Nintendo 64 Lost to PlayStation Because Japanese Gamers Prefer “Depressing Games”

[Darashiva]

Azzanation said:

Darashiva said:

Uh, what? You literally wrote that the majority of critically acclaimed games were on the N64, which I pointed out wasn't true. Having a metascore in the 90s tells us exactly that about a game, that it is critically acclaimed, a point you brought up. I also never said that the N64 wasn't successful, but there's no question that the PS1 was the more successful console by a wide margin. It sold three times the number of units compared to the N64, and overall there were around 962 million games sold on it to the N64's 224 million, so even with it being on the market for twice as long, as you pointed out, the PS1 was consistently outselling the N64 on both consoles and games.

And you're right, selling more does not necessarily mean something is better as a result. That is a matter of opinion. For me the PS1 had the overall better games, but I've always enjoyed both systems.

Being on the market for at least double the time should sell by default twice as much units. Being a cheaper console world wide also means you are intended to sell more by default. Quality has nothing to do with it. 

You are entitled to your game preference however many games that are considered some of the best games ever created came from the N64 and are still looked up to today. N64 was a success, it never lost, it did what it needed to do. Many games hit the 90s, doesn't mean there award winning, or genre defining etc.

And it sold three times as many units, so what's your point? That the N64 underperformed? Many of the best games ever created came from the PS1 as well, which are still looked up to today, so that's no different from the N64. Again, I never said the N64 wasn't a success, but arguing that it didn't lose against the PS1 is kinda pointless when the numbers tell the opposite story. It lost to the PS1 on every metric, from sold consoles, to number of sold games, to number of critically acclaimed games. That doesn't mean it's not a great console, but you're arguing against obvious facts here.

Nintendo lost the home console war that generation, just as it won the previous two with the NES and SNES. Or if the N64 didn't lose are you saying that the Sega Genesis, the original Xbox, or the PS3 didn't lose their respective generations either because they did what they needed to do as well?