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Nintendo vs. Sega: The Console War Part II
advancedmn.com — The second and final part of that awesome look at the SNES vs. the Genesis from a couple weeks ago. Fact: Michael Jackson wrote most of the music in Sonic 3. All kinds of cool tidbits inside, must read!
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- benhizen, on 11/13/2007, -0/+20I love these little video game history lessons, but what were they smoking when they came up with the "Sonic & Madonna" concept?
- pixarfan, on 11/11/2007, -5/+3lol its an incredible read
- atomicpoet, on 11/13/2007, -1/+27Some of the best years of my life were spent on the Genesis. Yes, before I bought a Wii, I was an unadulterated Sega fanboy who refused to initially purchase a PlayStation due to the havoc they imposed upon the Saturn. The Genesis, for me, stands for the best times in gaming history. I'm talking about Vectorman, Gunstar Heroes, Earthworm Jim, Sonic Spinball. I often wonder what happened to these kinds of games. Perhaps, in our push to 3D, we forgot that the old shmup could provoke a fine sense of wonder in us.
- bluemist, on 11/10/2007, -1/+7Likewise, the SNES has some of the most memorable games that I ever played. With multiple RPG gaming pinnacles like the early FFs and Chrono Trigger, and 2D platformer classics like Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island, oh what a part of my youth. The great thing was that even when the Playstation launched, the SNES was still a viable platform releasing some of the very best 2D had to offer.
- nights0223, on 11/13/2007, -10/+8Michael Jackson did NOT write the music for Sonic 3. From the Sonic 3 Wiki:
Originally, Sega hired Michael Jackson to compose the music for Sonic 3. When news broke out of a scandal involving Jackson and allegations of child molestation, Sega dropped the deal, although his song writing team still composed the soundtrack (and appear in the credits). There are notable similarities between the music recorded for Sonic 3 and music from Jackson's previous recorded tracks from the Dangerous album, and a track from the later released HIStory album.
There is more information here : http://www.sonic-cult.org/dispart.php?catid=1&game ...- DarkDx, on 11/10/2007, -7/+2***** digg coment system.
- ZenMojo, on 11/11/2007, -0/+10Looks like Michael Jackson DID compose some of the music for Sonic 3.
"Howard Drossin (Comix Zone, Sonic Spinball) completed the soundtrack, but contrary to popular belief he did not replace Jackson's existing compositions. Drossin completed the unfinished tracks and polished up what had been cut short. If you read the credits, you'll notice members of Jackson's songwriting team still credited, and MJ himself under the nickname "Scirocco"." - BlackOp, on 11/11/2007, -0/+4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbVM-l2Oku4
- jagermeistr, on 11/13/2007, -2/+12Reading that article was like reading my childhood (Im 20 now). It makes you wonder if the Dreamcast had managed to be a success and save Sega, if Xbox would be where it is today (if 360 would even exist)
- theblooms, on 11/13/2007, -1/+3The ONLY thing that burned the Dreamcast was the lack of DVD support. When the PS2 was launched, do you know what the #1 selling software title for it was? The Matrix. No, not the game, the movie. And that is the ONLY reason the Dreamcast didn't sell as well as the PS2.
I refuse to say "failed" because it is an awesome system, even here in 2007. Mine is still hooked up, and I still play it at least once a week. NFL 2K1 is the second best football games ever made for any system, second only to Tecmo Super Bowl!- mattyice11, on 11/11/2007, -0/+4The lack of EA support doomed the Dreamcast more than anything else when it came to mass market appeal.
- theblooms, on 11/13/2007, -1/+3The ONLY thing that burned the Dreamcast was the lack of DVD support. When the PS2 was launched, do you know what the #1 selling software title for it was? The Matrix. No, not the game, the movie. And that is the ONLY reason the Dreamcast didn't sell as well as the PS2.
- zaii7, on 11/12/2007, -8/+9the genesis had the most original games to this day
- buggu, on 11/13/2007, -4/+6Not only the Genesis, but the Saturn and Dreamcast, all had the most original games of their day.
It's true that SEGA milked Sonic for all its worth back in the Genesis days, but Genesis was in no short supply of exceptionally good third-party games. However, at that time, Nintendo introduced some amazing games themselves, which would go on to establish the bread and butter of their gaming library. And it's been like that ever since. Nintendo has relied on the same old franchises for years. Granted, they have all been quality games, for the most part. But the fact that SEGA experimented so much, with games like Virtua Fighter, Jet Grind Radio, Nights, Crazy Taxi, Virtual-On, Samba de Amigo, Panzer Dragoon etc. definitely made them the more innovative and original of the two.
- buggu, on 11/13/2007, -4/+6Not only the Genesis, but the Saturn and Dreamcast, all had the most original games of their day.
- jman583, on 11/10/2007, -7/+2wow... I just read this right before it was posted on digg
- ZenMojo, on 11/11/2007, -2/+7Man, it's so trippy to look back and realize how much of the past influenced the future and how Nintendo's been playing the same game for so many years, often to their own detriment.
- ZenMojo, on 11/10/2007, -5/+7"Still, other third party reports claimed that Nintendo went to other congressmen before Lieberman to no avail, until Lieberman jumped on the issue causing the others to come out of the woodwork all at once."
