Why was the Playstation so successful?

[Kid Ice]

I was having a conversation with a non-gamer the other day about the 3DO. He was surprised to learn there was a CD-based system before the Playstation. I asked if he had heard of the Saturn, and he said he thought the Saturn came out well after the Playstation.

I didn't think at the time the PSX came out it was so obviously a more capable machine. Why did the Playstation do so much better than the earlier CD-based systems? Of course I could easily tell you NOW why I prefer the Playstation, but at what point did it break away from the pack, and why?

[smokehouse]

There was just something about it…possibly the fact that it was made by what at the time was a “serious” electronics company?

Then again having an almost arcade perfect Ridge Racer as a launch (or close to launch) title was a HUGE thing. I clearly remember reading an article in EGM about it having the ability to play that title in near arcade perfection….being a fan of the arcade version, I was instantly impressed.

It also seemed “grown up” for some reason…again, like it or no, the PS1 took gaming to the mainstream public.

Finally, having titles like Resident Evil and Final Fantasy VII also helped. Square leaving Nintendo in favor of Sony was huge news at the time and many (including myself) that were FF fanatics saw it as writing on the wall for Nintendo.

Lastly, at the time when the PS1 was released, the Saturn was there but had little in terms of games and the N64 was still out a few years. Basically having many of the titles it did, it just stood out.

[theshizzle3000]

It could possibly be because the Playstation changed lives...

[PingvinBlueJeans]

I'm not really sure...there was a lot of hype surrounding the PSX when it was released, but to tell you the truth, I thought it sucked when I first played it. Compared to the Saturn, I thought the load times were ridiculous. I honestly never thought the thing would take off the way it did.

[smokehouse]

I'm not really sure...there was a lot of hype surrounding the PSX when it was released, but to tell you the truth, I thought it sucked when I first played it. Compared to the Saturn, I thought the load times were ridiculous. I honestly never thought the thing would take off the way it did.

You know, it’s strange how little I’ve played the Saturn. At the time, I was eagerly awaiting the release of the N64 so I overlooked the Sat and the PS1. I landed up renting a PS1 at my buddy’s nagging and I got Ridge Racer and Wipeout with it…I was blown away.

Looking back, I wish I would have spent more time with the Saturn when it was current...it's hard to get into a first gen 3D machine like than now...it just looks too outdated.

[williewonka2k1]

I think it's pretty simple actually. Both 3DO and Jaguar were capable of so much more, but people didn't know how to program that kind of stuff yet. All the worthwile games are made by the bigger names for both of those systems (generally speaking).

[otoko]

Looking back, I wish I would have spent more time with the Saturn when it was current...it's hard to get into a first gen 3D machine like than now...it just looks too outdated.


@*$&^#*#$, That's the type of mentality that brings down consoles.

Why should you care if it looks outdated?

"oh, it's old."
"oh, it has last gen graphics."
"oh, It's different from what I'm used to."

People need to grow up!

I think consoles should be based on the games.
not the amount
not OTHER morons
or on the media.

and, yes. I agree with those who thought the PSX was going to die. With my experience of it. I was only hype.

[Nesmaster]

Why should you care if it looks outdated?


Tell that to someone playing Goldeneye for the first time today, as opposed to back in 1997. The amount of fun had back then just wouldn't compare to if you had just fired it up for the first time in 2007. In fact, said person might think you're crazy for thinking the game was ever good.

Bottom line: All the first 3D systems have not aged well. It's hard to play them nowadays. (at least for me.)

[smokehouse]

@*$&^#*#$, That's the type of mentality that brings down consoles.

Why should you care if it looks outdated?

"oh, it's old."
"oh, it has last gen graphics."
"oh, It's different from what I'm used to."

People need to grow up!

I think consoles should be based on the games.
not the amount
not OTHER morons
or on the media.

and, yes. I agree with those who thought the PSX was going to die. With my experience of it. I was only hype.


Hold on a minute…

I have a collection of systems that are mostly classic and "old"…

Many of the titles found on first gen 3D systems are just plain shitty looking now…try limping through the original Resident Evil or Ridge Racer…they look terrible. So bad in fact that they are difficult to sit through.

I look at it this way, the 2D “era” mostly came to an end with the release of the PS1, Sat and N64. Sure, there are good 2D games out now but not like it was back then. Therefore, those three systems were the start of the 3D generation and they show it. Some of the games are just a crummy pile of polygons, blocks and colors now, hardly something many want to play. Look at the 3D parts (not everything, just the 3D stuff) of FFVII, they are horrible looking. Compare that to FFVI on the SNES which even to this day is a beautiful. One was the last of years of 2D programming and polish, the other is the beginning of something new.

[smokehouse]

Tell that to someone playing Goldeneye for the first time today, as opposed to back in 1997. The amount of fun had back then just wouldn't compare to if you had just fired it up for the first time in 2007. In fact, said person might think you're crazy for thinking the game was ever good.

Bottom line: All the first 3D systems have not aged well. It's hard to play them nowadays. (at least for me.)

