Did 'Sega vs Nintendo' help shape you as a gamer?

moonblood · Post by **moonblood** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:23 am

For those of you about my age ( 28 ), do you think it did, or what did?
its interesting, I've thought about this, if the fact that my first 'real' machine, (had an Atari and a gameboy before it) the megadrive, already back then sort of directed me towards where I am today (retro/arcade/here! hehe) with its arcade conversions, shmups etc. I mean later I had a Snes too, but guess what, I sold it and got my megadrive back, I remember missing things like Thunderforce and Streets of rage... Not that the Snes is bad or anything, its just different you know, I think most people agree with this, it has 'slower' games, more rpg's and so on. If I had started with the Snes, maybe I would've more naturally got into the psone which sort of replaced the Snes with its rpg's etc and then 'modern' gaming? what do you guys think? maybe its an european thing too, Sega did well here, we didn't get all of the Snes rpg's and also we had the Amiga and things like that..

cheers

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:29 am

My primary 16-bit console was SNES, and it might be that it influenced my taste in games. I never was into jRPGs, though, and preferred the more dynamic games, anyway.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:35 am

Yeah, of course it did. When I was young, no one could afford 2 consoles. I plumped for a Megadrive after playing one round a friend's house, and then my Cousin sold hers to my mum, meaning I could finally play Sonic 2 at home. Before that I loved my friend's Master System too. And I always remember disliking Mario games: they were too slow and ugly. I was very much swayed by flashy graphics. I even remember feeling a bit guilty when I got an N64 over a Saturn. Memories.

Macaw · Post by **Macaw** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:46 am

MX7 wrote:I was very much swayed by flashy graphics. I even remember feeling a bit guilty when I got an N64 over a Saturn. Memories.

The problem there is that every n64 game looks like complete garbage compared to the majority of saturn stuff.

Anyway, when I was a kid I was part of the whole 'sega sucks nintendo is awesome' stuff, but it didn't leave any long lasting impressions in order to 'shape' me. In this day and age with emulators and stuff, hardware is irrelevant. Its all just whether a game is awesome or not.

MR_Soren · Post by **MR_Soren** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:36 am

Atari, NES, SNES left me as a Nintendo fanboy. I hated SEGA and their "Genesis Does! What Nintendon't" commercials on TV. I played the occasional shmup on these systems, but I never thought of them as a genre or paid particular attention to them. I did enjoy the early RPGs.

The SNES shmups were plagued by slowdown, so I stopped playing them. The SNES was also the system where RPGs started to suck. The open and challenging RPGs of earlier years got replaced by easy and linear "JRPGs" and I mostly hate those. Even the almighty Chrono Trigger, while enjoyable, was too linear for my tastes. It seemed like the time traveling mechanic had a lot of untapped potential.

My sister wanted a Sega Genesis, so we got one a few years later when it was cheap and included Sonic 1 and Sonic 2. It was mostly used for strategy games. King's Bounty, Warsong, and Shining Force. I don't think a shmup was ever played on that system.

I don't know how much these systems shaped me, but the SNES made me dislike most JRPGs and shmups. Meanwhile, I still love strategy games the Genesis got me started on. Sadly, the PS2 remake of King's Bounty (Heroes of M&M: Quest for the Dragonbone Staff) was garbage.

I'm rambling. Bye.

gavin19 · Post by **gavin19** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:01 pm

The Master System seems like so long ago now I can't say it shaped anything at all, except maybe a love of simple/slower platformers. The SNES definitely pushed me towards action RPGs and away from the turn-based bore-fests. The Saturn really just cemented my love of 2D games rather than making me jump to 3D, although Tomb Raider and NiGHTs were a revolution to me at the time. I pretty much skipped over the N64/PSX and went straight to DC/PS2/XBOX, again avoiding a lot of 3D stuff and sticking with mostly old-school games. I did accidentally pick up Mars Matrix for the DC back at release, primarily the reason I ended up here I guess.

MX7 · Post by **MX7** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:19 pm

Macaw wrote:
MX7 wrote:I was very much swayed by flashy graphics. I even remember feeling a bit guilty when I got an N64 over a Saturn. Memories.
The problem there is that every n64 game looks like complete garbage compared to the majority of saturn stuff.

