History of video game consoles (fifth generation)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 Sega Saturn (1994), the Sony PlayStation (1994) and the Nintendo 64 (1996), with the PlayStation eventually ending up 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 their marketing was poor and they failed to make an impact. 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 and had been used by hardware marketers as a "show of power"; however 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 also saw the rise of emulation. It was during this time that not only were commonly available PCs powerful enough to emulate the 8 and 16bit systems of the previous 5 or more years, but the internet made it possible to store and download tape and rom images of older games, eventually leading 7th generation consoles (such as Xbox 360 and Wii) to make such older games available for purchase or download.
Contents |
[edit] Transition to 3D
The 32-bit / 64-bit era is most noted for the rise of fully 3D games. While there were games prior that had used three dimensional environments, this was the era where 3D interaction largely replaced the traditional 2D games of the 16 and 8-bit eras. Super Mario 64 on the N64 and Tomb Raider on the Saturn, and then on the PlayStation, are prime examples; they were marketed as some of the first fully 3D console games, and they steered the industry's focus away from side-scrolling and rail-style titles.
[edit] Complaints from older gamers
With the growing popularity of 3D gaming during this era, the industry saw the birth of a term that some older video game players used: "new school" gaming. Largely derogatory in nature, the term came to denote what older gamers perceived as a lack of gameplay quality in new titles; they claimed the focus of newer games was more on the graphic capabilities of the new systems, and less about the way the games themselves played. Many critics, some of whom began to call themselves old school gamers, call this the beginning of an "industrial revolution" of video gaming, and adamantly state that SNES games are more entertaining than 32-bit / 64-bit era video games (and by extension 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 done with Prince of Persia, but really brought to the fore with the addition of fully 3D environments in games like Tomb Raider and Tekken), instead of the quicker, 2D 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. Critics claimed the longer, more involved plotlines diverted developers' attention away from creating quality gameplay content.
[edit] Console wars
The 32-bit / 64-bit era was a paramount staging ground of the continuing "system wars" between the large game hardware manufacturers. "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 Mega Drive/Genesis and Sega [Mega-]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 Saturn when the 32X eventually failed and died. This fiasco severely damaged Sega, and has been considered a major factor in Sega eventually dropping hardware development entirely to focus on games.
- 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.
- 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 for the Super NES port of Killer Instinct showed a gamer chainsawing open the arcade cabinet so he could take out the 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, and it appeared to be clearly superior to any of the competing systems. In the end, the arcade system turned out to be completely different from that used for those games (albeit of comparable capability), disappointing those who had expected the images from the ads.
- 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 other era since the video game crash of 1983.
In the end, Atari (already on shaky ground) ended up being purchased by JT Storage (and later Infogrames) and stopped making game hardware, and Sega's loss of consumer confidence (coupled with its previous console failures) in North America set the company up for a similar fate in the next round of console wars.
In the fifth generation, the Sega Saturn, although the technically more advanced console, suffered from poor marketing and comparatively limited third-party support. Sega's decision to use dual processors has been roundly criticised, and some wrongly believe the second CPU was added as a "panic" response to the PlayStation's specifications. It has been said that only Sega's first-party developers were ever able to utilize the second CPU effectively. The Sega Saturn was the more difficult console to program for, and therefore the 3D graphics on its 3rd party games often lacked the luster of the PlayStation or Nintendo 64 (N64), a severe disadvantage at the dawn of 3D games.
Sega was also hurt by the plan to have a surprise four month early US launch of their console [1]. This head start failed for several reasons. One of the major reasons being there were few software titles ready. Also, the fact that the Sega Saturn was $100 more expensive than the PlayStation at launch put the buying public off, and they went for the cheaper PlayStation. Also, the Sega Saturn was only available at four retailers, of which Wal-Mart was not one.
Sony took an early advantage by tapping the mass market and positioning the PlayStation as a "lifestyle accessory" for males in the late teens to late twenties. Sega and particularly Nintendo's offerings were characterized as appealing more to children (both companies, for instance, featured mascots that appeared in Saturday morning cartoons). The securing of this new market is widely credited as the key to the system's success. With greater hardware sales came greater third party support; ultimately the PlayStation won the era. Sony carried this momentum over into the release of the PlayStation 2.
The Nintendo 64 is also often grouped into this era, as it competed with the PlayStation for market share towards the end of its life, although it was a 64-bit console. The Nintendo 64 was released one year later in North America than its competitors, and after numerous delays. By the time of its release Sony had already established their dominance and the Saturn was starting to struggle. Its use of cartridge media rather than compact discs alienated developers and publishers due to the space limits and the relatively high cost involved (compare $3.50(£2) for an N64 cartridge to 35¢(20p) for a PS disk), despite the fact that the Nintendo 64 had much faster load times because of its cartridge media. In addition, the initially high suggested retail price of the console may have driven potential customers away, and many early adopters of the system who had paid the initial cost were angered by Nintendo's decision to reduce the cost of the system within a few months of its initial release, although compensation was available to those who had claimed. The Nintendo 64 sold more than the Sega Saturn, but much less than the PlayStation.
