Nintendo

Nintendo entered the gaming world in 1985 after realizing, primarily because of the profits rival Atari was raking in, that video games have an enormous market.  Their first product, the Nintendo Entertainment System (also known as NES), which came with three games and a light gun, could be purchased for $249.  It became an instant hit.  At the end of the NES's successful run, over 20 million systems had been sold.  Surprisingly, the NES did not sell well in Europe, because many third party publishers did not want to write game code for the NES; they preferred to publish for the well-established Sega Master System.  In 1993, Nintendo released a physically smaller version of the NES at a lower price, hoping to gain market share.  In addition to the 20 million NES systems sold, Nintendo sold some 350 million NES game cartridges over the years.  The NES sales began to flounder after Sega's Genesis video game system was introduced and rapidly began stealing market share.  In response, Nintendo came up with a new system to compete against the Sega Genesis -- the Super Nintendo.

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The NES crushed the sales of the Atari 7200, since the Nintendo was physically puny compared to the humongous size of the Atari, and it was about as powerful as two Atari game systems put together.  The NES is an 8 bit system, as is the Atari 7200.  However, the Nintendo had more powerful graphics and superior sound.  The NES used plug-in game cartridges.  There are over 700 different games for the Nintendo.  The big hits were Super Mario 1, 2, and 3.  This was the first game system Nintendo produced.  It was released in August of 1985.

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Nintendo Entertainment System NES

Sega Genesis

Sega CEO Hayou Nakayama decides to release a new video game system as rival Nintendo had achieved 95% market share in the US and 92% in Japan.  The system name was to be Mega Drive, but that name was already trademarked by another company.  The name Sega finally settled on was Genesis, which means in the beginning.  Advertisements trumpeted the Genesis as being a true 16 bit system.  Sega announced that the starting price would be $200.  The Genesis was released on September 15, 1989.  The Genesis was quickly recognized for their superior graphics compared to the regular Nintendo.  By the mid-1990's, Sega had sold over 1 million consoles, and Sega began stealing large numbers of customers from Nintendo.  Just as Mario had become a recognizable symbol for Nintendo, Sega needed a product mascot to improve product recognition.  They began entertaining ideas for mascots.  Sega finally selected Sonic as their mascot, thinking it would bolster customer appeal as Mario had for Nintendo, only more so.  They were right!  Sales sky rocketed.  In 1992-1993, the Sega Genesis hit its golden age.  More great games continued to be produced, which lead to Sega garnering more customers and pulling ahead in market share, eclipsing Nintendo.  In 1994, Sega's business began a decline due to bad business decisions and mounting debt.  Sega had developed the 32X expansion add-on for the Genesis along with new games that took advantage of the improved capabilities, but they didn't sell well.  Also, Sega of America was having a hard time cooperating with Sega of Japan, which helped tarnish Sega's image.  The Genesis era ended when the Sega Saturn was released.

Short and Sweet Information

Four years after the Nintendo was released, Sega released the Sega Genesis console.  The Sega Genesis was stealing sales from Nintendo because it was much more powerful, moving data twice as fast as the Nintendo (16 bit versus 8 bit).  This was the first 16 bit game system on the market.  It had better graphics than the Nintendo and much faster performance.  The Sega Genesis used cartridges.  The processor is a 16-bit Motorola 68000.  The processing speed is 7.61 MHz, about as fast as an Intel 286 computer of that time period.  Some popular games are Sonic 1, 2, and 3; Sonic and Knuckles; and Sonic 3D Blast.

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Sega Genesis Console

Super Nintendo

At first, Nintendo executives did not plan to make any more new gaming systems, because they were not really worried about the newly released Sega system; the Genesis.  They quickly changed their mind when the Genesis started taking over the video game market in the USA, due to its superior technology and its large number of available sports and arcade games.  Masayuki Uemura was to design a new system to compete with the Sega Genesis.  The Super Nintendo (also known as SNES) was released in Japan on November 21, 1990.  Nine months later, on September 1, 1991, it was released in the United States.  The Super Nintendo could be purchased for only $200 at stores, exactly the same price as the Sega Genesis.  Super Nintendo sales caught up with the Genesis and allowed Nintendo to win back the market for video games, even though the Sega Genesis had been the market leader in the US.  In October 1997, the Super Nintendo was redesigned to be lighter in weight and a lot smaller than the original.  It was packaged with Yoshi's Island and sold for $100, or half the original price!  That's just about how much they are worth now used on eBay!  The Super Nintendo was taken off the market in 1999.

