What was second to the NES?

[kyle]

What was second to the NES in sales during their run of dominance in the late 80s?? The 7800 the 2600jr or the SMS??

[ataridude81]

I like atari but the truth is the sega master system would be the winner as sad as it may be. the 7800 had small game selection 2600jr did not do well because the 2600 era was not selling anymore. master system had over 200 games number of good games and bad just like the nes. the master system did very well when you look at how nes controlled 90% of the 8-bit market. also the master system sold better in europe than nes. atari didn't top any market in the late 80's. i wish the jaguar would have saved atari it had so much wasted talent.

[kyle]

You know i was thinking the SMS would have be 2nd? But i swear to god i have found alot more 2600jr systems in flea's amd thrift stores over the years than sega master systems.

Edited March 26, 2006 by kyle

[Rybags]

I think Sega even had a brief period as the #1 console maker in the world.

 

But they made many errors, especially with the Megadrive/Genesis. Too many add-ons just served to confuse the market. The Saturn was "next generation" but the PSX ended whatever chance it had of succeeding.

 

I think the 2600jr caused some resurgence for Atari sales, especially in markets like E Europe and China.

 

But other machines like the C-64, Atari XL/E & ST and Amiga were well entrenched by then, and many people in those markets spent what little money they had on a real computer.

[Atari-Jess]

The saturn just wasn't designed for 3d. Much like the Jaguar it could be considered an afterthought.

 

Even though it wasn't an "afterthought" its easy to think it due to the consoles inability to do very fancy 3d like the psx was able to.

 

I've seen more sega master systems than atari 2600jrs, but I'll admit I've seen probably less than 10 of each.

[jaybird3rd]

I'm not sure where the 2600jr fell in terms of sales, but I doubt it was trying to compete head-to-head with the NES or SMS at that point; it was more of a low-budget release, much like the TV-games of today, with a handful of new games. The SMS was almost certainly second to the NES, with the 7800 in third place.

Edited March 26, 2006 by jaybird3rd

[Rybags]

I can remember the jr selling for around $39-$59, when that was the price for a typical game for competing consoles, which themselves were usually over $250.

[DracIsBack]

The others trailed so far behind that it didn't really matter too much.

 

The SMS and 7800 were neck and neck in North America for that very distant second place spot. My gut says its the SMS though there are some confusing statistics.

 

During the Atari vs. Nintendo lawsuit, NPD data was shown that gave Nintendo an 80% marketshare and Atari 12%. As such, at the time the data was taken, Atari was in second place overall but ...

 

"Atari"'s share would have included the 7800, 2600jr and XE Game System. It's unclear how that 12% broke down between the three Atari systems (there's conflicting data there too) except that the XE came in dead last.

 

I've seen reports that both the 7800 and the SMS sold 2 million or so consoles in North America over their lives.

 

Most probably, the SMS came in a distant second to the SMS in North America, while the 7800 came in a reasonably close third.

 

In Europe, the SMS was the number one 8-bit console so worldwide the SMS was absolutely a clear second.

[8th lutz]

To what I read the 7800 was third in the United States and rest of the world. the sms on the other hand was second in the U.s and Japan, but was first in Europe and in australia and possible other places. Overall, it was the nes for being first. What happened was well documented to what caused the 7800 sales to put them in third place.

[Room 34]

At least where I lived, the SMS was clearly #2. The 7800 wasn't even on the map. If you went into any store that sold video games, or a video rental store (which had just started renting games), NES was everywhere, there was a fair selection of SMS, and that was it, period. I didn't even know the 7800 existed until the late '90s, and I was a die-hard Atari lover!

[spacecadet]

At least where I lived, the SMS was clearly #2. The 7800 wasn't even on the map. If you went into any store that sold video games, or a video rental store (which had just started renting games), NES was everywhere, there was a fair selection of SMS, and that was it, period. I didn't even know the 7800 existed until the late '90s, and I was a die-hard Atari lover!