I should have seperated those two sentences, as I couldn't agree more.

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:35 pm

gavin19 wrote: I did accidentally pick up Mars Matrix for the DC back at release, primarily the reason I ended up here I guess.

Either you've moved in the meantime or that was a totally consciously made purchase.

MM never got a PAL release so I strongly discard the "accidental purchase" theory...
I don't think that buying imported stuff those days could really be done accidental.

Face it... you were into shmups then already.

(I have a good nose for recognizing junks

)

on topic: even when not owning a Sega system myself back then the games always got me more excited when looking at them.
Being quite a Konami fan boy coming from MSX and all I always hated the fact that Konami treated Sega systems as last choice.
Konami shaped me more as a gamer than both Sega or Nintendo ever did.

Fenrir · Post by **Fenrir** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:40 pm

I was shaped by C64-Spectrum and Amiga - ST wars, thankyouverymuch. It was kind of shooting at the red cross, since I was on the good side (Amiga - C64).
But that's the same for SNES - MD. I was on the good SNES side and just grinned at people trying to say that something with 32 colours, screeching sound chips, no special fx and sonic as a mascotte (LOL) was better than a SNES.

But then again, it's games that are better, not consoles or home computers.
Of course, more evolved consoles/home computers could achieve greater things, expecially in periods when a system had to survive at least 5-6 years in full force and people were genuinely impressed by sprites, colours and such... unlike now.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:43 pm

It did.

I followed Sega since 1990. I remember back in '96, seeing an N64, a Saturn, and a PS1 lined up in my local store. One was playing Cool Boarders, another was playing Mario 64, and another was playing Rayman. That's probably the time I realized that I liked 2D games more, since Rayman was the most appealing.

The N64's controller looked newfangled and foreign. The PS1's dpad "buttons" were weird, although I did enjoy the Crash series.

Too bad about the rest of the Rayman series, though. I only liked the original title. I can still remember the wizard in Rayman explaining how those things were kidnapped, the tear coming from one of them trapped in a cage, and Rayman saying "no problem" with an almost rhythmatic pose. The entire game was beautiful and I really enjoyed it.

Also, Cool Borders had the most announcing announcer ever. "Not bad! But you can do better than that. Get dowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn."

Post by **Shatterhand** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:43 pm

Super Laydock wrote: Being quite a Konami fan boy coming from MSX and all I always hated the fact that Konami treated Sega systems as last choice.
Konami shaped me more as a gamer than both Sega or Nintendo ever did.

Yes!

At least Sega made some MSX games, while Nintendo only licensed Donkey Kong to Ocean for an MSX release.

And after the MSX, my main system was an Amiga.... Guess I had always been more on the computer side than the console side (Though I got a Mega-Drive a couple of years after buying my Amiga)

CMoon · Post by **CMoon** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:47 pm

Intellivision vs Atari

LOL

jp · Post by jp » Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:00 pm

Oddly enough, I was a much bigger fan of Nintendo's consoles back then than I was of Sega's, though mainly because I was a complete Square fanboy growing up.

But I started preferring Sega's consoles around the time of the Sega CD. Though I always preferred Sega's first party games to Nintendo's.

lgb · Post by **lgb** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:17 pm

Grew up with Nintendo, but never turned down a chance to play Sega.

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:21 pm

Shatterhand wrote: At least Sega made some MSX games

And some very good ones too:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 3646&hl=en

And it's no coincidence it's featuring a penguin either.
I just love the little critters.

Jockel · Post by **Jockel** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:23 pm

I was the total Mario/Zelda kid.
My father just got an NES shortly after the gdr "gave up"

Lucky for me, because the NES was afaik only available in west germany until then. I'd like to point out that i started playing SMB when i was 3 years old

But i still remember the day in 1992 (geez i was only 4 years old), when my father came home with the Snes. Good times ^^
I also remember my first contact with Shmups, that was 1994, when my cousins played Super R-Type. I was totally blown away by the cool music and spaceship gfx (it was Stage 3). And then i stared at the cartridge for minutes because of the cool label ^^
Didn't play it back then, though.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:36 pm

Super Laydock wrote:
Shatterhand wrote: At least Sega made some MSX games
And some very good ones too:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 3646&hl=en

And it's no coincidence it's featuring a penguin either.
I just love the little critters.