Short and Sweet Information

The Super Nintendo was first released in 1991.  It was a 16 bit system.  The sound was the best available on a game system at that time.  There are over 700 games for the Super Nintendo.  The graphics were amazing, since Nintendo stepped up the graphics several notches from the earlier video game systems, the Sega Genesis, the first Nintendo, and the Atari.  The Super Nintendo uses plug-in game cartridges.  The processor speed was very slow (at the time) 3.58 Mhz, less than half the processing speed of the Sega Genesis.  There were many very popular games for the Super Nintendo, including Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, Mario RPG, and Zelda A Link To The Past.

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Super Nintendo Console

Sega Saturn

The Sega Saturn was designed to be the ultimate 2D system, but since Sony had just released their plans to enter the video game market, Sega decided to improve the hardware in the Saturn to make a more powerful system that could compete against anything Sony might release.  Hayao Nakayama of Sega decided to upgrade the Saturn to allow it to have greater processing power for 32-bit 3D games.  Sega had to quickly make these changes so that they could release their system before the Sony Playstation was planned for release.  The Sega Saturn was released in Japan on November 22, 1994.  The release was a spectacular success.  Over 250,000 consoles were ready to sell, and all of them sold within the first two days!  A week later the Sony Playstation was released, but Sega's established brand recognition and sales momentum allowed it to hold a sales lead over Sony for the next six months.  However, the rushed release was not without problems.  When the Saturn was released in the US on September 2, 1995, only one game was available for purchase -- Virtua Fighter.  Only two more games were released over the next 5 months.  Game developers had not been able to properly complete their games in time for the Saturn's early, unexpected release.  Developers were rushing their games to the stores.  This eventually left Sega with a bad reputation of selling games that were sloppily finished.  The lack of quality games for the Sega Saturn, made worse by production delays, contributed to Sega's eroding sales.  Partially due to the problems Sega had with marketing their system, Sony took over the market and never allowed the Sega Saturn to lead again.  Sega dropped the Saturn from the market in 1998. 

Short and Sweet Information

The Sega Saturn was released in 1994, drastically raising the bar for game systems.  Leaving the 16 bit world behind, it was the first popular 32 bit game system.  The Sega Saturn had great graphics, visibly better than the Super Nintendo, thanks to the 32 bit architecture and dual processors!  Yes, breaking new ground, the Sega Saturn was the first game system to have 2 processors, using two Hitachi SH2 32-bit RISC processors running at 28 Mhz.  It also broke convention by using CDs, rather than game cartridges, which allowed better sound quality and larger, more sophisticated games.  Available memory in the Sega Saturn was 2MB, also very impressive for 1994.  Some popular games for the system were Die Hard Arcade and D.  With such impressive technological specs, sales grew quickly, and Nintendo started to worry.  In order to be competitive, Nintendo began working on a new system (the Nintendo 64), which was released two years later.  Sony also announced it was planning on entering the market.

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Sega Saturn Console

Sony Playstation

The Playstation started life as an add-on for the Super Nintendo, but with disputes over licences, Nintendo dropped Sony from the project.  However, Ken Kutaragi, a Sony developer of the proposed SNES Playstation, did not want to give up on the project so easily.  Sony president Norio Ogha agreed and approved the beginning of Sony Computer Entertainment Division so that development work could continue.  The Playstation was originally going to play both Super Nintendo Games and Playstation games.  This never happened.  The Playstation was released on December 2, 1994 in Japan.  It was released in the US on September 9, 1995.  Sony had an important advantage over Sega -- it was easier to program, so game development was quicker.  Over 100,000 consoles were sold in the first few days.  Sony took the lead over the Saturn because Playstation games were released quickly and were of high quality.  The Sony made its last game in 2003, Tony Hawk 4.

Short and Sweet Information

Sony entered the home video game market with its 32 bit Playstation released in 1995.  The graphics, I think, were even better than the Sega Saturn.  The Playstation followed Sega's lead and used CDs instead of game cartridges and used a 32 bit R3000A RISC processor running at 33.9 Mhz with 2 MB of embedded memory.  Some popular games are Tomb Raider 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Twisted Metal 2; and Army Men 3D.  The first Playstation model was a PSX (pictured below), which had lots of internal plastic parts.  Sony later remodeled the system with metal parts so it wouldn't wear out as fast.  This improved model is called the PS1.

