As we approach the release of the PS4 and the Xbox One, we prepare to truly enter next era of console gaming. But the history of console gaming goes back decades, 40 years of history. Wars, alliances, betrayals, and the rise and fall of many companies. Exeposé Games sets out on a journey of great historical importance, charting each generation of…The Console Wars.
While the war wouldn’t fully erupt for another few years, the fourth generation of consoles began in 1987.
The companies Hudson Soft and NEC, after having their CD-ROM attachment for the NES rejected by Nintendo, created and released the PC-Engine in Japan on 30th October 1987.
Meant to beat the NES, the PC-Engine had a higher ’16-bit’ graphic quality and a CD-ROM attachment in a drive to make it appeal as the next gen console. And it worked, for a time, as sales of it beat the NES’ in Japan. It released in the US in August 1989, along with Europe in 1990, as the TurboGrafx-16 (later shortened to TurboGrafx) to similar early success.
Nearly a year after the TurboGrafx, on 29th October 1988, the Sega Mega Drive released in Japan, and also released in the US on 14th August 1989 as the Genesis, and in the rest of the world on 30th November 1990, as the Mega Drive.
Like the TurboGrafx, the Mega Drive was Sega’s measure to take the game market from the older NES, by being ‘the next-gen console’ and outperforming it graphically. But it didn’t get a good start. In Japan the console was never able to outsell either the NES or the PC-Engine.
The fourth console war was, at first, a battle between the TurboGrafx and Mega Drive to take the market from the out-dated NES, though both had trouble in doing so.
Outside of Japan, the TurboGrafx was never able to keep up the momentum, due to a lack of retailers and the disadvantages of the console, such as it only being able to have one controller. Sega, meanwhile, pressed on with an aggressive marketing campaign in North America. When it went to Europe and South America in 1990, however, it had massive success, due to its large number of launch titles, and able to take control of the market in those regions.
Two years after the Mega Drive, realising they need to match Sega to compete, Nintendo released the Super Famicom on 21st October 1990, releasing in the US and rest of the world as the SNES on 23rd August 1991 and in the summer of 1992, respectively.
The console improved on the qualities of the NES, with higher graphic and sound quality. The quality was also better than that of its competition. It also improved on its controller, now having 4 buttons on the right and introduced the shoulder buttons, in light of the popularity of fighter games. Nintendo’s improvements showed, they once again came to dominate the Japanese market.
Unlike the NES, the SNES had to deal with an established competitor in Sega outside Japan; Europe and South America were Sega strongholds.
Not only that, in mid-1991, Sega found its success in a change of policy. The price was cut, a team was created to develop US-targeted games, the marketing increased, and the bundled game was changed to what became Sega’s iconic series – Sonic the Hedgehog. The console received massive success, with many people buying new bundle Genesis in the US over waiting for the SNES.
By the time of SNES’ release, Sega controlled 60% of the US market.
Between 1990 and 1994, Sega and Nintendo openly battled with each other, and it was in the truest sense a console war: stronghold territories in Japan and Europe, respectively; the battleground of the US changing hands multiple times; aggressive marketing campaigns; their own competing franchises in Mario and Sonic. Each company tried to find ways to outcompete the other, and this usually came from third-party companies.
Sega’s more lenient licencing of not having companies bound, to produce only for them for a few years, meant companies like EA and Namco sided with Sega, while others like Capcom and Square remained loyal to Nintendo.
There was also the censorship dispute over Mortal Kombat in 1993, with Sega keeping in the gore while Nintendo censored it, resulting in Sega having three times as many sales as Nintendo. The dispute, because of the controversy of the gore, also resulted in the creation of the ESRB rating system in 1994. Nintendo, now using the rating system instead of censoring content themselves, was able to succeed with MK II.
The fourth console war was bitterly close.
Unlike previous generations where one company had usually dominated, the fourth had a console war through and through, with neither gaining a significant advantage nor backing down.
By the end of 1994, and the advent of the fifth generation, the war was still close, but there was a winner. Though selling less consoles, through a longer time on market, more appealing licencing policy, strong marketing and other such factors, Sega were able to just retain control of the US, European and South American market: Sega won The Fourth Generation, but barely.
While Sega and Nintendo’s rivalry continued, The Fifth generation began to the sounds of a new rising power. The Fifth Console War was to mark a massive change.
Check in tomorrow for the full history of The Fifth Console War…
Luke Pilchowski
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