PlayStation 30th anniversary: what if Digital Foundry existed in 1990s?

DF Retro delivers its first big Saturn vs PlayStation face-off.

Digital Foundry first manifested on the pages of Eurogamer way back in 2007, looking at the differences between Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 software - but what if DF actually emerged back in 1994, examining the fifth generation consoles: Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation? We can answer that question today with the publication of the first in an occasional series, where DF Retro goes back to the consoles and games of the 90s, using today's tools and methodologies to compare the games that made their way to both Sega and Sony platforms.

Cross-platform development back in the day was very different to how it is in the current era. For the last eleven years, both Microsoft and Sony hardware was essentially delivered the same core AMD technology that's PC-based in nature, streamlining games development. In the PlayStation and Saturn era, developers were faced with two fundamentally different boxes that generated 3D visuals in completely different ways (triangles on PS1, quads on Saturn) using entirely different development environments. While it's acknowledged that PlayStation's 3D performance was significantly better than Saturn's, the Saturn could still produce some impressive results, with many titles arguably surpassing the Sony equivalent depending on how they were implemented. Developers were required to be innovative in supporting multiple consoles, often employing entirely different approaches in delivering their ports - even if the end output result looked quite similar.

It's also worth stressing the importance of the 'lead platform' - a concept we've typically forgotten about in the current era. Back in the day - and even moving into the Xbox 360/PS3 era - there was the concept that games were developed with specific target hardware in mind, playing to their strengths. That's definitely born out in the Saturn/PlayStation era, where PlayStation-led games could struggle on Saturn - and yes, vice-versa. You'll see some fascinating examples of this play out in today's video.

All of which brings us to today's new DF Retro episode, where John Linneman sets out to catalogue the multi-platform driving and racing games of the fifth generation console era, using the techniques we've developed across the years, but brought to bear on mid to late 90s software. This hasn't been easy - primarily because analysis is derived from digital video footage, which wasn't available to us back then. Thanks to HDMI mods for legacy consoles, we do now have that facility... for the PlayStation, at least. Things are much trickier with Sega Saturn, where its combination of video layers derived from separate VDP1 and VDP2 processors currently make HDMI mods impossible. We've almost cracked it though: Mike Chi's RetroTink 4K processes and scales RGB signals from the Saturn to such a level of quality that we can work with the video within our tools, making the comparisons you see today possible.

However, even then, we had challenges. An digital output derived from an analogue source still isn't a clean HDMI signal and in many cases, manual verification of performance data was required and yes, we're talking about frame-by-frame verification by eye. Meanwhile, let's just say that the odd title on PlayStation with screen-tearing proved quite baffling to process, to the point where much older algorithms developed very early on Digital Foundry's history proved useful.

Still, I hope you enjoy the video, because there's plenty of great stuff to enjoy. The 90s were a fascinating era for gaming as we transitioned from 2D to 3D and the whole generation was highly experimental. Publishing 'taboos' seen today weren't really a thing back then, so viewed through the lens of modern publishing, it's remarkable to see WipEout and Destruction Derby - Sony first-party exclusives - eventually appear on Saturn. Yes, the received internet wisdom is that the PlayStation enjoyed the better experience but at this point we can now quantify that with objective data and subjective comparisons. However, not every multi-platform release was a PlayStation 'win'.

Elsewhere, Sega's console still delivered some solid ports: EA titles like The Need For Speed and Road Rash actually saw significant advantages on Saturn, stacked up against PlayStation. Ubisoft's Street Racer sees the developer produces very different visuals for every single version of the game ever made! PlayStation had full 3D terrain, Saturn uses VDP2 for a Mode 7-style effect: both are excellent in their own way. The deeper you dig into 90s multi-platform console development, the more surprises you see.

Of course, we're just covering driving/racing titles today and this is just the first in a series of videos we're planning to produce. We're already significantly into a second episode covering shoot 'em ups, which is just as fascinating in terms of how games played to the strengths of each system - but looking back, while there was a good level of crossover in games released for both platforms, the concept of the exclusive was much stronger back in the day - and it was not just the first parties themselves that delivered those games. Back then - much more than now - there was a real reason for owning both systems, as I did, even though I was the editor of the official Sega Saturn magazine from 1996 onwards.

As for the concept of Digital Foundry content being possible in the 1990s, that would have been challenging to say the least. We did have frame grabbers that digitised analogue inputs and we could capture RGB images of good - even pristine - quality, to the point where they presented in a way that didn't quite reflect the CRT experience. Video capture was possible as we sometimes received VHS tapes of footage, or in the case of the N64 at E3 1996, a betacam cassette of broadcast quality (long since lost before the archivists mail me) but a 'digital video' of sufficient quality that could be scanned for duplicate frame information would have been virtually impossible. The transition from analogue to digital video outputs changed everything, it arrived with Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and that's where the DF story effectively begins.