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Kasz216 on 07 April 2009
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Words Of Wisdom said:
Kasz216 said:
amp316 said:
The SNES started out relatively slowly. I'm not sure is it was ever behind though.

Well the Gensis was launched waaay before it.  So... kinda.

Of course the Gensis was also getting it's ass handed to it by the NES for a while hence the SNES didn't need to come out.

Actually, it was the other way around.

The NES had nearly maximum market share and Nintendo was easily in home/console monopoly status when Sega launched the Genesis.  The Genesis vs NES battle was David vs Goliath... and the Genesis started winning.  Nintendo started losing market share and Sega's popularity rose.  Sega attacked the NES' technical specs, Nintendo's games, and Nintendo's image and begin carving out a market for itself.  I think many retailers welcomed Sega's presence in the market place as a refreshing change from the oppressive Nintendo.  I also think the creation of the SNES was in direct response to the Genesis though I have no proof of that.

When viewed in this way, the Genesis was no more losing to the NES than the Wii is losing to the PS2 today.

I agree with that... except for one thing.

Genesis launched in Japan way before it did in the US.

In Japan the NES crushed the Genesis.  The Genisis never took off.

Hence the "NES handed it's ass to it for a while."

There was no need for the SNES until the "exterme" marketing campaign came out and the system was released in the US.