*shakes his fist in the air* LIEBERMAN!!!! So NINTENDO is the group of bastards that brought the ESRB, Congress, and legislation down on the heads of gamers and developers. Man, I want to boycott them on principle.... Too bad I just don't want to buy any of their systems.
- ZenMojo, on 11/10/2007, -5/+7"Still, other third party reports claimed that Nintendo went to other congressmen before Lieberman to no avail, until Lieberman jumped on the issue causing the others to come out of the woodwork all at once."
- a22e, on 11/11/2007, -3/+6"This cued a string of videos showing the fastest Genesis titles running at full blast on a TV strapped to the back of an F-1 Race car."
Anyone else notice that is not 'an F-1 Race Car' but rather a dragster? I think it is time for him to become 'an hero.' - dekuscrub, on 11/13/2007, -10/+5Ah, the timeless debate. I own both, and I enjoyed both back in the day ..........but is it just me or has Nintendo's games aged better than Sega's? I can still pick up and play any Mario game, but Sonic feels really stale and dated.
- BlackOp, on 11/13/2007, -1/+4I still play Sonic 2 and 3 occasionally (emulated of course; my MD is long gone). Doesn't get old.
- demizer, on 11/11/2007, -2/+10This is a great article. I can remember my idiot friend sal going on and on about "Blast Processing" and why my super nintendo sucked. Of course he said all this while we played super mario kart in turns. Ah those were the days!
- twishart, on 11/10/2007, -6/+2Good read. I read the first one a while back (probably got it from digg too), and it didn't seem as biased as this one. I owned both consoles, and enjoyed my snes more. Sounds like this guy did too, and started to border on fanboyism near the end.
It bothers me a little to read that a lot of the ammunition during the console war was graphics - I just find it pretty trivial stuff to be the deciding factor in who comes out on top. I remember DKC being a lot of fun to play (not just looking pretty), and I didn't buy mortal kombat on EITHER system only because the game really sucked - I could care less if there was blood or not. SNES MKII rocked my ass, however.
Gameplay forever! - Speaking, on 11/11/2007, -2/+6I will never forget the day I walked into a Best Buy and saw DK playing on their jumbotron. I think that was the last time I ever felt "awe" and "wonderment" ahhh... for the pure joy of youth.... Anything was possible back then :-)
- JackondaRocks, on 11/10/2007, -1/+1Did they have Best Buys back then?
- AZooYorkMystery, on 11/11/2007, -3/+4Fact: Bears eat beets.
- SoCalMario, on 11/11/2007, -3/+10To the person who submitted this: Thanks a lot AHOLE!! I spent a few hours reading this and reminiscing about that time that I lived through.....(really thanks! It took me wayyyyy back!) I remember this whole Nintendo Vs. Sega. This would ensue in many verbal attacks at school between the nintendo fanboys (me and my friends) against the Sega Fanboys. Good times!
~mario - skyfire1, on 11/11/2007, -4/+13Digg me up if you sold your "Not For Resale" version of Sonic 1.
- rayefrenzy, on 11/13/2007, -1/+4Admittedly, I was a Nintendo fanboy (...erm girl) back in the day. One of my best friends was a Sega fanboy. We STILL argue about Genesis/SNES all the damn time.
- maduin, on 11/11/2007, -4/+5Am I the only one who noticed all the inaccuracies in that article?
- Tikkimann, on 11/11/2007, -2/+3Like what? It seemed fine to me.
- theblooms, on 11/10/2007, -1/+1FTA: "is cued a string of videos showing the fastest Genesis titles running at full blast on a TV strapped to the back of an F-1 Race car."
So, Top Fuel Dragsters ran F1 in 1990? I had no idea. - mrfanboy, on 11/10/2007, -8/+1Who keeps on digging this crap?
- chaos7, on 11/13/2007, -4/+1i was a SNES guy
- JStandUP, on 11/11/2007, -1/+0that piece is like a masters thesis!! amazingly researched and informative....kudos!
- rageelite, on 11/12/2007, -2/+0I can remember every aspect of advertising and the war that went on between the two companies. Even me and my buddies argued which console was better than the other....however, as I stated when i was a kid, NINTENDO will NEVER DIE!!!
After all, the Nintendo wii is just a "fad" and wont last 6 months...... just like super nes, just like nes 64, just when it looks like they are starting to lose grip in the states, they are right back on top.
Super digg this story. - Matty2Jay, on 11/10/2007, -0/+1He spelled "Beavis" wrong.
- ebolaworld, on 11/10/2007, -0/+1I bought both. It made life easier.
- fognozzle, on 11/11/2007, -0/+1I was a Nintendo fanboy who owned a Genesis (and not a SNES). But hey, it was still good. I miss the days when platform games were king... as opposed to FPS's these days.
- whiteguysamurai, on 11/12/2007, -0/+1I am still a sega fanboy, so much so i won't give anything Nintendo a fair shot.
It makes console gaming very hard as Sega no longer makes those, but i hope fruitlessly that Sega gets back into hardware, because XBOX is a cheap substitute for a real gaming system, that only sega can give. - smackafiyah, on 11/12/2007, -0/+1I loved the sega commercials back then...."SEGA!!"
- xsonny, on 11/13/2007, -1/+0I like the story of dreamcast vs playstation. Funny to think something as simple as a dvd player could take down SEGA.
As for this tale....Mario games are the best games, so Nintendo wins. I do love me some Sonic tho.
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