The Sega Vs. Nintendo Story Will Be Told in a New Limited Series Called CONSOLE WARS
If you grew up playing Sega and/or Nintendo, there’s a new limited series in development at Legendary Entertainment that you’re not going to want to miss.
Blake J. Harris’ fantastic non-fiction novel Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo and the Battle that Defined a Generation, has been picked up and will be adapted into a series simply called Console Wars.
It will tell the true story of the corporate wars behind Sega and Nintendo and how Sega, “a small, scrappy gaming company led by an unlikely visionary and a team of rebels, took on the juggernaut Nintendo and revolutionized the video game industry.”
The series is being directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kong: Skull Island). He’s a huge fan of video games, so this is a perfect project for him to take on. Mike Rosolio has been hired to write the pilot and Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are attached to produce it with several others.
Rogen and Goldberg were supposed to write and direct a film adaptation of the book back in 2014. It’s great to see that they are still involved in a producer capacity.
The book is set during the 1990s and focuses on the rise and fall of Tom Kalinske, “he took on the role of CEO for Sega’s American division and essentially saved the company with the release of the Sega Genesis. It’s a blistering business-based story which could definitely fit a ’90s period piece along the lines of Halt and Catch Fire.”
Here’s the official synopsis of the book, which paints a vivid picture of what to expect:
In 1990, Nintendo had a virtual monopoly on the video game industry. Sega, on the other hand, was just a faltering arcade company with big aspirations and even bigger personalities. But that would all change with the arrival of Tom Kalinske, a man who knew nothing about videogames and everything about fighting uphill battles. His unconventional tactics, combined with the blood, sweat and bold ideas of his renegade employees, transformed Sega and eventually led to a ruthless David-and-Goliath showdown with rival Nintendo.
The battle was vicious, relentless, and highly profitable, eventually sparking a global corporate war that would be fought on several fronts: from living rooms and schoolyards to boardrooms and Congress. It was a once-in-a-lifetime, no-holds-barred conflict that pitted brother against brother, kid against adult, Sonic against Mario, and the US against Japan.
Based on over two hundred interviews with former Sega and Nintendo employees, Console Warsis the underdog tale of how Kalinske miraculously turned an industry punchline into a market leader. It’s the story of how a humble family man, with an extraordinary imagination and a gift for turning problems into competitive advantages, inspired a team of underdogs to slay a giant and, as a result, birth a $60 billion dollar industry.
I can’t wait to see how this series turns out. I love these kinds of stories and this is a great one to tell.
My question to you is, were you a Sega loyalist or a Nintendo loyalist in the 90s? I was team Sega all the way. I had the Sega Genesis, the Sega CD, and Even the Sega 32X! I went to my friends houses to play Nintendo.
Source: Nerdist