pokoko said:
First, Sony brought to market a system that was disc-based from the very start. That was an enormous leap forward. You only need to look at Final Fantasy VII to see that. Should Sony get credit for FF VII? Probably not, but we're talking about perception.

-But Sega Saturn was disc based and released first.  And, before them, were the Panasonic 3DO, Phillips CDi, and a few others that I can't think of right now that were CD only. Weren't they the enormous leap forward?

Second, in contrast to Nintendo, Sony supported and promoted third-party content. They put it front-and-center and used it to appeal to people who were getting weary of Mario and the limited amount of content you could get from cartridges. This is something we still see today, with Sony running ads for third-party games while Nintendo only advertises their own stuff. Even if Nintendo and Sony had all the same games, the image they seek to create has been different. In all honesty, that's something I fault Nintendo for as much as I credit Sony.

-Nintendo and Microsoft had ads for third parties, too.  Nintendo, mostly during the Gamecube era. Microsoft and Sony still do it now. It would piss me off (I was an emotional guy back then, I guess) to see Nintendo Gamecube at the end of an ad that was a game for every console.  I was like "Why are they pushing this if it's also on PS2?".  But I'm more concerned with the PS1 era and how the PS1 became so dominant.  During the time, Sega and Nintendo had TONS of third party support.  Mario games were coming out once every five years, then.

Yes, that's just perception, but it played a huge role with the fourth and fifth generations.

Sony, with the PS2, also decided to stop making consoles look like toys and they added in and promoted media features. Those were smart decisions on their part. That went a long way toward breaking the perception that gaming was only for children.

-Again, the Sega Saturn didn't look like a toy.  Neither did many other consoles of the time.  And all CD based consoles from Turbo-Duo to PS1 supported CD music and VCDs (Video CDs).  Why didn't any of them break the perception?

The people who were gaming in those times were labeled as nerds, lol gaming definitely wasn't the IT thing at the time until PS came around. But let the Sony hate flow within you.

I see that a lot.  Sony and the PS1 are what expanded the gaming industry, made it something that was more than just for kids, released the mature games, etc.  I got a PS1 back in 1997 and enjoyed it.  It was a great console but really, what did Sony do?

Mature games?  Nothing new.  Mortal Kombat, Chiller, Shadowgate, etc. were available long before Sony entered the market.

Great IPs?  Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Mega Man, Street Fighter etc. were already available elsewhere.

Sports games?  Madden, NHL, WWE, FIFA, MLB, etc. were staples of gaming since the 80's.

CD Roms?  Tons of consoles already released CD Rom games.

Even some of the bigger PS1 titles (Tomb Raider, Resident Evil) were available on Sega Saturn.  So, what was it about the PS1 that made the industry explode the way it did?  I experienced it and I still don't get it! Did everyone just fuck up so much that Sony won by default?  Were Sony such masters of gaming and marketing right out of the gate?  Enlighten me.

The Saturn was a failure in a lot of ways.  Personally, I didn't know anyone who owned one.  It wasn't real competition at the time.  If we're judging that generation, it's between Sony and Nintendo.  The PS1 was a lot easier to make games for that the Saturn and Sony provided better support for third parties.  Sega made a lot of mistakes, like the way the Saturn handled 3D graphics, and they didn't have the resources to compete with Sony or Nintendo.  It's kind of like asking why a small developer doesn't sell as many games as Activision.  The other consoles you mentioned, I've never even seen in person.

We're talking about perception, and marketing and advertising is a huge part of that.

I have owned or still own each gaming device that Sony has released in the USA along with systems from pretty much everyone else.  Sony did not make gaming "cool", maybe in your eyes, but not mine or many others.  No one in our highschools thought we were nerds for paying Atari, Nintendo or Sega...we all played them.  Open your eyes, there's a whole wold of great gaming out there when you have each of the systems.