Console Wars - Kirjakasa

English language

Published May 13, 2014

ISBN:: 978-0-06-227669-8

(1 review)

Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation is a 2014 non-fiction novel written by Blake J. Harris. It follows businessman Tom Kalinske in his venture as CEO of video game company Sega of America from 1990 to 1996, and details the history of the fierce business competition between Sega and Nintendo throughout the 1990s as well as the internal conflicts that took place between Sega of America and its Japanese parent company, Sega Enterprise. Harris wrote the book in the style of a novel by compiling several interviews with people who were involved with the events, using the information gathered to create a dramatic interpretation of the events. A documentary of the book directed by Harris and Jonah Tulis was released on CBS All Access on September 23, 2020. A miniseries adaptation is in development with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg executive producing with Jordan Vogt-Roberts …

Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation is a 2014 non-fiction novel written by Blake J. Harris. It follows businessman Tom Kalinske in his venture as CEO of video game company Sega of America from 1990 to 1996, and details the history of the fierce business competition between Sega and Nintendo throughout the 1990s as well as the internal conflicts that took place between Sega of America and its Japanese parent company, Sega Enterprise. Harris wrote the book in the style of a novel by compiling several interviews with people who were involved with the events, using the information gathered to create a dramatic interpretation of the events. A documentary of the book directed by Harris and Jonah Tulis was released on CBS All Access on September 23, 2020. A miniseries adaptation is in development with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg executive producing with Jordan Vogt-Roberts directing.

1 edition

Thom reviewed Console Wars by Blake J. Harris

Review of 'Console Wars' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Dramatization of Sega of America's uphill battle against Nintendo, the market, and ultimately Sega of Japan. Goes into a lot of detail about all involved and/or related to this time period, the early 90s.

First off, the "war", or at least battle. Much like Operation Market Garden, the stunning initial success was unsupported, and ultimately the battle was lost. This was a fascinating subject, even if told mostly from one side - that of Sega, the underdog. Between price fixing, shorting retailers and limiting 3rd parties, Nintendo is often made out to be the villain, at least early on. The book finishes as Sega starts to tumble, knocked down by a gorilla (Donkey Kong country) and treachery (the PSX, then Playstation). A bit more history, including a "where are they now" or at least "where did they go next" would have been great.

That said, this book felt long, and …

Dramatization of Sega of America's uphill battle against Nintendo, the market, and ultimately Sega of Japan. Goes into a lot of detail about all involved and/or related to this time period, the early 90s.

First off, the "war", or at least battle. Much like Operation Market Garden, the stunning initial success was unsupported, and ultimately the battle was lost. This was a fascinating subject, even if told mostly from one side - that of Sega, the underdog. Between price fixing, shorting retailers and limiting 3rd parties, Nintendo is often made out to be the villain, at least early on. The book finishes as Sega starts to tumble, knocked down by a gorilla (Donkey Kong country) and treachery (the PSX, then Playstation). A bit more history, including a "where are they now" or at least "where did they go next" would have been great.

That said, this book felt long, and dramatization of nearly every event was the cause. Presumably made-up dialog (and some of it really awful) turns paragraphs into pages, and I felt was quite unnecessary to tell this story. If any of the quotes were real, they weren't distinguished in any way. Though overly long, it was at least easy to read, and I often found myself turning to wikipedia to find out more about a given hardware or software design.

Optioned early on for a movie (documentary? docu-drama?), it is now apparently headed for a short-run series. If the facts stay and much of the made-up dialog vanishes (most of the principals are still alive and available for interviews), it should be pretty interesting. If done very well, it could continue beyond the book (Playstation, N64 and beyond).