Xbox 360=Genesis, PS3=SNES

The Xbox 360 vs PlayStation 3 console war was essentially a blow by blow replay of the infamous Genesis vs Super Nintendo Entertainment System fight. Don't believe me? Well, let me convince you:

• The Genesis launches early to get the jump on Nintendo with the first true 16-bit console. Its earlier launch puts it on a higher footing as far as sales go for most of the generation.
  The Xbox 360 launches early to get the jump on PlayStation with the first true HD console. Its earlier launch puts it on a higher footing as far as sales go for most of the generation.
• The Genesis's most popular genres are shooters, action games, and sport games. In fact, it getting superior exclusives and third party multiplats in these genres are what help it cement its lead over the SNES.
  The Xbox 360's most popular genres are shooters, action games, and sport games. In fact, it getting superior exclusives and third party multiplats in these genres are what help it cement its lead over the PS3.
• For a large part of the generation, the Genesis continued to receive superior versions of multiplat titles such as Mortal Kombat. However, by the end, with the Genesis hardware showing its age and developers coming to grips with Nintendo's hardware, the SNES version of multiplats started being the better ones (such as Mortal Kombat II).
  For a large part of the generation, the 360 continued to receive superior versions of multiplat titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV. However, by the end, with the 360 hardware showing its age and developers coming to grips with Sony's hardware, the PS3 version of multiplats started being the better ones (such as Grand Theft Auto V).
• Due to the Genesis's emphasis on action games and shooters, along with its focus on multiplayer experiences, it was viewed as the 'cooler' console in mainstream, with SNES being considered a more nerdy console.
  Due to the 360's emphasis on action games and shooters, along with its focus on multiplayer experiences, it was viewed as the 'cooler' console in mainstream, with PS3 being considered a more nerdy console.
• Under fire by unexpected competition, Nintendo started bolstering their first party, introducing a wealth of new IPs and reimagining older ones, and creating a stable of memorable franchises on the SNES in the process.
  Under fire by unexpected competition, Sony started bolstering their first party, introducing a wealth of new IPs and reimagining older ones, and creating a stable of memorable franchises in the process.
• The SNES was characterized by great third Japanese third party support (mostly exclusive RPGs), while the Genesis was characterized by more western third party support (mostly shooters).
  The PS3 was characterized by great Japanese third party support (exclusive JRPGs) while the 360 was characterized by more western third party support (mostly shooters).
• Near the end of the Genesis's lifespan, Sega introduced a couple of peripherals- these peripherals were meant to enhance the main console and extend its lifespan, and in being forced to support these peripherals, Sega's own first party support for the Genesis itself quickly dried up.
  Near the end of the 360's lifespan, Microsoft introduced a peripheral- this peripheral was meant to enhance the main console, and to extend its lifespan, and in being forced to support this peripheral, Microsoft's own first party support for the 360 itself quickly dried up.
• Meanwhile, by the end, Nintendo finally managed to gain a full understanding of its own hardware, and release some first party games that were not just graphical showstoppers, but also completely mesmerizing to the mainstream- Yoshi's Island, Star Fox, Donkey Kong Country, and perhaps most importantly, Super Metroid.
  Meanwhile, by the end, Sony finally managed to get a full understanding of its own hardware, and release some first party games that were not just graphical showstoppers, but also completely mesmerizing to the mainstream- Uncharted 3, Killzone 3, God of War, and perhaps most importantly, The Last of Us.
• The SNES's continued release of great software even as Genesis support was drying up led to a reversal of perception- no longer was it the nerdy, kiddy console. Mainstream media warmed up to it again, and SNES sales began to outpace Genesis sales by the end of the generation.
  The PS3's continued release of great software even as 360 support was drying up led to a reversal of perception- no longer was it the nerdy, niche console. Mainstream media warmed up to it again, and PS3 sales began to outpace 360 sales by the end of the generation.
• Genesis support was cut off early to support its peripherals and its successor; SNES support continued well into the next generation.
  360 support was cut off early to support its peripheral and its successor; PS3 support seems to be continuing well into the next generation.
• By the end of the generation, in a stunning reversal of perception and momentum, the SNES managed to outsell the Genesis and trounce it, claiming victory in the console wars.
  By the end of the generation, in a stunning reversal of perception and momentum, the PS3 managed to outsell the 360 and trounce it, claiming victory in the console wars.

