I have to vote Say-ga all the way! I actually had both as a kid, still do, but The Sega Genesis had Streets of Rage, Sonic The Hedgehog, That Death of Superman game and many others I warmly remember. The NES was good, but nowhere near as special as the Genesis.

You're not even comparing same generation here....

And even so, I would probably pick NES in spite of that.

geeogree : I thought, "Didn't he mean SNES vs. Sega?" and then I saw your post.  I'm with you.

It's an interesting question because Super Nintendo would destroy Sega Genesis all over the place.  Sega has, at max, three good titles available whereas SNES has an entire catalog of awesome games.

I'm still taking Nintendo over Sega because NES offers a wide variety of good RPGs and Sega has what?  Soleil and Fatal Labyrinth? Or something like that?  I'd have to go google their games because I don't know even know them.

I also grew up with the NES, I blew into the cartridge for good luck, and we didn't have save states back in the day unless a battery pack came with the game.  I got to see Zelda unfold live and in person and I played Super Mario 3 with not a computer so nostalgia will win the day.

Also, my wife destroys me in Sonic.  We can't have that so I have to pretend like I don't like the game.

Nes is way better than Sega.....super mario bros, zelda, contra,metroid,kid icarus,TMNT, ninja gaiden, kirby etc etc.....no one can compare with Nes....Nes forever.

Ghostbear1111 : Huh, well NES didn't have many add-ons (if you consider the Blaster) but Sega Gens did. Like: the Sega Channel, Wireless Controllers, 32X, CD and may I add that Sega ported games like Golden Axe, althrough it is their game that THEY relased in arcades, they felt it was right to put it on the Sega Genesis, so people could not waste their QUARTERSSSSSS all the time.

This is kind of a tough one it all depends on perspective, and if your choosing quality or quantity. As far as iconic lasting franchises goes technically the NES wins over the Sega Genesis, But the NES failed to create unique games with a unique gameplay/experiences  think about it, Mario, Kirby, mega man are all kind of the same gameplay wise at the core, from how the power up goes and just how the over all feel of the games is(and not to mention all the sequels the games aren't that diverse) , Now the Sega Genesis on the other  hand gave gamers more unique games with different feels to each one especially when it came to how the game play was. But overall I give Sega Genesis the win for creativity and uniqueness, and the NES the win for lasting franchise building. 

I voted for the NES because... Nintendo?

Nah, i voted for NES because it was 'the beginning of the Nintendo games' or something. Plus it had Super Mario Bros, which is quite good i've heard.

End this 'war' already, i think NES will win anyway.

As we all see NES is already winning. But back to subject. My answer is short and simple : NES.
Like MLF64 said it started everything and by that I mean franchises like Mario , Zelda , Kid Icarus , Metroid , Kirby & Mega Man.
So , yeah my vote goes for NES.

I can't really vote without knowing what we're voting on. Are we talking about individual titles, franchises or the hardware itself?

This is kind of hard....since I grew up with like 2 of them. I did come to play Sega Gen first before nes. Funny thing. I came to this game console many years ago as a kid when I like had this operation for my ear. I went to this ward called dolphin ward beyond, and behold I saw a play room that made my eyes to glitter so much it had every dam console my eyes can lay upon even the rare ones. I saw nes and thought to give it a go mind you I've never played it before. Sega Gen was there but I wanted to play something different. So I figured out on my own .So go me. Of how to turn it on and off the tv as well. Hard times....gamers gotta learn new things eh? So anyways I went to the shelf to pick a game now this was how I came to play *The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Space Mutants* I played the game and I was immediately hyped up because of how the intro was so I gave it a go and it was the best thing ever sure I sucked at it at first, but I kept on playing until I got good at it. That was the ONLY nes I loved from that time, and I still remember till this day playing of. Sega Gen may have my other favourite games with. So I go with Sega simply because I played more games on it than nes. I love both of the consoles to bits though. Sorry for the off topic story there I just wanted to share it.  ^-^

MarioLucarioFan64 : I do too, but im still rooting for Genisis anyways.

m0ssb3rg935 : The games, and system itself.

Well, I'm obviously going to have a little bit of bias for the Genesis because it was my first console and I haven't had a lot of experience with the NES as a console. I actually haven't even put a lot of time into NES emulation, so I'm sure I'm missing out on both classics and hidden gems. The same could go for the Genesis as I'm sure there are a lot of great titles for it that I'm unaware of. I've always preferred the sounds that the Genesis produce to those of Nintendo's consoles and the NES itself has design flaws, such as pressing the cartridge down into the housing after insertion. After a while, especially if you have a habit of leaving games in consoles, the pins wear out and you have to buy a refurbished replacement on the Internet and either have someone install it or install it yourself. This, of course, doesn't apply to the top loaders. I will say that I don't care much for the Genesis controller ports because it feels like you might break something when trying to jam the pins into the plug and I don't really care for the mushy buttons on the Genesis controller, either. The NES controller is better about both of these, but they don't fill out the hand near as well and I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they liked the pointy corners. Overall, I think the Genesis is the superior platform, but the NES seems to have a far more diverse library. It would be a lot more fair if they were compared to rival systems of their own generation, though. For example, Genesis VS Super Nintendo, NES VS Master System, etc.

Also, I didn't mean for my reply to be so long winded. : /

NES vs. Genesis. That is not a fair fight. Let me explain. NES is an 8 bit system and the Genesis is a 16 bit system. That is like me walking into a room of little people (I do not know the PC term for it,nor do I care to know. This is just an example people.) and whupping them left and right. Now if it was the SNES vs. Genesis,now you have a fair fight.

SNES-It had a wider range of games,the system itself was sturdy,and more people actually had the system. This was a system that had a bit of something for everyone.

Genesis-It came out first in the 16 bit era and had good games for it,the system was sturdy,the cases were also a nice touch. This was a system more geared to sports and fighting game fans.

I would pick NES/SNES over Genesis.

I voted for Sega genesis

Nintendo used to be good, but looking back... I can't say that I honestly feel like they ever had the best console on the market.

Imo:
SMS > NES
Genesis > SNES
PSX > N64
PS2 > GameCube
PS3 >>>>>>>> Wii (lol) Also Xbox 360 > Wii and I hate Xbox so...
PS4 > Wii U

Now I loved Nintendo, I did. Still, I find that they were the lesser of the consoles each generation as far as my gaming tastes went.

So Genesis vs. NES? Well if SMS beat NES, then Genesis crushes it to dust.

I just have a couple things to say here...

NES ALL...THE...WAY! No contest!

That is all!