No, SOJ killed marketing and support, the 32X was supposed to keep the Genesis moving and was a fast selling add on until that happened. Projections of two million or three in less than 2 years was expected, and the current LTD backs this up which was high in such a short time.
It was made to respond to the Jaguar and was wrecking it. By 96 I see 2.5-3 million easily with support. The consumers clearly wanted it. It was in a few more months going to match or exceed the Sega CD which sold 1.5 million in 5 years, in UNDER two years.
3DO established it as a new standard, instrumental in causing 3D tech and CD drive prices to drop for consoles. CD-i drives was more costly than CD) and while 2 million may not have been relatively mainstream that got a lot of devs to prefer it jumping right to the PS1 (and to lesser extend Saturn) CD was always going to be the future.
The Jaguar made the mistake of launching a cart system without the proper funding. They had some hit games but couldn't mass produce the software and get them into stores due to cost. The stuff people complain about for N64 was already known and established nearly 3 years earlier.
Of course you have to consider what kind of CD Drive Nintendo would NEED.
N64 has features and capabilities that take advantage of the connection between the console and the cart (and also the Expansion pack in some cases), and of course there are often things in a ROM cart itself that help with these.
A standard CD drive would bring in more bottlenecks, impacting what the N64 could do and what hardware tricks it could use.
Unless you got those more complex 6x-12x drives that at minimum would likely cost Nintendo $90+ per unit in a bulk buyout to make it on time for a 1996 launch.
In this case you would be looking at potentially a $329 N64. When the competition was $199 or less during holiday sales.
But if you use a cheaper standard drive then you have additional bottlenecks making the system inefficient.
This same thing applies to those who wonder if the Jaguar should have launched with a CD. While like N64, Jaguar has architectural bottlenecks (more so) both it and the N64 were designed with the carts in mind to push certain capabilities and tricks that would help with game development and execution.
Both consoles would have to be redesigned for a CD drive to be effective or very costly if using a featured premium drive.
People keep looking at this as "slap a CD drive on an N64 or Jaguar" instead of thinking "how does the console architecture work with the carts?".
Very important difference.
I just don't know how true this narrative works in full hindsight, tbh. Internal projections are one thing but those don't always align with what trends the market actually ends up setting. NEC had internal projections for Turbographx-16 that led them to overmanufacture a ton of units that took them years to sell off, just as an example.
Even supposing a reality where 32X sold well, I think that'd of hurt Sega in the long run, because there would've always been the question of it were forward-thinking enough. It wouldn't have slowed down the PS1's release in the West, but it's theoretically possible Sega could've supported 32X (and a latter Neptune combining it, Genesis and Sega CD) with key third-parties better than they did, and have that managed by SoA and SoE. After all, the SNES still outsold PS1 in 1995 and even 1996 IIRC, so there was clearly a market in the West for 16-bit hardware for 1995 - 1997.
If that meant, essentially, holding off on Saturn for the West until later 1996 with a revision (something like a Saturn "Pro" basically), with some updated specs and more dev-friendly libraries, friendlier production costs, and make the revised unit the default for the Western market with proper launch and marketing...while by that point PS1 would probably be cementing itself as the lead platform, that type of release strategy for Saturn would've helped it perform much better in the West and keep continued momentum in Japan, especially if it's roughly on par with an N64 while that system still went with carts.
Basically a thoroughly supported 32X (and Neptune) wouldn't of done anything for Japan, who had Saturn, but I can see it having done a lot for Sega in the Western markets as a 2nd, legacy option to those not ready to jump to next-gen with PS1 at that time, and buy them time to design a Saturn "Pro" for late 1996 in Japan and the West, and use that Saturn Pro as the base model for Saturn in the West to position it as a strong 2nd to PS1 (meaning it'd basically be battling directly with the N64).
No. For one 3DO sold over 2 million, we have no idea how much those last few months in 96 sold but 3DO likely sold more in 1996 than any other year as you could get it $199 and lower with free games as the year went on. The Sega CD itself sold 2.24.Yeah it is true 3DO helped with adoption of 3D and CD tech in home consoles, though in the case of the latter I think that's giving 3DO a bit too much credit? Even tho they were add-ons, Sega/Mega CD effectively sold more than 3DO,
It was carts, and the low production is why man announced games were cancelled. The costs of producing carts isn't cheap.I think Jaguar's problem wasn't carts specifically but like you said, the lack of funding. That lack of funding also led to parts of the hardware (like certain registers) not being properly connected due to bugs, and Atari simply didn't have the capital to support a lot of quality 1P internal dev or secure a decent clip of 3P content. N64's issues were more due to Nintendo's arrogance and unwillingness to meet several big 3P publishers half-way, so they just refused to prioritize N64 and that led to the big software release gaps in-between 1P software.
