Post by solidbatman on Jun 4, 2010 19:07:35 GMT -5
1993
3DO Interactive Multiplayer
Created by the 3DO company, which was created by the co- founder of EA, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer was an expensive system that failed to establish any real foothold in the console market despite having it's games loaded on CD's rather than smaller cartridges. Despite being named the "1994 Product of the Year" by Time, it was considered the Worst Console Launch of 1993 according to Electronic Gaming Monthly. The 3DO had a launch price of $700 and very little third party support. The console market's saturation of systems along with the lack of developers contributed to the downfall of the 3DO. By the end of 1996, the 3DO was discontinued. A successor called the M2 was going to be released but was scrapped after the failure of the 3DO. The 3DO was manufactured by 4 different manufactures due to a unique licensing plan implemented by 3DO. 3DO would collect a $3 royalty for each game produced. This was much lower than Nintendo or Sega's royalty fee's. 3DO also wanted more than one producer of the system. For this reason, there were different variants of the 3DO.
Atari Jaguar
The Jaguar was Atari's last console that they marketed until 2004 when the Atari Flashback was released. Atari promised early in the development of the Jaguar that their new system would be superior to the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo. The Jaguar was released in select markets in 1993, followed by a nationwide (US) release in early 1994. Initially, the Jaguar outsold it's competitor, the 3DO, but failed to hold the lead. It was considerably cheaper than the 3DO, with a launch price of $250. A number of reason contributed to the Jaguars market failure. The controller for the console was too complex, featuring 15 different buttons. A lack of games, especially launch games, also hurt the console. The lack of games can be attributed to the buggy internal software of the Jaguar. Coding a game for the system was extremely tedious and difficult, so many developers abandoned the console all together. As Atari realized the failure of the system in 1995, they began a campaign to downplay the Nintendo 64 and the Sony Playstation. Atari claimed that the Jaguar was more powerful than the two systems, and ran infomercials to try to raise sales. Nothing worked and in 1996, the Jaguar was discontinued. Atari, already weakened by the Crash of 1983, could not recover from another failure. It was bought in the late '90's by Hasbro Interactive.
Amiga CD32
The Amiga CD32 was the first 32 bit CD based console. Made by Commodore International, it found great success in European markets, most notably in the UK. In European markets the CD32 gained over 50% of the CD- Rom market, outselling powerhouses like Sega and the Mega- CD. The CD32 was originally planned to be sold in the US but due to court battles, Commodore International was banned from importing their products into the US. Amiga CD32's found their way into the US through mail order catalogs and over the US- Canadian border. Despite strong European sales, Commodore International declared bankruptcy in April 1994. The company often found itself unable to keep up with demand due to component supply shortages. The Amiga CD32 also suffered from a lack of games. Most games released on the system were ports of Commodore's Amiga computer games.
1994
Sega Saturn
Released in Japan on November 22, 1994 and in the US on May 11, 1995, the Sega Saturn was a popular system in Japan but a failure in North America and Europe. Original plans for the system called for one 32 bit processor, but with the news that the Sony PlayStation was to be released, Sega added and extra processor. This would hurt Sega later. many game developers found it very difficult to program for two CPUs and turned their support to Sega's competition. The release was hyped in America and many looked forward to getting the new Saturn on the September 2, 1995 release date. However, at the first ever E3 conference, Sega announced that the Saturn would be available immediately. With the PlayStation not set to be released until September 9, 1995, Sega was poised to take a four month lead in sales. Unfortunately, Sega failed to notify game developers and retailers so many of them were caught off guard by the earlier release date. This alienated many retailers such as KB Toys who refused to stock the Saturn at all. Developers, now faced with a hard system to program for and less time to release their game decided against making games for the Saturn. Sales did not sky rocket as expected due to the lack of games and a $399 price tag while the PlayStation was to have a $299 price tag. In 1997, Sega announced that it would begin working on a new system to replace the Saturn. Sales for the Saturn in the US bottomed out and in Japan, where the console fared well, sales plummeted. Many developers in Japan who supported the Saturn were angered by the early discontinuation of the Saturn and refused to support the new system that would become the Dreamcast. The system was discontinued on April 3, 1999 in the US, and in 2000 in Japan. The Sega Saturn featured a double speed CD Rom drive for games and could play audio CD's.
