Smashing The Myth Of Speed And Power

[Black_Tiger]

Ever wonder why the SNES rocks and the Genesis sux?

Apparently its really quite simple.


http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/img/smashing_the_myth.jpg


Seriously though, as ridiculous as this shameless infomercial appeared at first, it actually could've been useful for console makers to do if they'd done it right.

Like being able to better nail down the real benefits your system has over a competitor and using better examples as screenshots and making sure they were the exact same scene. But back in the day, even the manufacturers couldn't get their own specs straight.

Its still hard to believe that game mags allowed this kind of stuff.

I originally found a different SNES PSA in an old EGM a while ago, but didn't scan it right away and can't narrow down which issue it was from. I think that the other one was less blatently anti-Sega and more pro-SNES.

[Zebbe]

Hehe, funny "article". I wonder why they must lie so much. The Genesis clearly has 512 colours, not 256. I ain't buying any console from a liar!

[Joe Redifer]

Which system uses electricity? Both
I call bullshit on that one. Seriously, I can unplug my SNES from the wall, remove the AC adaptor and set the SNES's power switch to off. When I power up my Genesis, the SNES powers up as well. That's how powerful the Genesis is. This is a 100% true story. 10 points (not dollars) to anyone who figures out how this is happening.

[Dartagnan1083]

I remember this.
Nintendo was going off about specs when the problem was that they weren't releasing the same amount of quality games.

just more douchebag-ery that made me dislike nintendo more back then.

[Elusive]

I call bullshit on that one. Seriously, I can unplug my SNES from the wall, remove the AC adaptor and set the SNES's power switch to off. When I power up my Genesis, the SNES powers up as well. That's how powerful the Genesis is. This is a 100% true story. 10 points (not dollars) to anyone who figures out how this is happening.

The same reason my Dreamcast can power my Mega Drive/32X/Mega-CD combo ;)

[evildragon]

I call bullshit on that one. Seriously, I can unplug my SNES from the wall, remove the AC adaptor and set the SNES's power switch to off. When I power up my Genesis, the SNES powers up as well. That's how powerful the Genesis is. This is a 100% true story. 10 points (not dollars) to anyone who figures out how this is happening.
SCART connector ;)

[Mr Smith]

Ever wonder why the SNES rocks and the Genesis sux?

No, because it isn't true.

[David J.]

And I'm looking for a good SCART splitter... don't think they exist. :(

[Joe Redifer]

They don't. Evildragon gets 5 points and David J gets the other 5. It is a SCART connector, but it's the splitter that does it.

Anyway back on topic:


The truth is that you could put Sonic on the Super NES and have him race across the screen just as fast!
Very true. He could run across the screen just as fast. There wouldn't be any enemies or scrolling backgrounds and many/any other sprites on the screen, though. :)

[David J.]

Well, it's not that hard to actually plug something in the each time you want to play something, easier than composite really. And the prices make me want to crap myself.

[evildragon]

gotta love how things use TTL logic 5v ;) (the SNES is getting powered by the 5v signal that tells the TV "hey im here!", it just happens to be powerful enough to power the SNES)

[TheGZeus]

I remember this.
Nintendo was going off about specs when the problem was that they weren't releasing the same amount of quality games.

just more douchebag-ery that made me dislike nintendo more back then.I remember people trying to tell me the SNES was better because it could display more colors, and thus Super Mario World was better than Sonic.
"You could have sonic just as fast here!" Well, DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!
Naaaah, floaty, blobby games with beepy sounds are just as exciting, right?
-_-

[Mr Smith]

I remember people trying to tell me the SNES was better because it could display more colors, and thus Super Mario World was better than Sonic.
"You could have sonic just as fast here!" Well, DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT!
Naaaah, floaty, blobby games with beepy sounds are just as exciting, right?
-_-

Yes, I am always baffled how some folk believe better graphics always make for better games. The Super Mario World series were God-awful - Mario peaked with Mario Bros 3 and anything after that (with the exception of Mario Kart which is a different style of game all together) has been inferior, often bordering upon tosh. Give me a bit of Sonic the Hedgheog any day.

