Dates and moments on which there was a change in console wars...

[Sullla]

disolitude said:

Feb 1, 1997 (Japan) - Final Fantasy 7 is launched in Japan...helping PS1 start to outsell the Sega Saturn in that region.

Here's a commonly made mistake. The Japanese Final Fantasy 7 launch was not a dramatic changing moment in the console wars, because the Playstation was already mopping the floor with the Saturn in Japan. Although the LIFETIME numbers were still close, the Playstation had pulled decisively away in weekly sales, and it was obvious to everyone which platform would ultimately be more successful.

Since we're at VGChartz, you don't have to take my word for it, and can look at the actual charts themselves. Console sales from the week before FF7 launch (and this on a week with a Saturn release topping the charts!)

Hardware:

Console	Week	Weekly	Total
	113	91,198 (+6%)	5,062,657
	406	83,290 (+52%)	13,984,137
	114	28,227 (+6%)	4,563,489
	32	16,207 (-37%)	1,809,570
	323	7,673 (-37%)	16,413,570
Total	226,595

http://vgchartz.com/japweekly.php?date=35456&console=&maker=&disp=Japanese+Name&boxartz=1

How about the week before, with another Saturn game topping the charts at #1:

Hardware:

Console	Week	Weekly	Total
	112	86,358 (-37%)	4,971,459
	405	54,857 (-10%)	13,900,847
	113	26,682 (-63%)	4,535,262
	31	25,881 (-52%)	1,793,363
	322	12,188 (-52%)	16,405,897
Total	205,966

http://vgchartz.com/japweekly.php?date=35449&console=&maker=&disp=Japanese+Name&boxartz=1

Here were the holiday 1996 sales in Japan:

08 Dec: PS 89k, SAT 40k
15 Dec: PS 123k, SAT 68k
22 Dec: PS 148k, SAT 78k
29 Dec: PS 186k, SAT 79k
http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=Wii&reg1=All&cons2=PS&reg2=Japan&cons3=SAT&reg3=Japan&start=35407&end=35428

And I could go on. The point is, the battle was already over between the Playstation and Saturn BEFORE Final Fantasy came out. It merely accelerated a trend that had been ongoing for some time. This is a classic case of confusing cause and effect. (FF7 came to the Playstation because it was pulling away from the Saturn, rather than it causing that shift.)

* * * * *

Here's something you should add to your list: the release of Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis in 1991. This game, along with Sega's famously edgy marketing campaign, put the Genesis on the map and allowed it to fight the SNES on an even basis for the next four years. Prior to that, everyone expected that the SNES would mop the floor with the Genesis in America, just as the SNES had destroyed the Megadrive in Japan. Sonic largely redefined the gaming landscape, and changed the course of the fourth generation in America.

I'd love to demonstrate this with sales charts, if only we had them from so far back! Still, this is info covered in pretty much any gaming history you might read out there, and fairly well known. Should be on your list.