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Playsation One Console

Nintendo 64

The Nintendo 64 was released in Japan on June 23, 1996.  Three months later, the Nintendo 64 was released in the US on September 26, 1996, selling for $200.  The Nintendo 64 uses cartridges instead of CDs, because cartridges load information at faster speeds than CD's.  The advantage of CDs is their greater storage capacity, which allows better sound quality than cartridges.  The Nintendo 64 uses video circuitry from Silicon Graphics, a company specializing in high performance video, which gave them advantages over their main competitor, the Sony Playstation.  The controllers for the Nintendo 64 (also know as N64) were a great design, because if you wanted your controller to rumble and shake (tactile feedback), it would without you having to buy a whole new controller, which is what you would have to do to get the same effect from the Playstation.  The Nintendo 64 was not as successful as the Playstation, but Nintendo sold over 30 million N64s worldwide, which is not too shabby!

Short and Sweet Information

Nintendo never created a 32 bit system, opting instead to jump into the technological lead with the first 64 bit game system, the Nintendo 64, released in the US on September 26, 1996.  The graphics were somewhat better than the Sega Saturn and Playstation, thanks to the 64 bit architecture and advanced video circuitry from Silicon Graphics.  The processor is a MIPS 64-Bit RISC chip running at 93 Mhz.  The Nintendo 64, also sometimes called the Ultra 64, has 4MB of memory.  Interestingly, it uses game cartridges at a time when most game systems had moved to CDs.  With their limited storage space, game cartridges generally do not give the same "CD-quality" sound as the CD systems.

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Nintendo 64 Console

Sega Dreamcast

The Sega Dreamcast was initially rumored to be a 64-bit upgrade for the Sega Saturn, but this never happened.  Sega was actually planning a completely new system that would be better than their competitors' systems, the N64 and the Playstation.  By June 1997, Sega had two different designs for their new console.  One was code named Black Belt, and the other was named Dural.  Black Belt had an IBM/Motorola PowerPc 603e CPU with powerful 3Dfx Voodoo2 graphics.  Dural had an Hitachi SH-4 CPU with NEC/Videologic PowerVR2 graphics chipset.  Sega of America favored the Black Belt design, whereas Sega of Japan preferred the Dural design.  They finally decided to choose the Dural, but Sega upgraded the Video RAM to 16MB instead of 8MB, which allowed even better graphics.  The Sega Dreamcast is the first gaming system to be able to connect to the internet, because it had an internal modem.  It was also the first 128-bit gaming console.  The Dreamcast was ready to release on September 7, 1998, but there were numerous delays.  Final touches were made to the system and the first games scheduled for release, so that Sega would not duplicate the errors of the Sega Saturn release.  The system was finally released on November 25, 1998 in Japan.  All 150,000 available consoles were sold in a day.  By July 16, 1999, Sega gained a large portion of the market, outselling the N64 to a ratio of 3 to 1.  The Dreamcast was released in the US on September 9, 1999 and sold for $200.  After one year, one million consoles had been sold in the US.  Dreamcast sales went downhill after Sony released their Playstation 2, because the Playstation 2 had better specifications and had a built-in DVD player instead of a CD player.  Sega decided to drop out of the highly competitive game console business when other competitors announced plans for new, technically advanced systems.  The Dreamcast was dropped from the market in 2001.

Short and Sweet Information

Sega was worried by the success of Nintendo's 64 bit system, so they copied Nintendo's strategy, by-passing the 64 bit level of graphics and leap-frogging up to the next level, 128 bit graphics.  On September 9, 1999, Sega released the first gaming system with 128 bit graphics, the Sega Dreamcast.  The graphics are stunning, for the 128 bit architecture allowed graphics that make characters look more like real people and less like cartoons.  The Sega Dreamcast has a 128-Bit Hitachi processor running at a whopping 200 Mhz.  The video game market was now very competitive and crowded.  Both Sony and Nintendo were to respond to the Sega challenge with 128 bit systems later.  The cost of remaining competitive was too high, and after about a year, Sega left the game console business, opting to concentrate on creating and selling games only.

