As we approach the release of the PS4 and the Xbox One, we prepare to truly enter next era of console gaming. But the history of console gaming goes back decades, 40 years of history. Wars, alliances, betrayals, and the rise and fall of many companies. Exeposé Games sets out on a journey of great historical importance, charting each generation of…The Console Wars.
In late 1993, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and the Atari Jaguar released to American markets. The consoles were very different. The 3DO had cutting-edge technology, such as built in CD-ROM drive.
The Jaguar meanwhile, was an attempt by the former juggernaut Atari to return to the market, by outperforming the SNES and Genesis.
Both consoles never sold too well, with the 3DO selling 2 million and the Jaguar selling only 250,000. The 3DO was just too expensive, costing $699, and had a small game library. The Jaguar, meanwhile, lost out because it couldn’t convince the third party developers to make games, so the game library was too small to appeal.
Though affordable at $249, the controller was one of the most complicated known. They had little impact on the success of later consoles in the generation.
In late 1994 in Japan, Sega released its latest console, the Saturn. The Saturn was built to be more powerful than the 3DO, with dual central processors and a CD-ROM drive. It was also still accompanied by the aggressive marketing that the Mega Drive had received. The Saturn launched to promising sales, even in Japan, at 170,000 in the first day. The console, was difficult to program in a way that would harness its maximum capabilities, because of a late redesign to add the second CPU, as a response to another console. The console in question was Sony’s PlayStation.
The PlayStation had a difficult birth. Originally meant as a CD-ROM add-on to the SNES, it was developed into a SNES-compatible, Sony-branded console, able to play both CDs and cartridges.
Nintendo realised before the 1991Consumer Electronics Show, that Sony effectively had control of any and all titles on the CD. So at their press conference at CES, Nintendo announced their ally to Philips; who gave it total control over its licences on Philips machines, and abandoned Sony.
Sony decided to continue develop their console as a complete stand-alone. Nintendo filed a lawsuit in response, with the matter not being resolved until the end of 1992. The PlayStation would still have a SNES port, but Nintendo continued to hold the rights. Sony then simply removed the port, ending any Nintendo involvement, and finished work for a 1994 release.
The console gained massive praise, being one of the most powerful consoles of the generation, and the sales matched that. Sega was in serious hot water.
Sega needed a good launch in the US to truly compete against the PlayStation. At the first E3 on 11th May 1995, Sega announced the Saturn’s US release would change from its September to the day of its Conference to get a few months on Sony’s September release. They emphasised the power and capabilities of the console for the price of $399.
Sony then killed their chances, not with a conference talk, but with a one-line response: ‘299’. The rest is history. Sega never got the sales it wanted for the Saturn, and the Jaguar and 3DO were effectively killed off. It was to be Atari’s last console, leaving the market entirely. Sony reigned supreme.
With the Sony juggernaut steaming ahead, in 1996 Nintendo finally entered the generation with the Nintendo 64. The console was the PlayStation’s main ‘opponent’ during the generation, and had a lot of differences. Namely, the difference existed in the media platform, the controller, and its cheaper price of $199. The N64 used cartridges instead of CDs, and the controller was unique: three trigger buttons, size right-side buttons, the d-pad on the conventional left, and a thumb-joystick in the middle.
The N64 and PlayStation quickly became the dominant consoles on the market. With the Saturn being discontinued in 1998, for two years, Sony and Microsoft battled in various smaller conflicts to prove their edge against the other in the console war. The key weapons employed were the competing media format and controllers.
The ‘media war’ was the battle between the cartridge and CD format. Nintendo had chosen the cartridge format due to suspicion over the CD format; due mainly to the longer load times, concern over video game piracy, and likely the smaller licencing price for the cheaper CD format.
The piracy issue was one backed by evidence, as the PlayStation had problems with it for its entire run. With the increase complexity of games, through the larger-storage and cheaper cost of CDs, third-party developers went to Sony instead of Nintendo. CDs became the dominant format.
The ‘controller war’ took a similar-yet-different route. The N64’s thumb joystick was the main point. The PlayStation didn’t have thumbsticks, so Nintendo got the advantage with 3D games, especially the rising first-person shooters like Goldeneye. As a result, Sony created the Dualshock controller: with the left side d-pad, right side action button, two trigger buttons on each side, start and select buttons and two thumbsticks, it created the format of the modern controller.
Sony won again.
By the end of the generation’s prime in 2000, Sony had won the fifth console war without a doubt. The PlayStation and the Dualshock controller became the basis for future. Its sales beat the N64’s by a wide margin, though it remained popular due to its first-party titles, and the Saturn was a very distant third.
The PlayStation also began something else: at over 100million sold in its run, the console took the industry mainstream. Sony’s reign had begun. The sixth console war would one of Sony’s consolidation, but also of a few extra surprises.
Check in tomorrow for the full history of The Sixth Console War…
Luke Pilchowski
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