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[StreetsofBeige]

PS1 success:

- Cheaper system
- Way better 3D. PS1 had smooth 3D, transparency effects, gouroud shading (however you spell it). Saturn 3D and effects were laughable
- For gamers who loved FMV clips, PS1 also better. JPEG vs MPEG I think. Saturn was all staticky. PS1 smooth shaded
- Better storage system (mem cards)
- Sega first party sports games (which many were awesome on Genesis) were all pure trash on Saturn. Something happened. Either they couldnt handle programming for Saturn or these studio crew left
- Amazingly, Sony's first party sports games were better than Sega's
- Less reliant on arcade ports like Sega would rehash like Atari back in the day. At this time gamers were expecting more with CD storage
- PS had big time third party support like MGS, FF7, Namco games etc...

The only thing Saturn did better were if you were a big Sega/Capcom arcade port gamer, enjoyed some of their JRPGs that werent FF, and if you preferred a 6 button gamepad with a 3x2 layout than PS1 which was like SNES with diamond layout and shoulder buttons. IMO, Sega black consoles always looked better than Nintendo and Sony white/grey consoles too. So if aesthetics were that important, a black console blends in better with your AV equipment.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Psygnosis was very important, Sony bought the company in 1993, they are responsible for the PS1 development kit in C language. However some mistakes by Sega and Nintendo aren't actually mistakes, they are just the usual way they conducted their business, so Sony's strategy of charging a lower royalty was a very strong blow that changed the power dynamics between all the companies.

Not sure about that. Not being open to adapt and doubling down on what isn't working in the face of a new opponent who is clearly doing a lot of things right is a mistake. Yamauchi calling JRPG fans names when Squaresoft turned their back on Nintendo wasn't exactly a wise move.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

I can tell u early on it was literaly sony/namco on psx vs saturn's sega arcade games, ofc later sony kept making all the right moves, sega kept making all the wrong ones.
Here 3h long vid where ppl can see all namco psx games, fuck we dont get as many games from whole first party studios alltogether current gen both xbox/playstation combined.

Ridge Racer Type 4 was flipping gorgeous, arguably the best looking racer of the generation…

 

[hououinkyouma00]

Console I go back to the most. It has an endless well of weird and wonderful experimental games.

I'm the opposite. Unfortunately I find most 5th gen games hard to play outside of some racing titles like Type 4 and GT2. It's a console I want to go back to the most but just don't.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

IMO, Sega black consoles always looked better than Nintendo and Sony white/grey consoles too. So if aesthetics were that important, a black console blends in better with your AV equipment.

You sure?

Saturn and N64's aesthetic went well with the curved CRT sets from the early to mid 90s, but PlayStation perfectly complimented the high end WEGA sets from the second half of the decade

PlayStation just looked far more modern than its rivals.

 

[Geometric-Crusher]

You forgot to mention the benefits of compact discs over cartridges when it came to space allocation and pricing.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy
PS1 $ 49,99
N64 $ 69,99

 

[Oberstein]

A console ahead of its time.
It made Nintendo look outdated back then.
Not to mention it had an incredible niche with a whole adolescent-adult demographic that grew up with this console.

 

[SamuraiEdge]

PlayStation 1 is easily the best console of all time for how much it influenced the gaming scene all the wya up to today. Without Playstation we wouldn't have a lot of the incredible series we love and enjoy today (Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Metal Gear, and so on).

Truly was ahead of its time and a remarkable piece of kit. So many great games and easy to pick, plug, and play for so many people across the globe.

You sure?

Saturn and N64's aesthetic went well with the curved CRT sets from the early to mid 90s, but PlayStation perfectly complimented the high end WEGA sets from the second half of the decade

PlayStation just looked far more modern than its rivals.

God I love these setups.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

A console ahead of its time.
It made Nintendo look outdated back then.
Not to mention it had an incredible niche with a whole adolescent-adult demographic that grew up with this console.

The amount of tightly packed geometry in that game was insane, not to mention the gorgeous shading on everything.

Naughty Gods were always Naughty Gods.

 

[Judge Magister]

The Memory Card save system for PS1 and PS2 is in many ways superior to the storage space based save system (PC style) that PlayStation's used since PS3.
The Memory Card save extras that Team Silent baked into the PS2 SH games is something that hasn't be done post-Memory card (post-PS2).

Memory Card is a good point. It's so simple. In other old systems is so frustrating if you don't have a certain accessory to backup saves and have to deal with batteries or internal memory.

 

[p_xavier]

PlayStation nailed it with maturity and not being child friendly. That's why it was such a success, gaming was mainstream after it.

And we need a new Toshinden. Best fighting game soundtracks (1+2) there ever was.

 

[Parazels]

Ridge Racer Type 4 was flipping gorgeous, arguably the best looking racer of the generation…

RR Type 4
&
Rapid Racer (hi res + 60 fps + physics)

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

This analysis misses that many 3rd party publishers had been raked over the coals by Nintend during the SNES generation. That a big reason why Nintendo stuck with cartridges was because it planned to charge publishers an arm and a leg for them.

yep, important to remember that nintendo used to be very very strict about the games on their consoles (you played by their rules), and basically everything was more expensive with them, from licensing to production cartridges.

plus sony got burned by nintendo with the snes cd.
so now devs burned by nintendo could bail to a burned console manufacturer, sony.
friends of my enemy...

plus, a medium that's significantly cheaper plus ~100x the storage doesnt hurt

 

[Parazels]

Sony simply better prepared everything. It was like Xbox 360 vs PS3.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

RR Type 4
&
Rapid Racer (hi res + 60 fps + physics)

Great example with Rapid Racer there

For some reason in 1997 PS1 racing games started to have some gorgeous lighting/shading

 

[Oberstein]

The amount of tightly packed geometry in that game was insane, not to mention the gorgeous shading on everything.

Naughty Gods were always Naughty Gods.

Not to mention, the game was genuinely fun—and even today, it's still a joy to replay.
No wonder this trilogy left a lasting mark on an entire generation.
Ah, the '90s!

And on a different note, the abundance of high-quality JRPGs during that era certainly played a significant role.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The amount of tightly packed geometry in that game was insane, not to mention the gorgeous shading on everything.

Naughty Gods were always Naughty Gods.

I already stopped playing platformers by then, but I remember playing a Crash demo on a sampler disc that came with my system. The graphics were awesome. 60 fps, really good shading, and I just googled it and it ran at a higher res mode than the standard mode most games used. No wonder it looked so good.