> > I'll take a "16x rendering deficit" for a 16x price deficit. > > I would take photo realistic Model 3 textures any day over blurry cartoon N64 > textures.
Yes, and in 1997 you would have paid ~$5000 for a Model 3 cabinet which can play a single game to achieve that.
You seem to think there was some sort of magic Nintendo could have pulled to achieve what at the time were high-end military simulator visuals for a $300 price point. Sega notably didn't even try; Saturn was a System 32 evolution and Dreamcast/Naomi was largely a clean-sheet design based on consumer PC hardware (with a few minor nods to Saturn here and there).