Before you flame me, please understand that this is how I THINK it will be. It represents MY opinion. You may have a different opinion and are free to have one.... So don't just flame me, give constructive remarks etc. or YOUR opinions about the future. OK? Sega 32X : Won't last. Noone, except some Genesis owners, will buy it. It won't stack up against the Atari Jaguar, which is its main competitor (same price range). Sonic 5 won't do much to save it.... Some Sega fans who buys this will most likely be pretty miffed when the Saturn is released with superior games. It's just a ploy from Sega to make people stick with Sega until the next level arrives, instead it might backfire pretty badly. Sega Saturn : Too little, too late. I've said this before, and I'll say it again... Sega introduced this too early in Japan, with specs. too similar to the 32X. Virtua Fighter and Daytona U.S.A. will sell quite a few systems, but won't put it on top of the charts. Sega DOES have a vast library of arcade games to port, which will make it last and help Sega survive. 3DO : Too expensive and the technology is getting old. Trip Hawkins is just too arrogant to be taken seriously. 3DO will be totally run over by Saturn and the Sony Playstation. M2 won't help since it certainly won't make it any cheaper and won't make it out fast enough. As in Japan, sales will die when Saturn and Playstation are introduced. Atari Jaguar: The future of computer gaming is realism. And unfortunately for the Jaguar, realism requires texturemapping. The gaming crowd will become more and more picky in this respect, referring to Ridge Racer, Virtua Fighter 2, Daytona U.S.A. etc. While the Jaguar CAN do texture mapping, it doesn't come close to the capabilities of the Saturn and the Playstation. Thus, even with the JagCD attached, it won't be able to compete on the same level. On BIG plus is its networking ability, which will help it alot. Jag 2 will maybe change this, but its release is too far into the future to make an impact. Nintendo U64: Cart based? Would someone wake up the people at Nintendo, please? Being cart based is a huge disadvantage. OK, so the load time is faster? Who cares about that when you on the Playstation, for example, can play Galaxians while waiting for Ridge Racer to load? U64 will hit the market after all the other systems are well established with lots of software. All the other systems will be CD based and have nicer eye candy, bigger levels, more enemies, more music etc. etc. etc. Who cares if Mario XVIXII has been rendered on a SGI???? They are heading for trouble! Sony : The winner of the "system wars"? I think so! Why? Well, Playstation many reasons. It will have tons of GOOD software. It will have super-simple-to-use built in networking. It is made by one of THE biggest companies in consumer electronics. Sony has TONS of money to market it. It has awesome hardware geared towards 3D. It has ALL the big guys behind it: Capcom, Konami, EA, Namco, Taito, Bandai etc. It will be cheaper than 3DO and Saturn. Oh, and because Sony will be the ONLY system with MK III.... (Not that I care.) How can Sony come from nowhere and take over the crown from Nintendo/Sega? Who knows, just watch! (One thing Sony should do, is to introduce the Playstation before september'95. How about March?? :) So, by the end of 95, this is how I look at the 32/64 bit world: 1. Sony Playstation 2. Sega Saturn 3. Atari Jaguar \ Could be 4. 3DO / reversed. 5. 32X A few things to note. These doesn't represent the installed world wide user base, more what will currently (Christmas'95) be selling well and will BE the final list. (U64 excluded) Sony, Atari and 3DO really needs a "mascot" ala Sonic and Mario. Sonic and Mario are instantly recognizes as Sega and Nintendo, even by 4-5 year olds. This to get the younger crowd going before Mario 5 arrives on U64 in '96. 60% if the gaming market are adults, thus we need more "adult" games. (No, not the boob-type) RPG and simulations will become more important. Many of these people have PC's and will probably stick with them. So in order for them to buy a $300 console, they need KILLER software. Again, this is where 3D comes in. Except for the new Matrox series, even the Pentium can't compete in 3D games. So titles like VF, Toshinden and Fight For Life will be very important. All of these systems should have an identical Quake client, so that all with a modem can play against eachother by connecting to a common server regardless of console. The move from cart to CD based titles should bring software prices down. (Please not the development cost discussion again....) Sony or Atari doesn't have the outrageous licensing fees as Nintendo, so hopefully the prices will go down on the industry level. (Nintendo might be the exception because of its licensing and because it is cart-based. Another nail in the coffin....:) Networking games will be the next big thing. Thus, the Jaguar and the Playstation will have an advantage. They just need the killer software to show it off. No more split screen cheezy action! '95 will be a very hot year indeed! Atari seems to be the only company without territorial lock outs. This will be to their advantage, if not in a great degree. (Not sure about 3DO) Will any systems crash & burn? Hopefully Nintendo, maybe 3DO. (Depends on how much longer Matsuhita will listen to Hawkins' crap. 3DO as a platform will live on, it's just that someone will have bought 3DO, most likely Matsuhita) He he... That's how I feel the next year will be like. Remember, I'm not an industry analyst, just a humble gamer. So in the big picture these opinions are worthless, but I don't care. I like guessing.... (he he he he...)