Console Wars (film)

Console Wars is a 2020 documentary directed by Jonah Tulis and Blake J. Harris. The film is about the 1990s console wars between Nintendo and Sega in the 16-bit era and the rise and fall of Sega in the home console market. It is based on Harris's 2014 book and is the first original film for CBS All Access, now Paramount .

Console Wars
Film poster
Directed by	Jonah Tulis Blake J. Harris
Based on	Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation by Blake J. Harris
Produced by	Jonah Tulis Blake J. Harris Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg
Music by	Jeff Beal
Production companies	Legendary Television CBS Television Studios Point Grey Pictures
Distributed by	CBS All Access
Release date	September 23, 2020 (2020-09-23)
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States

Premise

The documentary dives into the history behind how Sega stepped up to take on Nintendo during the 1990s. The events that unfolded between these two game companies would come to be known as the console war. From focusing on Sega’s views to then Nintendo’s views and the events they faced, it inevitably ends with fall of Sega during the late 90s. For older audiences, it a nostalgic trip as they see many games and consoles they might have grown up with. Not so much for the younger audiences, but it may offer them some insight to how some of their favorite video game characters came to be.

Reception

The documentary received generally favorable reviews. Some articles also would express interest in how the documentary holds up to its predecessor, Harris's 2014 book on the topic. These articles would also critique some aspects of the film like how long Sega was talked about until Nintendo finally got some of its own time to be discussed. The documentary would earn an 85% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on thirteen reviews.

See also

• GameStop: Rise of the Players

Bibliography

• Meers, Whitney (October 1, 2020). "Console Wars Review: Sega, Nintendo And The Feud That Transformed Video Game History". TheGamer. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
• Lindbergh, Ben (September 23, 2020). "Revisiting the Old Video Game Console Wars Ahead of the New Ones". The Ringer. Retrieved May 10, 2023.

• Good, Owen S. (September 23, 2020). "In the rousing doc Console Wars, the good guys win… and lose, too". Polygon. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
• Hughes, William (September 23, 2020). "'90s gaming doc Console Wars played too many video games as a kid". The A.V. Club. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
• Minotti, Mike (September 23, 2020). "Console Wars documentary gives Sega and Nintendo's epic battle visual context". VentureBeat. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
• Puchko, Kristy (September 23, 2020). "Console Wars Review". IGN. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
• Tobias, Scott (September 23, 2020). "'Console Wars' Review: In Nintendo vs. Sega, Mortals Combat". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.

External links

• Console Wars at IMDb