You hit the nail on the head...many of the first gen 3D stuff was "You just had to be there" type of games...

[Kid Ice]

@*$&^#*#$, That's the type of mentality that brings down consoles.

Why should you care if it looks outdated?

"oh, it's old."
"oh, it has last gen graphics."
"oh, It's different from what I'm used to."

People need to grow up!

He's not putting down the Saturn. The thread isn't even about the Saturn. He's simply saying it's hard to go back and fairly evaluate a system you didn't play when it was current. And I agree.

[InsaneDavid]

Basically having many of the titles it did, it just stood out.

That's why I've always thought it was so successful, same with the NES - variety was the orer of the day. Pretty much anything you wanted to play could be found on the PlayStation, and multiple quality titles in each genre at that. (not to say there weren't a ton of crappy games, but that can be said for any system)

Also pricing, I bought my PlayStation when they dropped to $139.99 for a new system. I went in to buy a refurbished system for $129 but bought a new one instead since the price had just dropped. (Gran Turismo, by the way, was the reason I went PlayStation over the N64 or Saturn - didn't buy it for that one game, but it was the title that finally pushed me to PlayStation) Then the "Greatest Hits" line as well, for $15 - $25 you could pick up some great games and most of the time the most you'd shell out for a new game was $40 - $50 when N64 titles were in the $65+ range.

[diskoboy]

To awnser the OP's question:

The Sony brand name. People are just brand whores.

But Surprisingly the Saturn did quite well in Japan. Sega had pissed off most of the US customer base, by the end of the Genesis' lifespan. And being $100 more than the Playstation didn't help much either.

Sega was just plain stupid for pricing the Saturn at $399.

[udisi]

here's some reasons as to why the PS1 was more successful than the 3do, saturn, etc.

When the 3do launched, it was $700. very crazy price at the time, hell we're bitching about a $600 ps3 today. 2nd the 3do and early CD based systems were promoted as multimedia systems, not just gaming systems. These systems lacked some identity and developers didn't really know what to do with the new CD format. Many early games were very rough 3D polygon games or FMV(That's full motion video) games
. When the Saturn came out it polished up 3D a bit, and was way better than the 3do or Cd-i in my opinon, The Saturn was not terribly cheap though either...I think it was $399 or somewhere around that. Also at this point, most CD format machines had failed commercially. The sega CD was not very successful, the 3do, cdi, jaguar, had all been disapointments, and the SNES was still the peak of console gaming. Add to this that Sega had never really marketed well in the US, except for the launch of the genesis, and the Saturn sat kinda in obscurity.
Sega never promoted it's first person titles very well, and the mainstream gaming public really had no idea what most of the game titles on the shelves were. Then about a year later, here comes Sony, with a game called battle arena toshinden, and at the time, it was one of the best 3d polygon fighting games, I know lots of people who bought the system just for that game. I personally was not impressed yet as the playstation was $300, but I did notice a squaresoft title called Tobal no 1 which happened to have a demo for FF7 in it. I was a big fan of the square titles on the snes, and I played that demo, and that was it....I bought a PS1. The Playstation brought out a lot more of those types of RPGS, like Beyond the Beyond and the original Suikoden. Meanwhile, the saturn didn't really market any new titles, and the great games like Shining Force 3, Panzer Dragon Saga, Burning Rangers, etc, didn't even make it to market until the system was already dead in the water.

[sirhansirhan]

You hit the nail on the head...many of the first gen 3D stuff was "You just had to be there" type of games...

I just got my first Saturn ever a little over a year ago, and am nothing but impressed with it. It makes me feel stupid for not owning one when they were new.

On a semi-related subject, I am not at all impressed with the X-Box 360 or PS3 (yet, at least).

And on topic, I think Final Fantasy VII was what really made the Playstation what it wound up being. That's why I bought one, and that's why most of my friends bought one, too.

[Dangerboy]

copy and pasted, since it's now late to the table since i was fixing my wireless card >_>

The reason the PlayStation did so well out of the gate was due to several important reasons:

1. It was the first mainstream CD based system to not give a rats ass about CD+G, Video CD, etc. It was games and music CDs, period. Shook off the 'we're multi-media' systems like 3DO and CDi easily.

2. It was $100 cheaper than the competition of Saturn, and as pointed out here in this thread, Battle Arena Toshinden whomped all kinds of ass over Virtua Fighter, simply because of looks.

3. Sony did not market it as a 'game system' - they marketed it as a way of life. It worked.

4. Three words: Namco and Capcom. Namco was on board with exclusive PSX arcade translations, Capcom was on board with near perfect arcade conversions and new IPs.

5. The original Sony (We miss you Olaf!) bent over backwards to get as many developers on board with as many ways as possible. They snagged SNK games, Artdink games, and provided middleware tools that helped companies crank out games. Yes, it did make a lot of games look similar, but hey, when you see more games available on that system, you don't really want the other.

