STACK #181 Nov 2019

GAMES FEATURE

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THE BEST OF FRENEMIES It was an unthinkable scenario at one point. The two mascots of rival console kings Nintendo and SEGA appearing in the same game. As we await the release this month of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 , we take a look at the history of the two tribes, and how this outbreak of gaming glasnost came about. Words Amy Flower

1990s As Nintendo continued to bank on the NES, SEGA threw down the gauntlet with their Mega Drive 16-bit console. Better graphics, better sound, better games. It actually snuck out in the US in late 1989, but didn’t hit Europe and Australia until late 1990. It was the perfect console upgrade path for many Aussies, especially as it had an impressive library of games ready to rock at launch.

1980s Having had a smallish presence in arcades, save for monster smash Donkey Kong , Nintendo hit home in the west with their Nintendo Entertainment System – or NES – console. A sizeable grey box, it

looked markedly different to its red and gold Japanese counterpart, the Famicom, but soon began infiltrating US homes, then European ones in 1986, and eventually Australian ones in 1987. The secret to its success? A moustachioed plumber, originally known variously as “Mr Video” and “Jumpman” until he was dubbed Mario, and given Italian birth records. He became the mascot for Nintendo, and has since appeared in over 200 games. Meanwhile, SEGA had celebrated many an arcade hit and wanted in on some of that sweet home console

market action. Their weapon was the Master System, which hit the US in 1986, and Australia a year later – first in an aborted attempt, before changing distributors and going

great guns based on its major advantage over the NES: its sizeable library of arcade games. But who would take SEGA’s mascot fight to Mario? A kiddie character named Alex Kidd had the gig in Japan, but he didn’t go down very well in the west as he seemed a tad wussy. Mario wins the ‘80s.

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NOVEMBER 2019

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