PlayStation, the gaming console dominating the U.S. market. © Sony Computer Entertainment of America.

The saga for video game platform superiority is not unlike the fairy tale of Jack and the Giant Killer - the unassuming Jack is able to topple the monster through tenacity and quick wits.

In this electronic version of the tale, there are two giants, Sega of America with the Saturn video gaming console and Nintendo with the powerful N64 console. The mightier monolith in this saga is Nintendo whose N64 is the newest, only a year old, most powerful platform to reach the video game market. Featuring a 64 bit system, in comparison to the others 32 bit, Nintendo plugged the N64 as being the quantum leap in at-home video gaming, promising better graphics, smoother game play and, as gamers call it, increased eye-candy.

After his first self-titled game sold over 1.5 million units, the character Crash Bandicoot has become something of a mascot for Sony PlayStation. Now Crash is back in Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back. © Sony Computer Entertainment

The Two Giants
All of this is possible because the N64 contains the ability to process complex images at a higher rate allowing gamers to play in virtual 3-D space environments with unrestrained interactive movement. The N64 also carries with it the ability for real-time processing of audio, 2-D and 3-D graphics, anti-aliasing features which remove jagged edges from screen images, increased color output, higher image resolution and a faster coprocessor which allows all of this to work. At least that's what Nintendo said.

Gaming statistics show that at this writing there are 2.6 million N64 consoles in gaming households, which equates to 31.71% of the overall market.

The Saturn, a 32 bit game, has since its debut in May, 1995 sold approximately 1.6 million consoles to American gamers, which is 19.51% of the overall market. Even though now the Saturn is the lowest-selling platform, Sega of America was, due to the popularity of their 16 bit Genesis system, the leader in gaming consoles.

The Saturn contains two main graphic processing units as well as an SDP math-coprocessor that aids in polygon (image) rendering. Add to this their custom sound processors that eliminate extraneous static, a whopping 16 million colors, and numerous other technical aspects and the Saturn, as many loyal gamers will tell you, is truly the better video console. Sega says the same thing, of course.