 

Yeah, same here. I kinda knew the 7800 existed but you never saw it anywhere in stores and nobody really talked about it like it was a going concern. I was in college at the time and the debates we had were always NES vs. SMS - nobody even really considered the 7800.

 

I guess there might have been certain areas where the 7800 was more popular, but my gut's telling me they probably had one good year in like 1987 and then totally faded out. The SMS kept chugging along from its release up until the Genesis, and of course the NES was a hit from 1985 onwards.

 

The SMS was never a major threat to the NES, so it's possible Atari did outsell Sega in 1987. But I just really don't even remember seeing, hearing or talking about the 7800 in any of the previous or following years. Nobody was really sitting around anticipating it beforehand, and nobody really seemed to care after whatever initial demand was met.

 

I also used to rent games at Blockbuster and they never carried 7800 games to my knowledge - not that I saw, anyway. They did have both NES and SMS games, although I think they started renting games pretty late (maybe even after the Genesis was launched). Which also kinda supports the theory that the SMS stuck around long after the 7800 fell into obscurity.

Edited March 26, 2006 by spacecadet

[Brad2600]

Growing up, I never saw or heard of the 7800. Same goes for the 5200 AND SMS.

 

I went from having a 2600 straight to having a NES.

[DeV0]

The sms would have been 2nd here in Aus to the NES. I cant remember any adverts on tv or magazines but there alot of carts in the wild. As for 8bit id say the C64 would be 3rd for gaming, last is definately the atari computers and 7800.

 

Who said saturn cant do fancy 3d? Not sure what games u r refering to but i think that duke3d, quake and most noticeable Exhumed/Powerslave look much "fancier" then the psx counterparts, not to mention much smoother

[NovaXpress]

The SMS was a solid #2. It received far wider distribution. Most toy stores didn't even carry the 7800. The majority of 7800 systems and merchadise that now floats around was originally purchased after Atari liquidated their stock. I bought my 7800 for twenty bucks with games a dollar each around 1990.

[DracIsBack]

when you look at how nes controlled 90% of the 8-bit market.

 

There's an old saying called "lies, damned lies and statistics" where they can often be interepreted to serve specific marketing and also misinterpreted. When it comes to the NES, there's no question of its dominance. What I always found funny back in the day was how Nintendo's marketshare seeemed to change depending on who was reporting on them. At the Atari vs. Nintendo trial in the early 1990s, the data shown flat out said "Nintendo had 80% of the market vs. 12% for Atari" during the NES days. Then there are other pubs that put it at 75%, 85%, 95% etc.

 

Often they'd be comparing different things.

 

* In some cases, it would be region specific unit sales. Example: Total unit sales of the console systems within the US alone from 1986 to 1990.

* Sometimes it would be based upon share of region specific revenue. Example: the total dollar value of console *AND* game and peripheral revenue received by each manufacturer. In this case, price also SKUs the marketshare if one manufacturer has a higher SRP on games, systems and peripherals.

* Sometimes, they may look at NPD data that shows unit sales OR revenue for a specific week, month or quarter. For example, Nintendo may have run a promotion in June of 1989 that caused 95% of consoles to be sold that June to be NES's. However, Nintendo's average run rate from June 1985 to June 1989 may have been more like 80% marketshare.

 

Pubs and markters often use stats to their own advantage and often don't explain how they got the stats in a way the consumer understands.

 

Just a note.

[NovaXpress]

Shelf space is a decent way to estimate. I'd say that the NES grabbed a good 75-80% of the space, SMS most of the rest with the 7800 getting pretty much nothing. Aside from Toys R Us and dedicated game stores, you just didn't see the 7800.

[Foxsolo2000]

I owned both and at the college and university that I went to everyone had a Master System, hell virtually all the students wore Sega t-shirts displaying something sega or the other. I always thought that the Master System had the edge on the NES in the UK simply because of the ferocious advertising campaign that SEGA employed at the time

[JagFan422]

what about the TG-16.

[spacecadet]

what about the TG-16.

