Nintendo Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) vs Sony PlayStation

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Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) compared with PlayStation

	NintendoSuper Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)	SonyPlayStation
Overview
Released
Released	April 1992	September 1995
Performance
Type
Type	Home console	Home console
CPU
CPU	Ricoh 5A22 (16-bit), 2.68 MHz	MIPS R3000A-compatible, 33.87 MHz
GPU
GPU	Nintendo S-PPU1 and S-PPU2	PlayStation GPU
Memory
Memory	192 KB	3 MB (better)
Disc drive
Disc drive	No	Yes
CPU
CPU	16-bit 65816-based Ricoh 5A22 with a variable clock; Nintendo UK lists 2.68 MHz	Custom 32-bit R3000A-based CPU at 33.8688 MHz; a Geometry Transformation Engine coprocessor handles 3D calculations (Sony developer manual)
GPU
GPU	16-bit graphics processor with Mode 7 background effects and up to 256 colours on screen (Nintendo UK)	PlayStation GPU with textured and Gouraud-shaded polygons; up to 360,000 polygons per second (Sony)
Memory detail
Memory detail	128 KB work RAM plus 64 KB video RAM (Nintendo UK)	2 MB main RAM, 1 MB video RAM, 512 KB sound RAM and a 512 KB operating system ROM (Sony developer manual)
Storage detail
Storage detail	Super NES Game Paks (cartridges); some save on the cartridge	Double-speed (2×) CD-ROM drive; saves on removable 128 KB memory cards (two slots)
Display and video
Built-in screen
Built-in screen	No built-in screen	No built-in screen
Video output
Video output	Up to 512 × 448 pixels; RF, RGB and S-Video outputs (Nintendo UK)	AV Multi Out for composite and RGB; separate composite video and stereo audio RCA outputs on the original SCPH-1002
Audio
Audio	Sony SPC700 sound chip with eight channels (Nintendo UK)	16-bit Sony sound processor, 24 ADPCM channels at up to 44.1 kHz; analogue stereo out; plays audio CDs
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × controller ports (Nintendo UK)	2 × controller ports and 2 × memory card slots on the front; serial I/O, parallel I/O and AV Multi Out on the back (serial and parallel ports dropped on later models)
Controller
Controller	Super NES controller with D-pad, A, B, X, Y, L, R, Start and Select	PlayStation controller at launch; later bundles came with the DUALSHOCK analogue controller