What was it like experiencing the Atari "console wars" during its peak years?

[killamch89]

I wasn’t around for the 80s console wars, but I’ve heard stories about the Atari rivalry with other systems like the Intellivision and the early days of Nintendo. For those who were there, how intense was it? Did it feel like today’s console rivalries, or was it something else entirely? How did marketing, game libraries, and brand loyalty play into it?