The and Video Game Console page

This is a new page, and is under construction. with luck, some interesting things will be on their way soon

Fairchild Channel F, RCA Studio II - I never knew squat about these until recently, but they were the first "Programmable" (Cartridge-based) game machines, although that didn't neccesarily mean a lot. Games like Tic-Tac-Toe and Pong-ish sports games were about the only things available for them, so they didn't amount to much.

*Atari 2600 VCS* - The machine that single-handedly started the video game boom of the late seventies - early eighties, and had an inadvertent hand in the game bust of '84. It has a singular distinction of being the dominant game platform for the whole period of the boom, even over higher spec machines like the Colecovision and Atari's own 5200, which I'm sure was intended to replace the 2600.
The 2600 started out as the VCS, And became popular partially because Atari built up a good library of games quickly. Atari has a big advantage because it also created arcade video games, and instantly had access to arcade hits such as Breakout, Space War, and Asteroids. Atari also aggressively liscensed many other Arcade hits, like the amazing Space Invaders, Berzerk, and Defender. Arcade conversions bagan to show off the 2600s shortcomings in reproducing the graphics and in many cases the gameplay of the original. Although nice games in their own right, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Defender are rather loose translations, and the much-anticipated 2600 version of Pac-Man could almost be called a different name without anyone noticing. At the time, Atari also had policies that pissed off many an employee, such as refusing their programmers and other games creators credit. These policies resulted in the formation of Activision and later Imagic, and the first Atari Cartridges not produced by Atari. Lawsuits followed, but basically Atari lost, and it opened the door for many other game companies to produce their own 2600 game cartridges, which many did. These companies began getting arcade liscences of their own, and between that and increased competition between Atari and newer machines like Intellivision and ColecoVision, Atari had to straighten up and put out some better product. One of the first 'golden age' greats I remember was Ms. Pac-Man, which couldn't match the look of the original, but did an admirable job, and played extremely well. Other good arcade conversions like Dig Dug, Galaxian, Phoenix, Centipede, and Pengo were all not-quite, but very close and fun enough that most didn't mind the lack of pixel-perfection. There was virtually no arcade game that you couldn't get for the 2600, with even Coleco and Mattel producing 2600 versions of their own liscences. Unfortunately, while Atari was mostly hot, not all the others could say the same. Since anyone could make a game for the 2600, anyone did, including games made solely to promote products. many of these games were ill-concieved, and most just plain sucked, clogging the market with crap and helping to force many over to the growing home computer market, which offered better graphics and sound than most consoles of that day at a similar price, and also let you do your homework and taxes on it, which appealed to Mom and Dad. The 2600 had a hell of a run unmatched by any other game machine. (nearly eight years, an eternity for games and computers) and many people still have one somewhere (I have two - an old woodgrain six-switcher, and the tiny black-n-silver re-release version).

Magnavox Odyssey 2 - A curious and stylish game machine with crummy non-centering analog joysticks. Capabilities were comparable to the Atari VCS, though many graphics were common between games (the same shapes were used over again, as if they were built into the unit) and sounds were very primitive. There were almost no arcade games, but several innovative variations on common genres, Including clones of Space Invaders, Pac-Man (K.C. Munchkin, probably the best known Odyssey game), and Donkey Kong (Pick Axe Pete). It didn't do too badly, whether deserved or not.

Mattel Intellivision - Atari's first real competitor. This one was marketed toward the technophile and the 'intellectual' game player, reflected by their Masterpiece Theater-like ads with George Plimpton. It had superior hardware (not by much compared to today's standard) and a more complex controller with a membrane keypad, side buttons, and a directional 'disk', ranking this as one of the worst game controller designs of all time (It's pretty damn surprising a lot of other controllers, like those of the Colecovision and Atari 5200 used a similar layout. They were also critcised, though not necessarily the same way.) There was a big business in sticks that stuck to the control disk. Most of the early Intellivision games were complex, overly so in some cases, and few had the same speed or 'feel' (subjective, I know) of many Atari games. Intellivision won over many consumers fond of sports simulations, as their sports games were consistently high quality compared to the often-crappy Atari sports games (prior to the Realsports series). Probably Mattel's biggest problem was that they did not pursue the big arcade liscences early enough, or hard enough, and they went to Atari, Coleco, or an Atari cartridge maker instead. Consequently, there ended up being few to no 'must have' games that sell systems, and Mattel lost more and more market to Atari and Coleco machines. there were at least two newer generations of Intellivision over time, but none of those even came close to the success of the first incarnation.