[edit] World wide sales figures
| Console | Units Sold | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Playstation | 102.49 million<ref name="PS shipments">Cumulative Production Shipments of Hardware / PlayStation. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (2005-06-30). Retrieved on 2006-08-14.</ref> | March 31, 2005 |
| Nintendo 64 | 32.93 million)<ref name="Nintendo FY05" /> | March 31, 2005 |
| Sega Saturn | 9.26 million<ref name="console stats 2004-12" /> | December, 2004 |
[edit] 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 (and would decrease piracy). It also had the dubious benefit, however, of allowing Nintendo to charge larger licensing fees, as cartridge production was considerably more expensive than CD production. Yet, almost every other contemporary system began to move to the new CD-ROM technology, and many game developers began to embrace the Sony PlayStation because it was cheaper to develop for. This sparked a small scale war amongst gamers as to which was better. The "media war" was spurred on no less by statements from top company executives themselves; one Nintendo magazine ad placed a Space Shuttle (cartridge) next to a snail (a CD) and dared consumers to decide "which one was better".
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. In response, Nintendo's president publicly stated that Nintendo didn't need Square's business, because "Square's games were dull, slow, and gamers did not want to play dull, slow games". This incident provided a highly-publicized denunciation of Nintendo's cartridge-based system which caused negative publicity for Nintendo.
[edit] Fifth generation (32-bit / 64-bit era) systems
[edit] Consoles
FM Towns Marty 1991-199?: Japan |
Commodore Amiga CD32 1993-1994: U.S., Europe |
Pioneer LaserActive 1993-1996 |
3DO Interactive Multiplayer 1993-1995 |
 |
Sega 32x (add-on) 1994-1996: Japan, U.S. 1995-1996: Europe |
Sega Saturn 1994-2000: Japan 1995-1998 U.S., Europe |
Sony PlayStation 1994-2006: Japan 1995-2005: U.S., Europe. |
PC FX 1994-1997: Japan |
Bandai Pippin 1995-1997: Japan 1996-1997: U.S. |
Nintendo 64 1996-2002: Japan, U.S 1997-2002: Europe |
[edit] Handhelds
Neo Geo Pocket 1996-1998 Japan |
Game.com 1997-2000 U.S. |
Wonderswan 1997-2000 Japan |
Game Boy Light 1998-2000: Japan |
Game Boy Color 1998-2003 |
Neo Geo Pocket Color 1998-2001 Japan: 1999-2000 U.S., Europe |
[edit] Video game franchises established during the 32 / 64-bit era
[edit] Milestone titles
- Ape Escape is the very first game to use the dualshock analog controller on the Playstation. The games requires two analog sticks to play with. The left analog stick to move the character and the right analog stick to use the gadget.
- Dragon Quest VII was a best-selling title on the PlayStation in Japan, released in 2000. The game was the first main installment of Japan's national RPG series released in 5 years since 1995. It featured graphics similar to its predecessors.
- 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 RPGs. 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, with FFVII in particular having several spin-offs known as Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, including two sequels, a movie and an Action Adventure game.
- 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.
- Gran Turismo broke away from the mold of traditional arcade style racing games by offering realistic physics and handling as well as a plethora of licensed vehicles. The best selling game ever for the original PlayStation, GT is also credited as increasing popular awareness of certain Japan only sports cars such as the Mitsubishi Evolution, Subaru Impreza WRX and Nissan Skyline and eventually paved the way for their importation into the US.
- 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. It also featured mini-games like fishing & horseback riding.
- Metal Gear Solid was released on the PlayStation in fall of 1998. It received critical acclaim for its involved storyline, believable voice acting, and cinematic presentation. The series 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 its innovative gameplay (that demanded its own controller) and graphics, NiGHTS alone aided in the selling of a number of Saturns. Because it is a Saturn exclusive, it isn't as well known as Super Mario 64 or Crash Bandicoot, but nevertheless it became a cult video game.
- Parappa the Rapper, although only a modest success at its time of release, was highly influential in creating the music video game genre, which would grow in popularity throughout the fifth and sixth generations, thanks in large part to the popular Dance Dance Revolution.
- Nintendo's Pokemon titles for the Game Boy led to massive success in both video game sales as well as licensed merchandise, mostly aimed at younger children. This success was assisted in part by the Pokemon anime series, which was localized for North America. In addition to establishing a wildly popular franchise, particularly among younger gamers, Pokemon arguably helped extend the life of the handheld Game Boy system.
- Super Mario 64 was the first game released for the Nintendo 64. It helped prove that analog controllers, as opposed to the D-pad, were almost a necessity for 3D games (the Playstation ran into this problem quickly).
- Resident Evil and Silent Hill helped popularize the Survival Horror genre, which was previously confined to relatively obscure titles such as Alone In The Dark and Sweet Home. This genre continued to grow in to the sixth generation of video games, as new games such as Fatal Frame achieved cult status, and the two original series in the genre, Silent Hill and Resident Evil went on to produce many successful sequels.
- Games such as Ridge Racer and Gran Turismo, as well as the switch to 3D in general, opened up a new level of realism in the genre of racing games, which until then had been somewhat marginal in previous generations compared to side scrolling action games and fighting games such as the Street Fighter series. The new level of realism led to the genre gaining much more attention in the gaming world as well as increased commercial success.
[edit] See also
nl:Geschiedenis van de spelcomputer (32/64-bitstijdperk) pl:Historia gier komputerowych (piąta generacja) sv:Femte generationens konsoler