Agreed. It's obvious, I think, that cart-based systems like N64 would still probably need carts in some way given other aspects of their design. N64 for example, IIRC had very low bandwidth on its RAM bus, or I might be thinking instead of RAM latency. So that's a design where they obviously had cartridges in mind to balance that sort of thing out, removing the cartridge from the design would fundamentally cripple the system.
While it wasn't particularly fully leveraged, I think systems like the Saturn had a very good solution of cart & CD support. Games like some of the SNK King of Fighters titles used ROM carts along with the CDs to accelerate performance on the platform. You got the best of both worlds, essentially, tho again it wasn't particularly well-supported outside of a few games from SNK and Capcom.
The issue is it was selling out and retailers were about to double orders because Sega didn't start out with high supply for obvious reasons, but SOJ stepped in as supply was increasing.
The 32X would basically have been an entry level Saturn while having access to all the Genesis games, the Genesis itself was dirt cheap in cost but sales were slowing as Sega were starting to hurt themselves and prepare for the Saturn.
It would have been a great bridge given how the US and Euro audience (to a lesser extent) had less interest in launch window Saturn titles than the games coming out on 32X.
As for for Saturn "Pro" that doesn't make any sense. There was nothing wrong with the 32X and Saturn as they were outside Sega's dumb costly panic adjustment and unappealing game library (in the west). Sega needed focus and 32X would have been a great bridge for consumers and developers fo the Saturn, instead of iffy relationships with third party and cutting the 32X early. Resulting in support being lopsided to PS1.
As for NEC, the big problem with them in the west is they were pushing the CD and TG16 at the same time, this meant consumers realising they had to pay two premiums only brought one of the two (the TG16) and not the addon. NEC pushing it as a standalone didn't help either. People who didn't want to pay two premiums but wanted CD games didn't by either, and so you have a bunch of TG16s produced thinking the CD addon would help drive sales and it didn't.
In Japan a decent number of people had TG16s already so the CD was a driver for existing and some new gamers. They also quickly put out a stand alone CD device.
(Also in japan PC Engine CD was doing well, butNEC gut themselves. I'm not entirely sure PCD sold 1 millon world wide unless you also include both versions of the DUO and that's still iffy)
No. For one 3DO sold over 2 million, we have no idea how much those last few months in 96 sold but 3DO likely sold more in 1996 than any other year as you could get it $199 and lower with free games as the year went on. The Sega CD itself sold 2.24.
But that's irrelevant as the games on the 3DO and how it used the CD tech were completely different from the Sega CD outside FMV ports. The type of games that would become standard on the PS1 and Saturn. It also impressed a heck of a lot of people early on and caused several prototypes for systems to switch to CD. You only have to impress to cause change, not necessarily sell a lot, which neither did. PS1 owes a good amount of its software in the early two years to the 3DO too, and to a lesser extend, so does the Saturn. It was pretty much a transfer. Sony and Sega's early libraries would have been worse off otherwise.
It was carts, and the low production is why man announced games were cancelled. The costs of producing carts isn't cheap.
There's a difference between Atari only being able to produce 50,000 units of a popular game like AVP, and 500k+ copies on cheap CDs at the same price. CD also gives less risk to third parties. The more complex and big the cart, the more costly it is to make.
Nintendos previous bad history with third parties at that point put them in a bad position to position carts and act as if developers would just walk up to them being greatful Nintendo have them anything. This is apparently what their mindset was.
A lot of the RAM issues could have been solved with built in sprite solutions which 3D systems didn't really do. Another element that may have been influenced from the 3DO.
The 3DO could do nice 2D but it wasn't a 2D machine, it had the specs for polygonal gaming, but ran 2D games at 30fps and gimped effects. But focusing on polygons primarily made overall costs cheaper, though 3DOs business model didn't pass those savings to the consumer until later.
PS1 and N64 however had a bit more horse power to run 2D in some cases at better frame rates, but still limited overall.
This is why SNK ports even ones outdated had issues running on that era of consoles, or cut animations and frames, or gimped sprite effects, despite them being powerful 3D machines.