Bally Astrocade - Perhaps the most interesting game machine I know almost nothing about. It was fairly versatile, and developed a cult following of sorts, probably because of some 'garage programming'. Probably the saddest thing about this machine is that it had almost no arcade liscences, even though it had Bally behind it at one point. There were 'clones' of Wizard of Wor, Pac-Man, and others, but not by the same name.

Emerson Arcadia 2001 - I don't know squat about this one. I've read that it had capability similar to a "cross between an Intellivision and an Odyssey 2". Being a small fish in the pond, they also had no real arcade lisences, but quite a few clones of well-known games.

Colecovision - Probably Atari's most serious competitor. These guys did so well 'cause they knew how to play it. This machine was clearly superior to the 2600, and showed it off with a 'must have' pack-in cartridge, the very popular Donkey Kong. (Coleco Donkey Kong and Atari VCS Donkey Kong were day-and-night different, though Atari Donkey Kong was also made by Coleco, so the fix might have been in a bit.) They also had a good amount of other arcade liscences, though not necessarily as high profile as the ones Atari had. Coleco had a Intellivision like controller, with a squat mushroom stick in place of the disk. It wasn't a lot better, but you could hook up an Atari joystick instead. Coleco also had an add-on which allowed you to play Atari VCS games on the Colecovision, making it a very fierce competitor. Coleco unfortunately blew their wad producing the 'Adam' computer and computer add-on for Colecovision, and were caught square in the middle of the big videogame crash of '84. Only Cabbage Patch Dolls kept them from dying out totally, but they never got into video games and computers again.

*Atari 5200* - Atari tried to replace their ageing 2600 with this new model, basically an Atari 400 Computer converted to a game machine. There was supposedly a different design which was to be compatible with 2600 games as well, but it was ditched. The most interesting and controversial thing about the 5200 were its controllers. They were also Intellivision-ish, but they had a few more buttons and an analog joystick that Atari claimed offered the best of both the joystick and paddle controllers. A lot of people didn't like the analog sticks, mainly because they were 'soft' and didn't fully return to center if let go. Because they were so complex, they also broke down a bit more that usual. As usual, Atari had a good spate of arcade games as well as a few Atari computer games moved to the 5200. Unfortunately, most of the games were also available for the 2600 as well, so there was not a heavy interest for 2600 owners to move to the 5200, especially since it was not compatible with the older machine (I hear there was a add-on to play 2600 games, but I never saw it.) The machine was very similar to the Colecovision in capability, but it wasn't as successful, nor did it replace the 2600, which was surely the original intent of the machine. An unfortunate machine that was probably ultimately beaten by having two older brothers, the 2600, which beat it with sheer number of games, and the 400 and 800 computers, which beat it because they were true computers, and offered almost identical version of the same games - on cartridge, tape, or disk.

Milton Bradley Microvision and MB/GCE Vectrex - Despite Nintendo's claims, Microvision was the first hand-held progammable game system, although the course LCD display limited the games it could play, mostly to puzzle and Breakout-type games. The Vectrex is an unusual machine, including a B&W vector-scan monitor and arcade-type sound chip. They also liscenced quite a few well-known and lesser-known vector arcade titles, and could reproduce them almost perfectly. It's too bad many popular vector arcade games were made by Atari - Asteroids and Tempest would've looked great on the Vectrex. Another interesting curiosity is that a few raster arcade titles were converted to vector, including Berzerk. I've also heard tell there are a few new 'garage games' still appearing for it once in a while. The Vectrex was a singular acheivment, and its certain we'll never see anything like it again. (I wish I had more experience with it back then.)