 

In Japan, the TG-16 was a pretty big hit (as the PC Engine). In the US, it was a complete flop. It would be interesting to see how its sales compared to the 7800, though. But I'd guess it was in 4th place here.

[8th lutz]

I remember in 1990 toys 'r' us didn't get any new 7800 games, along with the 2600 games being in a rack instead having a slip for the games. I remembered seeing them on clearence at circus world in 1990/91, the same thing with Children's palace along with kay bee toys. Those are the only stores that I remember having 7800 games where I lived or went to on vacation. The sms had more places with them I If I remember correctly.

[DracIsBack]

Shelf space is a decent way to estimate. I'd say that the NES grabbed a good 75-80% of the space, SMS most of the rest with the 7800 getting pretty much nothing. Aside from Toys R Us and dedicated game stores, you just didn't see the 7800.

 

I think it's an OK barameter but you get into regional biases. Some regions may have more locations that carry than others and not all chains carry all products in all locations.

[sku_u]

"Atari"'s share would have included the 7800, 2600jr and XE Game System. It's unclear how that 12% broke down between the three Atari systems (there's conflicting data there too) except that the XE came in dead last.

 

While minimal, I'm pretty sure 5200 sales continued into the first few years of the NES. If so, they are in all likelihood dead last with the XEGS not too far behind.

[shadow460]

Well, my experiences were actually quite the opposite of what's in here. System-wise, my family went from the 2600 to an Apple II (not really a game system, tho'), then the NES.

However, we didn't even know the NES existed until 1989. Once we got caughtup, and learned it was all the rage, we kind of forgot about Atari. I still played that old 2600 until '90 or so when my dad got an NES.

 

In the early '80's, my daddy talked about getting a 7800. It was in 84 or 85 when he'd talked about getting one. He never did, obviously, since there were precious few of them at that time. So we went got a 5200 instead, but we never got any games. We borrowed 5200 games from time to time, like Megamania, Pac-Man, and Bounty Bob Strikes Back (yup, BBSB in the silicon!). I inherited the 5200 years later and got a couple of games, and I now have a dozen of them, but no system (mine was lost with the 2600 collection I played for so long).

I'd never heard of the Master System until a friend of mine showed me his. I was like, "What the crap is that?" and that was as far as it went. Not to be outdone, I showed him a new 7800 in an outlet store and said, "Look at this! This is awesome!"

I got my hands on a 7800 in 1991. Its power supply was broken at the blue plug, so I didn't get to play any games .

 

I've never played an SMS. I've seen a few of them for sale, but I've never played any games on them. As some of you know, I got my 7800 last August, and I'm very happy with it.

 

Nowdays, when I take my 7800 to a game store, the usual question is, "What the crap is that!?"

 

So, if you asked my for my personal opinion, not the facts, I'd say that in my little world the 7800 was #1, followed by the NES and there was no other console, but there were the Game Boy, Lynx, and the Game Gear.

 

As for TG-16, I've seen exactly one of those, and about one PC engine outside the box. I did have the chance to buy a PC Engine, and if I'd known what it was, I would have scarfed it up instead of the Lame Gear games I was picking up in droves.

[+FujiSkunk]

While minimal, I'm pretty sure 5200 sales continued into the first few years of the NES. If so, they are in all likelihood dead last with the XEGS not too far behind.

 

I believe you're right. A handful of 5200 games actually got Atari Corp. re-releases the same way early 2600 games did. I remember seeing at least one 1986 copyright in the bunch.

[DracIsBack]

"Atari"'s share would have included the 7800, 2600jr and XE Game System. It's unclear how that 12% broke down between the three Atari systems (there's conflicting data there too) except that the XE came in dead last.

 

While minimal, I'm pretty sure 5200 sales continued into the first few years of the NES. If so, they are in all likelihood dead last with the XEGS not too far behind.

 

I think the 5200 itself was officially discontinued under Warner Communications (I have an article on there during the 7800 announcement from 1984 where that is mentioned) though I believe you are correct that a few games and leftover stock may have still been out there for a few years.