Sony PlayStation
The PlayStation marked Sony's entry into the home console market. Sony used lessons that they learned from their earlier project with Nintendo to make a CD add on for the SNES to make a new console. Sony also planned to make a console capable of playing SNES cartridges and Sony CD games. Nintendo realized that the contract Sony signed to work with Nintendo was heavily favoring Sony and at the Consumer Electronics Show, where the partnership between Nintendo and Sony was to be announced, Nintendo announced that they would be working with Phillips instead of Sony on a CD add on. Sony decided that they had done too much work to give up on the projects, so they decided to make their own home console. In October 1991, Sony revealed the first version of the PlayStation.
In 1993, Sony decided to redesign the PlayStation to use next generation technology. On December 3, 1994 Sony released the PlayStation in Japan, followed by a release in North America on September 9, 1995. European and Oceania releases came shortly after. The launch price in North America was $299. The system had a very successful launch thanks in large part to some highly rated launch titles such as Ridge Racer and Warhawk. The abilty to play audio CD's was a major plus to sales of the PlayStation. The controller originally did not have built in rumble packs or analog sticks. With the release of the Dualshock controller, these were added to the PlayStation's arsenal. Sony went on to sell 102 million PlayStation consoles and proved that CD based console gaming could work. Sony also managed to outsell the Nintendo 64 by over 65 million consoles.
1995
Nintendo Virtual Boy
Most systems before the virtual boy were not true 3D systems as they created an illusin of 3D on the television screen, which is a 2D plane. The Virtual Boy, however, creates an illusion of depth by having the screen surround your eyes. (Much like an IMAX theater.) It was released in Japan on July 21st, 1995 and in North America on August 14th, 1995. The system sold for $180, and did not sale all that well. The Virtual Boy's games were required to have an option for the game to pause every 30 minutes for the player to take a break and prevent eye strain. The controller resembles an enlarged Gamecube controller with two directional pads on each side of the controller.
The developer for the Virtual Boy, who also developed the Game Boy, and the Metroid series, wanted to do more work on the system before releasing it, but Nintendo, in an effort to focus resources on the upcoming Nintendo 64, forced the Virtual Boy into the market. The Japanese market only saw 19 games released for the system while the North American market only saw 14 games released. The Virtual Boy is now a collectors item because only 800,000 systems were shipped. The Virtual Boy was discontinued in December 1995 in Japan and March 1996 in North America.
1996
Nintendo 64
Designed off technology that Sega rejected due to unsolved bugs, the Nintendo 64 (N64) saw it's first designs begin to emerge in 1993. In the Spring of 1994, Nintendo revealed the design of the then called, Nintendo Ultra 64, but no controller was shown. A playable form of the system was unveiled on November 24, 1995. Nintendo named their new system the Nintendo 64, a reference to the 64 bit graphics it had. On June 23th, 1996, the N64 went on sale in Japan. A North American release came shortly after on September 26th, 1996, with a launch price of $249.99, and the European release came in March 1997.
The N64 was the most advanced system out at the time, but the cartridges that the games were on limited the size of the game and increased the price. Many third party developers, because of the cartridge limitations and price, switched their allegiances from Nintendo to Sony. Two high profile switches were Square and Enix. Most of the N64's hits came from first party and second party developers. The cartridges did have some advantages over CD based games. Cartridges had little to no loading times, they resisted piracy, and were more durable than CD ROM games. The Nintendo 64 was a successful selling system all across the world, but Nintendo failed to keep their lead in the market. Sony managed to take a huge chunk of the market with the PlayStation and the loss of third party games hurt the N64.
