Ultimate showdown: Nintendo vs Sega

Is this hardware or software?

Both. It's an ultimate showdown.

Well , then i pick Sega.

As much as i like the SNES and Gamecude/Wii , the Sega games are more my liking.

fly your sega flag proudly then! I'm working on my snes collection right now and then I'm putting my sights on my genesis.

Sega for me. Game Gear, Genesis and Dreamcast are favorite systems of mine.

What games stood out the most for you!?

Nintender

Nintendo.

Sonic (older systems), Streets of Rage, Ecco, Comix Zone, Jurassic Park (Gen and GG), Shenmue, Space Channel 5, Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi... the list goes on.

I prefer Nintendo, but nothing against the Sega of old, of course.

In terms of hardware, Sega takes the cake. Sega was producing the most powerful video game hardware throughout much of the '80s and '90s, in the arcades. And they always matched it will all kinds of innovative controls, from analog flight sticks and analog throttles to motion controls and gyroscope-like motion cabinets. But in terms of console hardware, it's close, with Sega and Nintendo both being ahead at various times.

In terms of software, it's very close. Sega excelled in certain genres, while Nintendo excelled in certain other genres. It depends on the genres.

SEGA. I value Streets of Rage, Sonic, NiGHTS, Panzer Dragoon, Virtua Fighter, Virtual On, Shinobi, Shenmue, House of the Dead, Crazy Taxi, and the Treasure games, Gunstar Heroes, Guardian Heroes, and Alien Soldier, over Metroid, Zelda, F-Zero, Pokemon, and Mario. Plus, if the old SEGA was alive today, I know they'd make a console that wouldn't lose out on third party games, and I know for damn sure, it'd have a competent online infrastructure and OS.

I went with Sega as well. Sega's first-party software library was more varied and diverse compared to Nintendo's first-party software library, with Sega excelling at a wider variety of genres. And even when it came to genres where Nintendo excels, Sega still held its own against them.

I knew you'd chime in ;)

Hard to decide, but at the end I have to give Sega a small edges on Dreamcast, Shenmue, Virtual Fighters and Yakuza!

Yeah, it's nothing against those Nintendo franchises, because those are the ones that I do like, but that more diverse lineup on SEGA's side is key. It's just a shame how overlooked and forgotten most of SEGA's first party games are today.

initally i was just going to vote nintendo. easy decision. some cracking consoles, lots of brilliant games, overall mad company. nuff said.

but then i remembered....sega bankroll total war and are to release warhammer total war. that changes things.

its pretty much the only good thing sega do though (and long may they continue to do it). outside of that segas output is very poor.

so still nintendo overall....but total war is total war.

@n64dd: Got to rep my boys. :)

Sega. I was the only one in my neighborhood with Sega Master system. The Ninja, Black Belt, Kenseiden, Zillion, Miracle Warriors Seal of the Dark Lord.

Can't say I played any of those.

Nintendo. I had both SNES and Genesis but my SNES was played more and had better games in my opinion. I did like Primal Rage on Sega lol. Also Sonic 2 was great. SNES had Megaman X1-3 so that wins for me. I still have a Sega Saturn and Dreamcast though and still play them from time to time.

Sega was great back in the grand 16-bit console war of 1988-1997 The Sega Genesis gave Nintendo a run for their money with 32 Million Sega Genesis consoles sold Versus 49.10 Million Super Nintendo consoles. Sega continued to sell the Sega Genesis after the original run against Nintendo. They scored a win in North America with the Sega Genesis 1, and 2. over the SNES. But overall Super NES managed to eventually win over the Genesis after a 2 year head start by Sega. The Sega Genesis launched in Japan in 1988 it would be a full 2 years before SNES launched in Japan in 1990.

Sega continued in Brazil with many forms of Genesis clone consoles by Tec Toy along with Majestic Sega Genesis 3 Then the Sega Genesis 4 Firecore console Eventually 40 million Sega Genesis consoles were sold worldwide. Still did not catch Nintendo 49.10 million SNES sales.

This was the first major console war during the golden age of consoles. The 16 bit era was the true beginning of the Videogame industry. Sega Vs Nintendo was a great console war with 2 videogame companies making awesome games during this era, This console sales race would be the start of many franchises and it was a great time to be a gamer.

Nintendo eventually won but it was not easy for them. Sega gave them a hell of a fight. The 16 bit era remains my favorite videogame generation of all time.

@Megavideogamer:

The SNES only won in Japan. In the rest of the world, it was the Mega Drive/Genesis that won. The reason why the SNES sold more overall is because of its huge lead in Japan, where the Mega Drive came third place behind NEC's PC Engine.

Mario, Star Fox, Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Turok, Mario Kart, Metroid, Zelda, RC Pro AM, Wave Race, F Zero.....man oh man....the memories.

I play Sega games every day even today and totally love them.

I voted for Nintendo because they are still around and despite their many flaws they bring innovation even today. Nintendo's hardware department has never been the greatest but their software is top notch.

Sega has done plenty of the same but it did die in the hardware and its probably going to in the software department as well. I play the Japanese PSO2 almost everyday and I hope I'm wrong but everything seems to be going in that direction. I know persona is fairly popular though but that's about it.

