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[vagabondarts]

If only the released Virtua Fighter Remix, and waited a few months...nobody would of chose Toshiden.

true, but all the groundbreaking games I got to play later.... :3
Final Fantasy 7 really put the lid on the Saturn and Metal Gear Solid drove the nails.

...still ended up with a Saturn and a bunch of games a few years down the road anyway

Yes, this is the real reason why the PSX won that generation. They focused on the mature audience and it proved hugely successful. The previous generation focused so much on censoring games(censoring blood was the big thing back then). People were fed up with that and Sony recognized it and went full bore into catering to those people who can handle that the color of blood is really red.

This is not why. The quality of the games is why. Ridge Racer was arcade perfect. Saturn could not compete with the 3d capabilities, plus it was more expensive.

 

[twinturbo2]

Namco's arcade ports were what sold me on the PlayStation.

 

[GoofsterStud]

true, but all the groundbreaking games I got to play later.... :3
Final Fantasy 7 really put the lid on the Saturn and Metal Gear Solid drove the nails.

...still ended up with a Saturn and a bunch of games a few years down the road anyway

They both were great systems... I just had more fun on the Saturn.

It's sad that not many got to play my favorite games...and that makes me sad. :-(

 

[danwarb]

It was tough trying to buy a Saturn in the UK with the way the PS1 was pushed. Salespersons tasked with talking you out of it.

I thought this was going to be about how bad VF1 on Saturn was.

VF2 was greats.

 

[vagabondarts]

They both were great systems... I just had more fun on the Saturn.

It's sad that not many got to play my favorite games...and that makes me sad. :-(

Maybe WiiU can fix that (please!)

 

[TheOGB]

So basically Virtua Fighter killed Sega?

Sega sowing the seeds of their destruction since 1993.

That's amazing

Reason I bought one

Fuck yeah, X-Men Mutant Academy 2

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Maybe WiiU can fix that (please!)

Magic Knight Rayearth on VC?

 

[danwarb]

Yes, this is the real reason why the PSX won that generation. They focused on the mature audience and it proved hugely successful. The previous generation focused so much on censoring games(censoring blood was the big thing back then). People were fed up with that and Sony recognized it and went full bore into catering to those people who can handle that the color of blood is really red.

That was pretty much Sega with the Genesis/Megadrive and beyond.

 

[Poimandres]

true, but all the groundbreaking games I got to play later.... :3
Final Fantasy 7 really put the lid on the Saturn and Metal Gear Solid drove the nails.

...still ended up with a Saturn and a bunch of games a few years down the road anyway



This is not why. The quality of the games is why. Ridge Racer was arcade perfect. Saturn could not compete with the 3d capabilities, plus it was more expensive.

Ridge wasn't quite arcade perfect

But yes... those early demo units, side by side trying a Playstation and Saturn for the first time it was clear which one was getting my money.

But the marketing Sony did for the Playstation was remarkable at the time. Tying it in with things like the club scene and pushing the mature angle definitely opened the market up to entriely new groups of people. Back then, Sony were still considered "cool" which probably helped.

 

[vagabondarts]

Magic Knight Rayearth on VC?

I would like to play Daytona, Virtua Racing, Panzer Dragoon (all) and Sega Rally again. My Saturn and all my games were damaged in a flood

Ridge wasn't quite arcade perfect

But yes... those early demo units, side by side trying a Playstation and Saturn for the first time it was clear which one was getting my money.

But the marketing Sony did for the Playstation was remarkable at the time. Tying it in with things like the club scene and pushing the mature angle definitely opened the market up to entriely new groups of people. Back then, Sony were still considered "cool" which probably helped.

Ok, ok... but really close.

Yes, I remember those days well. Wipeout changed everything for me.

 

[Pimpbaa]

Yes, this is the real reason why the PSX won that generation. They focused on the mature audience and it proved hugely successful. The previous generation focused so much on censoring games(censoring blood was the big thing back then). People were fed up with that and Sony recognized it and went full bore into catering to those people who can handle that the color of blood is really red.

Even Nintendo eased off on the censorship before the PS1 came out (Mortal Kombat 2 for example). So no, that is not the reason.

 

[heyf00L]

That's cool. If the PS1 had just had Perspective Correct Texture Mapping and Texture Filtering, the N64 wouldn't have touched it graphically.

 

[DonMigs85]

I would like to play Daytona, Virtua Racing, Panzer Dragoon (all) and Sega Rally again. My Saturn and all my games were damaged in a flood



Ok, ok... but really close.

