It was the shot heard around the populace : “ Sega does what Nintendon’t . ”
In the former eighties , Nintendo was on top of the universe . Atari ’s champion was falling and mascots like Mario were catapulting the Nipponese studio apartment to stardom . Nintendo was becoming synonymous with video recording games , herding players to one credit card box during gaming ’s early Wild West days . Competing with a Nintendo organisation was no easy labor . It would n’t just command a proficient organisation , but a fierce message that would stick with players .
That ’s precisely what Sega displume off in 1989 when it play its 16 - snatch Mega Drive to North America on August 14 , 1989 , with a new name : the Sega Genesis . Thirty - five age by and by , that name stomach as a emblematic one . The Genesis was n’t just the place of origin of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sega ’s overall legacy ; it created the modern video game console table war as we jazz it . Though Sega has long since lost the battle it started , its impact can still be felt today , making the Genesis one of the most eventful arrangement in history .
Starting a war
In 2024 , the Sega Genesis is a well - regarded organization — and for skillful reason . Sega ’s NES was a muscular arrangement for the time that showed off the power of 16 - scrap visuals . It did that with a deep roll of games . I still regularly uncover treasure from the geological era to this day ( Nintendo Switch Online ’s Sega Genesis catalogis especially great for unearth surprises).Sonic the Hedgehogshowed how fast video games could be , whileEcco the Dolphinsold how transportive digital adventures could be . It was a weird and fantastic enlargement of the medium that paved the style for a more creative manufacture .
More crucially , it created a more heated one . too .
When it get along to commercialise the Genesis , Sega live that it could n’t afford to play nice . Nintendo seemed unapproachable , like Donkey Kong sit atop his batch of girder . It would n’t be enough to simply miss another cabinet into a crowded marketplace . The Genesis would take to make a name for itself . So , like a new captive taking a swing at the biggest dog in the yard , Sega go for blood .
The Genesis ’ advert military campaign is just as memorable as the console table itself . Under the guidance of Michael Katz — and boosted by a whole lot of advert dollar — Sega stray out an outstandingly aggressive ad campaign to make the Genesis ’ brand . Gamers open their preferred cartridge clip to line up a two - page spread that proclaimed , “ Genesis does what Nintendon’t . ” It find like Sega go against the 4th wall . Gaming companionship sleep together to imply they were better than the eternal sleep , but actually call out the rival by name was sheer — specially a colossus like Nintendo .
That decision paid off . Sega quickly built the Genesis as a sort of counterculture platform . While Nintendo had a reputation as a fry - friendly console filled with happy - go - prosperous mascots , Sega paint itself as a forged boy . The ship’s company , and its characters , had attitude . Sonic the Hedgehoglooked like a cool bomber next to Mario , while games likeEarthworm Jimcourted older teens with their arrant - out humor .
Opening the floodgates
The Genesis was a abbreviated profits for Sega , but it opened the floodgates . One could debate that we would n’t have PlayStation and Xbox today without Sega architecting a competitive scheme that allow multiple platform holders to live at once . Though more importantly , Sega unknowingly mastermind something much more sinister : the horrific cabinet warfare . The effective advert campaign for the Genesis raised an intact generation of small fry unforced go to warfare for their console table of option . While enthusiast would always argue about which household computer was upright , Sega made it personal . If you owned an NES , you were crippled ; Genesis owners were cool .
That mental attitude has snowball in the 35 years since the Genesis ’ release . Video game consoles have now become replacements for personalities in a certain subset of gamers . We ’re forced to endure heat argument between “ Xbots and Sony Ponies ” who are do-or-die to knock one another down a oarlock . The “ cock-a-hoop three ” platform holders once played into that moral force , but they ’ve since cooled their electronic messaging . Nintendo has defect from the war entirely , while Xbox and Sony are both more open tobringing their games to their competitors ’ systems . Still , that has n’t stopped buff from hang to their arms and carrying on the battle .
While today ’s eye - rolling on-line fight can be trace back to the Sega Genesis , the reality is that we in all probability still would have gotten here even without it . We ’re presently last in the era of “ us vs. them . ” Everything is a culture war where combatants on each side see themselves as truehearted soldier . It ’s in gaming , movie , politics , and idiotic societal argument that have poisoned our culture . Maybe it ’s just in our nature to fight . Sega just figured out how to weaponize that for gamers before anyone else .
At least we got Sonic the Hedgehog out of it . That seems like a fair trade .
