Mudslinging seemed to work against Nintendo. Or did it? For Sega, yes, but come to think of it, PSX and N64 were supposedly pretty close together in the early running, by the time PSX pulled ahead, these commercials were long-gone.
Sony kept Naughty Dog, which was the most important part of the Crash formula. Still, this was always a bad mistake. It's a good thing Sony spent the better part of the PS2 generation whipping up exclusive franchises, or I wouldn't have any faith in it at all anymore.