Which is more "90s"

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Which is more '90s?

3DO
9
90%
Jaguar
1
10%
 
Total votes: 10

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Which is more "90s"

Post by Auto-Fox » Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:35 pm

Just that, which console do you consider to be more "'90s" in its overall aesthetic and presentation? The 3DO, or the Jaguar?
Here's what I mean.

The Jaguar, in my opinion, has to have been the most "extreme" console out at the time in terms of aesthetics and presentation. It was matte black. It had cooling vents that looked like FINS. The start-up screen of some models had either a floating 3D cube with a jaguar on it, or a slowly rotating picture of its name that gets slashed with the sound of a jaguar roaring in the background. Its advertising alternated between sexual innuendo and screaming at consumers to "do the math".
I wouldn't say that all of the games really backed up that image, however. There were certainly some very "extreme" titles for it, there were plenty of fairly harmless and kiddie games to counterbalance that reserve of '90s awesome.

Then of course, you had the 3DO.
As dull as most of the 3DO consoles looked, and however confused and techie its advertisements were, there is no denying, it has the potential of having some of THE most '90s software EVER. You need look no further than Road Rash, which has a GRUNGE soundtrack, vintage MTV-style music videos, that weird distorted '90s pop-art style, motorcycle racing, and even limited vehicular combat! And of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Games like Quarantine, Crash 'N Burn, Street Fighter II Turbo, Corpse Killer, the list goes on. Not all of these games my have been very good, mind, but one cannot deny that they were so very much of their time it hurts.

Honestly, I think the Sega Genesis beats the pants off both these consoles in the '90s-ness department, but of course, this site isn't about the Sega Genesis.
So, in your own opinion, which of those two is the most '90s console, and why? Keep in mind, this is not to decide which console is BETTER, just which one you think was more "of its time".
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Post by BryWI » Fri Jan 14, 2011 2:30 am

I lived all of the ninties and nearly all of the eighties... but I am just very undecided on this question. I sit on the fence I guess.

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Post by 3DO Experience » Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:13 am

I agree that the Genesis is more 90's than either, despite how much I don't care for the system. I have to vote 3DO because even though it was the wave of the future it was a big, black, bad-ass machine and had tons of "Oh my god! Look at the 3-D graphics!" spotlight. And although the Jaguar did have the black bad-ass look it seemed a bit future forward because of the 64-bit and the UFO look. It was meant to have a generation ahead look and it pulled it off.
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Post by Trev » Sat Jan 15, 2011 8:54 pm

I picked 3DO. I love the Jag, but Atari's mentality, and much of its software catalog were more 80's than 90's.
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Post by 3DOKid » Sun Jan 16, 2011 1:51 am

I really love both consoles. (shh ;) )

My opinion is that the Jag was the last of the truly great Cart based consoles. In some ways it was an uber Genesis or SNES. It was an attempt to improve on the previous generation. The Jag, in my opinion, was a backwards looking console. I believe, Atari looked at the SNES/MD and thought how can we make a better console? It was, technically I believe, the last great fanfare for ST/Amiga styled hardware.

The 3DO was a forwards looking console. CD, Multimedia, Middleware. 3DO was the blueprint for every console (just about) that followed it. 3DO, I believe, looked at CD, 32bit architecture and the shift in technology at the time, and thought how can we use this to make a console?

3DO also looked to improve on Nintendo/Sega business model, the jaguar tried to emulate it.

As to which one was more 90s? 3DO for sure.The move away from traditional 2D games to focus more on 3D games, survival horror, texture maps, surround sound, multimedia, FMV, rendered intro's - it's all pure 90s isn't it? The Jag didn't really embrace any of that stuff.

Mobius

Post by Mobius » Sun Jan 16, 2011 6:50 am

I think Road Rash alone is enough to win this for the 3DO, but add in the lame cut scenes from Need for Speed, and it's a done deal.

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Post by Austin » Sun Jan 16, 2011 8:02 am

I'm not quite understanding the question.. I mean, a lot of things happened in the '90s, from the NES still being in the limelight, all the way to the Dreamcast launch and the hype of the PS2. No system during that era is more "'90s" than another, in my opinion, and pre-'95, pretty much every platform with a CD drive had its fair share of early '90s bad-assery (grunge, poorly-acted fmv sequences, and more).

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Post by Auto-Fox » Sun Jan 16, 2011 3:01 pm

Well, this is just a competition between the 3DO and Jaguar. While I realize other consoles could easily claim the title of "most early '90s" (the Sega CD comes to mind), we're only focusing on these two consoles, and which one of them was more "of their time".
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Post by 3DO Experience » Sun Jan 16, 2011 3:56 pm

You make a good point Kid with the Cart vs CD and 2D vs 3D. But whenever I think of the Jag I think of it with the CD add-on so that kinda falters in my opinion.
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Post by 3DOKid » Sun Jan 16, 2011 10:01 pm

3DO Experience wrote:You make a good point Kid with the Cart vs CD and 2D vs 3D. But whenever I think of the Jag I think of it with the CD add-on so that kinda falters in my opinion.
When I think of the 1990s, i think of 3DO. which in my world meant the 1990s started in 1993. By about 1997 PS1 was king, Saturn was dead, n64 was hopeless, 3DO a joke, everything took on that post-millenium apathy, and the world ended. For me anyway. And here we are, 2011. The future is facebook and twitter and not Space, not Mars, not the shuttle, not quantum computers or AI but collaborative web apps. jeeez. Anyone born in 1996+ and is hopeful about this planet, its abilities and its futures, is a hero -- and they get my vote.

When historians label the last 15 years, they will label this the Age of flawed Realism. Where everyone was so down to earth realistic and pseudo scientific, they were wrong, and was sadder than in the 1960s when we thought we would get space bikes.

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Post by Auto-Fox » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:57 pm

"Age of Flawed Realism", I like that. Sums it up pretty well I guess.
I dunno, though. My issue with the past 15 years is not the realism, but more the general sense of apathy toward, well, everything. People decided not to care because things were hard, and as a result, we lost sight of our relevant goals. Instead of using the new millennium as an excuse to do great things, all we got was relatively minor technological advances and an overload of cheap entertainment options.
Never before have so many said so much to so few, as I like to say.
Popular culture, politics, even technological progress, it's all become shallow and completely irrelevant.
We're facing issues like climate change and overpopulation with an attitude of "AH LALALALALA NOT HAPPENING!".
Anyway, let's get back on topic. ^^
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Post by 3DO Experience » Mon Jan 17, 2011 7:57 pm

heh for a second there I thought you were going to derail your own topic. :lol:
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Post by Austin » Tue Jan 18, 2011 10:44 am

I like how it was starting to derail. What can I do to blow it completely off course? :twisted: :P

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Post by Auto-Fox » Tue Jan 18, 2011 11:32 pm

Cookies.
There, derailed. ^^
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Post by BryWI » Wed Jan 19, 2011 5:08 am

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