Sega Saturn Vs Sony Playstation 1

[The Penultimate Ninja]

I can't see the point in getting a Saturn when there's the Dreamcast - all the arcade ports but better

With the possible exception of the Panzer Dragoon series , there was no real reason to own a Saturn instead of a PS1.

PS1 had as many decent arcade conversions as Saturn ,and in many cases were better- Tekken , Ridge Racer , Time Crisis imho were better
than Virtua Fighter , Sega Rally , Virtua Cop

I was always a Virtua Cop, Sega Rally and Virtua Fighter man myself, they were some of my favourite arcade games at the time.
I didn't have enough money at the time to buy a PS1 too,l so those other series don't really mean much to me. The flagship games like Final Fantasy and MGS never really floated my boat either.


If you like 2D fighters, there is a very good case to be made for owning a Saturn.
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/2006/05/ ... brary.html

I would recommend anyone buying a Saturn to find Dragon Force, Sega Ages vol 1 (outrun, afterburner & space harrier), Guardian Heroes, Burning Rangers, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Fighting Vipers, Virtua On, Athlete Kings...

There's no arguing that the PS1 had a much larger library, although since I didn't get into PS1 games until I got a PS2, I'm not great at sorting the good stuff from the shovelware.

[Shin_Gouki]

Both are quality consoles. Both have excellent exclusives worth getting. The PlayStation wins the race because of the plethora of top releases. However, I don't think there is such thing as a bad console, people just have this perception when a machine has rubbish games and poor support.

[oli_lar]

Only really use my Saturn for the likes of Layer Section, Battle Garegga and Dodonpachi and their sort - I have a handful of PAL games but found them pretty dire.

[StarEye]

I never owned a Saturn, tbh. But until the PS1, I'd only used a PC and an Amiga for gaming - mostly an Amiga. In 1997 or so, I decided to get a Playstation, and it was the turning point of my opinion on consoles. First game I got was Grand Theft Auto (I'd only played the pc demo until then), and spent many hours on it. Eventually, I learn I could put a modchip in it, to play copied games. I was back into gaming bigtime, like back when I got my C64, around 1990. In 1997, the Amiga game scene wasn't exactly flourishing, so when I got a PS1 and so man games to choose from, it was like rediscovering gaming.

I also discovered jrpgs through my encounter with Final Fantasy VII.

Apart from the ones I mentioned, some of my favourites on the PS1 includes Metal Gear Solid, Tekken 3, Kensei: Sacred Fist, Final Fantasy VIII, IX and Chrono Cross, Gran Turismo, Need For Speed III, Discworld and Broken Sword (until I played the PC versions, that is), Demolition Racer, Driver 1 and 2, Destruction Derby, Final Fantasy Tactics etc etc. To me, Playstation is a turning point for me, and although I'm not fond of Sony's strategy for the PS3, I'm still looking very much forward to it. I've said to myself that I won't be getting one at least until august, but I'm sceptical to wether I'm able to hold myself back for that long.

[will2097]

Yeah, you're right. The Saturn was the most awesome, amazing....OH WOW! LOOK OVER THERE! CAN YOU SEE THAT!? IT'S PARAPPA THE RAPPER DANCING ON THE BURNING HUSKS OF A BILLION IMPLODED SATURNS!!!

...is he dancing with a little spikey blond haired lad and chap calling himself Snake?

[bolda]

To be fair, the Saturn was quite innovative in that it included built-in system memory for storing games and the expansion slot could be used for a RAM upgrade pack to boost system performance, as well as an extra memory \"card\"... things that the PS1 didn't support to my knowledge, apart from memory cards.

Also, the built-in audio CD player on the Saturn had that cool space ship flying around, better than the PS1 CD player IMO.

[Sega2006]

To be fair, the Saturn was quite innovative in that it included built-in system memory for storing games and the expansion slot could be used for a RAM upgrade pack to boost system performance, as well as an extra memory "card"... things that the PS1 didn't support to my knowledge, apart from memory cards.

Also, the built-in audio CD player on the Saturn had that cool space ship flying around, better than the PS1 CD player IMO.

The PS1 had a boreing sh1tty grey screen, and no VCD playback either. The PS1 was just a Games system, the Saturn was a full Home intertainment system crammed into one little box.

[paranoid marvin]

the Saturn may have been great for 2D,but Sega introduced it at just the time that people were turning to 3D gaming

- weirdly Sega introduced the 32X so that the MD could provide this 3D power,then brought out the Saturn which was 2D heavy

Just look at Tomb Raider , one of the most beatiful looking games for PS1 , just looked horrible on Saturn

By the time Sega realised this , and released the DC , it was too late

[Magic Knight]

To be fair, the Saturn was quite innovative in that it included built-in system memory for storing games and the expansion slot could be used for a RAM upgrade pack to boost system performance, as well as an extra memory "card"... things that the PS1 didn't support to my knowledge, apart from memory cards.

Also, the built-in audio CD player on the Saturn had that cool space ship flying around, better than the PS1 CD player IMO.

The PS1 had a boreing sh1tty grey screen, and no VCD playback either. The PS1 was just a Games system, the Saturn was a full Home intertainment system crammed into one little box.