*Atari 7800* - This poor machine was never really given a chance. The 7800 was originally intended to be released around 1983/84, about two years before it was actually put out. the 7800 represented Atari saying "Alright, you didn't want the 5200, well no more Mr. Nice Guy!" It had much improved graphics over the 2600 and 5200 (7800 graphics remind me of those from the Commodore 64 computer, with more and better sprites), sound similar to the old 2600, and best of all, built in compatibilty with all 2600 games. Obviously, Atari really wanted the vast base of 2600 owners to pick up on this one, making it the new dominant standard, but it wasn't meant to be. The great videogame crash hit before it was released, so Atari sat on it, figuring no one wanted game consoles anymore. Then, around 1985, Nintendo brought its NES to the US, and it sold hand over fist. Caught with their thumb up their ear, Atari said "Wait! Hey look! We've got a new machine too! You know you want it! We're Atari!" Unfortunately, they jumped in too late, and put out a system that looked obsolete at release. Of course it didn't help that Atari confused the issue by re-releasing the 2600 and putting out the 'new' Atari XE system, an Atari 400-type computer made to look more like a game machine. (This is all the Atari XE coverage you'll get in this lineup.) Nintendo had slightly superior technology, being a slightly newer design, and they had the killer game Super Mario Bros. as a pack-in, while Atari offered the same classic arcade releases from the 2600 days re-done (Including very good versions of Robotron 2084, Joust, Ms. Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Galaga, and Oddly enough - Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., and Mario Bros, but not SUPER Mario). One can't help but wonder if things might have been different if Atari was first to the market, possibly even releasing the machine when they first intended to. Nintendo proved the videogame slump was not unbreakable, and If Atari knew that ahead of time, they might have stayed a dominant force in the world of game consoles, even today. If you run across a 7800 for cheap, You oughta pick it up. It's a real arcade classic lover's machine, with a few standout games like Lucasfilm's BallBlazer (It is to the 7800 what Doom was to the PC) and the only known (AFAIK) home version of the arcade game Food Fight.

*Nintendo NES* - This machine ruled the first generation of post-crash consoles. An odd irony is that Nintendo approached Atari about distributing the NES (then unnamed) through their distributor network. Atari refused, presumably thinking no one wanted game consoles at the time, and if they did, they'd rather sell'em a 7800. The NES started out in Japan as the Famicom (for 'family computer', though it didn't really fit the term). After a little cosmetic work to appeal more to a US audience, the unit was brought to America and elsewhere, and surprised nearly everyone by proving that people were willing to buy game consoles again. The NES also introduced a few ideas to the console world. One is the 'thumbpad' game controller, with its cross-button directional control on the left and two or more buttons on the right. This design has been re-used, modified, and enhanced much over time, but the basic design remains the same as the original - versatile, not as good as an Atari-type joystick for some game types, but better for games that need many different buttons, and better than an Intellivision controller at everything. The other 'invention' stems from consumer and developer's fear of a glut of crappy games causing another market crash, and Nintendo's own interest in controlling and making money off its games. Nintendo had a 'lock-out' chip in the NES to prevent just anyone from producing cartridges for it. Third parties were welcome to make games for the system, but the game programs had to be handed over to Nintendo, who produced the cartridges and collected a healthy royalty on sales in return for giving the game an official 'Seal of Quality'. Presumably, this would increase the overall quality of the base of software because Nintendo has final say over what gets produced, but Nintendo was a bit of a slut, so to speak, and let at least as many low-quality games through as good ones. Atari wasn't too crazy about the control Nintendo had over its cartridges, and filed an Antitrust suit, claiming unfair business practices, though I'd bet Atari was just pissed that they hadn't thought of it first. After all, they weren't happy when the first non-Atari-made 2600 games appeared. As insult, Atari Games' Tengen label released a handful of 'unauthorised' NES carts of Atari and Sega games, including Tetris, which fired up another lawsuit on Nintendo Tetris Vs. Tengen Tetris. Tengen lost. Unfair practices or not, Nintendo's scheme for control was picked up in some form by nearly every game console producer since.
Nintendo's main competitors at the time were the Sega Master System and the Atari 7800 (and XE). Both of those were superior to the NES in some aspects, inferior in others, but the NES had the jump on the market and the marketing, and took the cookie, became the leader for most of the post-crash era, and made Atari into a laughing stock in the console business (Though then owner Jack Tramiel can be credited too.)

Sega Master System - While Sega would become a major player later on, they didn't have a lot of success with their first foray into consoles. One interesting thing about the SMS is that it had two gaming orifices, one slot for the usual cartidges, and a small slot for the credit card-like wafer games (they weren't called that). Nintendo's head start in the market meant they had snatched up the lion's share of software developers, so Like Atari, Most games for the Master System had to be produced by Sega themselves. The Sega Master System could not be considered a total failure, as the hardware was reworked a bit and became the popular Game Gear handheld color game system.

