QuDDus, your information is the product of mind-numbing zombies pretending to know the truth.
First of all, you can\'t really call SegaCD a failure when it had nearly 200 games and sold 3 to 4 million consoles, when it was nearly the first of it\'s kind. Developers were not scared away from it, it was that their were still so much life left in Genesis and SNES, the FMV games just didn\'t fit.
Saturn has 3 32-bit processors. 1 was for Sound, the other 2 were the cpus. The 2 for cpu\'s were never used in unison, but even with just ONE processor, it was still faster than PSXs 1. Heck, even the sound processor for Saturn, which is a beast, is as fast as the PSX cpu.
I have an early Saturn video wisely sent to me by Sega int he early days of Saturn. It clearly state Saturn can push 300,000 polys/sec. More than the 260k provided by PSX. This is a little known fact, because people think Saturn had less because it had less features like hardware Gourad Shading, etc. But it was a much better machine.
Several games look better on Saturn than on PSX. Shall I name some, oh mindless one? Marvel Super Heroes, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Grandia, Vandal Hearts, Thunderforce V, and so on.
Saturn was a godsend to 3rd parties because it was something INNOVATIVE, which is something all of you seem to claim when dealing with PS2. Saturn was a right push into a new direction in game development.
That said, I can finally deal with the topic:
Saturn would\'ve trounced on N64, and laughed while doing it.
Saturn sold 5 million consoles first year in Japan and was the RPG king. it sold more consoles in a year than any before it. In America, due to a rushed launch, it sold 1 million in about 2 years. Wuite a bit different. But they rushed it because PSX was coming out with the stellar Twisted Metal and Destruction Derby. Sega would not have launched early if PSX weren\'t around.
Also, lookng at games that unfortunately never made it to America for Saturn kick the N64\'s butt by themselves.
Shining Force 3: 2 and 3
Deep Fear
Virus
Street Fighter Zero 3
Panzer Dragoon Saga (mass release)
Burning Rangers (mass release)
Shining Force 3 (mass release)
Grandia
Radiant Slivergun
Vandal Hearts
etc.etc.etc. N64 cannot compete with many of these titles.
Add in the fact that online play would\'ve become a reality and it makes for one quite successful console. You also have games that were announced that never came out would\'ve thrived on the popular Saturn. Virtua Fighter 3 with the 8meg RAM cart (drool!), NiGHTS 2, Burning Rangers 2, Sonic X-Treme, Fighting Vipers 2, etc!
Saturn would\'ve kicked butt, seriously. Even if Square would\'ve stayed with N64 through their own unexplainable hatred for Sega, Saturn would\'ve still had much more quality RPGs. N64 win? that would be next to impossible for Nintendo.
Eric Jacob