3DO Interactive Multiplayer
Panasonic's 3DO
Created by the 3DO company, which was created by the co- founder of EA, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer was an expensive system that failed to establish any real foothold in the console market despite having it's games loaded on CD's rather than smaller cartridges. Despite being named the "1994 Product of the Year" by Time, it was considered the Worst Console Launch of 1993 according to Electronic Gaming Monthly. The 3DO had a launch price of $700 and very little third party support. The console market's saturation of systems along with the lack of developers contributed to the downfall of the 3DO. By the end of 1996, the 3DO was discontinued. A successor called the M2 was going to be released but was scrapped after the failure of the 3DO. The 3DO was manufactured by 4 different manufactures due to a unique licensing plan implemented by 3DO. 3DO would collect a $3 royalty for each game produced. This was much lower than Nintendo or Sega's royalty fee's. 3DO also wanted more than one producer of the system. For this reason, there were different variants of the 3DO.
Atari Jaguar
The Jaguar was Atari's last console that they marketed until 2004 when the Atari Flashback was released. Atari promised early in the development of the Jaguar that their new system would be superior to the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo. The Jaguar was released in select markets in 1993, followed by a nationwide (US) release in early 1994. Initially, the Jaguar outsold it's competitor, the 3DO, but failed to hold the lead. It was considerably cheaper than the 3DO, with a launch price of $250. A number of reason contributed to the Jaguars market failure. The controller for the console was too complex, featuring 15 different buttons. A lack of games, especially launch games, also hurt the console. The lack of games can be attributed to the buggy internal software of the Jaguar. Coding a game for the system was extremely tedious and difficult, so many developers abandoned the console all together. As Atari realized the failure of the system in 1995, they began a campaign to downplay the Nintendo 64 and the Sony Playstation. Atari claimed that the Jaguar was more powerful than the two systems, and ran infomercials to try to raise sales. Nothing worked and in 1996, the Jaguar was discontinued. Atari, already weakened by the Crash of 1983, could not recover from another failure. It was bought in the late '90's by Hasbro Interactive.
Amiga CD32
The Amiga CD32 was the first 32 bit CD based console. Made by Commodore International, it found great success in European markets, most notably in the UK. In European markets the CD32 gained over 50% of the CD- Rom market, outselling powerhouses like Sega and the Mega- CD. The CD32 was originally planned to be sold in the US but due to court battles, Commodore International was banned from importing their products into the US. Amiga CD32's found their way into the US through mail order catalogs and over the US- Canadian border. Despite strong European sales, Commodore International declared bankruptcy in April 1994. The company often found itself unable to keep up with demand due to component supply shortages. The Amiga CD32 also suffered from a lack of games. Most games released on the system were ports of Commodore's Amiga computer games.
1994
Sega Saturn
Released in Japan on November 22, 1994 and in the US on May 11, 1995, the Sega Saturn was a popular system in Japan but a failure in North America and Europe. Original plans for the system called for one 32 bit processor, but with the news that the Sony PlayStation was to be released, Sega added and extra processor. This would hurt Sega later. many game developers found it very difficult to program for two CPUs and turned their support to Sega's competition. The release was hyped in America and many looked forward to getting the new Saturn on the September 2, 1995 release date. However, at the first ever E3 conference, Sega announced that the Saturn would be available immediately. With the PlayStation not set to be released until September 9, 1995, Sega was poised to take a four month lead in sales. Unfortunately, Sega failed to notify game developers and retailers so many of them were caught off guard by the earlier release date. This alienated many retailers such as KB Toys who refused to stock the Saturn at all. Developers, now faced with a hard system to program for and less time to release their game decided against making games for the Saturn. Sales did not sky rocket as expected due to the lack of games and a $399 price tag while the PlayStation was to have a $299 price tag. In 1997, Sega announced that it would begin working on a new system to replace the Saturn. Sales for the Saturn in the US bottomed out and in Japan, where the console fared well, sales plummeted. Many developers in Japan who supported the Saturn were angered by the early discontinuation of the Saturn and refused to support the new system that would become the Dreamcast. The system was discontinued on April 3, 1999 in the US, and in 2000 in Japan. The Sega Saturn featured a double speed CD Rom drive for games and could play audio CD's.