Nintendo Gameboy - While the MB Microvision was the first cartridge-based handheld, that didn't stop Nintendo from claiming the Gameboy as a first. To their credit, the Gameboy was better suited to a wider variety of games than the Microvision with its block-based LCD display. The Gameboy took off, and after several years and millions of games, is still quite popular today, even with its limitations compared to newer handhelds with color screens, like the Atari Lynx and Sega Game Gear and Nomad. (one reason for its popularity over color handhelds is the B+W screen is less draining to the batteries, and could play longer on a set)

Atari Lynx - Originally designed by an ailing Epyx software by several engineers who designed the Amiga computer, the Handy (as it was called by Epyx) was bought out by Atari when Epyx didn't have the money to get the job done. Atari wasn't too crazy about having to buy some Amigas as development machines, but the Handy was brought to market as the Atari Lynx, a handheld game machine with a color screen and very impressive graphics for a handheld. One innovative feature was that you could flip the entire machine so the controls were at your left or right hand, and the screen image would also flip to be correctly oriented. Like the Turbografx 16, the Lynx was a 16-bit graphics processor on top of an eight-bit main CPU. Graphics included a number of effects, including sprite scaling. It was the most powerful handheld available at the time, but unfortunately the Atari name already had a bad reputation, resulting in few buyers and fewer third-party game developers. This is another example of how video game wars are won by marketing and not technology. Then-owner of Atari, Jack Tramiel, believed that a good product sells itself, and while that worked back when he was at Commodore selling C64s, it has been proven wrong again and again until Atari's eventual slide to obscurity.

Sega Game Gear - Basically a Sega Master System redesigned into a handheld package with a color screen. Due to the sega name and marketing, the Game Gear outsold the Atari Lynx despite coming out later and having older and demonstrably inferior technology. Oddly though, Sega has not put a big dent in sales of the Nintendo Gameboy, which is B&W and very simple by comparison to all the color machines. Sega later released a handheld based on the Gensis called the Nomad.

NEC Turbografx 16 - First known as the PC Engine in Japan and other countries, the Turbo was a first to the fledgeling 16-bit field. Technically the machine had an eight-bit processor with a sixteen-bit graphics processor, but it was considered 16-bit for marketing purposes. The graphic capabilities were much-enhanced over the eight-bit competition, more or less starting the more-bits-is-better mindset in the gaming public. It gained a fair level of popularity, but not enough to make it a dominant force in 16-bit like Sega and Nintendo would become. The Turbo was also the first machine to have a CD-ROM add-on, opening the possibility for games huge in scope without having to skimp on graphics, sound, and video, unlike cartridge games. The Turbo had a number of enhancements and variations, including a handheld version, but it would seem NEC would be a pioneer and innovator, but not a huge success. (In the US market anyway)

Sega Genesis - Also known as the Mega Drive in many other countries. One of the first full-16-bit game machines, and Sega's first big success. That success was in no small part due to a spiky blue hedgehog mascot named Sonic. This machine was released in a much higher-profile way than the Turbo 16 (read: more hype), and much earlier than Nintendo's 16-bit machine, so Sega was able to dominate the 16-bit market early on, although Nintendo made substantial inroads into 16-bit later, and Sega has not repeated its success in 32-bit. Very powerful at the time, though it started to look dated as time went on and there were more choices. A CD-ROM add-on was released for Genesis, which added Nintendo-like scaling effects as well as the video and sound inherent to CD media. Also released was the "32X", an add-on to let the Genesis nearly match the capability of early next-gen machines like the 3D0 and Jaguar. Neither add-on sold very well, interesting considering the number of Genesis units out there. It seems to lend credence the idea that consumers would rather buy a new game machine than expand an old one.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Another testament to Nintendo's ability to grab market share despite overwhelming odds. Starting in Japan as the Super Famicom, the Super Nintendo came out nearly a full year after Sega's very successful Genesis. Their system was somewhat superior in terms of graphics and special effects, but they were also criticised over hardware issues and for their strongarm control over their software developers. This was best typified with the release of Midway's "Mortal Kombat", a fighting game with fairly realistic blood, gore and decapitations. Nintendo forced the SNES version to remove the blood and tone it down overall, while the Genesis version kept everything. This and other examples made gamers label Genesis as the 'cool' system and SNES as the 'mama's boy' system. Not long after, Nintendo changed their focus and marketing, relaxed some of their restrictions (Mortal Kombat 2 had full blood), and released several 'must have' games that made good use of SNES's advantages. By the time the 32-bit systems started to take over, Nintendo's SNES was on a nearly equal footing with Genesis, amazing considering their incredibly bad start.

SNK Neo-Geo - A 'Sharper Image' game machine. Basically an arcade machine board adapted to home use. It was superior to nearly everything else at the time, but at $600-$700, it should be. It was put out on the basis that heavy-duty gamers who want an arcade-true experience will pony up the dough. Some did, but most didn't. It's the same story for later Neo-Geo variations, making it more a curiosity than a genuine force in the market.

