History of video game consoles (fifth generation)
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Template:CVG history In the history of computer and video games, the 32-bit / 64-bit era was the fifth generation of video game consoles. It featured both 32-bit and 64-bit consoles, and the market was dominated by three consoles, the Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64, with PlayStation the most successful. Demographics in console sales varied overall but these consoles defined the System wars of this era (see section below). The 3DO and Atari Jaguar were also part of this era, but failed to make an impact like their competitors. This era also saw two updated versions of Nintendo's Game Boy: Game Boy Color and Game Boy Light (Japan only).
Bit ratings for consoles largely fell by the wayside during this era, with the notable exception of the Nintendo 64. The number of "bits" cited in console names referred to the CPU word size, but there was little to be gained from increasing the word size much beyond 32 or 64 bits - performance depended on more varied factors, such as processor clock speed, bandwidth, and memory size.
The 32-bit / 64-bit era was also the era where the rise of console emulation happened. A fan translation project, on Final Fantasy V, was released to the emulation community during this era. Image:PSX Ridge Racer.png
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Transition to 3D
The 32-bit / 64-bit era is most noted for the rise of 3D games, which largely replaced the traditional 2D games of the 16 and 8-bit eras. The Nintendo 64 launch title Super Mario 64 perhaps best exemplifes this, as it was the first console game to steer the industry's focus away from side-scroll and rail-style titles to generating truly 3D environments in which the player has an unencumbered range of motion. Image:N64 Super Mario 64.jpg
'New school' gaming
It is the era that followed the 16-bit era. It is the birth of what some video game players call "new school" gaming, which uses 3D computer graphics. The Sony PlayStation was released in Japan near the end of the 16-bit era in 1994, and in the United States in 1995. The Nintendo 64 was released in Japan and the United States in 1996. Many critics, some of whom call themselves old school gamers, call this the beginning of an "industrial revolution" of video gaming, and think that SNES games are more entertaining than 32-bit / 64-bit era video games and today's video games. Fundamental gameplay changes between the old school and new school era include gameplay actions revolving around more true-to-life animation (which had already been tried with Prince of Persia, but really brought to the fore with games like Tomb Raider and Tekken), instead of the quicker, cartoon-style action typical of titles like Super Mario World and Sonic the Hedgehog. Another fundamental change was the widespread adoption of CD-ROM technology which allowed more storyline content into games, possibly focusing the developers away from developing gameplay content. Storylines also started to get more complex and featured mature stories and characters, examples being Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy VII. The 32-bit / 64-bit era was also the time console emulation started to become popular. NES and SNES ROMs have been easier to find during the sixth generation era than they were during the 32-bit / 64-bit era.
System wars
Image:JAG Cybermorph.png More so than with any other period, the 32-bit / 64-bit era was the paramount staging ground of the "system wars". The "system wars" were a phenomenon in which people would attempt to evaluate the upcoming hardware of a system and purchase the system for that reason alone, speculating that the best games must be made for that hardware. Since the length of time systems spent in development had been steadily growing since the 8-bit era, and since a growing consumer awareness was making the development process more public than at any time in the past, consumers were left with a lengthy period of time in which to speculate about the strengths and weakenesses of the consoles to be released in the next generation. Many events transpired to mislead gamers during this era, further causing controversy and bitterness over the process:
- Despite massive third party support and an unprecedented amount of hype for a first-time entrant into the industry, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer's $700.00 pricetag prevented it from reaching the demographic of more casual gamers who chose instead to purchase one of the 3DO's more affordable contemporaries.
- The Sega 32x, an upgrade for the Sega Genesis and Sega CD that was enhanced for 32-bit gameplay, was released a year prior to the release of the Saturn, which angered consumers who bought it and then had to buy a Sega Saturn when the 32x eventually failed and died.
- The Atari Jaguar was released in 1993 with a surprisingly successful start, but quality software for the platform arrived few and far between, with only Tempest 2000, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Alien vs. Predator being standout games. The system itself being 64-bit was also controversial.
Image:Nightsintodreams-frozenbell.jpg
- The Nintendo 64 was announced as "Ultra 64" and two arcade games (Killer Instinct and Cruis'n USA) were released claiming to use the hardware. A famous TV ad showed a gamer chainsawing open the Killer Instinct arcade cabinet so he could take out the N64 console inside. This caused many gamers to abstain from buying systems like the 3DO, Saturn, and PlayStation, because they saw that what they thought was the Nintendo 64 hardware was clearly superior to any of those systems. In the end, the system was completely different from that used for those games.