Yes, I remember those days well. Wipeout changed everything for me.

You're not remembering it right man. The arcade version was much sharper and ran at 60FPS, and didn't have weird polygon/texture seams and warping. The later hi-rez rerelease of Ridge Racer that came with R4 was much closer to arcade, but not quite perfect.

 

[xemumanic]

Namco's arcade ports were what sold me on the PlayStation.

Namco's involvement should not be overlooked. They're wholly just as responsible as Square was with FF7.

 

[Scum]

Oh, Sega!

 

[ascii42]

Wasn't the Saturn overhauled late into development to allow for more 3D power as a direct response to the Playstation?

Yeah, the Saturn was very good at 2D, because that was it's main focus.

 

[Zee-Row]

Namco's arcade ports were what sold me on the PlayStation.

Namco was in beast mode during the PS1 days , every game they released during that time was spectacular.

 

[vagabondarts]

You're not remembering it right man. The arcade version was much sharper and ran at 60FPS, and didn't have weird polygon/texture seams and warping. The later hi-rez rerelease of Ridge Racer that came with R4 was much closer to arcade, but not quite perfect.

Haha I guess not! Maybe it just seemed that way to me at the time considering what else was out there. Also, haven't played the arcade version since then, but played PSX Ridge Racer a lot more recently.

My point was that the strength of the games and the hardware drove the success of the Playstation not that it was being all edgy and extreme and mature.

I was heavily into pc gaming at the time, had a pretty nice setup (for the time) and a lot of the newest games. I never thought at the time that games could look so good. Felt like playing the future.

 

[jaypah]

Yes, this is the real reason why the PSX won that generation. They focused on the mature audience and it proved hugely successful. The previous generation focused so much on censoring games(censoring blood was the big thing back then). People were fed up with that and Sony recognized it and went full bore into catering to those people who can handle that the color of blood is really red.

Really? Even Nintendo had eased off of the censor train by then and SEGA was ruling champ of 'mature' gaming. You do realize that MK2 on SNES had full blood and fatalities, right? Censoring blood was never a big thing like that. Nintendo did it for a second and promptly changed their tune. Sony won that gen because of a lot of stuff that they did right and a few things that others did wrong.

Edit: oh, beaten. Beaten badly.

 

[ULTROS!]

Isn't it more of Virtua Fighter influenced Tekken and DOA, the former being the best selling fighting series of all time and one of the PS1 sellers?

 

[DidntKnowJack]

Man, in those early days it really was neck and neck between the Saturn and PS. People seem to think Sony just bowled over the competition in one fell swoop, but it really wasn't until FF VII came along that Sony started to really sell units. And then Metal Gear Solid. And then Gran Turismo. That's when they pulled ahead and never looked back.

 

[jaypah]

Isn't it more of Virtua Fighter influenced Tekken and DOA, the former being the best selling fighting series of all time and one of the PS1 sellers?

Sure, all sorts of dominoes fall after that. But without 3D capable hardware.....

 

[PixyJunket]

Namco was in beast mode during the PS1 days , every game they released during that time was spectacular.

Every game they released prior to the PS1 was spectacular as well.

God, how they've fallen. Perhaps the most of all of the Japanese giants?

 

[Takao]

Every game they released prior to the PS1 was spectacular as well.

God, how they've fallen. Perhaps the most of all of the Japanese giants?

Really? I think they've been serving aces for a while now. The problem is that they're not investing in new IPs, but rather a lot of (good quality) sequels, and anime tie-ins.

 

[RedSwirl]

Three words:

Third party support.

.

 

[DonMigs85]

If Nintendo went with CDs, things may have been very different indeed.

 

[Augemitbutter]

nice article. always love to read stuff like that.

So in 10 years we'll have a "How Shenmue 3 saved PS4" article!

fixed.

 

[PixyJunket]

Really? I think they've been serving aces for a while now. The problem is that they're not investing in new IPs, but rather a lot of (good quality) sequels, and anime tie-ins.

Namco's been in the toilet since the PS2 era.

Pretty much the only thing of note they've done for me is Pac-Man: CE, Galaga Legions and SOME of the Tales games.

I suspect Tekken is still a high-quality series, but I stopped playing fighting games after the PS1 Dreamcast days.

 

[PG2G]

I'm pretty sure Saturn was winning in Japan prior to the Square exclusivity announcement. It was all downhill from there

 

[MrCookiepants]

You could also throw mgs and resident evil 2 in there as well. All three were massive.

Don't forget Tomb Raider. Gran Turismo. Tekken. Crash Bandicoot.

