/vr/ - Retro Games

Despite all it's own failings, the Saturn was also a victim of circumstance. The transition from the 16 bit to 32 bit eras was the rockiest generation leaps in the history of gaming. The next gen saw several false starts and the SNES and Genesis were both deeply entrenched and still going strong. Even the PS1 wasn't lighting up the sales charts when it first launched. Look at how many brands line the top banner of Game Informer from 1995. It was a free for all. Things didn't really settle until around 1996 when games like Crash Bandicoot and Tomb Raider really drove a widespread adoption of the new machines and by then the Saturn was already behind in a number of key areas compared to PS1 and the N64 was both delayed and, for a time, impossible to find.

>>7769219
Right. The transition between the 16bit and 32bit generations was super sloppy. There were several false starts which caused a bizarre half-generation to form in the early 90s that catered to the high end home theater yuppie that was born of the late 1980s excess. Shit like the CD-I, LaserActive, Neo Geo, etc. Even the Sega CD Model 1 has a bit of a karaoke machine vibe to it's aesthetic. Check out the top banner of Game Informer. It was a mess that didn't really settle into place until the PlayStation consolidated the markets together.