Sony PlayStation
The PlayStation marked Sony's entry into the home console market. Sony used lessons that they learned from their earlier project with Nintendo to make a CD add on for the SNES to make a new console. Sony also planned to make a console capable of playing SNES cartridges and Sony CD games. Nintendo realized that the contract Sony signed to work with Nintendo was heavily favoring Sony and at the Consumer Electronics Show, where the partnership between Nintendo and Sony was to be announced, Nintendo announced that they would be working with Phillips instead of Sony on a CD add on. Sony decided that they had done too much work to give up on the projects, so they decided to make their own home console. In October 1991, Sony revealed the first version of the PlayStation.
In 1993, Sony decided to redesign the PlayStation to use next generation technology. On December 3, 1994 Sony released the PlayStation in Japan, followed by a release in North America on September 9, 1995. European and Oceania releases came shortly after. The launch price in North America was $299. The system had a very successful launch thanks in large part to some highly rated launch titles such as Ridge Racer and Warhawk. The abilty to play audio CD's was a major plus to sales of the PlayStation. The controller originally did not have built in rumble packs or analog sticks. With the release of the Dualshock controller, these were added to the PlayStation's arsenal. Sony went on to sell 102 million PlayStation consoles and proved that CD based console gaming could work. Sony also managed to outsell the Nintendo 64 by over 65 million consoles.
1995
Nintendo Virtual Boy
Most systems before the virtual boy were not true 3D systems as they created an illusin of 3D on the television screen, which is a 2D plane. The Virtual Boy, however, creates an illusion of depth by having the screen surround your eyes. (Much like an IMAX theater.) It was released in Japan on July 21st, 1995 and in North America on August 14th, 1995. The system sold for $180, and did not sale all that well. The Virtual Boy's games were required to have an option for the game to pause every 30 minutes for the player to take a break and prevent eye strain. The controller resembles an enlarged Gamecube controller with two directional pads on each side of the controller.
The developer for the Virtual Boy, who also developed the Game Boy, and the Metroid series, wanted to do more work on the system before releasing it, but Nintendo, in an effort to focus resources on the upcoming Nintendo 64, forced the Virtual Boy into the market. The Japanese market only saw 19 games released for the system while the North American market only saw 14 games released. The Virtual Boy is now a collectors item because only 800,000 systems were shipped. The Virtual Boy was discontinued in December 1995 in Japan and March 1996 in North America.
1996
Nintendo 64
Designed off technology that Sega rejected due to unsolved bugs, the Nintendo 64 (N64) saw it's first designs begin to emerge in 1993. In the Spring of 1994, Nintendo revealed the design of the then called, Nintendo Ultra 64, but no controller was shown. A playable form of the system was unveiled on November 24, 1995. Nintendo named their new system the Nintendo 64, a reference to the 64 bit graphics it had. On June 23th, 1996, the N64 went on sale in Japan. A North American release came shortly after on September 26th, 1996, with a launch price of $249.99, and the European release came in March 1997.
The N64 was the most advanced system out at the time, but the cartridges that the games were on limited the size of the game and increased the price. Many third party developers, because of the cartridge limitations and price, switched their allegiances from Nintendo to Sony. Two high profile switches were Square and Enix. Most of the N64's hits came from first party and second party developers. The cartridges did have some advantages over CD based games. Cartridges had little to no loading times, they resisted piracy, and were more durable than CD ROM games. The Nintendo 64 was a successful selling system all across the world, but Nintendo failed to keep their lead in the market. Sony managed to take a huge chunk of the market with the PlayStation and the loss of third party games hurt the N64.