6. Sony didn't even own their own best weapon; Sega. Sega's mishandling of Sega CD / 32x, Saturn's early and under supported launch, and proof that they couldn't even do their own games on the home version (compare VF2 arcade to home, then Sony's Tekken 2 arcade to home), pretty much sealed the deal.

Soured Sega fans jumped ship, and those turned off by the horrifically chosen rainbow motiff of N64 packaging were lead to the PSX. It was the first system to be truly considered a 'grown-ups' game system.

7. A Killer, killer launch line-up.

Ridge Racer, Toshinden, NBA Jam TE, and Raiden Project made it an arcade lover's dream.

Rayman showed it could do 2D just as well as the Saturn (before Ram Cart tech).

Turbo Eclipse showed major 3DO titles were moving to the system.

ESPN Xtreme Games proved Sony wanted even the oddest of sports fans on deck with their system.

It's not that hard to see why. Once the Saturn was out of the way, the N64's cart prices and badly and unfairly tagged "kid's system" meant Sony could steam roll through anythign that came their way.

It's funny how karma came back to kick 'em in the nuts.

[gepeto]

One of the reasons it was successful is that the saturn released in may and was overpriced 399 and didn't set the world on fire.

The playstation was 299 and had tekken. Which at the time was a dam good port of the arcade. Also everyone was always waiting to see wat the next wow factor was going to be and there was a ton of games good and bad.

[theoakwoody]

I didn't really pay much attention to the Saturn when it launched but I bought both a psx and n64 at or soon after their launches. I can say that even though I tended to play more N64 I was very annoyed with how there were absolutely no games coming out for the system for the first 6 months. Other than Mario 64 there wasn't much to play until Shadows of the Empire came out in December and Turok soon after that. Plus, the games were so expensive, like $ 60 to $ 70 which was $ 20 higher than psx games. I think its funny when people complain about the prices of 360 and ps3 games now, they would have been irate in the 90s.

[Carey85]

I got my Playstation in September of 1998 when the Saturn was already a non-player. What made me decide on the playstation over the N64 was the fact that the Playstation had Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, and the Capcom Mega Man series. It was also a lot easier for me to afford the CD based Playstation games over the cartridge based games of the N64, and yes, it did seem like more of an adult system. In retrospect I still think I made the right decision, although the N64 had its own share of stellar titles...

[Ro-J]

I remember people making fun of the "Playstation" name before it was ever released. People said it sounded like a Fisher Price toy, way too kiddie to be taken seriously.....

....then they played the games.

[roushimsx]

It's because I bought the Saturn.

Sorry guys, it's all my fault the Saturn died and the Playstation won. Had I bought a Playstation instead, Sony would be publishing titles on the Dreamcast 256/Katana 69/Sega Milky Way.

[BHvrd]

Well going over to my friends house and playing Twisted Metal did it for me. That game was just amazing at the time.

Being able to disc swap on Ridge Racer was also very neat.

Word of mouth and a good launch is what I say. People weren't as informed then about cd systems and what not as much as "is the game fun" and ultimately I think that's what did it more than anything.

I never would have bought an N64 if I hadn't played Super Mario 64 in Toys R Us, cause at that time cartridge seemed like a step backwards.

Nowadays games don't seem to matter as much, and that's a shame.

[exit]

Playstation was the exact upgrade that was needed at the time, it wasn't a rushed piece of material and it didn't have nearly as much problems as some consoles do now.

[OldSchoolGamer]

I'd say...........
3D Engine
Marketing
CD based (IE better sound and video)
Games like: Resident Evil / Final Fantasy etc
I also wouldn't be surprised if part of the success was just due to people
looking for something different or at least something other than Nintendo or
Sega. To be fair there have been lots of great games and support on PS1
and PS2 though in my opinion Sony really dropped the ball with PS3, with Resident Evil 5 and Devil May Cry not being PS3 exclusives I have yet to be
even mildly tempted to get a PS3.

[CosmicMonkey]

Mod chips.

Up until then video game piracy wasn't exactly easy. Even if you did happen to live in areas of the world where you could pop up the market and buy game copier system they involved a decent amount of financial investment and PC know-how. Your only other option was pirate carts or Famiclones; again not exactly mass market in the West

But the Playstation was a very popular system that had one main selling point: You take it to matey in the pub, and for £20 you get your system back two days later with a chip installed and two games of your choice. Smashing. Low-income/council estate inhabitant/chav doll dosser families across the country rejoiced at Xmas time. Here was a relatively cheap system that had a plethora of games for all ages that were available from matey for £5 each. People were actually able to give their kids what they wanted at Xmas, and their kids were happy as they were playing the same console as the kids from the better-off families. And it keeps the kids quiet: another major selling point.

The Playstation effect is a funny thing. I've had mates randomly disappear off the face of the planet for a couple of months, only for them to re-emerge after beating Final Fantasy 7. On my regular visits to the dodgy areas of town the streets would be empty for the weeks following Xmas. The gangs of wild children that would normally be running the streets till all hours would all be sat indoors round the PS. All the thieving little chav teenagers disappeared for a while too. I also noticed this when GTA3 came out: they all sat indoors playing that and getting stoned instead of going out mugging Grannies and robbing car stereos.