2D wasn't focused on with internal hardware for several consoles. The Saturn originally was, although they made some changes fir 3D, they had the intention of the RAM cart from even the earlier days of Saturn preparation.
The Jaguar also was, but you'd have problems pushing more RAM with the architecture bottle necks.
Basically 3D was a sacrifice for 2D until say, the Xbox and in some ways the PS2. This is why a game like a Metal Slug 3 was a retail Xbox game, you could finally run these powerful 2D games arcade perfect on a console for the first time
Ps2 had motion controls before the WiiAdmittedly I'm a fan of Nintendo, but no sensible person can deny that they have always been at the forefront of hardware innovation in the gaming industry. Successful or not, they have popularized or innovated while others often build upon the foundations they lay.
What Sony does well is giving consumers and, in the PS1/4/5 eras, devlopers what they want. There is nothing wrong with that! It is a smart business plan that has served them very well. The CD-ROM was a widely used media for video games before the PS1 and Saturn game along, which they did at the same time, and quite some time after many other CD-ROM based consoles and PCs saw commercial release. The Playstation 1 succeeded in becoming the first globally successful console whose media was solely delivered in CD-ROM. This isn't innovative though. The PS1 hardware wasn't innovative, it was a simply the evolution that would be expected in any generational leap.
- The PS1 controller is a natural evolution of the SNES controller. Two more buttons
- The Dual-shock was Sony's take on the analog stick which Nintendo introduced.
- Camera buttons on the N64 evolved to become a camera analog stick.
- The rumblepack went on to be a staple of controllers.
- Nintendo popularized wireless controllers, which became the standard, the Wavebird was the first time major 1st party company offered Wireless controllers.
- Motion controls, popularized, by the Wii saw interpretation by Sony in the form of the Sixaxis and Move controllers and by Microsoft's Kinect.
- Touch controls of the popular DS families made their way to the WiiU, Switch, Vita, PS4, PS5.
- Playing mobile games on TVs, the Super Gameboy evolved to the Gamecube's gameboy player, PSTV, and now the Switch.
That's something I'd like to read. Do you remember some other details to help me searching for it?There was a user on Era, I forget his name but it started with a K and he had a Sonic avatar from Sonic CD, he did an excellent write-up on how 3D worked on systems like Saturn & PS1, the use of a direct-access framebuffer on Jaguar (first major commercial game console to do so, IIRC), the importance of 2D-specific sprite hardware still for that generation of consoles to do 2D really well (something the Saturn excelled at, at the expense of more complicated architecture design), etc.
He touched on a lot of these points in great detail, worth some good reads if you can find their posts (maybe they're archived?).
if you are interested check thisThat's something I'd like to read. Do you remember some other details to help me searching for it?
I think his name was Krejolic or something like that, but the thread(s) in question, I'd have to search through my bookmarks to find them. Can probably do that tomorrow. P polybius80 's Beyond3D link should also be pretty good reading on the topic though. And then there's Sega Retro's detailed info on pretty much all Sega console hardware, including comparisons with PCs and other consoles of respective generations.That's something I'd like to read. Do you remember some other details to help me searching for it?
Psx, its not even comparison imo, psx arrive 94 and in some way started 3d game era, n64 debut in 96 bring better graphics tough with some constraint due lack of cd
On the other hand, the original analog stick and trigger and the Nintendo were probably bigger influencers
I'm going with Nintendo, because of all the controller innovations Nintendo spearheaded. Sony, to be diplomatic about it, CO-OPTED analog sticks and rumble. If you're being historically accurate, then the ORIGINAL PS1 controller should be pictured.
The concept of vibration feedback for itself wasn't new by that time, you had arcades and things like that: But, from what I remember, it was Nintendo who started hyping this thing. Not talking about release dates or anything, just pre-release information, previews, etc. And they were loud about it as it seems they invested on it to be the next big thing. Here is the oldest rumble pack mention I manage to recover (Spaceworld 96):Also, I've said it before, but:
Sony released their DualShock controller with rumble BEFORE N64 released their Rumble Pak. The DualShock controller also had better rumble support because it was built in, and it was more finely tuned so the rumble was more natural than N64's Rumble Pak. Pretty much the only thing the N64 had that was truly innovative was the Z-trigger.
sega changed saturn spec to be more 3d capable last minutes when they figured out what playstation is, can't call 3do mainstream when it sold 2 milions, and you can't even compare game base 3do even to saturn not to mention psxLoved my PS1, But 3DO and Saturn were doing 3D and CD gaming first.
