Current Events > Was PS1 or N64 more powerful?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I remember some multiplats looking better on N64, but some PS1 exclusives that looked better than any N64 game

Iirc N64 was technically the most powerful but the cartridges fucked a lot of games up
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Scotty_Rogers posted...

Iirc N64 was technically the most powerful but the cartridges fucked a lot of games up

cartridges were better than discs in every way except capacity
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iirc N64, but PS1 had the larger data storage for reading.

Also due to how they read and functioned it lead to games being designed differently, such as ps1 being larger slower loads favoring static images (ff7/ff8) and n64 having more readily available stuff (mario party/mario 64). Never really occured to me until seeing a video pointing out that was why some games were so different or impossible on the other.

Found it, it's actually a bit interesting. As at the time I didn't really care either way as I had both. That said, it's interesting to know the console's limitations heavily played into game design and why some multi-plats were garbage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhKX_i4BlGs" data-time="

I twas always really noticeable to me the difference in quality of PS1 vs N64. It seemed like PS1 had a really inferior 3d graphics processor that made walls and other polygons look hella weird.

this shit:
http://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs248-98-fall/Lectures/lecture18/slides/walk014.html

Is it called Linear Filtering? I think N64 might have had bilinear filtering if I had to totally guess.
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I always found PS1 games more beautiful and better sounding. I believe there were issues with N64 ram being limited too, regardless of the chip internals.

The bigger issues were data storage and cost for carts, and Nintendo strong arm policies.
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What the N64 had over PS1 was a form of AA and perspective correction which the PS1 didn't have. The N64 was able to blur low res textures and blend multiple colors on polygons which made them look smoother and overall nicer than the PS1's warped, pixelated textures.

N64 games also came with a lot of fog and lots of games including their most impressive looking games like Goldeneye and Perfect Dark came with serious performance issues like 10 FPS but no knew or cared about FPS when they were comparing games in GamePro screenshots.

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I can't see certain games on the PS1 that is on the N64 like Quake 2.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuH7RDIDZN4" data-time="
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Garioshi posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuH7RDIDZN4" data-time="

ive never seen someone so bad at mario 64
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Garioshi posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuH7RDIDZN4" data-time="

lmfao
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Garioshi posted...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuH7RDIDZN4" data-time="

The Pinnacle of gaming.
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The PS1 was a 32-bit system. That alone should tell you which one was more powerful overall.
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pokedude900 posted...

The PS1 was a 32-bit system. That alone should tell you which one was more powerful overall.

Not really because I'd need to know how many bits the N64 was

It's literally in its name.
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coh posted...

I'd need to know how many bits the N64 was

Is this a joke
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coh posted...

pokedude900 posted...

The PS1 was a 32-bit system. That alone should tell you which one was more powerful overall.

Not really because I'd need to know how many bits the N64 was

Bruh
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Rika_Furude posted...

Scotty_Rogers posted...

Iirc N64 was technically the most powerful but the cartridges fucked a lot of games up

cartridges were better than discs in every way except capacity

No. Plastic cases > cardboard cases

Not really sure why the amount of bits is the only determinant of power for a system. It determines the size of the RAM, not e.g., processing speed or rasterization speed etc
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It's not the only factor, but it was one of the biggest at the time. They stopped counting bits from the next generation onwards because it didn't matter anymore.
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The N64 was more powerful, but the PS1 allowed for bigger games with FMV movies (which were all the rage back then), and also marketed itself as the "cool, grown-up" alternative to the "kiddy" Nintendo 64, which made a huge difference to the audience that was most likely entering puberty at the time.
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It's a more complicated situation than just a simple which was more powerful.

But if all you're interested in is which had better garfix, the PS1 could draw more polygons while the 64 had way better texture smoothing (PS1 had none).
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Notti posted...

I always found PS1 games more beautiful and better sounding.

The audio thing is definitely true. N64 cartridges just didn't have the space for wav or even conventionsl compressed audio--not in any significant capacity. This is also why VA on N64 was a rarity.scar the 1 posted...

Not really sure why the amount of bits is the only determinant of power for a system. It determines the size of the RAM, not e.g., processing speed or rasterization speed etc

Yeah, and furthermore, neither system came anywhere close to actually stretching rhe bounds for main memory allowed on a 32 bit system. Hell, the PS3 doesn't even. But nobody understood that back then. I mean, gamers were mostly kids. Meanwhile, it was something that was already quantified and, as a result, easy for marketers to flaunt as if it really meant something.

Now, depending on your architecture, having larger registers also makes SIMD calculation possible, but I don't know if they took advantage of that or not.
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DevsBro posted...

Now, depending on your architecture, having larger registers also makes SIMD calculation possible, but I don't know if they took advantage of that or not.

I doubt that, but you never know
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scar the 1 posted...

DevsBro posted...

Now, depending on your architecture, having larger registers also makes SIMD calculation possible, but I don't know if they took advantage of that or not.

I doubt that, but you never know

Me too.
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They really weren't that far off aesthetically, some of the best looking PS1 games - especially if running in the rarely used higher resolution modes - could rival really nice N64 games.