[mercatfat]

Did the launch lineup really do that well for PS1? I thought I remembered it having a fairly slow start until the first real blockbusters came along.

I do remember it taking off for one very key reason: it was the only one that was a pure games machine, and was marketed as such. Compare it to the 3DO's multimedia focus, which the Saturn also had to a certain extent. The price reflected this and, much like the Wii, was successful in creating a public image that showed that it was a system made for fun. Fun for everyone, not just the h4rdc0r3, which Sega I think was a bit guilty of trying to appeal to. Especially considering it was primarily focused on being the ultimate 2D system for most of its development, when the general public wanted to be wowed by 3D.

In regards to the graphics comment, I hate to say it but it's dead on. It's not just the graphics, however: many early 3D games were experimental in terms of both what could be done and what people actually liked to play. Poor cameras, stiff gameplay, and clumsy control were all pretty common early on in far too many early 3D games. They were tolerable at the time, not unlike most Game Boy titles, but they haven't aged well at ALL. There are exceptions to the rule, obviously, as there always will be. But it's no different from early 2D cartridge based systems like the Atari and Intellivision or better yet, micros like the Speccy and C64 in that there are mountains of crap games that will be forever forgotten by all but the most fanatical.

If a game played well to begin with, or if the it was fairly low concept (like racing, fighting or an RPG, both of which were pretty well-established gameplay wise well before 3D graphics hit their stride), it might well age just fine. But when it comes to mascot platformers, sloppily constructed 3D models and titles that relied primarily on the gimmick of being 3D? Not so much. Oh, and did I mention that many games controlled pretty sketchy?

It's also often hard to play the originals of games that have had better sequels, particularly in the sports and fighting genre. The first Tekken was okay at the time, but utter ass compared to number three.

[bangtango]

I remember just watching my old college roommate play Resident Evil, Crash Team Racing and Pitfall 3D all day long for months in our dorm room. It looked fun and when I finally got my hands on Resident Evil, I couldn't put the controller down. This was a few years after the Playstation had already come out but I'd never actually tried one personally. I couldn't tell you the exact year but the third RE game had just come out around that time.

The funny thing is my roommate used to talk about how awesome Playstation was, at the beginning of first semester, before he had it on campus. I laughed it off as a bunch of hot air and thought the system was too expensive, not worth the money. I was wrong. After trying those games, I was glad to finally get my own either that Christmas or the following one.

People can crap on it today, I've already seen it in this thread, but I had never seen anything like the original Resident Evil before. It was definitely a step above anything I had seen on the 16-bit systems.

[Zing]

One word: Tekken

[smokehouse]

Did the launch lineup really do that well for PS1? I thought I remembered it having a fairly slow start until the first real blockbusters came along.



One game, Ridge Racer was huge...that really helped it move along.

[kentuckyfried]

I remember how covetous people (me, especially) were of Playstation owners.
First game system that was appealing to all age groups, especially the crowd older than kids, (the people with the actual money ;) )

[noname11]

it was the mk3 exclusivity for the playstation.



... yeah, that mustve been it

[scooterb23]

I know in my circle of friends, the Playstation succeeded solely because of Battle Arena Toshinden. One friend bought his Playstation launch day with just that game. After an all day session of just that game, 5 of my other friends went out the next day and got their own Playstations and Toshindens.

And yes, we still get together and play Toshinden every once in a while :)

[smokehouse]

I remember how covetous people (me, especially) were of Playstation owners.
First game system that was appealing to all age groups, especially the crowd older than kids, (the people with the actual money ;) )


Yeah, the crazy thing about the Playstation is the fact that it transcended the "games are for kids" thing...

[RadiantSvgun]

I played Megaman X4 and Megaman 8. That sold it for me. Also, it was cheaper than a Saturn.

[j_factor]

The Playstation launch wasn't as successful as it's made out to be. If you look at the actual unit sales for the launch period, it wasn't a whole lot. But, console launches in general were never that big up to that point.

I think Playstation was so successful partly because no other system could be.

3DO was a victim of itself. Although a decent idea on paper, the entire concept behind it was fatally flawed. It never went anywhere, and not just because of the price. There was almost no marketing for the system itself -- The 3DO Company didn't market it because they didn't sell systems, and Panasonic/Goldstar/etc. marketed their units about as much as they marketed their laserdisc players. Game-wise, it had some notable stuff from 3DO itself, as well as EA and Crystal Dynamics, and a few scattered PC ports, but nothing that really sold people on it. By the time Playstation came out, the 3DO's fate was all but sealed.

The Jaguar fared even worse, and it was pretty much dead by the Playstation launch. The JTS merger happened shortly thereafter. Amiga CD32 was a similar situation, dying with the collapse of its parent company (although it was partly due to component supply issues, Commodore still would've gone bankrupt soon enough).

