History of video game consoles (third generation)

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In the history of computer and video games, the third generation (sometimes referred to as the late 8-bit era) began on July 15, 1983, with the Japanese release of both the Nintendo Family Computer (later known as the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, in the rest of the world) and Sega SG-1000. This generation marked the end of the North American video game crash of 1983, a shift in the dominance of home video games from the United States to Japan, and the transition from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphics, which was a pivotal leap in game design.

The best-selling console of this generation was the NES (which remained the best-selling home console up until the PlayStation), followed by the Sega Master System (which dominated the European and South American markets) and then the Atari 7800. Although the previous generation of consoles had also used 8-bit processors, it was at the end of this generation that home consoles were first labeled by their "bits". This also came into fashion as 16-bit systems like the Mega Drive/Genesis were marketed to differentiate between the generations of consoles. In the United States, this generation in gaming was primarily dominated by the NES/Famicom. The end of the 3rd generation of video games comes as 8-bit consoles become obsolete in graphics and processing power compared to 16-bit consoles.

Overview

The Family Computer (commonly abbreviated the Famicom) became very popular in Japan during this era, crowding out the other consoles in this generation. The Famicom's Western counterpart, the Nintendo Entertainment System, dominated the gaming market in Japan and North America, thanks in part to its restrictive licensing agreements with developers. This marked a shift in the dominance of home video games from the United States to Japan, to the point that Computer Gaming World described the "Nintendo craze" as a "non-event" for American video game designers as "virtually all the work to date has been done in Japan." Although the NES dominated the market in Japan and North America, Sega's Master System made large inroads in Europe, Oceania and Brazil, where the NES was never able to break its grip. The Atari 7800 also had a fairly successful life in the United States, and the Sharp X68000 began its niche run in Japan in 1987.

Unlike the NES, the SG-1000 initially had very little to differentiate itself from earlier consoles such as the ColecoVision and contemporary computers such as the MSX. Despite the lack of hardware scrolling, Sega's SG-1000 Mark II was able to pull off advanced scrolling effects, including parallax scrolling in Orguss and sprite-scaling in Zoom 909. In 1985, Sega's Master System incorporated hardware scrolling, alongside an increased colour palette, greater memory, pseudo-3D effects, and stereoscopic 3-D, gaining a clear hardware advantage over the NES. However, the NES would still continue to dominate the important North American and Japanese markets, while the Master System would gain more dominance in the emerging European and South American markets.

In the later part of the third generation, Nintendo also introduced the Game Boy, which almost single-handedly solidified and then proceeded to dominate the previously scattered handheld market for 15 years. While the Game Boy product line has been incrementally updated every few years, until the Game Boy Micro and Nintendo DS, and partially the Game Boy Color, all Game Boy products were backwards compatible with the original released in 1989. Since the Game Boy's release, Nintendo had dominated the handheld market. Additionally two popular 8-bit computers, the Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC, were repackaged as the as the Commodore 64 Games System and Amstrad GX4000 respectively, for entry in to the console market.

The third generation saw many of the first console role-playing video games (RPGs). Editing and censorship of video games was often used in localizing Japanese games to North America. During this era, many of the most famous video game franchises of all time were founded. Some examples are Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Quest, Metroid, Mega Man, Metal Gear, Castlevania, Phantasy Star, Megami Tensei, Ninja Gaiden, and Bomberman.

The third generation also saw the dawn of the children's educational console market. Although consoles such as the VideoSmarts and ComputerSmarts systems were stripped down to very primitive input systems designed for children, their use of ROM cartridges would establish this as the standard for later such consoles. Due to their reduced capacities, these systems typically were not labeled by their "bits" and were not marketed in competition with traditional video game consoles.

Nintendo versus Sega

Main article: Console wars

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) / Family Computer (Famicom) sold by far the most units of any third generation console in North America, Asia and Africa. This was due to its earlier release, its strong lineup of first-party titles (such as Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid), and Nintendo's strict licensing rules that required NES titles to be exclusive to the console for two years after release. This put a damper on third party support for the other, less popular consoles. However, Sega's Master System was more popular than the NES in Europe, South America and Oceania, markets that were first reached by Sega. Many more games for the Master System were released in Europe and Brazil than in North America, and the console had a very long shelf-life in Brazil and New Zealand. In Europe, competition was tough for the NES, which was not as successful as the Master System in those other regions despite the hegemony that it had in the North American and Japanese markets. The industry also started to grow in places west of the Soviet Union, including Lithuania via new programmers trained in that area. The Master System was finally discontinued in the late 1990s, while Nintendo of Japan continued to repair Famicom systems until October 31, 2007.

