comparing and contrasting documentation

C O N S O L E W A R S : ‘ 9 0 S E D I T I O N

On September 9, 1995, gaming in the United States was forever altered by the introduction of the Sony PlayStation to the market, which had previously been dominated by Nintendo and Sega products. [1] Released between the other two primary fifth generation consoles—the Sega Saturn having been previously released in May of that year [2] and the Nintendo 64 being released a full year later [3]—it ultimately replaced Sega as the primary Nintendo competitor in the US (the subsequent Sega Dreamcast only being available for three years before the company stopped manufacturing consoles). [4]

During the 1990s, PCs were prohibitively expensive for gaming with a limited selection of game titles, so consoles were the product of choice for gamers of all age-groups and income brackets. [5]How would a parent select which console to get their child for the holidays in December 1996—Nintendo 64 or Sega Saturn, with their well-known brands, or the lesser known Sony? A few key criteria helped guide decision making, and ultimately lead to the final call.

TABLE 1. Comparison Chart of Fifth Generation Consoles [6]

Sony PlayStation Nintendo 64 Sega Saturn

Peripherals

Media CD-ROM Game Pak CD-ROM

Storage Memory Cards Controller Pak Internal

Controller DualShock Vibration Three-legged design Traditional form factor

Network Connectivity

PlayStation Link SharkWire (3rd party) Sega NetLink

Hardware

Memory 2 MB RAM 1 MB VRAM

8 MB RDRAM 16 Mbit RAM 12 Mbit VRAM

CPU 33.8688 MHz 93.75 MHz 2 x 28.6 MHz

Sound 16-bit 16-bit 32-bit Software

Major Exclusive Franchise

Final Fantasy Mario Dragon Force

Game Library 7,918 Games 388 Games 1,019 Games Other Considerations

Console Price $299 $199 $399

Cost-conscious parents would of course select the Nintendo 64—tried, proven technology, beloved by all, with well-known software franchises and clear and evident hardware superiority to the newcomer Sony in both Memory and CPU specifications. Many consumers, however, would be leery of the new Nintendo controller’s design, and its proprietary storage and media system. The Saturn had been out for longer, and the CD-ROM was emerging as a dominant media form; the convenience of being able to play CDs on the system, with sound capabilities exceeding those of

both the Sony and the Nintendo product, made the difference. Sega also had an established history of producing high-quality games, most of them for the arcade, and was a major household brand.

History, of course, shows that the PlayStation, with its innovative (yet familiar) controller design, network linking, and inferior hardware performance won the console war [6], leaving many parents dutifully making their decision on the above chart wonder how, and why. The conclusion cannot be summarized by metrics, or methods, but rather by marketing experts and the court of public opinion. Personally, I would have upgraded from a Nintendo Entertainment System, to the SNES, to the PlayStation, for the simple reason that I enjoyed the Final Fantasy franchise, and Final Fantasy VII had been announced for release on the PlayStation in January of 1997. [7] However, had I been advising a parent, I would have strongly recommended the Sega Saturn, with its superior sound, intuitive controller, and well-respected library of constantly developed games.

WORKS CITED

[1] Wikipedia, "PlayStation (console)," 01 August 2018. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Saturn. [Accessed 01 August 2018].

[2] Wikipedia, "Sega Saturn," 30 July 2018. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Saturn. [Accessed 01 August 2018].

[3] Wikipedia, "Nintendo 64," 27 July 2018. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_64. [Accessed 01 August 2018].

[4] K. Stuart, "Sega Saturn: how one decision destroyed PlayStation's greatest rival," 14 May 2015. [Online]. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/14/sega-saturn- how-one-decision-destroyed-playstations-greatest-rival. [Accessed 01 August 2018].

[5] T. Payton, "Game Consoles Vs. personal Computers: Design, Purpose, AND Marketability Differences," October 2012. [Online]. Available: https://www.cs.uaf.edu/2012/fall/cs441/students/tp_consoles.pdf. [Accessed 1 August 2018].

[6] Wikipedia, "Fifth generation of video game consoles," 10 July 2018. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_generation_of_video_game_consoles#Comparison[21]. [Accessed 1 August 2018].

[7] Wikipedia, "Final Fantasy," 1 August 2018. [Online]. Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VII. [Accessed 1 August 2018].