Saturn had all sorts of problems. Even though console launches weren't the big deal then that they are now, the Saturn's blunder of a "launch" was a PR disaster. They didn't have enough units or enough software; the lineup was unanimously panned and the retailers who were excluded from the launch were alienated. Debuting at $399 was a horrible move not just for the pricing at that time, but for mindshare. Even though the lineup, price, and availability were all "fixed" in September, the horrible impression of the May launch remained in everyone's minds (and price drops were viewed as "desperate"). To this day everyone remembers the $399 price even though it was only that much for a relatively brief period of time, and people still remember the Saturn as having been more expensive than Playstation when that's not the case.

Aside from the early launch, Saturn suffered from overall poor marketing. One commercial for the September re-launch touted the Saturn's "revolutionary sports and arcade gameplay". Most people don't want a console that just plays sports and arcade games, they want a console with variety. Saturn's actual lineup at that point was just as varied as Playstation's, but while Sony touted their variety, Sega practically downplayed it. Saturn marketing/advertising was consistently lackluster over its entire lifespan (with the exception of the memorable NiGHTS commercial). In spite of itself, Saturn did somewhat okay that Christmas in '95. Playstation soundly outsold it, but the margin was slightly under 2:1 (iirc), meaning Saturn, at that time, would have a somewhat decent position that generation. It was doing better than 3DO or Jaguar ever did. SNES outsold the lot of them, however.

Saturn's problems were myriad -- poor development tools, ridiculous internal politics at Sega, delays and cancellations of would-be hits, failure to translate some of its biggest Japanese games to Western markets, etc. The system continued to suffer from them, despite some bright spots. It had a strong showing at E3 '96, but that didn't translate to summer sales.

And then N64 came out. After a poor showing in Japan, N64 sold a lot of units at launch in North America, far more than Playstation had. But that holiday season, Playstation overtook it in sales (although N64 was a strong second). N64 suffered from an overall and continuing lack of software, the cartridge format itself, the higher game prices due to the cartridge format, and the lack of third party support (most were skeptical about the "dream team"). But at launch, Mario 64 caused such a stir that units sold on the strength of one game. Saturn was effortlessly relegated to third place; although, in Q4 '96 it wasn't that distant of a third place (thanks to a decent push of games), and it was often opined that all three consoles could coexist.

Long story long, 1997 came, and Playstation soared ahead. Playstations flew off the shelves in greater numbers, and the console had hit after hit. N64 just kind of leveled out, in large part due to overall lack of software (but also due to game prices, cartridges, and some image problems); it would never seriously challenge the Playstation. Saturn sharply nosedived, with Bernie Stolar determined to kill it as quickly as possible. With the cancellation of the M2 (lol), there was nothing around to give the Playstation a run for its money.

The end.

[swlovinist]

Being a big fan of remembering the violent competition of the 90s, I think that Sony was successful for many, many reasons. Here are the couple that I see helped Sony kill everyone else over the long run(talking about the success of the PS1, not the debacle of the PS3).

1. Price. Sony came out and announced that they were going to be a $299 system. Sony main competition at the time was Sega, priced at $399. 3DO and Jaguar were not stading very well on their own two feet, but that is another story.

2. Games. Sony had an impressive lineup of great arcade ports and some upcoming new software. They had sports, platform, arcade, and even a sim game(A-train). The game lineup was more diverse than what was offered on the Saturn.

3. Performance. Not only did Sony come out swinging with an agressive price, they also had a machine that could really push polygons better than the Saturn and 3DO. With the trend at the time really focusing on what 3D gaming could do, it was partly being at the right place at the right time.

[retroman]

I was a 3DO fan, and got one when they came out for christmas. i was pissed off when Sony took control of the market.

[chrisbid]

price, price and price

the playstation had a strong debut, it was the newcomer and darkhorse. it outperformed the saturn, due to their pricepoint and sega screwing everything up they possibly could.

the n64 came around the next year to a strong debut, but sony kept up the pressure with hardware price drops, and the revolutionary 'greatest hits' priced software. then final fantasy vii dropped on the psx in 97. that gave legitimacy to sony in the minds of casual gamers, scoring a well-known nintendo-only series. sony was able to gain enough momentum to get a firm grip on first place (the SNES was still a major player in 95 and 96) and not let go until late last year.

there are other factors that helped, but next-gen graphics at an affordable price is what put the playstation ahead of the competition first and foremost.

[PapaStu]

Why the PlayStation worked, by PapaStu

Firstly Sony did something that hadn't been done properly since the NES days, and that was Licensing out to developers and publishers. When they announced the system there was something like 300+ studios signed up to make games. Sony went after them, they didn't pull a Nintendo and have them come to Nintendo thing. They also offered very good developer support to these game developers another thing that Nintendo had been lacking in (a HUGE reason they lost FF VII was Nintendo unwilling to help with restrictions of game size and help making the code really function on the system).

