It seems that every generation has a series of consoles that battle over gaming dominance. Probably the greatest was Nintendo VS Sega.  I actually loved both systems equally, but always leaned a little towards Nintendo.

At times the NES/Sega battle got pretty intense with advertisements such as the one pictured above.  At the time it was great seeing them battle it out because new and exciting games were always arriving.  When one system released a game, Final Fantasy for example, the other counter attacked with a similar game, such as Phantasy Star.  To this day, I have to admit that Phantasy star was a great series (even though I am a Final Fantasy fan), and I love Phantasy Star 3′s unique play over multiple generations.

Sadly, there had to be a winner in the NES/Sega battle.  I am glad that NES won, but the constant back and forth between the two kept things exciting.  I don’t think anyone actually had a strict devotion to one console back then,  we just played for the love of the game.

Today’s console wars seem to be fairly quiet.  The big dogs seem to be Sony and Microsoft, but their focus seems to be on the system itself rather than the games.  Each has their die hard fans for one reason or another but neither is winning or losing the battle. I think a reason that the battle has not intensified is that too many games are available on multiple systems.  back in the day that was almost unheard of!  Sure it happened, but rarely.  Releasing a game on only one system would force the other systems to answer back with, hopefully, a bigger and better game.

Don’t get me wrong, Nintendo is still a big player in today’s console battlefield, but I think the big boys look at the NOA as the Canada of gaming.  Sure they have a defense and are ready to react at a moments notice, but they pose no threat to the more aggressive nations. I would love to see Nintendo get back in the battle, and Microsoft and Sony admit that NOA can be an admirable foe once again.

I had a thought last night while playing Sonic the Hedgehog on my Retron.   How great would it be if Sega got back into eh console game and reignited the fire between them and Nintendo?  What if they rebuilt their mascot base (minus Sonic, of course) and put the focus back on the games?  I am not saying they need to dummy down the system, but make it great as a stand alone system and make the games the reason to buy the system once again?  I realize this will probably never happen, but What if…?

Essel Pratt

Essel Pratt has spent his life exploring his imagination and dreams. As a Husband and a Father, he doesn't have as much time to write as he would like. However, his mind is always plotting out his next story. Someday he hopes to quit the 9-5 grind and focus on writing full time. Currently, Essel has three published short stories and is working on a handful of novels. Essel focuses his writings on mostly Horror/Sci-Fi, however is known to add a dash of other genres into his writings as well. In his spare time, he can be found playing one of the 40+ video game consoles in his collection, especially his Wii U (NNID: EsselPratt). Click the links below to follow Essel's exploits in the writing world, and be sure to follow his blog at http://esselpratt.blogspot.com/ as well as his articles on Nerdzy.com.

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