The Many Fronts of Sega's Industry Wars

Console Wars. Huh? What are they good for?

Well, certainly not posting a video of yourself during an operation and exposing the patients, and your own, personal details. But I digress.

For Sega, the concept of Console Wars was good for publicity. The whole “Genesis Does” marketing campaign in the US was predicated on Sega going after Nintendo directly, while even in the UK in certain moments they certainly weren’t shy about going after their key rival.

Indeed, the campaigns did their job and worked as desired, the “Nintendon’t ad” remains one of the most memorable.

Format wars existed long before the SNES and Mega Drive went head-to-head, but the phrase has come into prominence during that era and even more so following Blake J Harris’ excellent Console Wars novel.

However, the Sega Genesis vs Super Nintendo was just one front that Sega were fighting on. This became even more apparent when SharkaBytes recently shared some scans of the December 1994 issue of Edge magazine on Twitter. Within it we saw previews of new Model 2 arcade games, as well as Sega Saturn and 32X news. What dawned on me was that these new technologies and systems were being developed and supported alongside the incumbent home and arcade systems Sega were already supporting. When this post talks about the many wars of Sega, it is talking about those many wars it was fighting at once.

With that in mind let’s take a look at the fronts on which Sega were fighting just a few months after that fateful issue in 1995:

Front 1: Nintendo At Home (16-bit)

The most famous console war Sega engaged in. Even by 1995, Sega were still fighting Nintendo’s SNES with their Mega Drive/Genesis. Sega had the lead in Europe and had outsold Nintendo home hardware for three consecutive years in the US. But Nintendo were fighting back, buoyed by critical and commercial darling Donkey Kong Country, the great SNES comeback was on. Sega would fight on in the 16-bit wars, but what was apparent come 1995 was their attention was being pulled elsewhere.

Front 2: Nintendo At Home (8-bit)

While pretty much a non-event everywhere else in the world, the NES and Master System were still locking horns in PAL territories. This is particularly true in the UK, where Master System charts were still being published, new games still being released and where the NES was slowly eating away at the Master System’s early lead. For a more in depth look at this, definitely check out MechaFatNick’s article on the subject.

Front 3: The Handheld Battle

Of course Sega weren’t just after Nintendo’s home console market share, they wanted a slice of the market the Game Boy had opened up too. The Game Gear had been around since 1990 and had even been part of the carrot dangled to get Tom Kalinske to join the team. By 1995 Sega’s full colour handheld wonder was still holding its own against the unstoppable juggernaut that was the Game Boy. Though many will point out that the Game Boy sold ten times that of the Game Gear, the ‘Boy figures include the Pocket, Light and Colour editions of the console that game within the next 5 years. In 1995, the race was closer than many would believe. Sega were still trying to gain ground, games were still being developed and published (with some retrofitted to the PAL Master System) and new special edition Game Gears would soon enter the mix to fight off the new line of Game Boys.

Front 4: The Atari Jaguar and the 32X

It may seem ludicrous now, but in 1993 Sega were terrified of the Atari Jaguar. It may have been that which was pushing Sega of Japan to consider releasing a cartridge based successor to the Mega Drive, an idea that eventually evolved into the creation of the 32X.

Whether the two were direct rivals is up for debate, but I remember both being featured in a GamesMaster issue discussing the next generation of games hardware, and Atari certainly targeted the add-on in their own "Do the Math" campaign. The Jag’ was only a year old by 1995 and the 32X was brand new, both were next gen cart-based solutions, which had similar lifespans… I’m sure Sega had at least one eye on the possibility of a resurgent Atari and it still had to support the 32X regardless, even though that didn’t last.

Front 5: The Saturn and PlayStation (and 3DO and N64)

Even though they had just released in Japan, the Saturn and PS1 were already in a full-scale console battle with eachother and the already released 3DO. Each side was making whatever boasts and doing any kind trickery they could to gain the upper hand. The Saturn had gained an early lead in Japan in terms of both sales and user reviews, but the PS1 was fighting hard. And of course it was, because Sony only had to fight off Sega. Sega on the other hand, were fighting Nintendo on three fronts (soon to be four once the N64 launched), had to battle in a relative mid-gen no-mans-land against Atari and another crippling battle elsewhere…

Front 6: Namco and the Arcade

The arcade in 1995 was enjoying something of a second renaissance, started by Street Fighter 2 in 1991. While fighting games such as the aforementioned Capcom brawler, Mortal Kombat and Primal Rage still brought in the crowds, it was the next generation of 3D arcade hardware that was becoming the main attraction.

The battle in question started that same year, 1991. Namco released Starblade, a fully polygonal rail shooter that wowed arcade goers. Sega had been knocked off their perch. Having lived by their industry leading super scaler technology which was epitomised with the Sega System 32, they were now behind Namco’s System 21 showpiece. Not to be outdone, Sega countered with the Model 1 and Virtua Racing. The Namco response was the phenomenal System 22 and Ridge Racer, which Sega countered with the Model 2 and the even more phenomenal Daytona USA.

While Namco would ally with Sony and lean on the Playstation powered System 11 as a crutch, Sega would pour yet more money into R&D with the Model 3 due to release just the next year.

Front 7: Civil War

And if all that wasn’t enough, Sega were very busy fighting amongst themselves.

The plight of Tom Kalinske and an overbearing Sega of Japan headed by Nakayama is well documented. From R&D, to game development, to release dates and console launches, the two clashed about just about everything. And when you’re already competing in as many arenas Sega was, it was just another unnecessary distraction.

Front 8: The Mega CD and irrelevance

And if all that wasn’t enough Sega was still supporting the Mega CD. As well they ought to given it was only a few years old by early 1995, but with it being eclipsed by another add-on in the 32X, a new CD based super console in the Saturn, and the Mega Drive itself, it really faced an uphill battle to stay relevant.

Yet Sega still sprinkled releases onto it, both developed internally and published. It even went as far as publishing games that used both the Mega CD and 32X

Conclusion: Surrounded and Defeated

The reasons for Sega's demise are numerous, but looking back on this specific moment in time, early 1995, I think its evident that Sega were spreading themselves way too thin.

Not only were Sega supporting six platforms with new releases and manufacturing, they were also in an expensive arcade arms race when the second renaissance of the arcade may have been at its peak, but was about to begin its slow demise.

But add to all of that the fact Sega have never, ever, enjoyed the third party support that Nintendo and later Sony have, having to develop a far larger proportion of its library in house, and the sheer scale of Sega's wider ambitions becomes apparent.

Its something I’ve admired of Sega, their swashbuckling, almost maverick corporate persona, unafraid to take on the giants of the industry. But doing so with so many at once was folly.

Sega wouldn’t prioritise a single home format until late 1996 and by then, the Playstation had a near unattainable lead in the West and it was too late. The rest, as they say, is history.

But still, its emblematic of the Sega I love. Like Leroy Jenkins jumping in to fight unbeatable odds against numerous powerful foes. Mad, ill advised, but as a gamer, fun while it lasted.