November 21, 1994: Nintendo's biggest win in the Nintendo vs Sega war

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

On that fateful Monday before Thanksgiving, Nintendo and Sega both released products that would have great consequences for their battle. The release dates coincided in the USA, which was also the first territory that both of these products were released.

Nintendo released Donkey Kong Country. This was a game that was quite technologically groundbreaking. It could have passed for a first-generation (2D) PS1 or Saturn game. It sold like mad over the holiday season and spawned two sequels. The DKC games helped keep the SNES relevant during the 1994-1997 phase of the 16-bit wars.

Sega released the 32X, which did a lot of damage to Sega in the long run.

[SparTonberry]

THE BEAST IS BACK!
YOU WON'T FIND IT ON CD-ROM OR 32X ADAPTERS!

(I wonder if Donkey Kong Country Returns' release date (the original Wii version) was chosen as an homage to the original.
It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving in 2010, but maybe not considering that generation Nintendo really liked Sunday launches. I think it was until the next year when they almost released StarFox 3D on 9/11, then they moved to Fridays.)

[WulfeLuer]

I didn't quite realize it at the time, but I have to agree. I came across tons of advertising stuff for the 32X ("Mommy what are those consoles doing?") back then, and oddly little for DKC, but word of mouth on DKC was going plain bananas (yes, intentional), and still stands as the one thing that brought all us li'l fanboys together to agree on back then (well that and Addams Family Values was as close as we could got to playing a Sith Lord, we were so innocent--and poor--back then)

[Gamevet]

Donkey King Country had ads all over magazines like EGM, Game Pro and Gamefan. I believe it was also on the cover of EGM2. DKC was also bundled with the SNES. That being said, there were a lot of great games released in 1994 for the SNES, including Super Metroid and Super Punchout!!!

[Aussie2B]

And Nintendo Power was pushing DKC really hard of course. Nintendo sent that promo VHS tape to practically everyone on their mailing list (not even just NP subscribers; I received one even though I had never subscribed to NP at the time, but they had my address from when I took advantage of that free Super Mario All-Stars promotion).

But, yeah, 1994 in general was a big resurgence for the SNES. You could almost count Mega Man X in that, since it came out mid December 1993, but Super Metroid really got the ball rolling in March. Final Fantasy III/VI also came out that year. By the time DKC came out in late November, it was just the cherry on top of an already fantastic year.

[WulfeLuer]

I apologize; that post was pretty incoherent. What I meant to say that for whatever bizarre reason, the magazines and such that were circulating around locally had a very heavy Sega-oriented slant at the time, but my friends and I heard about DKC by word of mouth a lot, more than anything Sega-related. Somebody got their hands on a cart (not me, I got a SNES just in time for the PS1 to come out, starting my tradition of staunch obsolescence) and we all agreed that it was pretty awesome. This was something of a big deal since we were a fairly divisive pack of nerdlings and we only had such a consensus once or twice aside from that.

[Gamevet]

Maybe on you local playground, but that wasn't the case. The magazines still had favorable coverage for Nintendo, even when Sega was leading in 16-bit sales. The only mag that really gave Sega fair ceverage was Gamefan.

Even Star Fox got a magazine cover in 1993.

http://oldgamemags.tumblr.com/post/51002871039/egm-44-march-1993-star-fox-issue-1993-video

And look at this 1992 cover of EGM. It's mostly dominated with Nintendo games, while Streets of Rage 2 gets a little box in the corner.
https://countzeroor.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/where-i-read-electronic-gaming-monthly-40/magazine-electronic-gaming-monthly-super-star-wars-v5-11-of-12-1992_11-page-1/

[Aussie2B]

You could really feel things swinging in Sega's favor through '92 and '93, though. Even Nintendo Power at that time reeked of desperation to convince its readers that the SNES and Game Boy offered all anybody could ever want out of gaming. "The Sports Scene" section was particularly embarrassing. Its entire purpose was to fight against the reputation the Genesis had as being the better console for fans of sports games. It's no surprise that after the SNES bounced back in '94 that column quickly went *poof*.

[Gamevet]

Yeah, Sega's marketing campaign, along with Nintendo's censored version of Mortal Kombat made the Genesis look like the cooler console to own for the teenage demographic. And then along comes the Sega CD and 32x, causing confusion amongst consumers.

