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How SEGA won the 16-bit wars [top ten]
 
Most gamers today look fondly back at the period from 1989 to the mid-90s as a golden age for SEGA, with Genesis hardware and software sales simply trouncing Nintendo's 16-bit console, the Super Nintendo (what an original name, huh guys?). The reasons for such a clear and decisive victory are multifaceted, so join me, fellow Segative World readers, as we examine some of the clever tactics and downright genius innovations SEGA utilized to ensure the Genesis would cement its place as one of the greatest consoles. Of. All. Time.
04/01/13, 22:52    Edited: 04/02/13, 03:25
 
   
 
Cool name

One word; the beginning of all that is holy.
 
Sleek design
Sexy and curvy black finish served only to entice the very best in game development, especially compared to the pale gray and purple monstrosity engineered by Nintendo.

 
Famous people starring in Genesis games
The Genesis clearly had the edge over Nintendo on this one! Pat Riley Basketball, Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf, James 'Buster' Douglas Knockout Boxing, Joe Montana Football, Tommy Lasorda Baseball, Mario Lemieux Hockey, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. Who did Nintendo have? Some obscure baseball player from Seattle?
 
Fatality
Mortal Kombat had blood. 'Nuff said.

 
Perfect controller
The Super Nintendo launched with an overly complicated controller scheme that simply had too many buttons to count. Gamers only have two thumbs, and SEGA hit the sweet spot with their oh-so-perfect ABC button control scheme. SEGA also gave gamers even more options by releasing their own complex controller (ABC-XYZ) that gave players the necessary tool to play the enhanced versions of Super Nintendo ports.

 
Killer soundtracks
In addition, the Genesis had two primary sound chips: the Yamaha YM2612 FM synth chip and the Texas Instruments SN76489 PSG chip, allowing for a true electronic soundtrack that pumped up the excitement to fantastic levels. Who needs more realism in their game music?


 
The most (and best) exclusives
The number of quality SEGA exclusives far outnumbers anything on the Super Nintendo. ToeJam & Earl, Ecco the Dolphin, Dynamite Headdy, Altered Beast, Phantasy Star, Golden Axe, Shinobi, ETERNAL CHAMPIONS... the list goes on and on!

 
Innovation
No matter what 'innovations' Nintendo could come up, SEGA always found a way to outdo them. Stunt Race FX? Forget that, Genesis had Virtua Racing. Computer rendered graphics? Vectorman does it even better and never misses a beat. Perhaps the most innovative piece of technology to have been born of the Genesis era was the Activator, which could actually read your body movement as inputs to martial arts games. Motion controls began here, suffice it to say!

 
The power of add-ons
All the add-ons made the Genesis a versatile and powerful system that the SNES simply could not keep with. First came the Sega CD, which allowed developers to include full motion video, something unheard of on Nintendo's platform. The power of the Genesis was tapped even further with the release of the 32x, which, amazingly enough, doubled the number of bits from 16 to 32. Even though Nintendo made attempts to keep up with SEGA, they couldn't even get their Sony CD add-on released. I think we all know what happened to Sony after that!

 
Sonic
The Genesis had Sonic. Nintendo did not. Sonic was the perfect embodiment of all that was cool and righteous in the world of video games, and his games clearly demonstrated this was the case. Nintendo's own mascot, the chubby little Mario, was already aging and could not keep up with gamers' desire for a mascot that oozed with so much blue energy. Aside from the larger number of quality titles he starred in on the Genesis console itself, his presence in the comics, cartoons and spectacular merchandise tie-ins ensured gamers knew where to turn for the best in entertainment. In fact, there's an entire top ten list on why Sonic is better than Mario.

 
This is just a short list, but I'm sure you can add many more.

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04/01/13, 22:52   Edited: 04/02/13, 03:25 
 
Why not sign up for a (free) account?
   
 
Then again today is 4/20 so I guess I know what's influencing this...
04/21/20, 00:39   
This is my favorite thing that has ever happened on this site.
04/21/20, 00:59   
To be fair, this was back when the site was known as SEGATIVE WORLD.

We've become a bit more accepting of Nintendo in the years since, especially since they finally released a good console (Wii U). Though with the Switch they're kinda back to sucking again tbh...
04/21/20, 01:08   
Edited: 04/21/20, 01:09
I'm thoroughly confused by this thread on many levels.
04/21/20, 02:01   
Sega didn’t beat Nintendo to it. Nintendo wasn’t trying to generate high rvenineue for years. Nintendo beating Sega isn’t mistaken. Also wtf are you guys talking about
04/21/20, 02:19   
TheBigG753 said:
To be fair, this was back when the site was known as SEGATIVE WORLD.