Extras are all well and good but consoles live or die on their games. Which is why the PS1 sold 240 billion consoles compared to 12 Saturns.*




* The above figures may or may not be accurate.

[paranoid marvin]

To be fair, the Saturn was quite innovative in that it included built-in system memory for storing games and the expansion slot could be used for a RAM upgrade pack to boost system performance, as well as an extra memory "card"... things that the PS1 didn't support to my knowledge, apart from memory cards.

Also, the built-in audio CD player on the Saturn had that cool space ship flying around, better than the PS1 CD player IMO.

The PS1 had a boreing sh1tty grey screen, and no VCD playback either. The PS1 was just a Games system, the Saturn was a full Home intertainment system crammed into one little box.

Extras are all well and good but consoles live or die on their games. Which is why the PS1 sold 240 billion consoles compared to 12 Saturns.*




* The above figures may or may not be accurate.

exactly - I still stand by the opinion that if EA had been supportive in software for the DC it may have been a success - the lack of FIFA in particular was a devastating blow

[Cabal]

I hate to say it but the Playstation deserved to win that perticular console war. Sega simply did not respect their customers during the Saturn life span and saved their best games for last. And as for the mucking about with the 32X and MegaCD - they were taking the mickey. Sega got what they deserved.

As for the Saturn itself - it was rather cool. A 2D machine rather than a 3D one, it produced some nice games. Nights, Burning Rangers, ShinobiX and the awesome Panzer Dragoon Saga( and previous games ) showed it was capable of some incredible visuals.

My fondest memory of the Saturn was walking into currys and asking them to fetch me one only to have the man say \"I seriously wouldn't recommend it as the playstation is much better.\"
I then said \"I already have a playstation thanks - just like to play a few games that are only avaliable for the Saturn. You wouldn't happen to have Panzer Dragoon or Nights would you?\".

I really think that if Sega had not of messed about with the 32X and MegaCD the Saturn would have been more successful. As soon as these add-ons came onto the scene Sega were doomed. Not even the Dreamcast could save them.

[paranoid marvin]

I hate to say it but the Playstation deserved to win that perticular console war. Sega simply did not respect their customers during the Saturn life span and saved their best games for last. And as for the mucking about with the 32X and MegaCD - they were taking the mickey. Sega got what they deserved.

As for the Saturn itself - it was rather cool. A 2D machine rather than a 3D one, it produced some nice games. Nights, Burning Rangers, ShinobiX and the awesome Panzer Dragoon Saga( and previous games ) showed it was capable of some incredible visuals.

My fondest memory of the Saturn was walking into currys and asking them to fetch me one only to have the man say "I seriously wouldn't recommend it as the playstation is much better."
I then said "I already have a playstation thanks - just like to play a few games that are only avaliable for the Saturn. You wouldn't happen to have Panzer Dragoon or Nights would you?".

I really think that if Sega had not of messed about with the 32X and MegaCD the Saturn would have been more successful. As soon as these add-ons came onto the scene Sega were doomed. Not even the Dreamcast could save them.

and Nintendo would probably have gone the same way after the N64 if it hadn't been for GB/Pokemon

[Utini]

To be fair, the Saturn was quite innovative in that it included built-in system memory for storing games and the expansion slot could be used for a RAM upgrade pack to boost system performance, as well as an extra memory "card"... things that the PS1 didn't support to my knowledge, apart from memory cards.

Also, the built-in audio CD player on the Saturn had that cool space ship flying around, better than the PS1 CD player IMO.

The PS1 had a boreing sh1tty grey screen, and no VCD playback either. The PS1 was just a Games system, the Saturn was a full Home intertainment system crammed into one little box.

Umm... can we get some kind of "What alternate reality does Sega2006 live in" poll together?

PlayStation was the gamers choice of the time, hence its success. It was cheaper, had more proficient hardware, better games and a superior catalouge.

It's also a fact that PlayStation appealed to the hardcore gamer way before Sony started to woo the mass-market.

The fact that it didn't support VCD is entirely irrelevant - I don't think I've ever seen a VCD on sale in this country which wasn't from some dodgy "it's all genuine and official, mate" boot sale.

All this you would realise... had you not been three or whatever at the time.

[oli_lar]

The fact that it didn't support VCD is entirely irrelevant - I don't think I've ever seen a VCD on sale in this country which wasn't from some dodgy "it's all genuine and official, mate" boot sale.

All this you would realise... had you not been three or whatever at the time.

VCD - true

second bit - bit harsh?

[will2097]

To be fair, the Saturn was quite innovative in that it included built-in system memory for storing games and the expansion slot could be used for a RAM upgrade pack to boost system performance, as well as an extra memory "card"... things that the PS1 didn't support to my knowledge, apart from memory cards.

Also, the built-in audio CD player on the Saturn had that cool space ship flying around, better than the PS1 CD player IMO.

To be fair, the 3DO had built in memory for storing games, and it had an expansion slot for extra memory and a VCD cart and it would beat the saturn on the fact you could have 8 controllers with no multi-tap (out of the box) and a headphone socket in the controller. Plus the built-in CD audio-visualiser thingy was better than both the PSX and Saturn. And it was released before the Saturn - so argueably the Saturn wasn't that innovative.

The 3DO failed because the games were rubbish. I suspect this, to a much lesser degree, was the same for the Saturn.