Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation

Console Wars chronicles the history of video games and the competition between Sega and Nintendo in the 1990s. In 1990, Nintendo held a virtual monopoly on the video game industry, while Sega was a struggling arcade company. This changed with the arrival of Tom Kalinske, who led unconventional efforts to transform Sega. Combined with the work of his employees, these efforts sparked a major corporate conflict between the two companies. The battle played out across multiple fronts: living rooms, schoolyards, boardrooms, and Congress. It pitted the US against Japan and Sonic against Mario. Based on over two hundred interviews with former Sega and Nintendo employees, the book details how Kalinske turned Sega from an industry underdog into a market leader, ultimately helping to birth a $60 billion dollar industry. The book was selected as a best book of the year by NPR, Slate, Publishers Weekly, and Goodreads.