It is the generation that play station decided to do dual analog sticks, so there is that.
On the other hand, the original analog stick and trigger and the Nintendo were probably bigger influencers
A quick google search is all it takes to let you know Starfox 64 launched in April of '97 and the original dualshock for PS1 launched in August of 97. As we all know, Starfox included the rumble pack. Sony never beat Nintendo to the punch at anything. Well, with exception of disc-based media.Nintendo co-opted analog sticks from the XE-1 AP, a controller designed by Dempa and released in 1989.
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So the N64 controller improved upon the XE-1 AP, and Sony's DualShock controller improved upon the N64 controller. Co-opting doesn't mean innovation dies, and Sony's innovation with the DualShock controller was more impressive (and long-lasting) than Nintendo's innovation with the N64 controller. Even the Switch Pro controller is modeled after the DualShock controller. The N64 used worse technology for their analog stick as well. Instead of using potentiometers like most analog controller makers, Nintendo decided to use some weird sensor wheel. The system also assumed that wherever the stick was positioned when it turned on was the center. That's a terrible design.
Also, I've said it before, but:
Sony released their DualShock controller with rumble BEFORE N64 released their Rumble Pak. The DualShock controller also had better rumble support because it was built in, and it was more finely tuned so the rumble was more natural than N64's Rumble Pak. Pretty much the only thing the N64 had that was truly innovative was the Z-trigger.
A quick google search is all it takes to let you know Starfox 64 launched in April of '97 and the original dualshock for PS1 launched in August of 97. As we all know, Starfox included the rumble pack. Sony never beat Nintendo to the punch at anything. Well, with exception of disc-based media.
That’s subjective. That Pak’s rumble was amazing, especially in Banjo-Kazooie when you destroyed a giant crate in Rusty Bucket Bay. Sony’s was more finely tuned, true, but there was something amazingly visceral in the N64’s rumble precisely because it wasn’t integrated.The DualShock controller also had better rumble support because it was built in, and it was more finely tuned so the rumble was more natural than N64's Rumble Pak.
A quick google search is all it takes to let you know Starfox 64 launched in April of '97 and the original dualshock for PS1 launched in August of 97. As we all know, Starfox included the rumble pack. Sony never beat Nintendo to the punch at anything. Well, with exception of disc-based media.
That’s subjective. That Pak’s rumble was amazing, especially in Banjo-Kazooie when you destroyed a giant crate in Rusty Bucket Bay. Sony’s was more finely tuned, true, but there was something amazingly visceral in the N64’s rumble precisely because it wasn’t integrated.
The concept of vibration feedback for itself wasn't new by that time, you had arcades and things like that: But, from what I remember, it was Nintendo who started hyping this thing. Not talking about release dates or anything, just pre-release information, previews, etc. And they were loud about it as it seems they invested on it to be the next big thing. Here is the oldest rumble pack mention I manage to recover (Spaceworld 96):
I remeber Nintendo being very slow during the early Ultra 64/N64 days, developing their first party games for much longer compared to most others. So i wouldn't be surprised if other developers decided to do something similar afterwards and still managed to release their version earlier.
Isn't that why Nintendo was holding the Wiimote as a secret and never released any information about it until almost the release of the Wii? I remember them saying they didn't want others to release something similar too early. And it seems they were right, Sony and Microsoft only managed to release their version of motion controls during that gen much later. Although it could be a coincidence.
Like I said, i have no proof, neither i can really know what's happening behind the scenes. And now I'm just wondering, why did Immersion sued Sony for the said tech and won?
For the record, it wasn't as easy of a search. But it does indeed appear as if Sony beat Nintendo to the punch by two entire days in Japan with a controller that included shock value. But that would seem to be merely window dressing since they didn't have any software to back it up yet, and the motors were only included in the Japanese controllers.A quick Google search is all it takes to let you know that Starfox 64 was released on April 27th, 1997, and the first PSX rumble controller was released in Japan on April 25th, 1997. It was still called the Dual Analog Stick until it had a worldwide release as the DualShock controller on November 20th, 1997.
The Nintendo 64 by a mile…. Sony Playstation and the word innovation are not friends at all, specially in that era. When is comes to games, that’s another topic.
