Sega vs. Nintendo [Genesis / SNES]
PS5 vs. Xbox Series X vs. Switch doesn’t quite inspire the same imagery as Sega vs. Nintendo. In the 1990s, every kid on the playground had to pick a side. You were a Nintendo kid, or a Sega kid, and the companies pushed that narrative too — Sega tried to differentiate itself from the competitor with edgier heroes like Sonic, and full blood effects in Mortal Kombat. They put attack ads in magazines and called out their competitor specifically in TV ads. Just check out the “Genesis Does What Nintendon’t” ads and imagine something like that running today. It just wouldn’t happen.
And these companies were really at each other’s throats. At the time, Nintendo strictly controlled which games could be licensed for the NES console — forcing Atari subsidiary Tengen to produce “bootleg” unlicensed games to get around restrictive approve practices. These games were entirely original, but Tengen created their own black cartridges to get around the SNES lock-out chip. Sega didn’t do any of that. Sega were the underdogs fighting the goliath Nintendo for shelf space.
And it wasn’t just Sega launching attack ads. During the congressional hearings that eventually lead to the formation of the ESRB, Nintendo directed some of the blame on violence at Sega’s feet — Night Trap and Mortal Kombat were two huge sticking points during the hearings. Nintendo censored blood out of Mortal Kombat, and Night Trap was never released on a Nintendo console. Both games, known for their violence, were solely laid at the feet of Sega.
We all know how this rivalry worked out. Sega’s final console, the Dreamcast, failed to turn the company’s luck around. Sega still publishes plenty of great games, and Nintendo has the Switch.