WelcomeToTheNextLevel
08-07-2019, 02:36 AM
This is about as far back as we can go with the game companies' websites, but here's what the video game companies had on the internet in late 1996, the early 32-bit generation. All are loaded with cheesy '90s graphics.
Sega (December 19, 1996)
https://web.archive.org/web/19961219232819/http://www.sega.com/
Automatically downloads a "Sega scream", don't worry, it's only 3 kilobytes. No surprises here, they're pimping the Saturn but there's still some information on the Genesis, Game Gear, Genesis Nomad, Sega CD, Pico, and 32X (!). You can also find information on the Sega PC division, Sega was pushing PC games at this time as well. (Remember that?) One section concerning Saturn games is "10 Third Party Hits for the Holiday Season" and then they list off all the third parties they have... isn't that one of the things that sunk the Saturn, insufficient third party support? From the appearance of this website, this paints a picture of a fairly healthy Saturn, which it still was in '96 but things would get a lot worse in '97. Lots of game contests (long expired, obviously) as well. Overall mostly an accurate picture as to the state of Sega at the time, but there's still some fluff, and some outdated fluff (such as the hardware pages for the CD and 32X)
Nintendo (December 22, 1996)
https://web.archive.org/web/19961222145141/http://www.nintendo.com/hallway/index.html
The featured article is "The Search for Nintendo 64" where they say "It's tough out there searching for Nintendo 64 systems". Damn. They were a hot commodity for the holiday season of 1996. They mention that they're shipping N64's to stores on a weekly basis but that they don't sell directly to consumers. Almost all the headlining information goes toward the N64, you have to dig a little bit to get to the SNES. Nintendo was number one in the console market and they knew it.They also still have the Virtual Boy on there, now at 100 bucks, although honestly who was paying 100 bucks for a Virtual Boy in late 1996?
Sony (December 22, 1996)
https://web.archive.org/web/19961222201957/http://www.sepc.sony.com/SCEA/nfindex.html
There was no generational shifting, no different lines of products here: just the PlayStation, a very strong second in the console race at the time (and would become first once the initial N64 demand cooled off in '97). They show off the technical specs of their console, have a list of press releases going back to early 1995 and the preparation for PlayStation launch (a wealth of information here!). Crash Bandicoot seems to be the leading game they're pushing, but there are plenty of others. There is a list of all titles, more contests, etc. They're not as "hey, we have third parties!" as Sega, but they still clearly show a wide range of third parties supporting their system (and history shows their third parties stuck with them).
3DO (October 23, 1996)
https://web.archive.org/web/19961023021433/http://www2.3do.com/
A couple months earlier. The focus seems to be on the M2 (vaporware...) but there are a showcase of 3DO games. It seems that by this point 3DO realized they were going to need to go third-party and Meridian 59, a PC game, is showcased prominently, as well as "Studio 3DO" which was shipping a few PC games. Not quite as advanced of a website as Sega, Nintendo, or Sony had at the time.
Atari (October 29, 1996)
https://web.archive.org/web/19961029111031/http://www.atari.com/
And we have a website for Atari, "last updated September 25, 1996". Surprisingly optimistic website for a dead system. The "new software" has two games that were then nearly a year old. There's a press release about the JT Storage merger. The "third party" release section has two releases over a year old. The hardware section says it's up to 100 times faster than 16 bit systems like SNES and Genesis. Also, there's still a Lynx section.
Sega (December 19, 1996)
https://web.archive.org/web/19961219232819/http://www.sega.com/
Automatically downloads a "Sega scream", don't worry, it's only 3 kilobytes. No surprises here, they're pimping the Saturn but there's still some information on the Genesis, Game Gear, Genesis Nomad, Sega CD, Pico, and 32X (!). You can also find information on the Sega PC division, Sega was pushing PC games at this time as well. (Remember that?) One section concerning Saturn games is "10 Third Party Hits for the Holiday Season" and then they list off all the third parties they have... isn't that one of the things that sunk the Saturn, insufficient third party support? From the appearance of this website, this paints a picture of a fairly healthy Saturn, which it still was in '96 but things would get a lot worse in '97. Lots of game contests (long expired, obviously) as well. Overall mostly an accurate picture as to the state of Sega at the time, but there's still some fluff, and some outdated fluff (such as the hardware pages for the CD and 32X)
Nintendo (December 22, 1996)
https://web.archive.org/web/19961222145141/http://www.nintendo.com/hallway/index.html
The featured article is "The Search for Nintendo 64" where they say "It's tough out there searching for Nintendo 64 systems". Damn. They were a hot commodity for the holiday season of 1996. They mention that they're shipping N64's to stores on a weekly basis but that they don't sell directly to consumers. Almost all the headlining information goes toward the N64, you have to dig a little bit to get to the SNES. Nintendo was number one in the console market and they knew it.They also still have the Virtual Boy on there, now at 100 bucks, although honestly who was paying 100 bucks for a Virtual Boy in late 1996?
Sony (December 22, 1996)
https://web.archive.org/web/19961222201957/http://www.sepc.sony.com/SCEA/nfindex.html
There was no generational shifting, no different lines of products here: just the PlayStation, a very strong second in the console race at the time (and would become first once the initial N64 demand cooled off in '97). They show off the technical specs of their console, have a list of press releases going back to early 1995 and the preparation for PlayStation launch (a wealth of information here!). Crash Bandicoot seems to be the leading game they're pushing, but there are plenty of others. There is a list of all titles, more contests, etc. They're not as "hey, we have third parties!" as Sega, but they still clearly show a wide range of third parties supporting their system (and history shows their third parties stuck with them).
3DO (October 23, 1996)
https://web.archive.org/web/19961023021433/http://www2.3do.com/
A couple months earlier. The focus seems to be on the M2 (vaporware...) but there are a showcase of 3DO games. It seems that by this point 3DO realized they were going to need to go third-party and Meridian 59, a PC game, is showcased prominently, as well as "Studio 3DO" which was shipping a few PC games. Not quite as advanced of a website as Sega, Nintendo, or Sony had at the time.
Atari (October 29, 1996)
https://web.archive.org/web/19961029111031/http://www.atari.com/
And we have a website for Atari, "last updated September 25, 1996". Surprisingly optimistic website for a dead system. The "new software" has two games that were then nearly a year old. There's a press release about the JT Storage merger. The "third party" release section has two releases over a year old. The hardware section says it's up to 100 times faster than 16 bit systems like SNES and Genesis. Also, there's still a Lynx section.