The PlayStation Dual Analog didn’t have rumble.A quick Google search is all it takes to let you know that Starfox 64 was released on April 27th, 1997, and the first PSX rumble controller was released in Japan on April 25th, 1997. It was still called the Dual Analog Stick until it had a worldwide release as the DualShock controller on November 20th, 1997.
This whole idea of a "bridge" is the problem, if Sega had put all its focus on the Saturn it could have pulled in better numbers in the US and Europe (probably not beat the PSX, but at least it would have been there the whole time). Instead they had to split their focus and development resources between two "next-gen" machines released mere months apart. The 32 was a very unreliable piece of hardware as well, so a good number of the units sold were not working anymore before people even had the chance to buy games for the machine.The 32X would basically have been an entry level Saturn while having access to all the Genesis games, the Genesis itself was dirt cheap in cost but sales were slowing as Sega were starting to hurt themselves and prepare for the Saturn.
It would have been a great bridge given how the US and Euro audience (to a lesser extent) had less interest in launch window Saturn titles than the games coming out on 32X.
Aside from double quoting, I'm not sure I know where you're going with that.You mean NES. 2600 sprites animated fast, were clean, and didn't look blurry and pixelated.
Mario 64s controls are only good in an empty space, not while actually going through the mixed stage design, actually platforming.
The N64, Gamecube, and Wii U arguably only sold above 10 million units because of bias. All due mostly to the same states in the same country.
But NES controller is just a downgraded Vectrex controller with one less button and the analog stick replaced with a dpad.
See how that works?
Jaguars best selling games are literally 3 FPS games. AVP, Doom, Wolfenstein. (4 if you include Iron Soldier)
The 32X was working until SOJ killed it.
To bad N64 was the first, nor used analog and used a digital joystick.
That's a strong liquid you're drinking my man.
Uh, CD was quickly becoming the stardard in 1992 and pretty much was the standard in 93. You just had a few titles that were behind as floppy had a large audience and it took time for that to stop being profitable.
Myst alone sold more CD drives than the PS1 did it's first two years.
You mean NES. 2600 sprites animated fast, were clean, and didn't look blurry and pixelated.
Mario 64s controls are only good in an empty space, not while actually going through the mixed stage design, actually platforming.
The N64, Gamecube, and Wii U arguably only sold above 10 million units because of bias. All due mostly to the same states in the same country.
Also ps1 was the first console to properly introduce 3D gaming which was kind of the royal flush for innovation.
For the record, it wasn't as easy of a search. But it does indeed appear as if Sony beat Nintendo to the punch by two entire days in Japan with a controller that included shock value. But that would seem to be merely window dressing since they didn't have any software to back it up yet, and the motors were only included in the Japanese controllers.
The PlayStation Dual Analog didn’t have rumble.
Only the Japanese version features a vibration feedback function. The European and American versions of the controller do however include circuitry and mounts for a rumble motor, a possible leftover from the Japanese version of the controller, and therefore installing the motor is a simple process. Due to a lack of vibration-compatible games at the time, the European and American versions were not shipped with rumble feedback and, as a result, weigh significantly less than their overseas counterpart, and fall somewhere between the weights of the standard controller and the DualShock.
N64 invented some great things like rumble and analog sticks...
Disagree, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear Solid, Crash Team Racing, WipeOut, Parappa the Rapper, and the list could go on. if anything N64 games aged worse. it's only that you have nostalgia for them.Many N64 games, like SM64, OoT, Wave Race 64, F-Zero, and Star Fox 64 are still fun to load up and play. Even with their dated graphics, there's still something magical about Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time.
The same can't be said for many PlayStation games.
Did that Sony pad have any compatible games released in the two days before N64 rumble and starfox?Window dressing or no, Nintendo wasn't first. That was my entire point. Sony beat Nintendo to the punch with rumble support, their implementation was better, and their rumble implementation has been co-opted by countless other companies including Microsoft and Nintendo (with the Nintendo Switch Pro). So innovation-wise, Sony wins when it comes to rumble/vibration.
It did in Japan.
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Dual Analog Controller - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Not only did the controllers in Japan have rumble support out of the gates, but the non-Japanese versions can actually be opened up and have the motors installed since they included everything necessary for rumble other than the motors.
Nintendo 64 wasn't the first controller with an analog stick, nor did they invent the rumble. As I've said multiple times, Sony beat them to the punch with rumble, and Nintendo copied from Dempa's XE-1 AP controller which was the first controller with the analog stick (and it was released approximately 8 years prior to the Nintendo 64).