Philips/Magnavox CD-I - Not originally intended to be a game machine, but a CD-ROM-based multimedia box for interactive encyclopedias other reference works to view on your TV - and games too. An add-on MPEG module allowed you to play videos on CD as well. A powerful concept, but perhaps ahead of its time, or just unwanted. Philips spent a pile of money marketing the thing, but was met with very poor sales. Since it was designed mainly for presentation works, it was a poor performer as a game machine, worse than the 16-bit machines in some ways. Philips tried re-releasing a slightly reworked version a couple years later, without any better success than before. Unfortunately, no-one either understood or wanted the interesting concept Philips pioneered.

Commodore CDTV - When Commodore learned of Philips' plans to create the CD-I, They scrambled to release a product to beat it to the market and hopefully grab some share for themselves. The CDTV was based around the Amiga 500 computer hardware with a CD-ROM in a case that looked like stereo equipment. Since it was conceived and built in a much shorter time than CD-I, Many aspects were not as polished as CD-I, but they did very well under the circumstances. The CDTV was not as still-graphically powerful as the CD-I, but it could move its graphics around better, making it a better game machine than CD-I generally, aided by the large stable of Amiga games which were converted to CDTV form, sometimes badly, sometimes very well. Unfortunately, it was badly marketed, so hardly anyone knew about it except Amiga owners. A number of expansions were planned, such as MPEG module, Genlock, and others, but few were produced. It had some success among Amiga users, especially considering it could be expanded to full computer status by simply adding a keyboard and floppy drive. It never sold well, but didn't do worse than CD-I either.

*Amiga CD-32* - The CDTV concept punched up and refined for 1993, and in many markets the first 32-bit CD-based game system.(the 3DO beat it in a few spots) Instead of the 'Interactive Media' box the CDTV and CD-I were, the CD-32 was a game machine with more. It had the guts of an Amiga 1200 computer inside, and was much more powerful and cheaper than its progenitor, the CDTV, and easily outperformed its intended competition, the CD-I and Sega (Genesis) CD. The CD-32 is capable of some stunning games and visuals, but had its problems. The capabilities were similar to the Amiga 1200 that shares its hardware, so most CD-32 games came from the Amiga computer with only minor enhancements or none at all, instead of using the CD-32's capabilities to the fullest. Also, since the hardware was not super-specialised like your average game machine, Many games were only a slight step above the games available for 16-bit machines. The CD-32 had a mild success, especially in Europe. Much less in the USA due to the same lame marketing the CDTV had. There was a MPEG module produced to play Video-CDs, and a few expanders to pump the 32 up to full computer status. While its mild success was genuine, the new competition from the likes of the 3DO and Atari Jaguar was much fiercer, and Commodore went bankrupt in 1994. Neither ESCOM or Gateway 2000, who in turn have owned the Amiga properties, have decided to produce the CD-32 again.

*Atari Jaguar* - The first 64-bit game system, and currently the only 64-bit with CD-ROM as an option. Many detractors of Atari called the '64-bit label nothing but marketing hype, since it carried 2 32-bit custom chips (32 + 32 = 64) and a 16-bit 68000 inside. The custom chips contained a number of co-processors, and important ones were 64 bit. Add that to a 64-bit bus, and there's enough reason for the Jag to deserve its title (as much as 8/16-bit combo machines can call themselves 16-bit, anyway.) Atari had a powerful machine that, along with the 3DO, pioneered the game types and graphic tricks that would later become overused when 32-bit systems became commonplace. The Jaguar was especially adept at moving and scaling 2D graphics, and was also very capable of polygon graphics for 3D games. It had a mild disadvantage at 3D texturing, which was more and more commonplace, but it would do a great job if well programmed. Unfortunately, in the effort to get the machine out quick, game development was not factroed into the equation, and very few games were available for the Jag on release. (nearly all of which were originally developed for the Jag's unproduced predecessor, the 'Panther') None of those games were 'must-haves', and the Jaguar might've died a quick death if it weren't for a few new big games to appear like Alien Vs. Predator, Doom, and the one game people still equate to the Jaguar, Tempest 2000, based on the 1982 arcade game and programmed by Jeff Minter. Sadly, Sega, Nintendo, and others had too many liscences locked up, so Atari had very few games that people wanted to buy a Jaguar to play, and Atari had to fund nearly every game themselves. A CD-ROM drive (that looked vaguely like a toilet) and a number of CD games appeared, but too late to prevent the Jaguars downslide in the face of new systems like the Sony Playstation. A number of unreleased and unfinished Jag games are finding their way on to the market thanks to third parties, and a few more are rumored in development, making the Jaguar a cult success beyond its own lifespan.

