From USA Today, Jan 12th, 1995

Mike Snider

Lightning will strike in May when Nintendo, Sega and Sony are expected to unveil their new high-powered systems at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (nickname E3) in Los Angeles.

What little they saw of Sega's Saturn and Sony's PlayStation CD-based systems didn't help them handicap the coming race (Nintendo didn't display its Ultra 64 cartridge system). All appear to be "excellent systems," says James K. Willcox of industry weekly TWICE. But the E3 show (May 11-13) is "where we'll see what these systems are capable of."

Nintendo's target price is an advantage: Sega's Saturn will cost $300-$500, Sony's PlayStation, more than $400. Like Sega, its in-house game-making operation will be a plus, too, as multiple game systems (including 3DO and Atari's Jaguar) continue to divide developers' loyalties. Its reliance on cartridges may be a downside.

 

From The Sunday Argus-Press, July 16th, 1995

William Schiffman

EW.com, September 22nd, 1995

Albert Kim

Sony is one of the most storied and formidable brand names in the global marketplace. Yet when the $40 billion Japanese electronics conglomerate announced in May that it was going to join the home-videogame fray, most observers simply shrugged. The consensus seemed to be: So you brought us the transistor radio, the Walkman, and the VCR. What makes you think you're ready for the Sonic-eat-Mario carnage of the video game industry?

If there's something to be learned from those skeptics, it is this: Never take Sony lightly. The SONY PLAYSTATION (Sony, $299) is a technological marvel, a robust 32-bit machine capable of delivering slick, three-dimensional graphics, bright CD-quality sound, and quicker-than-quick action. But videogame systems are like Miss America contestants: Good looks and technical enhancements will only get you so far. With the PlayStation, Sony has unveiled not just a sexy game machine but a smartly realized marketing strategy: innovative games, a broad software library, and full support from all the major game developers. Overnight, Sony has become a principal player in the $5 billion videogame market, right next to seasoned rivals Nintendo and Sega.

Cannily, Sony promises that at least 15 games will be available within a month of the PlayStation's Sept. 9 release. (In comparison, the same number of titles is currently available for the Sega Saturn -- the PlayStation's chief 32-bit competitor -- which hit stores in May.) More important, many of these early titles are eminently playable. For example, in RIDGE RACER (Namco, $49.99), an asphalt-smooth auto-racing simulation, you'll probably never see most of the rich, seamless graphics, since the game's rubber-burning pace will have you unblinkingly focused on the road. Similarly, you'll have little time to admire the gorgeous, photo-realistic background scenery in BATTLE ARENA TOSHINDEN (Sony, $68.99), since you'll be concentrating on the cat-quick combat in this 3-D brawler. Pity. Violence has never been so lovingly framed.

To see a truly original application of the PlayStation's capabilities, plug into the jaunty world of JUMPING FLASH (Sony, $67.99). As a hop-happy robot rabbit, you skip through a fanciful 3-D world, crushing all manner of baddies (frogs, bugs) underfoot. The first-rabbit perspective makes for a neatly hypnotic effect: With each jump, your sense of free-falling glee increases. Perhaps the most euphoric sensation comes at the height of a turbocharged jump, when you can look below and see the world quietly slip away. And if you squint hard, you can almost make out all those nay-saying industry cynics gaping on the ground. PlayStation: A Ridge Racer: A- Battle Arena Toshinden: A- Jumping Flash: A

 

USA Today, Oct 2nd, 1995

Mike Snider

The battle between the next generation video game systems, Sega's Saturn and Sony's PlayStation, is heating up.

Today, Sega drops the price of Saturn to $299 - the same as that of PlayStation. The Saturn had sold in stores for between $349-$400.

The pricing war is reminiscent of the earlier battle between the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo in 1992 (both now sell for well below $100). Whether sales of these next generation systems will rival those successes is uncertain. The Saturn and PlayStation use 32-bit processing chips, which deliver better graphics, speed and sound than their 16-bit predecessors.

 

Chicago Tribune, Nov 24th, 1995

Eric Gwinn

The big question for the holidays: Which is better, Sega's Saturn or Sony's PlayStation? Sega has been in the biz for a while with several platforms: the 8-bit Master system, the 16-bit Genesis, the Sega CD, 32X, the portable Game Gear, Nomad (which is a portable system that plays Genesis cartridges).

And right now, the first PlayStation games rule. Sony didn't know how to make games, so it bought a company that does. It then asked companies with proven Genesis and Super Nintendo skills to make games for the PlayStation. The depth and quality of these third-party games are what separate the PlayStation from the Saturn.

Most of the first Saturn titles were made by Sega, which rushed its system and games to the marketplace to keep the PlayStation from gobbling up a large, loyal market share. These games get the job done. Some, such as "Panzer Dragoon" and "Virtual Fighter Remix," are cool. Sports games such as "World Series Baseball" and "WorldWide Soccer" are great to look at, fun to play, but don't offer a whole lot of options, meaning they may not hold your interest after you play them for a long time.