in the 16-bit era, pretending that they were nothing more than another notch on Nintendo's kill list. They weren't.

It gets pretty tiring when so many (mainly American) articles about the history of gaming seem to ignore Sega, Commodore, SNK, Hudson etc, as if the NES was the only 8-bit system out there and Mario, Zelda etc was ALL that mattered.

Sega shook up Nintendo's stranglehold on the market and made them push harder with their games on the SNES. Without Sega, somehow I reckon Nintendo would have put a whole lot less effort into the SNES, possibly releasing much later than they did as they were doing fine with the NES. When Nintendo is under pressure they work harder, which is why the 16-bit era was the most heated and exciting time for gaming.

Also: Nintendo of Europe always were (and still is) incompetent, whereas Sega Europe were brilliant back in the day. While SNES owners had to wait for Nintendo's two or three first party games a year that got delayed to hell and back, Sega were consistent and constant. From my own personal childhood memories I barely even remember much Nintendo advertising or branding (other than the mario cartoon and some other odd bits), but Sega at one stage was bloody everywhere. They did bus tours, tournaments, Sega World in London, Sonic the Comic, etc etc.

[MrPopo]

It gets pretty tiring when so many (mainly American) articles about the history of gaming seem to ignore Sega, Commodore, SNK, Hudson etc, as if the NES was the only 8-bit system out there and Mario, Zelda etc was ALL that mattered.

Well, that's because post-crash, in America (which you pointed out is the author of most articles) the NES WAS the only 8-bit system out there. My Master System arrived at work today and I was showing it around. A grand total of two people had heard of it, one of whom actually owned it as a kid. Conversely, when I was talking about my recent 3DO purchase everyone knew what it was, they just couldn't fathom why I'd want one.

Really, until the Genesis hit, Sega was a non-factor in America.

[RackGaki]

I had a single friend with the Master system when I was growing up. And honestly, it has been the one and only master system that I have ever seen.