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Sega Dreamcast Console

Sony Playstation 2

The Playstation 2 (A.K.A.  PS2) was released in September 1999 in Japan.  It was released one year later in the US on October 26, 2000.  The Playstation 2 is a power house machine, incredibly handling millions of polygons per second, optimizing the graphics to allow more human characteristics and life-like occurrences like weather.  The PS2 couldn't optimize these graphics without its Emotion Engine, because this CPU is responsible for the ability to simulate weather, human behavior, human emotions, and human speech.  This makes the game react to players actions in a more realistic way.  The PS2 can play CDs and DVDs.  Playstation 2 games are written on DVDs, because DVDs can store up to 3.2 GB or 6.4 GB if dual layered.  With this greater storage capacity, games are larger and last longer.  The PS2 can play both PS2 games and PS1 games.  It also can use the same accessories such as a PS1 controller.  The PS2s also have USB ports.  A Playstation 2 console cost $150 in stores.  Even today (in 2004), the PS2 is very successful.

Short and Sweet Information

The Playstation 2 was the second 128 bit system, arriving on October 26, 2000.  Sega dropped out of the game console business, leaving Sony and Nintendo as the main competitors.  The graphics on the PS2 (short for Playstation 2) were significantly better than the Sega DreamCast's graphics.  The PS2 has a 128-Bit Emotion Engine running at 294 Mhz, about 50% faster than the Dreamcast's 200 Mhz speed.  The Playstation 2 introduced the use of a new media to the video gaming world, as it could play CDs and DVDs.  Once again, in the sports games, the powerful graphics allow characters to really look like people instead of cartoons.

Quick Specs

Playsation 2 Console

Nintendo GameCube

The Nintendo GameCube was released in Japan on September 14, 2001.  It was released in the US on November 5, 2001.  The Nintendo GameCube is more powerful than the Playstation 2, with impressive specifications.  Nintendo focuses on gameplay, which means they make games that entertain and are appealing to the average person.  Nintendo promises that players will get more involved in Nintendo GameCube games, due to their impressive, realistic graphics.  The Nintendo GameCube has four controller ports.  The Nintendo GameCube console costs $100 at stores.  Nintendo's main competitors are Sony and Microsoft.

Short and Sweet Information

After Sony made an 128-Bit system, Nintendo made one as well, the Nintendo GameCUBE.  Released in the US on November 5, 2001, the Nintendo GAMECUBE had far superior graphics to any other existing system at the time.  The processor is a Gekko running at a blistering 485 Mhz and with 40MB of memory at its disposal.  With hardware specs like that, this system can really pack some gaming action.  Some of the great games are Luigi's Mansion and Mario Sunshine.  The Nintendo GAMECUBE was the first Nintendo System to finally use CDs.

Quick Specs

Nintendo GameCube Console

Microsoft Xbox

Microsoft enters the video game market for the first time in 2001.  The Xbox was the first system to be released in the United States before being released in Japan.  The Xbox was released on November 15, 2001 in the US.  It was released three months later in Japan on February 22, 2002.  The Xbox is derived more from personal computer technology, with an Intel Pentium III CPU running at 733Mhz.  The Xbox's closest competitor to its CPU clock speed is the Nintendo GameCube running at 485 Mhz.  Like a computer, the Xbox has an internal 8GB hard drive used to save games instead of using memory cards.  Still, memory cards are available for the Xbox.  The current price for an Xbox is $149 at stores.

Short and Sweet Information

Smelling a mature market (i.e.  money), Microsoft plunges into the home video game business with its first offering, the XBOX.  The XBOX is a 32 bit system running at an amazing 733Mhz with built-in DVD player.  The XBOX is equivalent to an Intel Pentium III computer.  The incredible graphics are better than all the other prior game systems, thanks to a dedicated NVIDIA graphic system.  The XBOX can use CDs and DVDs.  Some of the great games are Halo and Amped.

Quick Specs

Xbox Console

Microsoft Xbox 360

With the success of the original Xbox, Microsoft released the Xbox 360 on November 22, 2005 in the US.  The Xbox 360 surpassed consumer expectations because of superior graphics, hard drive support, and three processors working to create incredibly realistic graphics and surround sound.  By using the Xbox 360 to gain a larger share of the video game market, Microsoft hopes to impress gamers far more than Sony's next system, the PlayStation 3.  Selling for $299.99 or $399.99, the Xbox 360 easily surpasses previous video game systems and is worth the money.  The $299 Xbox 360 package (A.K.A. Core System) consists of the system itself and one wired controller; however, the $399 package (A.K.A. Premium Pack) includes the console itself, a 20GB hard drive, a wireless controller, headset, remote, and an Ethernet connectivity cable.  Numerous stores sold out of the Xbox 360 systems in less than 2 days after the release date, and most stores were even sold out of the Xbox 360s a month later.  In fact, people wanted these systems so badly that they ended up bidding about $700 on eBay to get one.  Stores didn't have enough Xbox 360 consoles because Microsoft set limits on the number of consoles sold during the first few months of release.

