Sony made gaming cool.

[MikeRox]

attaboy said:

 I don't know what the big two were thinking when Sony entered the party.  I guess they figured they were up against another SNK, Panasonic, NEC, or Phillips. 

I think that pretty much sums it up. I think they were a bit arrogant and it was too late to fight back against Sony by the time they realised the PS1 wasn't just going to disappear into obscurity like all their previous rivals had.

Something else people fail to mention about Sony, the PS1 was the console that introduced the whole sell the hardware at a loss for higher penetration and recoup the losses via software sales philosophy. The Saturn was technically inferior (SEGA planned to release a 2D system originally to preserve the arcade ecosystem) and the 3D capabilities were rushed in as a last minute change making it much more difficult to code.

Add in the fact that it cost about 25% more at retail with inferior looking games (Daytona's original release vs Ridge Racer for example) and the PS1 was actually a no brainer to most consumers.

It's funny how much fuss is being made over the technical differences between the PS4 and XBONE now, as they are microscopic in comparison to the PS1 vs the Saturn for the majority of titles.