Nintendo Case
1. What factors do you think enabled Sega to break Nintendo’s near monopoly of the U.S. video game console market in the late 1980s?
There are a few different factors that allowed Sega to break Nintendo’s near monopoly of the U.S. video game console market. First, the introduction of a 16-bit system was huge. This was double the original 8-bit systems that were out and consumers were anxious to try it because of the enhanced graphics. Second, Sega made their new system backward compatible with its 8-big Master System games meaning that anyone who already owned these games could play them on the new system as well as any of the new games that were released. Sega also produced their games in-house which saved money. They focused their attention on increasing unit sales to drive game sales instead of focusing on making a large profit on consoles. The combination of in-house games and less focus on consoles allowed them to have over four times the amount of games as Nintendo by the end of 1991 and people ultimately flocked to where the games where.
2. Why did Nintendo choose to not make its video game consoles backward compatible? What were the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy?
Nintendo chose to not make its video game consoles backward compatible because this meant that consumers would have to spend money on a new console as well as new games and thus create more revenue. The advantages to this were that they could possibly make a lot more money because of the necessity to sell new games with new systems. The disadvantages is that many people were not interested in having to spend extra money on new games if they were able to purchase a new Sega console that allowed them to use old games as well as new ones. This lead to Sega’s ability to surpass Nintendo in sales.
3. What strengths and weaknesses did Sony have when it entered the video game market in 1995?
When Sony entered the video game market in 1995, it was one of the first
There are a few different factors that allowed Sega to break Nintendo’s near monopoly of the U.S. video game console market. First, the introduction of a 16-bit system was huge. This was double the original 8-bit systems that were out and consumers were anxious to try it because of the enhanced graphics. Second, Sega made their new system backward compatible with its 8-big Master System games meaning that anyone who already owned these games could play them on the new system as well as any of the new games that were released. Sega also produced their games in-house which saved money. They focused their attention on increasing unit sales to drive game sales instead of focusing on making a large profit on consoles. The combination of in-house games and less focus on consoles allowed them to have over four times the amount of games as Nintendo by the end of 1991 and people ultimately flocked to where the games where.
2. Why did Nintendo choose to not make its video game consoles backward compatible? What were the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy?
Nintendo chose to not make its video game consoles backward compatible because this meant that consumers would have to spend money on a new console as well as new games and thus create more revenue. The advantages to this were that they could possibly make a lot more money because of the necessity to sell new games with new systems. The disadvantages is that many people were not interested in having to spend extra money on new games if they were able to purchase a new Sega console that allowed them to use old games as well as new ones. This lead to Sega’s ability to surpass Nintendo in sales.
3. What strengths and weaknesses did Sony have when it entered the video game market in 1995?
When Sony entered the video game market in 1995, it was one of the first