Secondly Sony made the system affordable. After a failed 3DO that no retailer liked thanks to its 700 buck pricetag and the SURPRISE that Sega gave to retailers with their Saturn and a complete lack of advertising, Sony took it upon themselves to market the system like no ones business. They bought prime shelf space from retailers and gave them a level of comfort that other game companies just wern't in that era. Seeing this support from such a stron electronics company didn't do anything but solidify Sony's moves.

Thirdly these new games LOOKED good* (for the time, now they look dated... very very dated) and blew away anything that had been hitting the shelves before it. a 3D football, baseball, basketball games.... a fast racing game that looked good, a lack of bad looking FMV games that only led people to think of the 3DO or the Sega CD, good arcade fighters and the list goes on and on. The games were cheaper than their counterparts and within a year there was something like 100+ games, far more than most other systems could hope to pull off.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I'd say it was a matter of "The right product at the right place and at the right time". The competition (Saturn & N64) was definately underwhelming after the Genny and SNES. Sega and Nintendo left the door open for Sony to enter the market and dominate. A combination of bad decisions and unmet expectations (on both Sega and Nintendo's part) lead to the PS1's success. Even still, Sony could have screwed up and flopped the system, but they didn't. They took full advantage of the situation because they were hungry for success and had something to prove. Their game library was large and robust with lots of titles in each genre (some great even). Gaming is better for Sony comming in when they did (OMG did I type that?! LOL ) because with just the Saturn and N64 available we may not be where we are today.

[otaku]

I have no idea why, personally never got into the system- i tried because everyone else loved it so much but I couldn't. Liked it sure but I liked the dreamcast and saturn more (n64 also) not a huge PS2 fan either

Actually my favorite sony system of all time thus far has been PSP but console wise the 360 is dominating (and wii) over the technically brilliant PS3 in my mind

I think it did well though cause it had so many games from all genres and along with alot of junk there was a lot of quality to. Sony has built a solid brand indeed though probably still not as solid as nintendos

[NEOFREAK9189]

I got ps1 for this
Ridge Racer
mortal kombat 3
tekken
Resident Evil
Tomb Raider
Toshinden

[JerseyDevil65]

The Playstation was the first system that made it cool to be an older gamer. Nowadays its perfectly OK to be 42 and play videogames, it wasn't always that way. The Playstation changed all that.

That being said, the main reason it was so successful was the games.

[tritium]

I remember the system was $200 and new games were $40, Greatest hits were $20. It had a lot of variety, in comparison to everything else, it wasnt the fastest car on the road, but it sure had everything else.

[jajaja]

Tell that to someone playing Goldeneye for the first time today, as opposed to back in 1997.

Hehe true that. I didnt own a N64 back in the days, but i do remember the Goldeneye commercials and playing it at my cuousin's house. I played Goldeneye again some months ago and thought "damn.. how did we think this gfx was great back in the days?" hehe. Same goes for numerous of PSX games. Some 3d games have aged terribly, unfortunately :\

[Technosis]

I for one am really glad that the PlayStation did as well as it did, given what the alternative was at the time......

[mailman187666]

I think one of the reasons it took off better than saturn was mainly the bad taste they left for thier last 2 failed systems (sega CD, 32X). They were good systems but they died too soon. That turned a lot of people off from Sega's machine. Then since it was Sony's first machine in the games market, I think people were a bit more curious as to what they could come out with for a machine. I think the only thing it had over the N64 back then was that N64 was cartridge and most people were aware at the time that cartridge games held less info, didn't have as good of sound quality, and cost more per game.

[UniHamachi]

The Playstation launch wasn't as successful as it's made out to be. If you look at the actual unit sales for the launch period, it wasn't a whole lot. But, console launches in general were never that big up to that point.

I think Playstation was so successful partly because no other system could be.

3DO was a victim of itself. Although a decent idea on paper, the entire concept behind it was fatally flawed. It never went anywhere, and not just because of the price. There was almost no marketing for the system itself -- The 3DO Company didn't market it because they didn't sell systems, and Panasonic/Goldstar/etc. marketed their units about as much as they marketed their laserdisc players. Game-wise, it had some notable stuff from 3DO itself, as well as EA and Crystal Dynamics, and a few scattered PC ports, but nothing that really sold people on it. By the time Playstation came out, the 3DO's fate was all but sealed.

The Jaguar fared even worse, and it was pretty much dead by the Playstation launch. The JTS merger happened shortly thereafter. Amiga CD32 was a similar situation, dying with the collapse of its parent company (although it was partly due to component supply issues, Commodore still would've gone bankrupt soon enough).

Saturn had all sorts of problems. Even though console launches weren't the big deal then that they are now, the Saturn's blunder of a "launch" was a PR disaster. They didn't have enough units or enough software; the lineup was unanimously panned and the retailers who were excluded from the launch were alienated. Debuting at $399 was a horrible move not just for the pricing at that time, but for mindshare. Even though the lineup, price, and availability were all "fixed" in September, the horrible impression of the May launch remained in everyone's minds (and price drops were viewed as "desperate"). To this day everyone remembers the $399 price even though it was only that much for a relatively brief period of time, and people still remember the Saturn as having been more expensive than Playstation when that's not the case.

