Why Sony PlayStation Won the War Against Nintendo 64

When consoles first started rolling out, people were thrilled. An inexpensive machine which you can use solely to play video games? What more could a parent and child want? Parents got to play and have their secret wishes come true while kids got to be kids, and play to their hearts’ desires. There were plenty of consoles in the day, most notably the Sega Genesis, which was very sought after in the day, as well as the Nintendo. Most were buying either Sega or Nintendo, some bought both. It wasn’t until Sony released the PlayStation that people started really turning their eyes towards consoles. Nintendo had their own answer, the Nintendo 64. Here is a story about the war of consoles and how Sony took home a victory which is felt to this day.

PlayStation – A Timely Lead

Many people see Nintendo and Sony as rivals but it wasn’t always so. Nintendo and Sony were partnered and were supposed to release the first PlayStation together. That deal never came to be due to various contractual issues. Thus, Sony found its own way to releasing the console we all know and love. It was released in December of 1994. That gave Sony an entire year and a half to have their platform established and their partners conjure up games. The PlayStation used a CD as its medium, something which was already starting to become a standard. Nintendo was pissed and nowhere in sight, at least until June, 1996.

The Nintendo 64 – A Console with Issues

The Nintendo 64 was released in June of 1996 and people already had issues with it. Nintendo’s controller was different to that of the PlayStation’s. A lot of people preferred the design of the PlayStation’s controller, which was barely changed to this day, 25 years later. The 64 uses cartridges, which made loading times much faster, but making the games was a bit more difficult. The 64 also came with better hardware specifications, but programmers had trouble making games which would make use of that hardware.

PlayStation’s Victory

All in all, the PlayStation won because they had CDs instead of cartridges. Some releases meant exclusively for the Nintendo 64, like Mario 64, were amazing. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, was another great title. Sony, on the other hand, had plenty of titles, like Winning Eleven (today’s PES), Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid, and so many more. 

This was one war which went to Sony, but today, we still have so many consoles, some from Sony, some from Nintendo, still selling and still having games made, some exclusively. The console world is doing fine, in no small part thanks to the first PlayStation and the Nintendo 64.