Comparison

Name	Famicom/NES	SG-1000	Casio PV-1000	Master System	Atari 7800
Manufacturer	Nintendo	Sega	Casio	Sega	Atari
Console
Launch prices	¥14,800 US$199.99 CA$240	¥15,000	¥14,800	¥24,200 US$199.99	US$140.00
Release date	JP July 15, 1983 US October 18, 1985 AME February 1 1986 EU September 1, 1986 WW January 1 1987	JP July 15, 1983 AUS 1983	JP October 1983	JP October 20, 1985 AME June 1, 1986 WW September 1, 1987	AME June 1, 1986 WW September 1, 1987
Media	Cartridge and floppy disk (Japan only)	Cartridge and Cassette (SG-3000)	Cartridge	Cartridge and data card	Cartridge
Top-selling games	Super Mario Bros. (pack-in), 40.23 million (as of 1999) Super Mario Bros. 3, 18 million (as of May 21, 2003)	N/A	N/A	Hang-On and Safari Hunt (Pack-In)	Pole Position II (pack-in)[citation needed]
Backward compatibility	None	None	None	Sega SG-1000 (Japanese system only)	Atari 2600
Accessories (retail)	Famicom Disk System NES Advantage NES Satellite NES Zapper Mattel Power Glove NES Power Pad NES R.O.B. More...	N/A	N/A	Light Phaser Sega 3-D Glasses Sega Control Stick Sega Handle Controller Sega Paddle Control Sega Pro Action Replay Sega Remote Control System Sega Rapid-Fire Unit Sega SG Commander Sega Sports Pad	XG-1
CPU	Ricoh 2A03 (based on MOS Technology 6502 1.79 MHz (1.66 MHz PAL)	NEC 780C (Zilog Z80 clone) 3.58 MHz for NTSC, 3.55 MHz for PAL	D780C-1 (Z80A) 3.579 MHz	NEC 780C (Zilog Z80 clone) 3.57 MHz (3.54 MHz PAL)	Custom, 6502C (based on MOS Technology 6502) 1.79 MHz
Memory	2 KB main RAM 2 KB video RAM 256 bytes sprite RAM 28 bytes palette RAM	2 kB Main RAM 16 kB video RAM	2 KB + 1 KB (character generator)	8 KB main RAM 16 KB video RAM	4 KB main RAM
Video	64 sprites (8 per scanline) 256x240 resolution 25 simultaneous colors 53 color palette	256x192 resolution 32 sprites, maximum of 4 sprites per scanline 16 colors	8 colors 256x192 resolution	128 colors (16 colors with 8 intensity levels each) 256x240 resolution 64 sprites (8×8 or 8×16) 463 pixel characters (8×8)	Unlimited sprites 320x200 resolution 25 simultaneous colors 256 color palette
Audio	Mono audio with: Two square waves One triangle wave One noise generator One DPCM channel One FM synthesizer (Famicom Disk system, Japan only)	Mono audio with: 3 voices noise/vibrato effect	Unknown	Mono audio with: Three square waves One noise generator 9-channel, 2-operator FM synthesizer (Japan only)	Mono audio with: Two square waves

Sales standings

See also: List of best-selling game consoles

Console	Units sold worldwide	Japan	Americas	Elsewhere
Nintendo Entertainment System	61.91 million (as of December 2009)	19.35 million (December 2009)	34 million (December 2009)	8.56 million (December 2009)
Sega Master System	10-13 million	1 million (1986)	United States: 2 million (1992) Brazil: 2 million (2005)	Western Europe: 6.8 million (1993)
Atari 7800	3.77 million (December 1990)	Unknown	United States: 2 million (June 1988)	Unknown

Software

Main article: List of console game franchises

See also

• History of the Nintendo Entertainment System
• Chiptune
• Console game
• Home computer
• PC game