We've become a bit more accepting of Nintendo in the years since, especially since they finally released a good console (Wii U). Though with the Switch they're kinda back to sucking again tbh...
They aren’t back to sucking dude
04/21/20, 02:20   
Captain Fawfull said:
Donkey along Country
I'd play this.
04/21/20, 02:21   
@Captain Fawfull The Switch is easily the worst Nintendo console since the Super Nintendo. Thank God I still have my Virtual Boy to play.
04/21/20, 02:38   
Captain Fawfull said:
They aren’t back to sucking dude
I mean that's, like, your opinion and all and I respect that. But it's just an objective fact that Sega would never allow a product as poor as the Switch to come to market.

The Wii U is one of the few times Nintendo has reached the standard set by Sega.
04/21/20, 02:42   
Man, the first Segative World was one of my favorite events in internet history.
04/21/20, 02:50   
Zero said:
@Captain Fawfull The Switch is easily the worst Nintendo console since the Super Nintendo. Thank God I still have my Virtual Boy to play.
The Switch is NOT the worst Nintendo console and the Super Nintendo wasn’t worst either. Stop wanking.

TheBigG753 said:
Captain Fawfull said:
They aren’t back to sucking dude
I mean that's, like, your opinion and all and I respect that. But it's just an objective fact that Sega would never allow a product as poor as the Switch to come to market.

The Wii U is one of the few times Nintendo has reached the standard set by Sega.
And that’s where you’re an idiot. The Wi U is a good console and the switch is very successful. Also it’s NOT a fact that Sega wouldn’t allow a product on the switch. That’s your false statement. It’s literally an absolute fact that Sega would make games and product on a non poor console as the switch. Stop your idiotic ramble.
04/21/20, 04:23   
kriswright said:
Man, the first Segative World was one of my favorite events in internet history.
kriswright said:
Man, the first Segative World was one of my favorite events in internet history.
Segative is cringe. And it seems like there are still cringe here as well. Dirty segarals.
04/21/20, 04:24   
The clever tactics and downright genius innovations SEGA utilized to ensure the Genesis and Super Nintendo were universally regarded as one of the most innovative consoles ever released -- and that is truly something to be appreciated. Moreover, the launch lineup boasted some of the most interesting and innovative titles that the platform has ever seen. The MSX (and later the Mega Drive) hit a home run with Mega Man and Castlevania; and the aforementioned Contra and Night Trap were among the most innovative games of the era.

Prior to Sonic, the Mega Drive's mascot, the Nintendo Entertainment System became the gaming home to some truly brilliant entries such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Star Fox and Mega Man 2. Nintendo managed to end up celebrating a major milestone in its history by declaring 2016 to be a "New Year of E3." That being said, I still expect that March will be busy for Nintendo in terms of releasing and promoting a number of other new products. Both of the NX games will surely land there after all, and we're still awaiting details on both of the systems themselves, but it's hard not to look forward to seeing what else Nintendo has planned this year.

You can read more about the games that Nintendo is showing off in our E3 2016 Events Coverage Hub. And as always, please let us know what you think of the lineup in the comments below!

Like this: Like
04/21/20, 05:27   
@nate38

I was watching a video yesterday and the kid who put it together literally said: “If you like this video, hit the subscribe button. I don’t care about likes.”

I thought it was hilarious. I don’t care if you like my video I want you to subscribe so I can keep pumping videos out to you.

Anyway.... Nintendoesn’t what Sega Does Do. Saturn >>>>>> N64
04/21/20, 06:01   
@kriswright

If it wasn't for that damned Playstation, the Saturn would have WIPED THE FLOOR with the 64.

Friggin Sony, why'd they have to mess it all up. Sega should have won the 32/64-bit war too!
04/21/20, 06:07   
Captain Fawfull said:
Zero said:
@Captain Fawfull The Switch is easily the worst Nintendo console since the Super Nintendo. Thank God I still have my Virtual Boy to play.
The Switch is NOT the worst Nintendo console and the Super Nintendo wasn’t worst either. Stop wanking.

TheBigG753 said:
Captain Fawfull said:
They aren’t back to sucking dude
I mean that's, like, your opinion and all and I respect that. But it's just an objective fact that Sega would never allow a product as poor as the Switch to come to market.

The Wii U is one of the few times Nintendo has reached the standard set by Sega.
And that’s where you’re an idiot. The Wi U is a good console and the switch is very successful. Also it’s NOT a fact that Sega wouldn’t allow a product on the switch. That’s your false statement. It’s literally an absolute fact that Sega would make games and product on a non poor console as the switch. Stop your idiotic ramble.
Dude, I've been playing video games all the way since 2015. And I know for a fact that you're wrong. And dumb.
04/21/20, 06:23   
nate38 said:
The clever tactics and downright genius innovations SEGA utilized to ensure the Genesis and Super Nintendo were universally regarded as one of the most innovative consoles ever released -- and that is truly something to be appreciated. Moreover, the launch lineup boasted some of the most interesting and innovative titles that the platform has ever seen. The MSX (and later the Mega Drive) hit a home run with Mega Man and Castlevania; and the aforementioned Contra and Night Trap were among the most innovative games of the era.

