Console Wars

Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation

By: Blake J. Harris

Narrated by: Fred Berman

Following the success of The Accidental Billionaires and Moneyball comes Console Wars—a mesmerizing, behind-the-scenes business thriller that chronicles how Sega, a small, scrappy gaming company led by an unlikely visionary and a team of rebels, took on the juggernaut Nintendo and revolutionized the video game industry.

In 1990, Nintendo had a virtual monopoly on the video game industry. Sega, on the other hand, was just a faltering arcade company with big aspirations and even bigger personalities. But that would all change with the arrival of Tom Kalinske, a man who knew nothing about videogames and everything about fighting uphill battles. His unconventional tactics, combined with the blood, sweat and bold ideas of his renegade employees, transformed Sega and eventually led to a ruthless David-and-Goliath showdown with rival Nintendo.

The battle was vicious, relentless, and highly profitable, eventually sparking a global corporate war that would be fought on several fronts: from living rooms and schoolyards to boardrooms and Congress. It was a once-in-a-lifetime, no-holds-barred conflict that pitted brother against brother, kid against adult, Sonic against Mario, and the US against Japan.

Based on over two hundred interviews with former Sega and Nintendo employees, Console Wars is the underdog tale of how Kalinske miraculously turned an industry punchline into a market leader. It’s the story of how a humble family man, with an extraordinary imagination and a gift for turning problems into competitive advantages, inspired a team of underdogs to slay a giant and, as a result, birth a $60 billion dollar industry.

Great performance of a great book

I'm a huge fan of video game history and I've read a few books on the subject. This is easily one of the best. A must-read for those interested in the subject, especially those with a soft spot for Sega. Bergman does a great job narrating the book and actually manages to deliver a pretty decent Japanese accent, even if the few other accents he occasionally brings out aren't great. I enjoyed it from start to finish. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the subject matter.

Pronounce Mario correctly.

Really my only issue is the fact that this book is mostly about Sega vs Nintendo but the narrator doesn't even pronounce Mario's name correctly, except when he talks about Mario whatever from saved by the bell. Smh.

Excellent...Even for a non-gamer.

My husbands the gamer, not me, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the narration about as much as I enjoyed the story.

Fantastically performed story with a riveting plot

Console Wars was a totally fascinating story for someone who grew up during the time period. I actually remember the Sega scream, I actually remember the schoolyard arguments, Nintendo vs Sega. As a Nintendo kid, I went in expecting to not exactly be wowed by the Sega side of the story, but by the end of it, I was wishing history got rewritten and the plucky Sega underdogs had won. Sure, it smacks of only being PART of the story, and the reasons for the downfall of Sega are likely not as black and white as this makes it seem, but it's still a great ride.

The dialogue can get really hokey in this, but if you think of all of those scenes as dramatic re-enactments, it does well enough, in my opinion. All in all, well worth the time.

Solid listen of a great, iconic story

I grew up in the middle of the reinvention of the video game industry (I was a Sega fan), so it was both interesting and fun to hear the backstory of how the systems and games I bought back then came to life. The story is great and the narration is awesome. It is a long listen, but worth every minute.