Why The Super Nintendo Won The Console War?
One of the most classic arguments in the history of gaming is the “Console War” between the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES, and the Sega Genesis. Sega released the Genesis in 1989 to compete with the original Nintendo Entertainment System, but soon found it fighting against the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991. The Console War has become a staple in 90s pop culture alongside Nickelodeon cartoons and MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This.” Even over twenty-five years later, people still talk about and discuss which system really won the Console War. With an unbiased opinion, I wish to compare the differences these consoles have, the advantages each console boasts, and see what really sets them apart from each other. The average
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When Sega released the original controller for the Genesis, it was very large and strangely shaped. It had three buttons and a directional arrow pad for movement. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System’s standard controller had six buttons and Nintendo’s trademarked plus-shaped “D-Pad.” The six button layout on Nintendo’s controller proved to be useful for bringing the massive hit that was Street Fighter II to Super Nintendo Entertainment Systems in near arcade quality. Sega Genesis’s original three button layout was unable to adapt to advanced, six button arcade fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II, so Sega created a much more comfortable, six button controller to handle what the Super Nintendo got right on the first try. Speaking of advanced games, Nintendo created an entirely new franchise to test the capabilities of the new “Super FX” chip used in cartridges, titled Star Fox. Using this chip, the Super Nintendo could render extremely primitive yet functional 3D polygons on a 16-bit console. Other games use this chip, but none of them stand out much like Star Fox does. Sega’s reply was the “Sega Virtua Processor.” The only game that used this special cartridge chip was Virtua Racing. While not as impressively used as Nintendo’s Star Fox, it prepared Sega for their jump to
When Sega released the original controller for the Genesis, it was very large and strangely shaped. It had three buttons and a directional arrow pad for movement. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System’s standard controller had six buttons and Nintendo’s trademarked plus-shaped “D-Pad.” The six button layout on Nintendo’s controller proved to be useful for bringing the massive hit that was Street Fighter II to Super Nintendo Entertainment Systems in near arcade quality. Sega Genesis’s original three button layout was unable to adapt to advanced, six button arcade fighting games like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II, so Sega created a much more comfortable, six button controller to handle what the Super Nintendo got right on the first try. Speaking of advanced games, Nintendo created an entirely new franchise to test the capabilities of the new “Super FX” chip used in cartridges, titled Star Fox. Using this chip, the Super Nintendo could render extremely primitive yet functional 3D polygons on a 16-bit console. Other games use this chip, but none of them stand out much like Star Fox does. Sega’s reply was the “Sega Virtua Processor.” The only game that used this special cartridge chip was Virtua Racing. While not as impressively used as Nintendo’s Star Fox, it prepared Sega for their jump to