You must be younger than me. I grew up in the 90s and the Sega/Nintendo rivalry was intense.
I think it was the SNES/Genesis era when “who has the better graphics” started to matter.
At the time, I was actually of the opinion that the N64 was a step down from the SNES. Sure the graphics were 3D, but they looked like shit even then. Nintendo really fucked up by sticking with cartridges that generation.