[Ash]

Yep. I sure do remember that ad in GamePro back in the day. I agree, one more reason to hate Nintendo back then.

[TheGZeus]

I like how they tout the number of sprites the SNES can display.
That's great, but if they move, the processor crys.

[0x15e]

Do you really need anyone screaming in your face? No.
This shows exactly how desperate Nintendo was getting, IMO.

[TheGZeus]

...but we need a 2 page blathering article on why your system could theoretically do a portion of what the other system could? 9_6
I like that they stopped even trying to make some kind of ultr-powerful system, and went with FUN. Take their old formula and make it MORE zany and MORE doofy and MORE crazy! Take stupid to 11 and it often becomes awesome.
Kids and their parents and their parents' friends and 16-bit loving nerds= bigger target audience than "I KILL YOU NOOB! GIVE ME YOUR GUNS I TAKE YOUR FLAG!"
I just wish that Sega had been involved with them on that rather than the Triforce...

[nineallday00]

Personally, I like them arguing that they have better sports games. I have heard people claim the snes had the better sports games back in the day. This is absolutely laughable to any sane human being.

[Vehemont]

Which system has a short, stocky, fat plumber as a mascot.....

Super NES

[j_factor]

Those screenshots are ridiculously stupid. The SNES ones don't look any better than the Genesis ones.

[Vehemont]

I noticed this also, but I actually thought the Genesis screens looked better that the SNES screens, is it just me?:confused:

[Flash1087]

The Aliens 3 screen isn't even the same screenshot, so that's invalid. And Lost Vikings actually looks better on the Genesis, according to that ad.

I don't remember Nintendo resorting to this sort of douchery during the SNES/Genesis throwdown. I had them both, but if I'd have seen this kinda thing I might be inspired to go spend more time with my Genny just out of spite. I was an angry child.

[Mendicant]

Which system has a short, stocky, fat plumber as a mascot.....
"Which system has a European Porcupine for a Mascot?" HEH! :D As opposed to a short, stocky, fat European plumber for a Mascot...

Back when I saw this ad, in Nintendo Power of all places, it kind of worked on me. Granted I owned both consoles in question (and I still do), but the ad left me under the impression that the SNES had superior hardware; while Genesis tried to hype up it's aging hardware with hype. (Infact, I wouldn't know about the faster Genesis CPU until almost 10 years later.)

Nintendo touted specs. Granted, back in 94, I didn't know much about specs, but "Data retrieval is 280 nanoseconds for the SNES - 88% faster than the Genesis" was a tangible claim. "Blast Processing" had more of a corporate-executive-trying-to-come-up-with-a-buzz-word feel to it.

Looking back, had SEGA run the Blast Processing ads talking about the faster Genesis CPU, instead of Blast Processing-this and Blast Processing-that, Nintendo may have had something to actually worry about.

I noticed this also, but I actually thought the Genesis screens looked better that the SNES screens, is it just me?
Alien 3 & Lost Viking screenshots feature larger sprites/tiles with less color. SNES ones are smaller, but has a few more colors thrown in made possible by the miracle that is 280 nanosecond data retrieval. :D

[Black_Tiger]

"Which system has a European Porcupine for a Mascot?" HEH! :D As opposed to a short, stocky, fat European plumber for a Mascot...

Back when I saw this ad, in Nintendo Power of all places, it kind of worked on me. Granted I owned both consoles in question (and I still do), but the ad left me under the impression that the SNES had superior hardware; while Genesis tried to hype up it's aging hardware with hype. (Infact, I wouldn't know about the faster Genesis CPU until almost 10 years later.)

Nintendo touted specs. Granted, back in 94, I didn't know much about specs, but "Data retrieval is 280 nanoseconds for the SNES - 88% faster than the Genesis" was a tangible claim. "Blast Processing" had more of a corporate-executive-trying-to-come-up-with-a-buzz-word feel to it.

