It hurt SEGA yes but funny enough those 2D games have mostly aged pretty darn well while 3D games from the era look like someone smeared shit on the walls.

Of course the Playstation pulled away once it got Final Fantasy and all those third party games overwhelmed the N64, but the N64 was IMO many people's first choice, it was only when it became abundantly clear that the N64 was so badly starved for games (due to no CD drive) that people had to look elsewhere. 

Never should have happened in the first place IMO. I can understand junking the Sony contract for the CD drive, but you had a perfectly good CD supplier in Philips already working for you, lol. What .... the .... heck .... were you thinking, Ninty? Oh you stupid, naive Ninty, why'd you do it. N64 should have pissed glory. ;)

I really would pay money to slap the person who made the decision to do that. It is probably after Atari rejecting Nintendo, the single dumbest decision in the history of video game business. 

Basically, we had a PS2 vs Dreamcast scenario. Except, not.

-Thanks to the prior console being so good, Nintendo convinced gamers to wait for "the best" (instead of buying a PS1 or Saturn. When it arrived it didn't totally deliver in several ways. They lost the gen because of several poor decisions.

- Because the PS1 was so good, Sony convinced gamers to wait for "the best"instead of a Dreamcast. When it arrived, it delivered in most ways. They won the gen because of several good decisions.

Actually nothing like that at all. 

N64 sold 6.4 million in the US in its first year ... that is unbelievably successful even by today's standards where the industry is arguably 2-4x the size. Dreamcast couldn't have (well pun intended) dreamed of sales like that. Super Mario 64 was a legit "holy shit" moment. Even GoldenEye I would say is basically the precursor to the modern game console

The numbers the N64 put up in its first year are obsene. I would say arguably they're better than any game console's first year in North America, even the Wii when you factor in the era they were produced in. 

After a year unfortunately people started to realize the N64 wasn't like the Super NES and wasn't going to have a wide variety of games and then it all went south for Nintendo. But they had it, right there, right in their hands, everything they needed to win and win easily. Basically they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. 

It's unreal how much Nintendo had in their back pocket at that time (circa 1995). Squaresoft, Enix, home console FPS shooters ... shit even DMA Design, the guys who made GRAND THEFT AUTO were working as a Nintendo 2nd party, lol at this time. They could've had GTA exclusive if they really wanted it, DMA approached them about it first, lol. Like how the fuck do you have all this going for you and you EAD operating a god tier with Mario 64 and Zelda: Oot and Rare operating at near god tier and still ... somehow ... you screw it up ... lol. It irks me to this day, it's kinda unbelievable to me even now. 

Like Sega's fall, ok was somewhat predictable, they never really had any of the stuff Nintendo had. Didn't have EAD, Rare, didn't have FPS shooters just as that genre would become arguably the most important in the console business, didn't have DMA Design, hell Sony even worked for Nintendo before. 

Double negative?

Would off, could off, didn't!

Any day I would choose the PS list thank you, at least they where fresh in comparison to the vast majority of 3 gen old franchises Nintendo wasoffering

Should have, could have, doesnt matter... the fact is that the N64 was destroyed by the PS. It lost Nintendo all of their influence on the home console market and prepared the disaster that was later on the GC and even later on the WiiU. It was the first system that prooved it that others can easily beat Nintendo at their own game. Like it or not, the PS had the far superior offering in terms of games, and denying that is like denying basic math. Just because you were the outsider it doesnt mean that your opinion hodls any extra weight.

Also, IMO, Wipeout >>>> F-Zero. The fact that F-Zero is the dead franchise that nobody touches anymore speaks volumes.

I'm not denying the software library advantage, obviously when you have a virtual monopoly on all third party games, you're going to eventually have a better library. 

What I'm saying is Nintendo is stupid for letting that happen. N64 had all the hall marks of an incredibly successful system and still even managed to sell relatively well basically all off 1st party content. Even the odds on that third party content and Sony quickly IMO becomes a dog that's all bark and no bite to back it up. Take away the Final Fantasy games and that's a huge blow to begin with. 

You like Wipeout better, that's your opinion, IMO F-Zero X is probably the best hovercraft racing game period. Others have come close and have techno music, yeah nice, but for the control of F-Zero and requirement of fast twitch reflexes and having to ride a track like a beautiful woman, mmm hmmm, F-Zero X ;). 

I see the N64 in similar vein to the PS3. Nintendo/Sony on a high from nailing it from the last two generation so they let their hubris get in the way of doing the smart thing. Both very good consoles that sold well enough.

IF Nintendo had gone with CDs over Carts, the major third party companies like Konami, Capcom and Square would have stuck with N64 over Playstation, so yes, in THAT scenerario, they would have won the generation by a landslide. PS1 did not succeed due to first party Sony software (though games like Crash Bandicoot certainly had success). PS1 succeeded on the backs of games like Resident Evil, Symphony of the Night, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid, and most especially, Final Fantasy VII. If those games had come out on N64, instead of Playstation, then obviously, N64 would have likely been an overwhelming success, and PS1 might not have survived.

As it is, N64 did still have some of the highest selling and most sought after games of it's gen, games many PS1 owners (including friends of mine) were envious of, such as: Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart 64, Turok, Goldeneye, Star Fox 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, etc.



N64 had some really great games. It had a glut of platformers, racing, sports and shooter games. Unfortunately, it also sorely lacked conventional 2D games, fighting games, and especially RPGs. Playstation, in that regard, undoubtedly had the more well rounded library, by simple numbers: it had a TON more games released for it, as most top-selling consoles do.