Sega’s Saturn, the Nintendo 64, & Sony’s PlayStation competed in the ‘Platform Wars of the mid-90s

Take a look back into The Dallas Morning News Archives. In the ’90s, video games ruled the entertainment scene.

[gangsta_red]

PS1 hands down. Saturn was a bust out the gate, N64 only had a few games of worth but was held back extensively from not having a CD drive.

[naruga]

PS 1 destroyed competition .....with the very weak and too little Saturn and the only-hype-no-substance N64 there was no competition for the immense quality PS1 was offering with its games ....the fact that still there is people that are blind and support that idiotic machine the N64 ,it surpasses me ...bad graphics , bad games , bad price and just the name Nintnedo was enough to fanatize people that time and now...2 games all and all (Mario and Zelda that were not that good after all just a solid made 3D platformer and decent action 3D rpg ) still are mentioned by critics and reviewers as legendary and unsurpassed artifacts ....i Say BS ...Crash B stomped Mario with ease and Zelda was a baby game in comparison to PS1 s Jrpgs

Also from technical point PS1 was superior to both of them....with its graphics not be possible to be replicated /ported perfectly to neither of them ...even Dreamcast had problems replicating PS1 grphics ...but still the myth goes that N64 garbage was more powerful

[darthv72]

Saturn wasn't weak despite what some may think. It faced a similar situation as the PS3... difficult to program for. It certainly didn't help things that Sega of JP and Sega of America couldn't see eye to eye when it came to doing right by the Saturn. which is why it tanked in the west but had a much more lucrative role in the east. Even beating out the likes of Nintendo in it's day.

To be fair, both Nintendo and Sega were in their 3rd console release while Sony was just starting out. People were clamoring for change and Sony was there to offer it. This is where the notion of a 3rd console curse came about. And looking at other platform holders past and present you kind of get the notion that there may be something to that. Atari felt a sharp decline with it's 3rd console (7800) just like Sony and the PS3 and even now with MS and the XBO. All of which were systems that were better than their predecessors (from a technical standpoint) but failed to surpass the popularity of their 2nd or even 1st system.

Companies who can manage to make it through their 3rd and release a 4th find that to either make or break their interest in continuing on to a 5th or more. Atari made it to a 4th and then dropped out. Sega made it to their 4th but then dropped out as well. Sony is on their 4th now and will be moving on to a 5th. Nintendo made it through their 4th and 5th and 6th and are on their 7th. MS is on their 3rd right now with a 4th coming next year. Who knows where they end up.

[_SilverHawk_]

The only time a playstation console had competition was with the ps3 because it was very expensive. Sony playstation dominates and wins every gaming generation and I believe itll be the same with the ps5.

[JEECE]

Yeah. There's a lot of revisionist history about this generation and how the N64 was huge and everyone had one as a kid. In reality, its sales dropped off significantly from NES and SNES.

[KeenBean345]

N64 games to me have aged really poorly as well. Playing something like Perfect Dark nowadays is more of a chore than a groundbreaking shooter. Meanwhile whilst none of them have aged incredibly well, I can still go back and play an RPG or something like destruction derby on the PS1 and have a good time

[darthv72]

Held back in terms of capacity but not performance. N64 has no moving parts like saturn and ps1 so load times are pretty non-existent. The expandable memory made for some great improvements to certain games. It was sad that Sega didnt do the same for saturn in terms of having its ram cart released ww along with the plethora of arcade games that took advantage of it.

[PhoenixUp]

I had an N64 growing up and I really loved it a lot. I only got into PlayStation when my dad bought me a PS2 and I found out you could play PS1 games on it.

[Italiano1234567]

It wasn't a competition it was complete domination by the ps1

[septemberindecember]

N64 really innovated this generation both hardware wise and software wise, but PS1 was just too popular. I still enjoy the N64 for what it offered (Ocarina of Time and Mario 64 are still some of my favorites), but the PS1 had much more varied games. Always wondered what would have happened if N64 would have used disks instead.

Poor Saturn though. Had some gems but, ultimately, left in the dust behind both of the other two. Can't wait for that Panzer Dragoon Remake.

[PlayableGamez-]

I gamed on N64 but I wished I had a PS1.

[meganick]

PS1 and N64 was the winning combination that gen.

[Scar-]

I was a hardcore Sega fan at this time I still remember trying to find a Saturn and the store clerk laughing at me over the phone telling me just get a playstation, I got so pissed I just hung up and decided to sit the gen out(spent the saturn money on sega games and toys) . One year later my dad took me and brother to Kmart and just randomly bought us a Playstation it was the most amazing moment of my childhood we got Twisted Metal 2 and Cool Boarders I will never forget that day love you dad.

[KickSpinFilter]

I could not stand PS1 games like Twisted Metal and Metal Gear were a complete turn off from that console for me, I only got into PS when Dreamcast support ended, and I got a PS2, but did not get to play it much due to chasing women, concerts, and liquor during College. Shadow of the Colossus, GOW, GTA were about all I played on PS2. But PS3 and to more of an extent PS4 changed all that, such amazing games! Have purchased Astro Headset,steering wheel, Scuf Controller, PSVR and I've never done that before. It's just been nuts this gen. Good time to be a gamer.

[trouble_bubble]

I’d buy a new Sega console if they took back all their Sega exclusives.