How Consoles Die

Headstone:
Sega Saturn
1995-1998
“Maybe the Dreamcast Will Fare Better.”

Cause of death: multiple blunt force trauma

Saturn had a premature birth, as Sega infamously announced a “surprise” release in May 1995, much to the dismay of retailers and developers who were expecting a September launch. Saturn kicked the bucket after just three years in North America and Europe for numerous reasons including but not limited to: it was frustrating to develop for; 3D graphics were not its forte; a high introductory price point ($399—relative pocket change these days); and intense competition from the N64 and PlayStation.

But perhaps the nail in the coffin was Sega’s premature talk of a new, better console codenamed Katana, reinforcing Sega’s growing reputation as an abandoner of hardware. In effect, the few Saturn faithful followed Sega’s lead, while hardened loyalists continue to reminisce about the console that brought forth games like Burning Rangers, Guardian Heroes, Dragon Force and Panzer Dragoon Saga.

The Saturn’s failings continued to mar the Sega brand, and with PlayStation hitting top gear, Sega’s next console had to be something truly special to succeed.

Headstone:
Sony PlayStation
1995-2006
“e to Meet My Maker”

Cause of death: natural

By now, most of our readers know the ironic Nintendo-Sony deal that went sour, which eventually led to the original PlayStation. What more can be said about this machine that hasn’t been said already? It pioneered 3D graphics on consoles, made Nintendo and Sega appear as haggard chumps instead of seasoned vets and sold over 100 million units before finally ascending to console heaven.

While many individuals’ PlayStations fell to issues tied to overheating (remedied temporarily by placing the console upright on its side), it didn’t ever slow Sony’s momentum. The console even managed to cling to life after the launch of PS2 in 2000.

What PlayStation did was announce to the world that Sony was not only a worthy competitor to traditional dedicated console makers, but it had more than enough resources to lord over them with hardly a bead of sweat on its brow.

Headstone:
Nintendo 64
1996-2001
“Still No Load Times”

Cause of death: congenital cart disease

Coming off the success of the NES and SNES, Nintendo seemingly couldn’t do wrong. But when the company unveiled the cartridge-based Nintendo 64 (previously “Ultra 64”) instead of a CD-based system, gamers let out a collective “ugh.” This backwards decision would be a major factor in a lack of RPGs on the console, which is believed to have led to the relatively weak reception in Nintendo’s homeland Japan. In addition, cartridges were more expensive to produce than CDs. Eventually, third-party defection stemming from the cartridge decision led to N64′s demise.

The N64 was by no means a complete failure (with games like Super Mario 64, Goldeneye and Ocarina of Time, far from it), but it didn’t have near the popularity of the new disc-based PlayStation. If the Nintendo had gone the disc route, we may have referred to that generation as the 64-bit Era.

Nintendo finally abandoned cartridges for its next console, but a console’s success doesn’t simply rely on the media it utilizes.