- Video game magazines constantly did side by side hardware-specification comparisons of the systems using dubious statistics. Console makers routinely boasted theoretical maximum limits of each system's 3D polygon rendering without accounting for real world in-game performance when using game AI, lighting, and texture mapping.
- There were more competing consoles in this era than in any era since the video game crash of 1983.
In the end, Atari, already on shaky ground, was permanently removed from the console industry, and Sega's failure in North America set itself up for a similar fate in the next round of console wars. The manufacturer was already in debt from past marketing failures.
CD vs cartridge
During the 32/64-bit era, Nintendo made the somewhat controversial decision to make the N64 a cartridge based system like its predecessors. Publicly Nintendo defended this decision on the grounds that it would give games shorter load times than a Compact Disc. It also had the dubious benefit, however, of allowing Nintendo to charge larger licencing fees, as cartidge production was more expensive than CD production. Yet, almost every other contemporary system (Jaguar was more or less gone by then) was moving to the new CD-ROM technology. This sparked a small scale war amongst gamers as to which was better. It also influenced many game developers to embrace the Sony PlayStation because it was cheaper to develop for.
The cartridge vs. disc debate came to an infamous climax during the release of Final Fantasy VII. Despite the fact that all six previous Final Fantasy games had been published on Nintendo systems, the series' producer, Squaresoft (now known as Square-Enix), chose to release Final Fantasy VII on the Sony PlayStation. This incident provided a highly-publicized denunciation of Nintendo's cartridge-based system which caused negative publicity for Nintendo.
Consoles of the 32-bit / 64-bit era
 Commodore Amiga CD32 |
 Laseractive |
 FM Towns Marty |
 3DO Interactive Multiplayer |
 Atari Jaguar and Atari Jaguar CD (add-on) |
 Sega 32x (add-on) |
 Sega Saturn |
 Sony PlayStation |
 PC FX |
 Bandai Pippin |
 Nintendo 64 |
Handheld Consoles
 Neo Geo Pocket |
 Game.com |
 Wonderswan |
 Game Boy Light |
 Game Boy Color |
 Neo Geo Pocket Color |
Video game franchises established
Milestone titles
- Doom, the game that made the first person shooter genre mainstream. (moreso than Wolfenstein 3-D)
- Super Mario 64 was the first game released for the Nintendo 64. It helped prove that analog controllers were almost a necessity for 3D games, as opposed to the D-pad (the Playstation ran into this problem quickly). It was also the first major game to feature expansive 3D environments.
- Final Fantasy VII is the first game in the series to make use of FMVs (full motion videos), and it opened the door of the mainstream US market for Japanese-origin RPG's. It signaled the convergence of film and interactive media and raised the bar in terms of production value for games. "Final Fantasy" is now one of the biggest franchises in video gaming.
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of the most critically acclaimed games of all time. It smoothly transferred the playing mechanics of the previous 2D Zelda adventures, now making it 3-D with a 3rd person perspective that could switch to 1st person. Also featured side-quests like fishing & horse back racing.
- Tomb Raider featured a sexy female version of Indiana Jones as its lead character. It brought the video game industry into the mainstream spotlight and Lara Croft became one of the most recognisable video game characters created in recent years.
- GoldenEye 007 popularized the first-person shooter on consoles. It combined stealth and slaughter with pioneering animation and physics. Its multiplayer aspects influenced the later hugely successful Halo series.
- Pokémon was the biggest money-maker for Nintendo. It created a cultural phenomeon amongst young children that brought a huge amount of Pokémon trading cards and assorted merchandising. Its TV show was also very popular and led to several movies. It paved the way for Digimon and Yu-Gi-Oh.
- Metal Gear Solid was released on the PlayStation in the Fall of 1998. It received critical acclaim for its involved storyline, believable voice acting, and cinematic presentation. It remains a best seller for the Playstation after many incarnations.
- NiGHTS Into Dreams, developed by Sega's Sonic Team, is considered a classic of the Sega Saturn. With it innovative gameplay (that demanded an own controller) and graphics, NiGHTS alone aided in the selling of a number of Saturns. Because of being a Saturn exclusive, isn't well known as Super Mario 64 or Crash Bandicoot, but became a cult video game and is considered one of best games ever.