Prior to Sonic, the Mega Drive's mascot, the Nintendo Entertainment System became the gaming home to some truly brilliant entries such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Star Fox and Mega Man 2. Nintendo managed to end up celebrating a major milestone in its history by declaring 2016 to be a "New Year of E3." That being said, I still expect that March will be busy for Nintendo in terms of releasing and promoting a number of other new products. Both of the NX games will surely land there after all, and we're still awaiting details on both of the systems themselves, but it's hard not to look forward to seeing what else Nintendo has planned this year.

You can read more about the games that Nintendo is showing off in our E3 2016 Events Coverage Hub. And as always, please let us know what you think of the lineup in the comments below!

Like this: Like
Nintendo has clever tactics and downroight genius innovations that they utitlized. The launch up for Snes boasted much for what it can carry and it was cool.

kriswright said:
@nate38

I was watching a video yesterday and the kid who put it together literally said: “If you like this video, hit the subscribe button. I don’t care about likes.”

I thought it was hilarious. I don’t care if you like my video I want you to subscribe so I can keep pumping videos out to you.

Anyway.... Nintendoesn’t what Sega Does Do. Saturn >>>>>> N64
Sorry but no. Nintendoes what Sega does do and Nintendoes what Sega dont. N64>>>>>>>>>>Saturn.

TheBigG753 said:
@kriswright

If it wasn't for that damned Playstation, the Saturn would have WIPED THE FLOOR with the 64.

Friggin Sony, why'd they have to mess it all up. Sega should have won the 32/64-bit war too!
No. the Saturn would not wipe the floor with the N64 if ps wasn’t here. Sega shouldn't win the 32/64 Bit war. WrathOfSamus777 said:
Captain Fawfull said:
Zero said:
@Captain Fawfull The Switch is easily the worst Nintendo console since the Super Nintendo. Thank God I still have my Virtual Boy to play.
The Switch is NOT the worst Nintendo console and the Super Nintendo wasn’t worst either. Stop wanking.

TheBigG753 said:
Captain Fawfull said:
They aren’t back to sucking dude
I mean that's, like, your opinion and all and I respect that. But it's just an objective fact that Sega would never allow a product as poor as the Switch to come to market.

The Wii U is one of the few times Nintendo has reached the standard set by Sega.
And that’s where you’re an idiot. The Wi U is a good console and the switch is very successful. Also it’s NOT a fact that Sega wouldn’t allow a product on the switch. That’s your false statement. It’s literally an absolute fact that Sega would make games and product on a non poor console as the switch. Stop your idiotic ramble.
Dude, I've been playing video games all the way since 2015. And I know for a fact that you're wrong. And dumb.

Bruh I’ve been playing video games in the early 2000s, and I know for a fact that I’m not wrong. YOU are wrong and dumb.
04/21/20, 12:57   
Sabaton: The Last Stance
04/21/20, 13:00   
Edited: 04/21/20, 16:21
Sega has clever tactics and downright genius innovations that they utilized that would never make it into more traditional 2D 3D games. Did you know that you can pass a switch to make things die or, even better, cause things to fly? Did you know that it's possible to knock objects off a ledge using a certain item in a given game? Did you know that you can rotate the camera to look at a great new maze of a level, even if it's too close for your character to take a good picture? The very idea of player choice and exploration is brilliantly done in Sonic the Hedgehog. While we might praise the game's innovations (if only the creative ideas weren't so mediocre, or shamelessly pushed into a remixed and tried  potential single by Tay-K, in an attempt to improve this song's reception.  With Selena gone, the working title for the second single was "Mean" by Taylor's producer Meek Mill.

Additionally, 2017 marked the release of Miss  Americas, a smooth and sultry cover of an old Eve with a different artwork by Varien.  The duo eventually released it to the public after two intense rounds of work by Varien, taking his artwork, coloring and adding their own production, as well as performanceals with him. Â

Of course, this, my friends, is an icebreaker, and gives the lid on the whole thing. That's why you use these. Here's a graphic from a CIA report made in 1989 when a CIA / Pentagon Mossad official, code named "Sir," made an exhaustive, though incomplete, history of Iran's clandestine military and intelligence services and told all to an audience at a conference on Operation Cyclone. My guess is that this presentation was classified. Maybe we'll ever know, but that's the extent of our knowledge: "Following the wartime ISA [Inter-Services Intelligence] structure, the Mossad's role was to carry out contingency operations of secret war and to evaluate operations. After the war, the Moss urs had become sellers of cheap hats, or so it appeared. People kept buying them and putting them on their heads. Mr. Mirbach would buy one, pack it up in a sack with some pennies, and continue selling it to other people, for a few cents more. It must have been a good thing to keep his head so clean.

I asked him if he was still making them.

"Of course," he said.

Is this around now, I asked, or have you retired?

"If I retired, why should I put them away, with all the other stuff that I've got? When they're dry, I'll sell them to people."
04/21/20, 16:53   
Mario 64 wishes it was as good as Sonic 3D Blast!
04/21/20, 17:48   
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