Behind Today's Door Is 'BLAST PROCESSING' !
The War Of 91
The 90's Console Wars was famed for the advertising that pitched the Mega Drive and SNES up against each other as they slugged it out for 90's console supremacy like Rocky & Ivan Drago!
SEGA's advertising positioned the Mega Drive / Genesis as the cool kids console during this advertising campaign the company created the now legendary term which they called "Blast Processing"
The origin of Blast Processing is from a little known programming trick that could be undertaken on the console's graphics hardware.
It was used to suggest that the processing capabilities of the SEGA machine were far greater than those of the SNES.
Embarrassing Truth
Amazingly there is evidence from that era of gaming to suggest that certain focus groups found that teenage boys would not admit to owning a SNES rather than a SEGA Genesis!
At the time the Genesis was often seen to be outselling the SNES at a ratio of 2:1. I have to admit that I never thought that would be the case.
The term Blast Processing tied in closely with the SEGA focus on what they called 'impression management' of the gamers market.
Impression Management was such a hotly contested area between SEGA & Nintendo that there was even some reported deception between the two gaming giants
Porky Pies
It is alleged that at the time Nintendo claimed that they had sold more consoles in 1991 than they actually had.
Nintendo also reportedly forecast that they would sell 6 million consoles by the end of 1992, while their actual U.S. sales at the end of '92 was around 4 million units.
The Blast Processing Term was a cleverly used weapon in this game of PR and Advertising and it's an intriguing look at just how big the struggle was for the market share at the time.
Interestingly, according to a 2014 sales report based on revised sales data, the SNES ultimately outsold the Genesis in the U.S. market......
One Nil to 'Mode 7' is what I say!
What's Your Recollections Of The Term Blast Processing?
Let Me Know In The comments Box Below
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