Most people by now are well aware of the war between Sega and Nintendo. And I'm not just talking about the 16-Bit wars. I'm talking about even today. So here and now, I'll declare who I think is the overall winner of the war.
Consoles)
Sega was an experienced game company, where it found itself home in the arcades and even in a few noteworthy competitors to the Atari.
Nintendo, however, was once an entertainment company, based around card games, taxi services, love hotels and such. However, around the late or early 80's, their president decided to tear Nintendo down and rework it as a gaming company. With the immediate success of the NES, the gaming industry was revived, and Sega was sparked to try again. The Sega Master System(SMS) was designed to confront the NES, but fell short of anything above 11% of the market share. In my opinion, I like both, though I might lean to the NES more due to the great Super Mario Bros.
Sega, now seeing how well a successful game company can be, decided to give it their all as they released the Sega genesis, a sleek 16-Bit machine that caught Nintendo goers off. Here was this edgey, modern console that defecated on their NES. 16-Bit was where it's at! Genesis does what Nintendon't. With great titles like Altered Beast, Burning Force, etc, Sega got the attention of gamers everywhere. Then, the SNES struck. What a battle! It was back and forth, but when the smoke cleared, Sega had a 65% lead over Nintendo! However, this didn't last, because Sega dropped out early and decided to focus more on the Saturn. In my eyes, I think once again, it's tie. It all depends what mood I'm in, but both are wonderful systems.
With the 32-Bit systems in fullswing, it was Saturn vs. 64. And the Saturn was bloodied and torn. To me hoever, I'll take the Saturn and a good arcade/action game over just about anything the Nintendo 64 could offer. the games were all slow, boring, and the graphics averaged at bleh. I think my favorite N64 game was either Ocarina of Time, Mario 64, or Star Fox 64. But the Saturn had greatness like Virtua Fighter 2, Daytona USA, Panzer Dragoon, Sonic R, and more. So I'll stick with the Sega Saturn.
Sega, however, was losing money, and on their death beds, came one of the greatest pieces of all media. The dream, was born. At 9/9/99, Sega launched a spanking new console, the Dreamcast. With amazing titles like Sonic Adventure, no one could believe it when merely 18 months later, the dream died. We woke up. And what greeted us were the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube, To me, I won't even blink at this one. The Dreamcast means so much to me, that I'll willingly trade every single Gamecube related item I have for a good Sega Dreamcast, and a copy of Sonic Adventure.
Games)
Sega had alot of arcade/action games, while Nintendo had lots of hoome/family/kid games. The first Nintendo hit was Super Mario Bros, which I admit, IS AMAZING! I'm sorry Space Harrier, but Mario is better. However, games like R-Type really took the cake, and that's why i decreed a tie.
Then, in 1991, the Genesis hit the jackpot. Sonic was the new mascot, and boy did he punch the crap outta Mario. Sonic 1, CD, 2, 3, Knuckles, Spinball, Knuckles Chaotix, and 3D Blast were just to much for Super Mario World. But you know what? Even with the strongest of Sonic's classics, I'm not even sure he could beat the mighty Mario World. But as of now, I have no verdict on the two. Other games like Streets of rage, Vector Man, Tinhead, Pulseman, Altered Beast, Castlevania Bloodlines, and such were enough to fight off Mortal Kombat, metroid, Mega Man, Mega Man X, and Super Castlevania IV and more. but it all boiled down to wheter I'm in a synth mood or I'm in an atmospheric mood.
In the Saturn days, as ironic as this is, i'll take Sonic R over Mario 64. Sonic World was also cool. And the arcade, lightning paced games on the Saturn were just better than the N64. Sorry, but I liked the Saturn more than the N64.
The Dreamcast speaks for itself. I have no need to justify when I say it's better than ANY of the Nintendo consoles up to date, and that's thanks to games like Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, Rez, SoulCaliber, Ikaruga, Shenmue, etc.
Overall) I love Nintendo, but Sega finally beat them in the last two generations of their lives. I'm sorry to say even as of today, games like Hatsune Miku, Sonic Lost World, NiGHTS Journey of Dreams, and so on are so much better than crap like Mario Galaxy(I just said that. Come at me.). but Nintendo is still a whiz to play, and I'd hate for them to dissapear as Sega did. Either way, both companies are great, and NEVER pass up a good priced Nintendo or Sega console.