the 3D0 - One of the first of the high-power CD-based 32-bit consoles. The 3D0 had the distinction of being a liscensed standard instead of a one-manufacurer game machine, so there were 3D0 machines produced by a small handful of different makers. At the time of its release, the 3D0's main competitors were Philips' CDi and Atari's Jaguar, though the Amiga CD32 was also a factor in some markets. Its closest technological match was the Jaguar, though both were very different with advantages in different areas. Similar to many of the machines of the time, the 3D0 was marketed as a 'power game machine with more', due to its CD-ROM-based nature. Also like most other machines out at that time, it sold rather badly, because of its high price and the fact that most buyers were content with Genesis and Super Nintendo at the time. There are many other contributing factors, but the 3D0 can almost be credited with raising the expectations of computer and console game players, because a lot of 3D0 games introduced us to the overuse of things that would become REALLY overused later, like games with CD soundtracks, long cinema intro video, and texture-mapped realtime 3D in gameplay. Another pioneer bitten by being a little ahead of its time. Not surprising, considering many of the people behind the 3D0 were also behind the Amiga computer and the Atari Lynx handheld. A 'next generation' version of the 3D0 has been talked about for years now, but will probably never see the light in its original intended form.

Nintendo Virtual Boy - Probably the only Nintendo home console that could be considered a failure. The VB was what you get when you cross a Gameboy and a View-Master. Two small greyscale (or red-scale) screens, one for each eye, gave you a 3D image of sorts. The VB was claimed to be 32 bit, but the graphics and gameplay it put out compared better with 8-bit machines. The VB did not sell well at all, at least in America, probably because people didn't quite understand a machine than you stuck your face in to play, and it didn't offer much of the 'virtual reality' sort of games the system's name implied. Overall, it ended up being Nintendo's placeholder between the SNES and N64, and something to take up space in the clearance aisles.

*Sony Playstation* - Reportedly, the Playstation started its life as a CD-ROM product in collaboration with Nintendo. The two had a parting of ways, and Sony decided to take the work they had already done, and put out a console on their own. The Playstation appeared to a lot of anticipation, around the same time as the Sega Saturn, and was a definite success, even though its capabilities weren't much more than an evolution the 3D0 and Jaguar that came before it. Certainly the power of Sony's name and marketing muscle had a great deal to do with its success. In time, the Playstation pulled ahead of the Saturn, and did very very well against latecomer Nintendo's N64. With both Sony's and Nintendo's marketing near-equal, the Playstation had a bit better market share because the CD-ROM media being cheaper to produce than cartridges, making things easier and less costly for both game buyers and game developers. There is also a Playstation variant called 'Net Yaroze', which allows aspiring programmers to create their own games. All in all, a sterling success, especially for a first effort.

Sega Saturn Sega's foray into the 32-bit world, as well as a CD-ROM console. A solid performer, with little to distinguish it from its current competitors. On average, the Saturn is considered not as capable at producing 3D imagery as the Sony Playstation or Nintendo 64, though it is perhaps slightly superior at producing 2D graphics and sound. The Saturn has stayed around, perhaps longer than it should have, thanks to the strength and game properties offered by Sega, but it's been reported that they're packing it in for the Saturn, prefering to concentrate their efforts on an upcoming 128-bit console. While the Saturn did not fail in the market, it was quickly relegated to an also-ran.

Nintendo 64 Once again, Nintendo shows off its capacity for squeezing marketshare out of adversity. It was released long after its main rivals, the Saturn and Playstation, and was often critisized for choosing the cartridge medium over the less expensive and higher-capacity CD-ROM. Nevertheless, Thru name recognition and hype over chips developed with Silicon Graphics,Nintendo actually convinced many consumers to wait around for the N64 to be released, and there was a huge run on them once they were, expanding to close to half of the total market. On the other hand, the N64 was not quite as popular with game developers, due to the higher cost and hassle of programming for a cartridge. Currently, the market is pretty evenly divided between the Nintendo 64 and the Sony Playstation. Nintendo owners enjoy an impressive though occasionally limited gaming experience, and Playstation people, while not quite on the bleeding edge of technology, enjoy a larger and more varied group of available games, and they usually cost less, sometimes much less.