Really, the parallels are almost eerie- it's like Microsoft and Sony made conscious efforts to relive the Sega and Nintendo war this time around.

No

Nobody really cares about Xbox 360 or PS3, those are old consoles. Xbox 360 and PS3 is DEAD TO ME. DEAD!!! DID YOU HEAR ME? DEAD !!! I SAID DEAD!!! DEAD!!!!1

Excellent and insightful post, would read again.

Excellent and insightful post, would read again.

@FreedomFreeLife:

The Wii U is his primary console, so he's still stuck in last gen. Cut the pleb some slack.

Wii U is about as shitty as your posts.

360 = 360

PS3 = PS3

I'm not sure why people feel the need to make these kinds of comparisons.

I see where you're coming from OP but I'm going to disagree because comparing my beloved Genesis to the 360 puts an almost negative stigma with the classic system.

Anyone remember Zero Tolerance on Genesis? Awesome.

The 360 was a great console too, why would there be any stigma attached?

The only issue was that its competition soon got its shit together and made the console it had on the market even better.

Are you insane?

1.The genesis did not launch early. It launched the same year as the TG16 and that was after they wrote off the Master System dead, which sold only 500,000 in 1988. (which was the year the NES started to actually have a "you can't catch us" lead.)

The xbox 360, had more HD native games than the PS3.

2. You mean the same best sellers on the PS3? Becuase last I checked just because they sell slightly less on the PS3, does not exclude the fact they are still the best selling on the PS3. COD anyone? Madden anyone?

3.No, the PS3 version of better mutliplats are still few. Multiplats to the end still ended up at points looking better on the 360.

4.No the SNES was considered the "kiddy" console, and the Genesis was considered the "cooler" console. You are not comparing the 360/PS3 to the Wii and replacng the Wii with the PS3.

5.Sega made almost 3x more new Ips with more studios then Nintendo had at the time.

6.Most of Sega's western support, was sports, platformers, and action games, most of the Genesis shooters were japanese, and that was nearly a 3rd of the library. You even mess up the one you almost got right.

7. Sony also introduced new accessories to extend the PS3 life. In fact, they introduced MORE than Microsoft did. In fact, Sega still continued to make more first-party games after, and Nintendos are the ones that dried up.

8. The SNES heavy hitters were no where near the end of its life. The SNES had more power from the start, and only had issues like the first year maybe.

9.Lol? Again, SNES was the "kiddy console" please do not use the PS3 and pretend it is the wii for you crappy comparisons that had no though put into them. To the point this was probably stolen by gaf. The place of fools.

Also the PS3 outpaced the 360 from the start except 3 years, including the last one. And unlike the SNES, the Xbox is still ahead.

10. Genesis support and SNES support dropped at the same time in NA. SNES and Megadrive support in other countries continued into the next generation. Do you even look at what you are writing/Copying and pasting?

11. When did the PS3 outsell the 360 again?

Wow this was a trashy piece of trash.

This thread = ouya

Your post = N-Gage

And he is 100% correct.

I didn't read this because the answer is no

@charizard1605:

Why thank you. I'd return the complement but I just don't like you very much.

It's fully mutual, don't worry

@charizard1605: The negative connotations I have with 360 are its build quality and online community.

My Genesis of 23 years still works perfectly and it never really had an online community. I say "really" because it did have that marginal online rental service that I forgot the name of.

There were games on 360 I'd have loved to play such as Gears.

I would agree if the PS3 wasn't complete garbage most of the gen.

@charizard1605:

Oh no.

Two things,the mega drive had plenty of games coming out in it´s late years(from 94 to 96,even through 97 and 98),with great games like Phantasy Star 4,Comix Zone,Vectorman,Ristar,Sonic 3D,Road Rash 3,Earthworm Jim 2,X-Men 2 Clone Wars,among so many others coming late in it´s lifecylcle,plenty of exclusive titles,unlike the 360 and secondly,as far as sales are concerned,only in japan was the snes the best selling console,the mega drive/genesis was overall the best selling console of that gen in Europe,North America,South America and Oceania,japan was the big outlier but the difference there was so large that it made the overall difference in the snes favor,but some people make it sound like the snes dominated in sales when in the west(and pretty much almost every territory aside from japan) the mega drive was the best selling console of the gen.

