Nintendo 64 Vs Playstation Essay, Research Paper

In the two years of 1995 and 1996, the video game world was taken into another gaming dimension. The releases of the Sony Playstation in September of `95 and the Nintendo 64 in September of `96 has given the gaming world an enormous boost of technological advances in the home entertainment system. Sony and Nintendo soon became heated rivals as each company tries to out sell each other in the gaming marketplace. Eventhough the Sony Playstation and Nintendo 64 are two similar game systems upfront, they both have some very striking differences.

The most notable difference between the Sony Playstation and Nintendo 64 is the processing power. Most noteworthy is the fact that the Nintendo 64 is a 64-bit machine, while the Sony Playstation is only a 32-bit system. This means the Nintendo 64 can produce better graphics in a game, while the Sony Playstation s graphics aren t as good. The colors in the Nintendo 64 s games are more vibrant, while the Playstation s colors seem to be duller.

The different games for each of the systems are a very noticeable difference. Games varying in graphics, speed, price and genre. The Sony Playstation is the favored in the variety category, with over 170 games with many 3rd party developers in its extensive library of games. Obviously the Nintendo 64 has less games in its library, due to the fact that the Nintendo was released a year later. The Playstation specializes in the sports genre with many different sporting titles. Sports games such as Madden football 98, NHL 98, NBA Live 98, and PGA Tour Golf 98. The Nintendo 64 specializes in the action/adventure game categories with various different titles with games such as Turok: the dinosaur hunter, Super Mario 64, Goldeneye, and Super Mario Cart 64.

The difference between the systems that gaming consumers look at the most is the price difference. The prices of the games for the Nintendo system are very expensive compared to the Sony. A Nintendo game can range in price from $50 to $70and a Sony game can cost between $30 and $50. Another difference is in the price of each of the systems. The Nintendo 64 is a bit more pricey at $200 than the Sony Playstation at $150. Both systems are fit right in the prices of games and systems but of course there are exceptions between each store.

Another major difference between the systems is the media in which the games are stored. The Nintendo uses cartridges to store its games while Sony s machine is CD-ROM based. The Nintendo provides superior access time, which means you don t have to wait as long for a game to load. However, Sony s CD-ROM is far less expensive to produce (a CD-ROM game is usually about $20 less than a cartridge game), offers much greater storage capacity (allowing games to be more in depth and to contain more game data), and the CD-ROM provides CD-quality audio during gameplay. The Nintendo 64 can produce high-quality audio, but it isn t as good as CD-quality audio, and it uses more processing power.

The video game industry has been becoming more advanced every year. The consumer is the main cause of these advances giving them many different choices by the recent releases by Sony and Nintendo. In the end it comes down to each individual person weighing out the differences and choosing the best system to fit their needs.