Looking back, had SEGA run the Blast Processing ads talking about the faster Genesis CPU, instead of Blast Processing-this and Blast Processing-that, Nintendo may have had something to actually worry about.

Alien 3 & Lost Viking screenshots feature larger sprites/tiles with less color. SNES ones are smaller, but has a few more colors thrown in made possible by the miracle that is 280 nanosecond data retrieval. :D

Both Sega and Nintendo(and other companes like Sony to this day) did this kind of crap. This is just one of the worse examples. I don't think that there's yet been a console manufacturer that cared more about being "fair and balanced" than making money at all costs.

[j_factor]

Alien 3 actually does look better on SNES, but good god it plays much worse. But regardless, wasn't that game like 3 years old by the time this ad hit? Couldn't they come up with anything more current? Their examples are a 3 year old game, an obscure racer, and a game that's pretty much the same on both consoles. Whoever used those examples should've been fired.

[TheGZeus]

Alien 3 actually does look better on SNES, but good god it plays much worse. But regardless, wasn't that game like 3 years old by the time this ad hit? Couldn't they come up with anything more current? Their examples are a 3 year old game, an obscure racer, and a game that's pretty much the same on both consoles. Whoever used those examples should've been fired.
Probably the games they could get the liscences for.

[Black_Tiger]

Its probably just some stupid ad agency like the one Sony used for its PSP blog that was given some points Nintendo wanted to get across and then put together what it thought an intelligent article that stoopid kids would confuse as part of a magazine.

[Mendicant]

It kinda' worked... seeing as how I was one of those stoopid kids who thought it was one of them info-tisement discussing superior SNES hardware. It gave me the impression that if a game was ported to BOTH the SNES & Genesis, the SNES version would be superior. :(

Er...TheGZeus...I'm guessing they used those specific games because probably a) well known developers like Capcom or Konami didn't want to create tension between themselves and SEGA by helping Nintendo's anti-SEGA campaign; and/or b) when you're showing a 1X1 inch screenshot, it's harder to tell the differences between SF II Turbo and SF II SCE. Screenshots of the Lost Vikings, Alien 3, and that racing game are easily discernible at first glance.

[108 Stars]

It kinda' worked... seeing as how I was one of those stoopid kids who thought it was one of them info-tisement discussing superior SNES hardware. It gave me the impression that if a game was ported to BOTH the SNES & Genesis, the SNES version would be superior. :(

Well, in Germany most games actually did get slightly better ratings on SNES.
The speed the MD could handle was not used by many games, but about every game made use of the bigger color palette of the SNES and of course of the better sound chip.
And sadly if a game was developed for both plattforms the lower SNES-resolution was used for both versions too, so third parties never really played out the MD´s advantages.
I´d say in the very most cases the SNES-versions did look and sound slightly better than their MD-counterparts.
This resulted in a ratings-difference to the SNES´benefit in most games. Super Street Fighter II for MD got 90%, the SNES-port got 92% for example.

[Mr Smith]

This resulted in a ratings-difference to the SNES´benefit in most games. Super Street Fighter II for MD got 90%, the SNES-port got 92% for example.

The SNES version of Super Street Fighter II had some extra additions, although I'll be damned if I know exactly what they were.

[108 Stars]

The SNES version of Super Street Fighter II had some extra additions, although I'll be damned if I know exactly what they were.

Okay, maybe it did have additions in this case, but it was the usual thing that 9 out of 10 multi-plattform-titles were a bit more beautyfull on the SNES, and so the ratings were better.

[j_factor]

I disagree. Lots of games that were on both platforms were better on Genesis.

[108 Stars]

I disagree. Lots of games that were on both platforms were better on Genesis.

Graphically? The sound too?

[j_factor]

In many cases, yes. Particularly with American football and hockey games, but others too. Outlander and Raiden Trad come to mind.