Business Wars

Nintendo decided early on that the Nintendo 64 would be a cartridge console, instead of a CD console. But CDs are much cheaper to make and have much better graphics. Game companies are upset, and defect to Sony. In a few months time, Sony has two of the most popular game series in Japan to itself. Nintendo will now have to make its own games that are strong enough to outsell PlayStation. It’s Nintendo vs the world. They’re taking a huge gamble, and this is not a game.

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This is a story about Sony and Nintendo, but it also involves a little company called Sega. Ever play Sonic the Hedgehog? That’s Sega. And during Nintendo’s domination of the US market, they were the only company able to fight back. That is, until they tried to outplay Sony.

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From the moment it began, the PlayStation project was in danger. The problem was none other than PlayStations knight and chief advocate: Kutaragi. He thought the now-iconic handlebar controller design was “too different” from the flat rectangles people were used to. To make matters worse, PlayStation was getting closer and closer to launching without any games… a console with no games? Good luck with the PlayStation now, Sony. They were in trouble. And Nintendo knew it.

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It's 1949. 22-year old Hiroshi Yamauchi is the heir apparent for his family's playing card company, Nintendo. From humble beginnings as a scrappy street stall founded in Kyoto's back alleys to the largest card company in Japan by the time Yamauchi takes over, this isn't a company that backs down easily when a little competition comes in. But it was a company that changed its entire business over a couple of... cartoon characters.

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Once a symbol of 80s teenage nerdom, video games are now as common as television sets in American households. Can you imagine a world where the Sony PlayStation didn’t come out? That’s what almost happened. Originally conceived as a joint venture between Nintendo and Sony, the SNES-CD was supposed to be the bridge between Japan’s two largest tech companies. Instead, it drove the companies to war, an intense competition for entertainment domination that still goes on today.

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For more than 50 years, a version of Boeing's 737 aircraft has sailed the skies, dominating the market for short-range, short-haul domestic planes. The 737 is the best-selling commercial aircraft of all time. But competition in the late 1980s got fierce when Airbus entered the market with its model A320. The corporate giants would duke it out for the biggest market share. We conclude our series on Boeing vs. Airbus with aviation safety expert Tom Anthony of the University of Southern California. He joins us to talk about the rivalry, how a major corporate culture shift changed Boeing and what exactly went wrong with the 737 Max.

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It’s 2011 and Airbus and Boeing are battling for the biggest deal in commercial aviation history. American Airlines is looking to buy 460 single-aisle airplanes and with the European jet giant going all out to win the contract, Boeing’s under pressure. But when the U.S. plane maker makes a daring strike to win over American, it sets off a chain of events that will plunge Boeing into the biggest crisis in its 100-year history.

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It’s the 2000s and after years of talk, Airbus is pushing ahead with its plan to build the biggest passenger jet in the world. But while Airbus is thinking bigger, Boeing’s thinking faster. It’s designing a near-supersonic aircraft called the Sonic Cruiser that it reckons will put some zip into its sales. But market forces, scandal and production challenges are about to put the plans of both companies well off course.

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It’s the late 1980s and following the A320 crash at the Habsheim Air Show in eastern France, the safety of Airbus’s computerized flight system is being called into question. But Boeing’s got troubles too. Airlines aren’t warming to its latest product proposal, it’s losing market share, and Airbus is plotting a strike against its iconic 747 jumbo jet. So with the pressure mounting, the American giant is preparing a series of a high-risk manoeuvres designed to outwit the European competition and defend its status as the king of commercial aircraft.

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It’s the late 1970s and Airbus is on cloud nine after securing a breakthrough deal with Eastern Airlines. But Boeing’s not taking the consortium’s intrusion into American airspace lightly. And it’s going to use every trick in the book to take down the European challenger. But with help from some powerful friends and a bold idea that’s going to transform flying, Airbus is about to increase the throttle on its journey to the heights of the aviation industry.

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