The N64 had much more raw processing power, though. Look how many N64 games had split screen multiplayer modes compared to PS1. It was just much better equipped for the sheer demands of running multiple cutdown engines of a game. Only a handful of PS1 games could replicate this, IIRC an astonishing port of Quake 2 being among them.

Scotty_Rogers posted...

Iirc N64 was technically the most powerful but the cartridges fucked a lot of games up

This

pokedude900 posted...

It's not the only factor, but it was one of the biggest at the time. They stopped counting bits from the next generation onwards because it didn't matter anymore.

they stopped because the PS2 fucked up that metric.

Conventional gaming ideas said you jump bits every gen, like:

NES(8), SNES(16), PS1(32)

N64 tried to jump the gun and be 64bit. Even the dreamcast tried to continue that and claim 128 bits.

But then along came PS2 and said "I am 32bits, LOL"

Purple_Cheetah posted...

That said, it's interesting to know the console's limitations heavily played into game design

This made for such an interesting era to be a gamer.

devs would get creative and find new, sometimes quirky ways to get around system limitations, it was awesome.

also, thanks for that video, it's super interesting

Couldn't N64 not do CGI scenes cause the cartridge?
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Lost_All_Senses posted...

Couldn't N64 not do CGI scenes cause the cartridge?

it mean it can. They just take a lot of space.

But Resident Evil 2 fit into a single N64 cart

Word. I think that shows that just referencing the bits is pretty dumb tho.
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fenderbender321 posted...

Shuto-uke posted...

Lost_All_Senses posted...

Couldn't N64 not do CGI scenes cause the cartridge?

it mean it can. They just take a lot of space.

But Resident Evil 2 fit into a single N64 cart

Did they have the cutscenes in that version though?

Yup, most of them, if not all.

I mean, even the GBC could do CGI, with limitations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soFyBJsEDPc" data-time="

fenderbender321 posted...

Lost_All_Senses posted...

Couldn't N64 not do CGI scenes cause the cartridge?

From what I read it was capable but the limited capacity of cartridges was too much to overcome. I am pretty sure most of the capacity on games such as the Final Fantasies for PS1 was used by those scenes, and not only were they multiple discs but the discs held 10x as much as a cartridge. A 60 second scene could be like half the capacity if a cartridge if not more.

Fun fact: All 3 discs of FFVII actually contain the entirety of the game except for the cutscenes. It's possible to glitch your way into the final boss on disc 1 and have the opening cutscene play as you start fighting Sephiroth.
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pokedude900 posted...

fenderbender321 posted...

Lost_All_Senses posted...

Couldn't N64 not do CGI scenes cause the cartridge?

From what I read it was capable but the limited capacity of cartridges was too much to overcome. I am pretty sure most of the capacity on games such as the Final Fantasies for PS1 was used by those scenes, and not only were they multiple discs but the discs held 10x as much as a cartridge. A 60 second scene could be like half the capacity if a cartridge if not more.

Fun fact: All 3 discs of FFVII actually contain the entirety of the game except for the cutscenes. It's possible to glitch your way into the final boss on disc 1 and have the opening cutscene play as you start fighting Sephiroth.

wow!

where can I read more on this?

Shuto-uke posted...

wow!

where can I read more on this?

wow, you didn't know? smh
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I might have gotten a bit mixed up about being able to glitch your way to it. I was thinking of the PC version (which does still have 3 discs). It's done in the speedrun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCWrBEF52qI" data-time="&start=5

Edit: The video's suppose to be timestamped, but it doesn't seem to be working. Skip to about 2:51:30.
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pokedude900 posted...

I might have gotten a bit mixed up about being able to glitch your way to it. I was thinking of the PC version (which does still have 3 discs). It's done in the speedrun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCWrBEF52qI" data-time="&start=5

Edit: The video's suppose to be timestamped, but it doesn't seem to be working. Skip to about 2:51:30.

niceeeeeeeeeee

pokedude900 posted...

fenderbender321 posted...

Lost_All_Senses posted...

Couldn't N64 not do CGI scenes cause the cartridge?

From what I read it was capable but the limited capacity of cartridges was too much to overcome. I am pretty sure most of the capacity on games such as the Final Fantasies for PS1 was used by those scenes, and not only were they multiple discs but the discs held 10x as much as a cartridge. A 60 second scene could be like half the capacity if a cartridge if not more.

Fun fact: All 3 discs of FFVII actually contain the entirety of the game except for the cutscenes. It's possible to glitch your way into the final boss on disc 1 and have the opening cutscene play as you start fighting Sephiroth.

I always guessed as much. I figured at a minimum, you had to have 8 playables, most if not all the music, enemies and environments and all the abilities, and at that point you might as well just minimize tje chance for glitches buy including everything else.
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coh posted...

pokedude900 posted...

The PS1 was a 32-bit system. That alone should tell you which one was more powerful overall.

Not really because I'd need to know how many bits the N64 was

facepalm.jpg
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