Fifth generation of video game consoles

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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 (1994), Sega Saturn (1995) 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 console emulation. One of the very first fan translation projects, Final Fantasy V, was released to the emulation community during this era. Its translation is largely held as one of the catalysts that inspired FFV's subsequent popularity in the US. Due to that increased popularity, NES and SNES ROMs have become widespread on the internet, and are much easier to find during the sixth generation era than they were during the 32-bit / 64-bit era.

Ridge Racer was one of Sony's launch titles for the PlayStation; it was a port of the Namco-made arcade game.


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. The PlayStation launch title "Tomb Raider" perhaps best exemplifes this; Sony's marketing touted it as one of the first fully 3D console games, and it steered the industry's focus away from side-scrolling and rail-style titles.

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 the older gamers perceived as a lack of gameplay quality in the new titles; they claimed that the focus of newer games was entirely focusing 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. The critics claimed that the longer, more involved plotlines focused the developers away from developing gameplay content.

System Wars

File:Nextgeneration Dec96.jpg
Next Generation Magazine's December 1996 cover

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 Sega 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 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.

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 cartidge 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.

Consoles of the 32-bit / 64-bit Era (5th Generation)

Consoles

Handhelds

Video game franchises established

Milestone titles

  • Doom, the game that made the first person shooter genre mainstream that reached a 3rd installment and a dedicated movie. (more so 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).
  • 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 with a dedicated movie and a sequel Action Adventure game as compilations.
  • 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.
  • 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 apved the way for their importation into the US.
  • 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 with 2 big screen movies staring Angelina Jolie.
  • Pokémon was the biggest money-maker for Nintendo. It created a cultural phenomeon amongst 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.
  • Dragon Quest VII was the best-selling title on 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.
  • NiGHTS Into Dreams, developed by Sega's Sonic Team, is considered a classic of the Sega Saturn. With it innovative gameplay (that demanded it's 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 the best games ever.

See also

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