[Greg2600]

Tom Kalinske and the Sega of America braintrust basically took one look at DKC, and gave a collective "oh shit!" He recalled them being very deflated by it. Was the 32X THAT damaging? I don't know. Again, Kalinske had a problem on his hands. Nintendo was spending the $ to develop chips that could provide this type of game. Sega was not. Sega of Japan was fully concentrating on the 32-bit CD-system. Tom felt the only chance they had was to release this add-on to spur development in the 32-bit realm and serve as an alternative. The problem was, financially, a family would have to spend $199 on 32X, and probably buy a dozen games or so, simply to level off the "investment" versus just paying $15-20 extra for the SNES "chip cartridges."

[Pr3tty F1y]

While the special chips played a part, DKC was not a special chip game. It was an art direction that had some solid game play behind it.

Truthfully, I believe DKC was the straw the broke the camel's back for Sega. The Genesis was very much stronger than the SNES in the states in 1991 and 1992, but it had been out for years at that point. By 1993, the Genesis largely peaked and the SNES was still ramping up. If you just take a look at the release dates of games that were system sellers while the SNES did have some quality titles earlier on, the deluge of this big budget, heavily advertised, and heavily lauded titles only started ramping up in 1993 and peaked in 1995. By 1996 the SNES was on the downhill and the Genesis was muddled by expensive add-ons that didn't appeal to US gamers. Sure the Genesis crushed in sports titles, but the majority of 'gamers' aren't into just sports titles. We want stories, action, and depth.

If the Sega CD brought better graphics (i.e., more colors), it would have sold like hot cakes. However, providing the same color palette (and largely same graphics minus some SNES Mode 7-like rotation), the enhanced audio wasn't a huge seller for the non-RPG US Genesis crowd. The 32x, while capable of much better graphics, was rushed and not fully taken advantage of. The result was games that lacked the depth and impact that is needed sell consoles and the price was a huge barrier as well.

[Gamevet]

SOJ didn't care about the Genesis/Mega Drive by the end of 1994. They were backing the Saturn.

Vectorman used the same graphics techniques used in Donkey Kong Country. It just didn't fill the whole screen with pre-rendered graphics.

[fergojisan]

I returned two 32X consoles before I got one that worked. This was in 1996 when they were 20 bucks, but still. I have read online where some folks had the same problem on or near launch day.

[celerystalker]

I got (and still have) that same VHS tape Nintendo sent out, though I wasn't a Nintendo Power subscriber. That tape did exactly what it was meant to do, and my dad reserved us a copy at a local Toys 'R Us. As much as the graphics and music were selling points, the focus on secret bonus areas and the like also really made the game look exciting. I don't feel like they under delivered... at that time, I loved the hell out of it.

Conversely, I didn't bother with a 32X until I was given one for free around 1999. Even then, when most everything was cheap and pretty available, there wasn't a ton to get me excited. Much like the Jaguar, of which I am a fan, they just didn't play to the sttengths of the thing. They just had to push low-quality 3D models instead of great 2D stuff and scaling sprites. Space Harrier kicks so much ass on 32X. Had they gone after some Neo Geo ports, some first party stuff like Outrun, Power Drift, and Galaxy Force, and maybe some other arcade ports like GI Joe (licensing might've prevented it) I think it might've at least been fondly remembered and more successful, even though it was never a good move to begin with.

Later, I got the Sega Saturn VHS in the mail, and I hated it. It was so obnoxious in how it was presented, and to a pretty normal teenager like me, who actually liked his parents and liked pretty much all video games regardless of brand loyalty, it felt almost offensive in how "rebellious" it tried to be, as if it was trying to herd moronic sheep toward a shiny object with lots of yelling and attitude. Comparatively, the DKC tape just focused on the game's high points instead of how brand alignment made you fit in society.

[SparTonberry]

I was a subscriber at the time and I never got the DKC VHS tape. I wonder what happened?

[buzz_n64]

I got Donkey Kong Country with the Super Nintendo bundle. I played the hell out of it. I had that game and Sparkster as my first two SNES games. Buying Donkey Kong Country 2 was a must, and I ended up liking Donkey Kong Country 2 as one of my all time favorite video games.

[Gamevet]

I got (and still have) that same VHS tape Nintendo sent out, though I wasn't a Nintendo Power subscriber. That tape did exactly what it was meant to do, and my dad reserved us a copy at a local Toys 'R Us. As much as the graphics and music were selling points, the focus on secret bonus areas and the like also really made the game look exciting. I don't feel like they under delivered... at that time, I loved the hell out of it.

