Was there a dominating system that DIDN'T have the most RPGs

[Sylentwulf]

Was there ever a dominating system that DID NOT have more RPG's than it's competitors?

NES had more than SMS
Playstation 1 + 2 both had more than their rivals
Gameboy and it's succesors had quite a bit of RPG's (especially vcoming from nintendo, even if none of them were MADE by nintendo)

[Captain Wrong]

How about the Genesis?

[jaybird]

Yup, Genesis gets my vote.

Although it dominated the 1st half of its war with the SNES, it lost ground & eventually ended up in a virtual tie with the SNES after the dust settled.

So it's debatable whether it fits the bill of "dominating its competition."

[boatofcar]

How about the Genesis?


Shining Force/Phantasy Star vs. Final Fantasy and... Chrono Trigger? Super Mario RPG? The Genesis/SNES dominance question has never really been answered anyway, but I think that if you're implying (sp?) that the Genny was the dominant console, then the number of RPGs would just about equal the ones on the SNES, unless I'm forgetting a ton of them somehow.

[zmeston]

Was there ever a dominating system that DID NOT have more RPG's than it's competitors?

NES had more than SMS
Playstation 1 + 2 both had more than their rivals
Gameboy and it's succesors had quite a bit of RPG's (especially vcoming from nintendo, even if none of them were MADE by nintendo)

An interesting observation -- although if you're implying that the dominant systems did so because of RPG surpluses, you're quite wrong. It comes down to the simple fact the most dominant systems have the largest libraries, and thus have the most RPGs by default.

Also, the 2600 dominated despite having only a handful of proto-RPGs (Adventure, Raiders of the Lost Ark) in its library, and the PS2 is currently dominating thanks to Grand Theft Auto and Gran Turismo; RPGs are still WAAAAY behind shooters and drivers and sports games in terms of U.S. sales.

RPGs were in very short supply at this year's E3, on a barely-related note. Everyone else seems to have ceded the category to Square Enix, and wisely so. (Sony barely touched upon the HDD at its press conference and apparently pissed off Square, which wants to ship Final Fantasy XI Online sooner rather than later.)

-- Z.

[Arrrhalomynn]

Indeed... This raises the question: Was there ever a dominating system that DID NOT have more sport games than it's competitors? Or maybe racing games. Or Fighting games.

[Captain Wrong]

An interesting observation -- although if you're implying that the dominant systems did so because of RPG surpluses, you're quite wrong. It comes down to the simple fact the most dominant systems have the largest libraries, and thus have the most RPGs by default.

I think Zach is on the money there.

As for my mentioning the Genny, I don't follow RPGs so other than Phantasy Star, I couldn't think of one. All I know is RPG fans sometimes speak of the SNES as the promised land, and I'm pretty sure by most estimates the Genny dominated that particular console war.

And I think Arrrhalomynn raises a good point too. Here in the US, I'd be so bold as to say sports games far surpass the importaince of RPGs. I know there are people who will dissagree with me based on personal preference or whatever, but I really don't think, at least in the US, RPGs are a determining factor in a console's sucess or failure.

[Sylentwulf]

re: arrrhal - Yes.

SNES vs. Genesis, as was stated, there really wasn't a clear "winner" between the 2, so I didn't mention it. Pre-Nintendo, I'd be interested in knowing, I can't really think of ANY RPG's on ANY of the systems :) Maybe swordquest, or AD&D, or that one Aswald is always talking about.

The sports questions is irrelevant, because all platforms have all sports, pretty much said and done. The Master system had better racing games didn't it? As did the saturn? Same with Fighting games, SNES was better, but the 7800 probly beat the NES for chrissakes, And again, the Dreamcast probably had better fighting games... (Per volume, the PS1 had some good ones, but a LOT of shitty ones)

[zmeston]

And I think Arrrhalomynn raises a good point too. Here in the US, I'd be so bold as to say sports games far surpass the importaince of RPGs. I know there are people who will dissagree with me based on personal preference or whatever, but I really don't think, at least in the US, RPGs are a determining factor in a console's sucess or failure.

No boldness required -- the sales figures back you up all the way. And from a historical perspective, EA's sports games (John Madden Football especially) were far more important to the success of the Genesis than were RPGs to the SNES.

-- Z.

[hydr0x]

the genny didn't win the war worldwide, only in the us and even there not very clear, in europe it was a clear win for snes, so i'd say worldwide winner is snes/sfc, and if u count jap-rpgs (and u have to) the snes/sfc had by far more rpgs

[anagrama]

in europe it was a clear win for snes

Huh? By the time Nintendo finally deigned us worthy of slowed-down, bordered games in April 1992, the Megadrive already had a pretty firm stronghold (although probably not quite as much as in the US, due to the European sucess of the 16-bit computers), and while, like in the US, the SNES quickly gained ground, I don't think it's fair to say it was a clear win.

[Sylentwulf]

Y...O...U...

You. - Noun. Spoken directly to a third party.

Used in a sentance - You can type out the word you because it doesn't take you a long time to type you.

[hydr0x]

in europe it was a clear win for snes

Huh? By the time Nintendo finally deigned us worthy of slowed-down, bordered games in April 1992, the Megadrive already had a pretty firm stronghold (although probably not quite as much as in the US, due to the European sucess of the 16-bit computers), and while, like in the US, the SNES quickly gained ground, I don't think it's fair to say it was a clear win.

well, i know that it was even in the uk, but this doesn't go for continental europe (like xbox is doing better in the uk than in "europe")
eg you can find 10 times as many snes as md in the wild/on ebay here in germany and i know that a lot of stores did not even sell md

[Nature Boy]

I don't think RPGs themselves are the key. It's third party support, of which RPGs tend to be exclusively designated for a given console. Sony has had Square in their pocket, which means if you're a fan of them you've got to buy a PS1/PS2.