Short and Sweet Information

The Xbox 360 broke new ground in the video game market with its powerful graphics and features.  The Xbox 360 optionally included a built-in hard drive, ethernet and usb ports, a built-in DVD player, and many more ground-breaking features.  The early release of the console, before the Sony Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii, should help Microsoft gain more market share.  The Xbox 360 is a powerful system, but it can take a bite out of your wallet.

Quick Specs

Xbox 360 Console

Nintendo Wii

The Wii, released in the US on November 19, 2006, is the first console to use and implement sophisticated motion interaction technology to improve game play.  It offers a breakthrough in video games, as it allows players to be more active while gaming.  In order to implement such innovative technology, Nintendo spent tremendous amounts of money researching controller designs for their next console immediately after the release of the GameCube.  They began their research early because Nintendo realized they would not be able to compete hardware wise against Microsoft or Sony.  After completing extensive research, Nintendo produced a controller similar to a T.V. remote, dubbed the Wii Remote.  This controller is held with one hand and uses motion sensor technology to control movement aspects in each game.  Every Wii sold in the United States comes prepackaged with Wii Sports, a sports game featuring Baseball, Bowling, Boxing, Tennis, and Golf.  Unlike sports games for other consoles, Wii Sports actually gives the player a workout.  Instead of just pressing the "A" button to swing at a pitched ball flying towards a character at 90 miles per hour, a player must actually swing the controller and time the swing correctly in order to hit the ball.  Not only does Nintendo's controller break traditions, but Nintendo has also raised the bar on its system.  The Wii is about three stacked DVD cases in size, which makes it one of the smallest consoles to date besides Sony's PS1.  Able to connect to the Internet using a built in 802.11g adapter, Nintendo offers downloadable NES, SNES, N64, and some Sega Genesis games for a fee of about $10 per game, and features built-in emulators to play each downloaded game.  To me, $10 for an old game, is not worth the price, especially when you can download these old games off the net and play them on your PC using an emulator for free.  Nintendo's Wii is also backwards compatible with GameCube games.  Tired of buying memory cards?  With the Wii, you won't have to buy a memory card ever again, as games are saved on the Wii's built in memory.  The Wii already comes packed with a whopping 512 MB of RAM dedicated to your saves and features an SD memory card slot bay incase you need more storage.  With 2 USB ports, four GameCube controller ports, and two GameCube memory card ports, the Nintendo Wii is a must-have for all gamers.

Short and Sweet Information

Nintendo's next system, the Wii, has revolutionized the gaming market.  Nintendo's new controller allows far more interaction in video games then ever before, and its size is impressively small.  Able to connect to the internet and download games, it's well worth its price of $250, especially since the PS3 easily costs about $400!

Quick Specs

Nintendo Wii Console

Sony Playstation 3

After controlling much of the gaming market with Sony's PS2 for numerous years, Sony finally released their next system, the Playstation 3 in order to compete with Microsoft's Next Generation console, the 360.  Because of its "Cell" processor, Sony claims that its PS3 has the processing power of a super computer, and we tend to agree based on its 7-CORE CPU specification.  The PS3 not only has the most advanced processor of all systems released, but its graphics have raised the bar, making games even more realistic, thanks to Nvidia graphics.  The Playstation 3 has a built in Blu-ray Disc reader.  Each BD-ROM is capable of storing 54GB of data, meaning that games can be stored with higher quality and more features.  Packed with Bluetooth wireless connectivity for wireless play, up to seven players may play multi-player, breaking Sony's original two player multi-player tradition.  The PS3 also features six USB 2.0 ports and an SD memory card bay, eliminating the need for an official memory card.  Though its features are quite impressive, its original price tag of about $600 scared away its immediate success.  Today, the PS3 currently only costs $400, which is a steal for such a powerful system.

Short and Sweet Information

Sony's next system, the PS3, is packed with some impressive features.  Its improved graphics brings realistic gaming to the next level.  Besides its advanced video, Sony claims its PS3 processor to be as powerful as a super computer.  Built into the system is a Blu-Ray Disc reader; games stored in this format can hold up to 54GB of data.  With an original price tag of $600, the PS3 is the most expensive game system released to date.

Quick Specs

Playsation 3 Console

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Back to pick a console page. Copyright © Eric Arnol-Martin 2008. Updated:  2/16/2008