Aside from the early launch, Saturn suffered from overall poor marketing. One commercial for the September re-launch touted the Saturn's "revolutionary sports and arcade gameplay". Most people don't want a console that just plays sports and arcade games, they want a console with variety. Saturn's actual lineup at that point was just as varied as Playstation's, but while Sony touted their variety, Sega practically downplayed it. Saturn marketing/advertising was consistently lackluster over its entire lifespan (with the exception of the memorable NiGHTS commercial). In spite of itself, Saturn did somewhat okay that Christmas in '95. Playstation soundly outsold it, but the margin was slightly under 2:1 (iirc), meaning Saturn, at that time, would have a somewhat decent position that generation. It was doing better than 3DO or Jaguar ever did. SNES outsold the lot of them, however.

Saturn's problems were myriad -- poor development tools, ridiculous internal politics at Sega, delays and cancellations of would-be hits, failure to translate some of its biggest Japanese games to Western markets, etc. The system continued to suffer from them, despite some bright spots. It had a strong showing at E3 '96, but that didn't translate to summer sales.

And then N64 came out. After a poor showing in Japan, N64 sold a lot of units at launch in North America, far more than Playstation had. But that holiday season, Playstation overtook it in sales (although N64 was a strong second). N64 suffered from an overall and continuing lack of software, the cartridge format itself, the higher game prices due to the cartridge format, and the lack of third party support (most were skeptical about the "dream team"). But at launch, Mario 64 caused such a stir that units sold on the strength of one game. Saturn was effortlessly relegated to third place; although, in Q4 '96 it wasn't that distant of a third place (thanks to a decent push of games), and it was often opined that all three consoles could coexist.

Long story long, 1997 came, and Playstation soared ahead. Playstations flew off the shelves in greater numbers, and the console had hit after hit. N64 just kind of leveled out, in large part due to overall lack of software (but also due to game prices, cartridges, and some image problems); it would never seriously challenge the Playstation. Saturn sharply nosedived, with Bernie Stolar determined to kill it as quickly as possible. With the cancellation of the M2 (lol), there was nothing around to give the Playstation a run for its money.

The end.
j_factor is right and there's little left to be said. I had written the same thing on my Treo but it crashed when I was trying to post. Just to add, the kiddy label on the N64 didn't help either.

Oh, and the single game that legitimized the PSX was Battle Arena Toshinden. It blew VF out of the water visually, and I remember a lot of gamers getting a PSX for BAT alone. Funny thing is, the game never became a successful franchise and after Tekken was released, BAT was openly mocked for being shallow and crappy. But at the time, it was the shizznit.

[Jimid2]

Ya, I remember resisiting the PlayStation on release: I owned a Saturn and thought it would be enough - who needs to dump $300 bones on a system from a company that's never done video games before (well, I did play Hook to completion on the Sega CD, but I digress...) So I went with a friend to pick up his on launch day and we played Toshinden and Ridge Racer, and I lasted about three weeks before I broke down and bought my own... The price was right but it was the games that did it! Word of mouth and first hand exposure made believers out of a huge number of gamers... Ridge Racer had such an effect on me that it is still my favorite arcade racing franchise...

[Rob2600]

Mod chips. Up until then video game piracy wasn't exactly easy.

Exactly. The act of pirating PlayStation games became really popular a couple of years after it was released. Many people who would come into my store bought PlayStation consoles for the sole reason that they could copy their friends' games for free.

The general attitude (at least in northern NJ) circa 1997 to 2001 was "Sure, anti-aliasing is nice...so is four-player gameplay...but I can't copy N64 games for free, so I'm buying a PlayStation instead." People don't mind pixelated graphics, twitchy polygons, and long load times when the games are given to them for free.

It the same thing with pirated music. Pirated MP3s don't sound as good as original CDs, but they're free, so people don't mind the technologically inferior quality.

It had gotten so bad that children would send their parents to my store to buy mod chips. We would tell them we don't sell mod chips and that pirating video games is illegal. The parents didn't really know what the mod chips were for and were always surprised by our answer. "My nine-year-old son is involved in illegal activities? He's in trouble when I get home!"


I think the only thing it had over the N64 back then was that N64 was cartridge and most people were aware at the time that cartridge games held less info, didn't have as good of sound quality, and cost more per game.

Why do people insist that video game music on cartridges can't be good? Many Nintendo 64 games feature tons of clear, high quality voice acting. Some are even mixed in Dolby Pro-Logic surround sound. Haven't you ever played N64 games like Jet Force Gemini, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Tetrisphere, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Perfect Dark? Those games sound fantastic. Play those games using at least a decent-quality sound system and you'll be impressed.

Overall, Konami, Rare, Factor 5, and Capcom N64 games sound great. Even Nintendo's own N64 games sound very good (StarFox 64, 1080 Snowboarding, F-Zero X, etc.).

