Don't you mean the other way around? Nintendo invented the controller style Sega, Sony, and evgryone else has used since the NES. Nintendo rescued the games market from the industry crash of '83-84, so that there even is a games industry today, let alone one for Sega to have competed in. Nintendo defined the scrolling-platforming genre as we know it, without which there would be no Sonic the Hedgehog, Shinobi, Wonder Boy, etc. Nintendo used their marketing power in the 80s and 90s to popularize video RPGs as we know them, without which we would have no Phantasy Star, Shining Force, etc. Nintendo helped Sega accomplish so many of the things that Sega is known for. How exactly does Nintendo owe Sega their position?

Anyway, as for my position on this, I love Sega, and they've always been a great company. In the old days their systems were the ones that catered more to the hardcore gamer, with more arcade-like gameplay and sometimes better hardware than Nintendo, and they've given us too many classic action and sports games to list, plus a nice selection of RPGs. Yet rarely did their games feature the pure craftsmanship and imagination (maybe Sonic 3, Phantasy Star, and some of the Shining series?) of Super Mario Bros. 3, the Zelda series, Kirby, or the Metroid series (3 especially). That seemed apparent to me even in Sega's heyday, but now Sega's recent games haven't been of the quality they used to be, they're out of the console business, and they've been absorbed by another far less wonderful game company (Sammy). That Nintendo has survived, is still making great games, and looks to be making a huge comeback in the near future is a testament to their superiority and continued dedication to quality and innovation.

All of that said, I'd love little more than I'd love to see Sega back in the console business instead of Sony.

The creators of the Genesis were real assholes too! I hated how they'd try to put down Nintendo in their commercials, despite the fact that they were probably in denial that the SNES was far better!

After all, when compared to "Super Metroid", what the hell kind of game is "Altered Beast"?! That's got to be the stupidest crap EVER!!!!

I still have my SNES stored away upstairs with some of my favorites like, "Super Mario RPG" and "Kirby Superstar"

Do you know what competition is all about? The ads for the Genesis did what any competiting company would do in order to get people to use their service/product. Whether you like it or not, Genesis did what Nintendon't (or how ever it went).

You obviously have not played many games. AB was a quality game with arcade sound, graphics and gameplay. I can think of many games other than AB that could be titled as "the stupidest crap ever".

Altered Beast is stupid yet Kirby is one of your favorites? To each his own...........

There are many, many ways to compete, including ones that don't involve agressive trash-talking.

You won't often see Nintendo getting all "in your face" and talking crap about competing products.

Many companies choose to compete by having the higher quality product rather than the higher quality talk. While there are others that do take Sega's approach, "bash the crap out of the other guy" is not what "any competing company" would do.

Altered Beast is definitely a classic, but he is correct that everything from the graphics, to the sound, to the depth of gameplay are way behind Super Metroid... and they should be, it was made years earlier.

I don't guess you've played Kirby Superstar? It's way up there with the best games Sega ever made in their prime. It's full of fast, non-stop action and eye-candy.

Agressive trash-talking? Sega's way of advertising was as "agressive" as
Lucy pulling away the football from Charlie Brown. In otherwords, it was minor, to say the least.

Why do you think that is? Could it be that Nintendo has not been in that position for a long long time to do so? Nintendo could do it but the response would likely be a chuckle.

Watch television or open a magazine. Companies will list the downfalls and short-comings of their competitor(s) and tell you why they are the best choice for whatever service or product they are pushing.

You can't do this on Nintendon't? A Gameboy owner getting hit on the head with a dead rat to see color? Yeah, not aggressive attacks in the least.

And Lucy is still a bitch for pulling away the football. That's sort of a given.

They've been in great position to denounce other manufaturer's hardware compared to their own for the past two generations in comparison to Sony. They haven't done it because its not their style and never has been.

Had there been a TV campaign about how crappy the PS2's graphics and CPU are in comparison with Game Cube, it would be met with much less ridicule among gamers than "Blast Processing".

You'll also see political smear campaigns and mudslinging.

Attacking the other guy is what you do when your products or candidates aren't compelling enough on their own merits alone. It's the cheap and easy solution.

Yet you'll still find plenty of more scrupulous companies that sell their product on its own merits and do just fine.