When did the console wars start?

In the late 1960s, Ralf Baer, an engineer at Sanders, a defense contractor, invents the concept of video games. But Sanders doesn't have any business in the video-game market. So they license the idea to Magnavox, which creates Odyssey, the first commercial game console. This inspires Noam Bushnell at Atari to create Pong, and it's a major hit. Arcade games become popular, home consoles become popular, and all of this becomes a billion-dollar industry.

Until?

Until 1983, when there's this huge video-game crash. Some people call the Atari Crash. The culprit is a glut of bad games. Because it was so successful, Atari seemed to think that anything would sell.

Their former head of international marketing told me that someone in the company came to him and said, "We're trying the get the rights to Rubik's Cube for a game." And he said, "Why would you do that? Why would someone spend $50 for a game that represents a $5 toy?" That mentality, that anything could be made into a video game, led to this bubble bursting in the video-game industry.

How did video games bounce back?

In the midst of the crash, Nintendo, a smaller company that had not been a major player in the industry, creates Donkey Kong. With it Nintendo takes on the impossible challenge of resurrecting this industry that most people thought was just a fad[a fad] that was over. But starting in 1985, it just grows and grows. By 1990 we have a $3 billion industry, with Nintendo controlling 90 percent of it.

How did they pull it off?

Much of Nintendo's success was because they didn't chase the ghost of Atari. They didn't want to make the same mistakes, so they set into motion plans to create quality control. That's why you might remember the "Nintendo seal of quality" was on all of their games, and that's why Nintendo implemented a strict third-party licensing program that licensees could only make five games per year. They were trying to protect retailers from themselves.

That helped the industry, but Nintendo made enemies. Companies that were making millions off of their games didn't want to just make five per year; they wanted to make 10.

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And so Sega rose up and took on the juggernaut?

Well, sort of. Everyone was looking for a challenger to the throne. Like many other companies, Sega sees how big this market has become and wants to get into it.

What was Sega's secret weapon?

Sega was really focused on smart marketing, and that went beyond TV commercials. It went from character development, like Sonic the Hedgehog, to grassroots campaigns. Sega placed representatives on college campuses to spread their gospel, which is a low-cost, high-reward strategy. That set the stage for those big, unorthodox ideas that would eventually topple Nintendo.

So for Sega, it was all about marketing?

Not entirely. I think at the crux of the console war is the importance of finding that intersection between technology, entertainment, and marketing. Sega clearly offered the best technology. They had 16 bits before Nintendo did, they had Sega CD before Nintendo had a CD-player attachment, and in some cases, being first worked out really well for them. In other cases, it weakened them.

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Did Nintendo fight back?

Nintendo for the most part did not reply to Sega, and that took a lot of willpower. Back in the day, Sega would run these ads that went directly after Nintendo. Peter Main was then executive vice president of sales and marketing at Nintendo, and he told me about how he would come home some nights so angry that he'd go to bed and wake up just as furioushe'd have to take a walk with his Labrador just to calm down.

Many larger companies nowadays react for the sake of reacting. Nintendo was impressive at times in their restraint and their commitment to their long-term vision, even as their market share slipped away.

Spoiler: Who won the console war?

I think both sides would say they won, and I think both sides are correct.

Come on, Blake. Don't be like that.

Fine, fine. If you take a snapshot of the 1990s, Sega won. Nintendo had 90 percent of the market and was perceived as the Goliath. The fact that somebody could even show that the video-game industry was more than just Nintendo was a victory, not to mention that at some point Sega really did get up to 60 percent of the market.

But Nintendo won if you look at the complete life cycle of 16-bit systems. The last section of my book is called "The Tortoise and the Hare," and there is definitely a way of looking at this where Sega was very flashy and very short-term-orientedas underdogs often are. Nintendo played the long game, and, in the end, they came out on top.

How about you? Are you Team Sega or Team Nintendo?

I'm Team Sega, but I'd like to explain why. As a kid, I wanted to get a Super Nintendo, but my parents told me they wouldn't get me one because then they'd come out with a Super Duper Nintendo that wouldn't be compatible. So Sega Genesis was my loophole in their logic, and I became a Sega kid.

Team Sonic or Team Mario?

While I'm definitely Team Sega, I'd have to say that I'm also Team Mario. What I like most about Mario is that at his core, he's an explorer. He's definitely a little slower and less excitable than his counterpart at Sega, but he's really interested in investigating things, and that's more like myself than speedy Sonic.

If I'd been a Sonic, this book might have been done two years ago!

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