The Nintendo 64 was Nintendo’s third home console. Launching in 1996, the system was released one year after the PlayStation came out in North America and a full two years after the PlayStation’s release in Japan. Despite the late start, Nintendo entered the generation as the favorite, having just successfully fended off their previous competitor Sega by winning the Super Nintendo generation. The SNES legacy gave Nintendo a very positive reputation and they entered the next generation overly confident, if not cocky. Due to some grave errors made by Nintendo and sound business decisions made by Sony, the PlayStation would overtake the N64 and finish with a significant lead, which would carry over to the PlayStation 2. The following are the 10 most significant reasons Nintendo found themselves trailing Sony’s PlayStation.
10. Built-in CD Player
While a obsolete device in today’s age, the technology the PlayStation presented gave it a multimedia edge over the Nintendo 64, which was dedicated exclusively to gaming. The PlayStation’s ability to play audio CD’s was a forerunner to the notion of a home media console. Today, consoles are expected to perform more tasks than simply play games. The PlayStation was the first console to embrace this idea and its CD player was a major selling point. Walkmans and stereos were still quite expensive at the time; therefore, having the functionality of playing CDs was a boon on top of the many other gaming aspects the PlayStation presented. The CD player was able to shuffle the playback order or play songs in a pre-programmed manner. Made by Sony, a pioneer in audio technology, the CD player was of such a high quality that it’s actually still considered one of the best players today by many audiophiles.
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