The rebirth of U.S. console gaming: A historical comparison of Nintendo versus Sega 1983–2001

Abstract

This master’s thesis examines the rival videogame companies Nintendo and Sega in the “console wars” of the 80s and 90s, and how they developed. After Atari brought home consoles into consumer consciousness, the market crashed and was picked back up by Nintendo who revitalized the industry. The ensuing battle between Nintendo and Sega spanned two decades. Gaming history is still in its infancy, struggling with a veneer of illegitimacy, but this rivalry has been a hot area of study by gaming historians. It is clear today that Nintendo survived this war while Sega had to bail out, but only some earlier research has gone in-depth in trying to find some of the underlying intricacies as to how this happened. This thesis is an attempt to answer the questions of how and why Nintendo won and Sega lost, and it will do so using four theories as lenses throughout the various gaming literature. These sources are heavily based on interviews with industry insiders, and by comparing and contrasting these sources the hope is to illuminate a new path forward for further research. The examined period has been divided into console generations because this correlates with the console races and eras where companies won or lost. The last section includes two generations in one due to Sega’s quick exit in its last generation. In the early period of the 3rd generation between 1983 and 1987, the focus is on how Nintendo rebuilt the crashed market and Sega struggled to compete against the burgeoning monopoly Nintendo was creating. In the middle period of the 4th generation between 1987 and 1993, Nintendo rose to its most powerful—yet so did Sega, late in the period. With the rivalry intensified, this period showed the climax of the battles taking place in terms of societal consequences and influence. In the last period of the 5th and 6th generations between 1993 and 2001, Nintendo continued going strong while Sega started to struggle against the new contenders entering the market, especially Sony. It is the how and why of these events, looked at through the theoretical framework, that this thesis attempts to highlight in the comparative sections and conclusion.