This is off topic from music, but I thought some readers might enjoy… During my coverage for The Original Prop Blog at San Diego Comic Con last week, the one “must see” discussion panel for me was the one that came about from the Blake J. Harris book, Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation. Panelists included Sega of America’s former President Tom Kalinske, and former Director of Marketing Al Nilsen, as well as Nintendo of America’s former Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Affairs Perrin Kaplan and former Director of Marketing Bill White.As a fan of both companies, growing up in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras as a teen, it was fascinating hearing them all expound upon the Console Wars book, which was very comprehensive itself.
Much of the book is focused on the Sega Genesis taking on the Super Nintendo, though there is a great history leading up to the epic battle of both the video game industry and the principal participants in the companies at the time (as well as Sony early role in the video game industry).
It is remarkable the achievements made by Tom Kalinske in his work with Sega, taking on Nintendo (and it’s 95% of marketshare) with a great deal of innovation in marketing and operations.
Kudos to Blake J. Harris for writing this book, as he did an excellent job memorializing everything that went on at the time, coming from first hand accounts from those involved.
It was fun to watch some of those participants at Comic-Con last week, in that as friendly as they were amongst each other, you could still feel a distinct sense of competition between Sega and Nintendo, even though they have all long since parted way from their respective companies.
SEGAbits recorded the entire panel on video, and you can read their thoughts on their official site as well as watch the video (you can see me sitting in the front row aisle, with the hat):
Below are some photos I took during the panel discussion:
Jason DeBord