SNES was the higher selling console in North America as well. After 1994, it came back and took the lead, and continued selling into 1997.

Secondly, the 360 still continues to get games too, most of those are just third party multiplats, and thus not that notable. Similarly, while the Genesis continued to get games even after Saturn's release, most of them weren't all that notable.

great topic. funny enough i preferred genesis to snes and last gen i preferred x360 to ps3. for most of last gen i trolled ps3 but after m$ dropped support for x360 and sony started dropping bombs ps3 all was forgiven.

off topic: history truly does repeat it self people and i shall be proved right about the hatred for bs gimmicks like bots in titanfall. i never believed the naysayers about halo bloom/aa and felt stupid afterwards so remember what i said.

I made an illustration/comparison between these two machines/generations years ago in SW and even spoke about the similarities between the Genesis/SNES and 360/PS3 in a podcast. Back then I suggested it could play out in a similar fashion based on the data I had at the time, but as time wore on it became more apparent. I mentioned it quite a few times in SW, but sometimes I kept it brief. Here's one post from four years ago as a reference. I did another nearly five years ago, second post of mine in the thread. I wish I could find my initial SNES/Genesis PS360 breakdown post though, it may have been purged.

It took time and years, but I'm glad to see you too came to a similar conclusion now with so much more data to scrutinize. You really took the idea to task with your bullet points. Jolly good show. Back then, Kinect didn't exist and I hasn't considered it's connection to the comparison to the Genesis. That was enlightening.

Clearly, there are differences between the comparisons (obviously because other variables and new gen) but overall I say the comparison looks rather remarkable taking a step back.

http://segatastic.blogspot.pt/2009/12/mega-drive-sales-figures-update.html

It´s for the overall american continent,not just north america like I said but it doesnt really matter,we aren´t dividing the sales numbers in europe by eastern or western either so in a logical sense,the mega drive/genesis was still the best selling console of the whole european continent,the whole american continent and Oceania.

The MD/Gen got several of notable great and exclusive titles as well as pretty much all the relevant multiplats until it´s end around 97/98,and in the exclusives department a heck of a lot more than the 360 got in it´s last two years,not even close.

@SolidTy: @Desmonic: Thank you!

I did actually point out the similarity once before between the two generations years ago, but at that point, most people asked me to wait the generation out first, since the SNES and Genesis landscape was dramatically different by the end than it was at the beginning or middle of the gen.

It looks like ultimately my (and yours) original hunch was correct, and that history did indeed repeat itself in this instance.

If you read it, you'd see the answer was closer to yes than no

Thankfully, it wasn't

I mean, we could go back to comparing the number of pixels in the Xbox One and PS4 versions of multiplats again if you would rather have that.

America includes Brazil, and Brazil was a Sega monopoly.

In North America, Canada, Japan, and parts of Western Europe, SNES won. In other places, Genesis won.

And sure, I mean they're not exact carbon copies of each other, but the point of similarity between the 360 and Genesis still stands.

I´m not disputing that,I´m just saying that if you look at the numbers,it´s japan that makes a difference,without japan in the picture the Mega drive was the best selling console of that gen overall,or the best selling console in the western hemisphere if you will,that was my point. As you can read from the article:

-"It seems that Nintendo's huge sales of the SNES in Japan (17.7 million) have led to the general assumption that the Mega Drive was "beaten" everywhere, when in fact Japan was the only major market where this occurred. Japan's figures gave the total SNES sales a huge 49.1 million, compared to Sega's 39.7 million."-

This was my point.

I like how charizard had not responded to back up his crap yet.

Here's the quote again for those who know that Charizard revised and replaces situations to make his point:

Or, we could talk about games.

Like Dark Souls II and how hyped we all are (or should be) getting.

This guy has supreme taste.