Thank you for making that music invade my head and not leave

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 2:57 pm

Shatterhand wrote: Thank you for making that music invade my head and not leave

your quite welcome.

don't ever go searching for "MSX + Penguin" on youtube.
Kojima's finest's music will never leave your head.
(River stage of Penguin Adventure has the best music of any game ever made - even Gradius pales in comparison)

gavin19 · Post by **gavin19** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:20 pm

Super Laydock wrote: Either you've moved in the meantime or that was a totally consciously made purchase.

MM never got a PAL release so I strongly discard the "accidental purchase" theory...
I don't think that buying imported stuff those days could really be done accidental.

Face it... you were into shmups then already.
(I have a good nose for recognizing junks )

Yeah, that was the accidental bit. The guy who sold me it neglected to mention it was (U)

I had to buy a DC-X just to play it. Didn't regret it though as it opened a lot of doors.

I always bought the occasional shmup like Super R-Type, Axelay, but I was never 'into' them properly until the DC/PS2 era.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:24 pm

LGB wrote:Grew up with Nintendo, but never turned down a chance to play Sega.

This was more or less my situation...the first system my folks bought me was an SNES, and there was no way they were getting me a Genesis too, but a friend of mine had one, and we'd always be trying out each others' games at each others' houses.

As for "long term" effects, I can't say my early gaming experiences really did much to me on that front, except maybe getting me into JRPGs, which I still sometimes play...otherwise, I tend to play a bit of most everything, on most any system, though I usually wait until it's semi-defunct to buy it and its games at a discount.

Nuke · Post by **Nuke** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:07 pm

The Nes and the Megadrive shaped me in about an equal measure. I didn't play any SNES until the advent of emulators and I mostly skipped the PSX/Saturn/N64 era, but never turned down the chance to play them.
My absolute favorite console is and remains the Dreamcast, both due to it's quality and it's timing, as life was kind to me in the early 00's.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:14 pm

Couldn't afford a SNES (nor wanted, always was a Sega fanboy), so I got a Genny and enjoyed all the goodness that the SNES was unable to handle.

Davey · Post by **Davey** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:57 am

The NES pretty much had a monopoly here in the US. I don't think I knew anybody that had a Master System, really. So I grew up with the NES.

During the 16-bit era, I went with the SNES because:
- I loved my NES and it was the successor (especially for sequels to NES games).
- I subscribed to Nintendo Power, which kept me in the dark about Genesis games and brainwashed me into thinking Nintendo was awesome (especially the first party games).
- All of my friends either had a SNES or just a NES, nobody had the Genesis.
- I remember the Genesis being the console of choice for sports games, which I didn't care about.

That certainly shaped my game preferences back then, but my tastes gradually changed over time. A lot of games that were my favorites back then can't hold my attention now, except maybe for an occasional nostalgia run.

Post by **Dave_K.** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:36 am

What did it for me was Bally v.s. Williams v.s. Atari stealing my quarters in the arcades.

Jockel · Post by **Jockel** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:46 am

Specineff wrote:so I got a Genny and enjoyed all the goodness that the SNES was unable to handle.

Like the stellar soundtrack of most genesis games? Yay at retro-bashing ^_~

ED-057 · Post by **ED-057** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:10 am

My first console was an NES (had an Atari 800XL already though), then much later I got a Genesis, and shortly after that a SNES also. I think the Nintendo vs. Sega competition lit a fire under certain developers and motivated them to produce quality games. All three of those systems were very long-lived.

moozooh · Post by **moozooh** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:02 am

Jockel wrote:Like the stellar soundtrack of most genesis games?

Blast processing, dude. ;)

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 7:43 am

Jockel wrote:
Specineff wrote:so I got a Genny and enjoyed all the goodness that the SNES was unable to handle.
Like the stellar soundtrack of most genesis games? Yay at retro-bashing ^_~

Show me a single SNES beat-em-up that sounds better than SOR2.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:22 am

Jockel wrote:Like the stellar soundtrack of most genesis games? Yay at retro-bashing ^_~

Zebra Airforce · Post by **Zebra Airforce** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:34 am

The correct RKA track was this one.