Conversely, I didn't bother with a 32X until I was given one for free around 1999. Even then, when most everything was cheap and pretty available, there wasn't a ton to get me excited. Much like the Jaguar, of which I am a fan, they just didn't play to the sttengths of the thing. They just had to push low-quality 3D models instead of great 2D stuff and scaling sprites. Space Harrier kicks so much ass on 32X. Had they gone after some Neo Geo ports, some first party stuff like Outrun, Power Drift, and Galaxy Force, and maybe some other arcade ports like GI Joe (licensing might've prevented it) I think it might've at least been fondly remembered and more successful, even though it was never a good move to begin with.

Later, I got the Sega Saturn VHS in the mail, and I hated it. It was so obnoxious in how it was presented, and to a pretty normal teenager like me, who actually liked his parents and liked pretty much all video games regardless of brand loyalty, it felt almost offensive in how "rebellious" it tried to be, as if it was trying to herd moronic sheep toward a shiny object with lots of yelling and attitude. Comparatively, the DKC tape just focused on the game's high points instead of how brand alignment made you fit in society.

The Saturn promos dumped the whole Sega attitude thing. It was goofy stuff like a bald woman with Saturn rings around her head and a black guy talking about the future of gaming in a slow James Earl Jones like manner. I've never seen this screaming Saturn promo you speak of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99iiUtPR-fM

[dgdgagdae]

The Saturn promos dumped the whole Sega attitude thing. It was goofy stuff like a bald woman with Saturn rings around her head and a black guy talking about the future of gaming in a slow James Earl Jones like manner. I've never seen this screaming Saturn promo you speak of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99iiUtPR-fM

That frightened me more than wanting me to buy a Saturn. Although I always did like the Theater of the Eye commercials. Those were clever, I thought.

[Gamevet]

I got my Saturn in May of 1995. I was so ready to get away from 16-bit gaming at that time.

[celerystalker]

The Saturn promos dumped the whole Sega attitude thing. It was goofy stuff like a bald woman with Saturn rings around her head and a black guy talking about the future of gaming in a slow James Earl Jones like manner. I've never seen this screaming Saturn promo you speak of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99iiUtPR-fM

Wow, it'd been over 20 years since I watched that. The weird imagery I recalled vividly, but I think I was mentally adding in the commercials they aired around '96, where they called the N64 the "plumber box" and launched it from a catapult or something.

I bought my Saturn on clearance at a Wal-Mart a few months before buying my N64 in 1997. Other than a few short months where I was white-hot on the N64 for WCW vs nWo World Tour and GoldenEye, I've always preferred my Saturn. I wanted one to play Virtua Cop, but I think if I hadn't been so turned off by the way it was marketed, I might've bought in maybe a year earlier.

In the years since all of this, I can say that I still like Donkey Kong Country, but it didn't stay an all-time favorite. I've mined as deep as the shallow 32X library allows, and wish they'dve focused on Super Scaler ports of Power Drift, Galaxy Force, Outrun, etc., because it couldn't deliver on the tech front to be what they needed it to be. Saturn became my favorite system of its generation, and not just for imports... I mean on the US library even. The N64, which I was very hyped on, is a library I'm still digging through, trying to find a few more games to really enjoy, because Super Mario 64 is its only game I repeatedly go back to. Smash is cool, Mischief Makers is great... I even had some fun with Super Star Soldier, Knife Edge, and Ogre Battle is cool if muddy looking. But for these things that got the VHS mail hype, Donkey Kong stands out as the winner for getting me to need the game combined with the game holding up.

[SparTonberry]

Wow, it'd been over 20 years since I watched that. The weird imagery I recalled vividly, but I think I was mentally adding in the commercials they aired around '96, where they called the N64 the "plumber box" and launched it from a catapult or something.

Apparently there was a holiday '96 commercial comparing it to "Pretendo" and "PlayThing". It is on youtube.
Basically making fun of how the N64 had just launched and therefore had very few games.
From what I recall it did have some spiky-haired blue blob guy yelling "WAAAAAAAH! SEGAAAAAAA!"

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

Apparently there was a holiday '96 commercial comparing it to "Pretendo" and "PlayThing". It is on youtube.
Basically making fun of how the N64 had just launched and therefore had very few games.
From what I recall it did have some spiky-haired blue blob guy yelling "WAAAAAAAH! SEGAAAAAAA!"

Here's a link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cIvo8flaBc

[BlastProcessing402]

I returned two 32X consoles before I got one that worked. This was in 1996 when they were 20 bucks, but still. I have read online where some folks had the same problem on or near launch day.

I never had to return my 32x (not at launch, but also not as low as $20 either... jelly!) but I did have a couple of bum Saturns during it's early launch. First one crapped out on me the first night, just wouldn't turn on anymore. 2nd one was clearly already used when I opened it. 3rd one still works to this day (or a few years ago when I last hooked it up, anyway).