Nintendo. Sega was fine, no issues with them, but Nintendo is Nintendo.

The facts say Nintendo. They're still in the game.

Nintendo by far. Sega made more quirky off-the-beaten-path kind of stuff but Nintendo has made more important games and have a better track record when it comes to quality control. I wouldn't put any Sega game anywhere near a title like Metroid Prime or Super Mario Galaxy 2.

For me, it's less about them still being in the game than Nintendo being influential on a level that Sega didn't reach.

I have madd respect for Sega, i grew up a Sega kid thriving off beat em ups and shoot em ups etc, but i got to give it to Nintendo, boy was i missing on some greatness.

I tend to agree but on a video game hardware level, Sega were pioneers. Did anybody else truly push the envelop like SEga did?

Some more classic first-party Sega franchises: Heavyweight Champ, Monaco GP, Zaxxon, Hang-On, Space Harrier, Alex Kidd, OutRun, Wonder Boy, After Burner, Shinobi, Phantasy Star, Golden Axe, Columns, Virtua Racing, Daytona USA, Virtua Cop, Virtua Striker, Fighting Vipers, Dragon Force, Sakura Wars, Scud Race, Sega Bass Fishing, Ferrari F355 Challenge, Space Channel 5, Virtua Tennis, Jet Set Radio, Skies of Arcadia, Monkey Ball, Initial D, Yakuza, Valkyria Chronicles, Total War, etc.

Sega produced classics in almost every genre there is. The sheer versatility and diversity of Sega's first-party line-up was unparalleled, and arguably still unrivalled by any video game company to this day.

Not true. Sega's influence on the video game industry was arguably bigger than Nintendo. What Sega was doing in the arcades was years ahead of, and sometimes even generations ahead of, what Nintendo was doing on consoles. On a hardware level, Sega was pushing technology much further than Nintendo. And on a software level, Sega had a bigger influence on a wider variety of genres.

@nyadc said:

That's sexy as ****.

Most definitely. Even while I was writing some of my favorites, I knew I was leaving so much off, but that's just the thing, there are so many, lol. The Virtua series alone covers so many different genres. It's also good to see some of these IP's seeing life again, aside from Shenmue. Monster World is coming back for instance, and hopefully more follow.

Oh, the stream is back, btw. :D

I've seen you say things like this before but it simply is not true. Nintendo has had a much bigger influence on game design.

...In a few genres. Sega's influence on game design was bigger across a wider variety of genres. That's the difference.

Hey sega is one of my favorites, too. First, you forgot Virtua On in your list. Second, I don't think they had as big of an influence as you make it out to be. Curious where you see these influences. On Nintendos side they made HUGE risks--designed consoles around their ideas. These ideas have become common stay in the industry.

Nintendo.

Renegade_Fury already mentioned Virtual On in his list. My list was just an expansion of his list.

Nintendo didn't take anywhere near as many risks as Sega did. On a hardware level, a lot of the things Nintendo did were just building on what Sega already did before them. Sega were experimenting with things like force feedback, motion controls, analog sticks, 3D polygons, stereoscopic 3D, virtual reality, holographics, CD-ROM, online multiplayer, etc. long before Nintendo. It's partly because Sega were taking so many risks (combined with bad business decisions) that they almost went bankrupt.

I was more of a Sega kid growing up, so I'll say that.

Nintendo is still making consoles and is a highly profitable company.

Sega has been relegated to a third party publisher for years.

Nintendo is the obvious winner.

Where were these risks. Experimenting does not equate to influential. The rumble back, regardless of whether or not it was first, brought the widespread idea of force feedback in the home. Analog sticks--that's NIntendo with the Nintendo 64.

How are you crediting sega with things like 3D polygons? CD ROM? etc..

Sega haven't been in the same category as Nintendo for so long that it's a bit like comparing Samsung to Westinghouse.

Force feedback was popularized by Sega arcade games like Hang-On, Space Harrier and OutRun. Analog flight sticks were popularized by Sega arcade games like Space Harrier and After Burner. 3D polygons were widely popularized by Sega arcade games like Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter. And the Sega CD popularized the CD-ROM format in Western gaming markets.

Nintender

History already says Nintendo, and I say...Yeah. Nintendo.

Force feedback in arcades and in the home is not the same thing. The technology was already in use in the likes of aircraft simulators/etc. I won't disagree with these titles being influential, because they were, but Sega by no means was the first to use such tech. Same deal with analog flight sticks. Segas games here were more of a simplified, child friendly, way to give the feeling of being a pilot of sorts. We're talkin about an era where aviation was a popular childhood dream.

3D was up and coming. Namco and Atari had just as much of a push here as Sega did.

With Sega CD I'd actually argue that it diminished the CD branding a little. That console was looked at as a failure. The features it offered were poor fmv. The console brought enormous hesitation to consumers regarding the upcoming Saturn. Had Sega not rushed all these add ons to market the saturn would have likely been more successful in the US.

Nintendo for me, but I was also lucky to have good mates that own SEGA consoles Master System & MegaDrive/Geneis ...& we pretty much swap systems from time to time..awesome time back then. :P

*points to username * sega!