 

[Poimandres]

If Nintendo went with CDs, things may have been very different indeed.

I don't know about that. They were pretty late to the party regardless of using cartridges, and weren't they also pretty stubborn when it came to third party titles?

I remember before the 64 launched Nintendo was talking about getting together a "dream team" of 10 developers to support their system. That's not exactly comprehensive!

Also, people are right about censorship not being a real problem by the time the PS1 came out, but for the public at large games were still considered a pastime for kids until Sony came along. It was a huge new market, just like Nintendo tapping into casual gamers with the Wii.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

I mean, if you were into games back then, you kind of already knew this, right? It was obvious 3D was the future with Sega & Namco especially pushing it in the arcade.

The only one that didnt get the memo...Was dumb-ass Sega...

 

[PG2G]

Sega have us proper versions of the Capcom fighters at least

 

[opticalmace]

Three words:

Final Fantasy VII.

Yeah. I bought my PS1 to play this game alone. The crapload of other amazing games I found afterward were just a bonus.

 

[vagabondarts]

Also, people are right about censorship not being a real problem by the time the PS1 came out, but for the public at large games were still considered a pastime for kids until Sony came along. It was a huge new market, just like Nintendo tapping into casual gamers with the Wii.

Back when every college dormroom played Gameday

 

[JJD]

Someone write down SEGA on that i'vemadeahugemistake.gif

 

[The Main Event]

I didn't believe in polygons back then. I believed in digitized graphics.

 

[not_so_special]

If Nintendo went with CDs, things may have been very different indeed.

Its not just the CD its the way sony went to the developers,publishers,etc etc for the time on a console system was very open and helpful

 

[Zee-Row]

I remember hearing during that time that Namco absolutely hated Nintendo and thats why they fully supported the PS1 , Hiroshi Yamauchi burning 3rd party bridges i suppose.

 

[G-Fex]

I'd argue some of the best games on PS1 are just 2D

 

[Phonomezer]

This is not why. The quality of the games is why. Ridge Racer was arcade perfect. Saturn could not compete with the 3d capabilities, plus it was more expensive.

I don't think this is it, either.

It all comes down to marketing as per. Sony was throwing big money into money-hatting and advertising.

 

[@MUWANdo]

I remember hearing during that time that Namco absolutely hated Nintendo and thats why they fully supported the PS1 , Hiroshi Yamauchi burning 3rd party bridges i suppose.

I remember the old Sega of America boss Bernie Stolar trash-talking Tekken and hyping up Soul Calibur at one of the pre-launch Dreamcast events, clearly oblivious to the fact that they were made by the same dudes.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

The day I saw RE2 in a magazine I knew the Saturn was over.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

I'd argue some of the best games on PS1 are just 2D

What's funny is that SCEA would start to deny more and more 2D releases in the US for the PS1 and PS2 as time went out.

 

[Zee-Row]

I remember the old Sega of America boss Bernie Stolar trash-talking Tekken and hyping up Soul Calibur at one of the pre-launch Dreamcast events, clearly oblivious to the fact that they were made by the same dudes.

Bernie Stolar was so incompetent and overrated. Its no coincidence that SCEA and Playstation blew up and got huge after he left Sony.

 

[LiveFromKyoto]

I'd argue some of the best games on PS1 are just 2D

Suikoden II. Best 2D rpg of all time.

 

[DonMigs85]

I remember hearing during that time that Namco absolutely hated Nintendo and thats why they fully supported the PS1 , Hiroshi Yamauchi burning 3rd party bridges i suppose.

True that. I think the first Namco game on N64 was Ridge Racer 64, and it was actually developed by NST.
Capcom also started late on the N64 with... Magical Tetris Challenge.

 

[Replicant]

I'll never understand how the Playstation won. I mean, Ice Cube was yelling at people to buy 32X and Saturn. Did they not listen?!

That got more to do with Sega's internal mess than anything else.

 

[BigDug13]

SEGA's successes probably also prompted Sony to get SEGA's biggest arcade competitor, NAMCO to make games for home consoles. They figured if they're building a console to push graphics similar to Virtua Fighter, they might as well get the company who makes franchises similar to SEGA to make games for their home console.

I know seeing that Ridge Racer in action was a beautiful sight back then when I got my PS1.

 

[@MUWANdo]

I'd argue some of the best games on PS1 are just 2D

That's another thing you can thank the Saturn for--from what I recall, Sony eased up on their "no 2D" policy because they didn't want Mega Man 8 to be a Saturn-exclusive title.