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Prologue
The year is 2000, and the video game industry is at a massive crossroads. The two titans of the industry throughout the late 80s and early 90s, Nintendo and Sega, were always looked upon as bitter rivals. Whether through advertisement campaigns, game releases, press conferences, or game shows, the two companies were always looking to one up each other in any way they could. That all changed when Sony attacked.
The massively popular Sony PlayStation hit the market late in 1994 in Japan, and the rest of the world in late 1995. The age of 3D graphics had evolved the industry a lot, and Sony threatened the market shares of both Nintendo, and Sega. Ironically enough, both companies are owed to Sony's success.
Sony's desire to enter the video game industry was fueled from spite after Nintendo backed out of a business deal for Sony to manufacture a Compact Disc (CD) based add-on for Nintendo's popular Super Nintendo Entertainment System. When Nintendo backed out on the project to accept a more lucrative offer from Phillips, Sony vowed to have their revenge.
Meanwhile, as the development of the PlayStation was taking place, Sony was unsure if the system should focus on the safe bet, 2D graphics, or the risky and unproven 3D polygon-based graphics. Only after witnessing the popularity of Sega's 3D graphical game series, Virtua Fighter, in Japanese arcades, did Sony choose 3D graphics. The past five years of 3D graphics have proven their popularity, and it seems if the PlayStation had been a 2D system, it may have been forgotten.
The last generation of consoles saw Nintendo and Sega both take massive plunges in market share. The Nintendo 64, while wildly successful in America, couldn't catch on at home in Japan. The Sega Saturn, with a weak line up and a confusing and expensive hardware, found little success both inside and outside of Japan. Sony's PlayStation outsold both systems combined in all three major markets, Europe, Japan, and North America.
Last year, in an attempt to rectify their losses, Sega released the Dreamcast, which has featured a solid line up, and has had decent sales, but the company is still taking losses, and the release of the Sony PlayStation 2 has seemed to quash any momentum the less powerful Dreamcast has had. With Nintendo's unseen, yet recently announced 'GameCube' and Microsoft's upcoming 'DirectX Box' as future competitors, Sega has all but given up on selling the Dreamcast.
The future ahead for Sega seems weary, though a recent New York Times article claims Sega is in talks with their larger, more lucrative rival Nintendo. What will the future hold for these titans of the video game industry as they deal with the massively successful PlayStation brand, as well as the newcomer to the ring, Microsoft? Find out in the next chapter!
Welcome to Titans Collide, the story of how two bitter rivals came together to change the video game industry. This timeline is based on the erroneous New York Times article published on December 27th, 2000 that stated Nintendo was in talks to buy Sega. In Titans Collide we explore the effects this has on not only the video game industry, but the rest of pop culture as well.The massively popular Sony PlayStation hit the market late in 1994 in Japan, and the rest of the world in late 1995. The age of 3D graphics had evolved the industry a lot, and Sony threatened the market shares of both Nintendo, and Sega. Ironically enough, both companies are owed to Sony's success.
Sony's desire to enter the video game industry was fueled from spite after Nintendo backed out of a business deal for Sony to manufacture a Compact Disc (CD) based add-on for Nintendo's popular Super Nintendo Entertainment System. When Nintendo backed out on the project to accept a more lucrative offer from Phillips, Sony vowed to have their revenge.
Meanwhile, as the development of the PlayStation was taking place, Sony was unsure if the system should focus on the safe bet, 2D graphics, or the risky and unproven 3D polygon-based graphics. Only after witnessing the popularity of Sega's 3D graphical game series, Virtua Fighter, in Japanese arcades, did Sony choose 3D graphics. The past five years of 3D graphics have proven their popularity, and it seems if the PlayStation had been a 2D system, it may have been forgotten.
The last generation of consoles saw Nintendo and Sega both take massive plunges in market share. The Nintendo 64, while wildly successful in America, couldn't catch on at home in Japan. The Sega Saturn, with a weak line up and a confusing and expensive hardware, found little success both inside and outside of Japan. Sony's PlayStation outsold both systems combined in all three major markets, Europe, Japan, and North America.
Last year, in an attempt to rectify their losses, Sega released the Dreamcast, which has featured a solid line up, and has had decent sales, but the company is still taking losses, and the release of the Sony PlayStation 2 has seemed to quash any momentum the less powerful Dreamcast has had. With Nintendo's unseen, yet recently announced 'GameCube' and Microsoft's upcoming 'DirectX Box' as future competitors, Sega has all but given up on selling the Dreamcast.
The future ahead for Sega seems weary, though a recent New York Times article claims Sega is in talks with their larger, more lucrative rival Nintendo. What will the future hold for these titans of the video game industry as they deal with the massively successful PlayStation brand, as well as the newcomer to the ring, Microsoft? Find out in the next chapter!
- Suzon
- Word Count: 540