On topic, it's an interesting comparison Char, and I do see the similarities that you have pointed out, but they're not that similar to make a comparison like that in my eyes.

Both are good gaming consoles?

Well, one thing's for certain: We've found a thread for all the boring and long-winded history plebs to keep each other company.

I've been trying to avoid any media regarding the game (before today I hadn't watched a single trailer or seen a single screenshot.

But then I started playing Dark Souls again (now on PC with AotA content and DSFix) and I just couldn't resist.

I have only one thing to say:

TEMPLE KNIGHT COMETH

Well, and a second, more controlled thing to say. The game looks like it's taken inspiration from both Demon's and Dark in many areas, and is just improving on both. Not getting this game on launch day is going to be hard (of course, bills come first, but I hope I can afford to get it). I love the level of detail increase they've put into it. Everything is crisp and flowing (temple knight's robes for instance).

I really need to finish the AotA DLC before it comes out though. I've been putting it off too long (I think I bought the Prepare to Die Edition on Steam in the fall sale of last year).

Anyways, why aren't we all talking about Dark Souls II? Where is the hype thread? It's a couple weeks from launching FFS.

*Taps foot.*

Haha, I still have not finished the AotA dlc, but pretty close to it. I finished the main game a good 6 or 7 times though.

I agree it looks like it is taking the best bits from both Demon's and Dark in a few ways; and that's what makes me so hyped for this game. I loved different bits from both games.

From footage I have seen, looks like I wil be going temple knight straight off the bat too.

What platform are you getting DSII on? I'm stil a bit annoyed that pc version is not coming out at the same time as the console versions.

NO

Nothing will ever beat the greatest console war which is the Genesis vs SNES. Both systems were awesome and had their own unique games for their time. The 360 and PS3 and any other console war will never be in the same level as the Genesis and SNES were.

@Jakandsigz:

He's just going to ignore your points. Best move on and save yourself the trouble.

PC for sure. Not the same time?

This could be good or bad (depending on when I get paid in comparison to when it comes out).

Sadly not. There is currently no confirmed release date for the pc version.

I think latest word from them was that release date would be announced "very soon" for the pc version.

Hopefully that means it will just be a few weeks later... but something tells me it will probably be 2-3 months later :( . I will try and resist buying the PS3 version for that long, the pc verson should be far far superior.

this would have been true had another console also been outselling them 10:1 like the wii did.

Char, are you bored? Because you are starting to make threads that are not as 'relevant' as they used to be.

I think it's more the other way around. The Sega Genesis had the better CUP while the SNES had better everything else.

Don't insult the Genesis like that.

This has got to be the dumbest thread on the PS3 and 360; ever.

I dunno, that seems like a bit of a stretch to me. They have similarities, but there are plenty of circumstances unique to gen 7, such as Final Fantasy being multiplatform. I'm not saying you're wrong - it's your interpretation. I just don't see it that way.

No because the SNES and Genesis were actually different. Other than a rough period at the beginning for the ps3 and a dead period at the end for 360, only a handful of games/online features set them apart.

For the Genesis/Snes..The libraries, marketing, strategies, ideals, etc everything on those two consoles where completely and totally different and easily distinguishable from one another.

Because the Genesis dwarfs the 360 in the quantity of quality exclusives.

There are some false statements in your post as well, the Mega Drive/Genesis sold best in NA & Europe, but its 3rd party support came from Japan. I am a genuinely huge fan and i can't even remember any notable western games for the Genesis. Yes, it had shooters (still some of the best out there), which were from Japan.

SNES sold more, but they are equal in terms of quality games if you're familiar with both of their best games. Most people are naturally not familiar with the Mega Drive/Genesis best games because its best are hidden gems.

My point is that it boils down to preferance. The Genesis destroys the SNES in terms of shumps and side scrolling action games. Wile the SNES destroys the Genesis in terms of JRPGs and platformers. I love the twitch, so the Genesis is a better system than the SNES for me.

I can understand your comparison as there are some similarities between these two generations though.

I'd agree with this assessment.

Was Yoshi's Island really considered a graphics powerhouse? Because I remember that in many reviews the lowest scoring was graphics at around 6-8 level.