Genesis was definitely the console to get if you wanted sports games, but not because it was the *only* console with EA games. It was just that they were implemented better on the Genesis than on the SNES.

Today I don't really think there's much difference in sports games from one console to the next. I buy 'em on Xbox, because it has four controller ports (without a multitap) and a hard drive (for saving season data, which can be a memory card hog). But the RPG world is still the same: it'll be interesting to see if Crystal Chronicles does anything for the 'cube (there are going to be FF fan boys out there who grab a 'cube for sure).

As far as the pre-NES days, the genre was still in it's infancy to be sure. Not sure any of that info is relevant.

[zmeston]

Genesis was definitely the console to get if you wanted sports games, but not because it was the *only* console with EA games. It was just that they were implemented better on the Genesis than on the SNES.

The Genesis was the only console with Madden for a while, and by the time EA started porting Madden to the SNES, the Genesis was already established as the sports gamers' system of choice. Also, as you say, the Genesis versions simply played better.


Today I don't really think there's much difference in sports games from one console to the next. I buy 'em on Xbox, because it has four controller ports (without a multitap) and a hard drive (for saving season data, which can be a memory card hog). But the RPG world is still the same: it'll be interesting to see if Crystal Chronicles does anything for the 'cube (there are going to be FF fan boys out there who grab a 'cube for sure).

The major difference between the sports games this year is that EA Sports' online play is exclusive to the PS2. (Apparently, last year's PS2 Madden had a larger online community than SOCOM, so Sony was most pleased to have that community all to itself this year.) EA is hyping the USB-headset "trash-talking" feature, which I couldn't care less about; I'm not a big fan of online gaming in general, and certainly don't expect the experience to improve if a 13-year-old in Hoboken calls me a fag every time he scores a touchdown.

-- Z.

[hydr0x]

Genesis was definitely the console to get if you wanted sports games, but not because it was the *only* console with EA games. It was just that they were implemented better on the Genesis than on the SNES.

The Genesis was the only console with Madden for a while, and by the time EA started porting Madden to the SNES, the Genesis was already established as the sports gamers' system of choice. Also, as you say, the Genesis versions simply played better.

i think this is one of the main reasons why the genny was more successfull in the us than in europe, MADDEN, noone really NO ONE cares about madden in europe, this has changed a bit since back then due to nfl europe, but not much, all european sports were covered good enough on snes

[Kid Fenris]

I've always found that RPGs are only a great influence in Japanese system wars, where it's just a matter of which console has the major properties. For example, the Saturn actually came out of the gate with more RPGs than the PlayStation, hosting titles like Magic Knight Rayearth, The Legend of Oasis, and the successful Sakura Wars. However, once the PSX landed both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest as exclusives, Sega's RPG stockpile (Look! We have Tengai Makyo IV!) didn't do them an ounce of good.

As for the Genesis-SNES war, I was under the impression that the Genesis started out ahead, but the SNES broke into the lead around late 1994, as Sega tried to parlay the Genny's success into the 32X and other ventures. RPGs clearly weren't a key element of the American 16-bit battle, but it's interesting to note that the PC-Engine/Turbografx dominated the Genesis/Mega Drive in Japan, possibly because of a superior selection of role-players.

[Nature Boy]

i think this is one of the main reasons why the genny was more successfull in the us than in europe, MADDEN, noone really NO ONE cares about madden in europe, this has changed a bit since back then due to nfl europe, but not much, all european sports were covered good enough on snes

To split hairs a bit, it was the NHL series that put the Genny on top in Canada. Madden gets bought here but not nearly as much as the NHL franchise.

Unfortunately nobody had a really good soccer game until 3DO (here anyway) :D

[hydr0x]

i think this is one of the main reasons why the genny was more successfull in the us than in europe, MADDEN, noone really NO ONE cares about madden in europe, this has changed a bit since back then due to nfl europe, but not much, all european sports were covered good enough on snes

To split hairs a bit, it was the NHL series that put the Genny on top in Canada. Madden gets bought here but not nearly as much as the NHL franchise.

Unfortunately nobody had a really good soccer game until 3DO (here anyway) :D

well, nhl didn't matter in europe back then either, this is in fact the case for every us sport (baseball,football,icehockey,basketball) game. these sports are not very popular over here, they have become more popular but they still aren't any competition for soccer

[anagrama]

well, nhl didn't matter in europe back then...

I'd dispute this personally. While the sports themselves are/were not huge, the videogame incarnations were big in the early 90's.
The Madden games, especially the first couple, had a hell of an impact, as far as showing what console-based sports games were capable of at the time, and were big sellers, at least in the UK, as were EA/NHL Hockey and some of the basketball games. Only baseball really stiffed.

Also,


all european sports were covered good enough on snes

is also something of a dubious statement. IIRC, when FIFA debuted on the Megadrive it was HUGE news.
The SNES versions were almost uniformly later (poorer) ports. Don't think I'm having a go at the SNES here, it's just obvious if you compare the two side-by-side. The simple fact is that the faster processor of the Megadrive meant it was better equipped for sports games.

[le geek]

Well the obvious exception is the Atari 2600. It had neither the most rpgs or the best sports games (intellivision). But it did have the most 3rd party support.

As far as clear winners as the predominent consoles of their time, we have:

Atari 2600
NES
Playstation
and Playstation 2

I think the 16 bit stuff will always be debateable...

Cheers,
Ben