No, not every Nintendo 64 game sounds amazing, but that isn't the fault of cartridges. It's the fault of bad audio engineers and programmers.

[Slate]

I believe that it was because there were more (And good) Games on it at the time. The saturn came out too early and there weren't any new releases for a LONG time and the N64 didn't have much going on either.

[MASTERWEEDO]

Nintendo kinda shot themselves in the foot when their deal with Sony went bad. I woyuld have liked to see the Snes cd games.

Crash Bandicoot was also a reason that just about everyone had a Playstation, that and Final Fantasy series.

The ability to have a multi disc game was great, cartridge games could only be so big.

[Rob2600]

I would have liked to see the Snes cd games.

I'm curious about what the SNES CD games would have been like, too.


Crash Bandicoot was also a reason that just about everyone had a Playstation

For what it's worth, the popularity of the first few Crash Bandicoot games was the result of good marketing, not good gameplay. Nobody cares about that franchise anymore because the actual games weren't revolutionary or unique.


The ability to have a multi disc game was great, cartridge games could only be so big.

N64 games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Shadow Man, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Paper Mario were just as long as any multi-CD PlayStation game.

[gepeto]

When the psx came out it was at the top of videogame frenzy. The snes was running on all thrusters Metroid,starfox,Mortal Kombat 2,3, The psx was released a year earlier in japan. The stores in new york was selling them I bought the system tekken and an extra controller for 750.00.

My apt was the place to be for years. When everyone saw and played tekken was hooked that was all she wrote. All they had left to do was figure how to get the money to buy it. Battle arena toshiden was over hyped to the max. All it really had was the side step. It had reviewers in the pocket. Claiming the greatest ever.

I was able to sell the system for 500.00 1 month before the us launch.
Like the genesis everyone was waiting and watching ever game that was released. The initial run had tons of fmv like total eclispe but then gameday came out and in Nba in the zone.

Sony also offered cheap royalty fees and was letting anyone practically develop for them unlike nintendos take it or leave it high price. The cd based opened the door for demos and the psx underground.

[NEOFREAK9189]

[QUOTE=Rob2600;1258872]I'm curious about what the SNES CD games would have been like, too.


playstation 1 is the SNES CD system

[UniHamachi]

SNES did textured polygons?

[Promophile]

It was successful because it had good games. period. That and Sega's ineptitude.

[Gentlegamer]

The ability to have a multi disc game was great, cartridge games could only be so big.Multi disc games for the PlayStation contained more non-interactive pre-rendered cut scenes, not more game-play.

[Barbarianoutkast85]

@*$&^#*#$, That's the type of mentality that brings down consoles.

Why should you care if it looks outdated?

"oh, it's old."
"oh, it has last gen graphics."
"oh, It's different from what I'm used to."

People need to grow up!

I think consoles should be based on the games.
not the amount
not OTHER morons
or on the media.

and, yes. I agree with those who thought the PSX was going to die. With my experience of it. I was only hype.

I think YOU need to grow up and stopping flaming people for having a different opion than you. I have 15 consoles and I play them all, but when I go to play some PS1 games I just dont want to play them, becuase the graphics have aged so badly, It's not that I dont like the Playstation or the Saturn. Anywho I think a noob that's only been a member for a month or two shouldnt be flaming people because they dont like the same things that you like.

[Kevincal]

Playstation was so successfull for the simple fact that it had a ton of killer games come out within the first few months of being released. :) I should know as I got mine on launch day and proceeded to buy up a bunch of the classics. Needless to say I was VERY happy. :)

[7th lutz]

Marketing was one of the factors.

In that era, Sony won because Nintendo and sega were shooting themselves in the foot.

Nintendo didn't go the cd format for the n64. It was one of the reasons why 3rd parties left nintendo for Sony like Square Soft. Cd were cheaper the cartridges.

Final Fantasy 7 was one of the reasons why the ps 1 was sucessful. I am pretty sure that Final Fantasy 7 was one the top 5 system sellers on the playstation 1. Square marketed the game very well. It was the game that made rpgs mainstream, something that Sega didn't think it was possible in North America.

[Greg2600]

Marketing was huge, perhaps the number 1 factor. After the Genesis dried up, SEGA's marketing went away and they proceeded to release one snafu after the other. And Nintendo was busy preparing the N64 so they let the SNES slide (which was never as popular as the NES or Genesis at their heights). So Sony stepped into the void with a product several companies already had released (Saturn, Jaguar, Neo Geo, 3D0, etc.). A next generation system. Real video cutscenes, textured polygons, and much much more realism. Now most of these games were simultaneously available on PC with better graphics and sound, and some internet multiplayer. But kids weren't using computers back then for games. Computers were still just expensive type writers (pre-WWW). I was never a Playstation fan, because I had largely moved into computer games at that time, but I played Gran Turismo, ESPN xGames, EA Madden, Tomb Raider, etc.) And the PS1 was extremely popular in Japan. To me, the Saturn was a better system, but Sony spent more money on ads.