History of video games (32-bit / 64-bit era)

Categories: History of computer and video games

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 being 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 three updated versions of Nintendo's Game Boy: Game Boy Pocket, 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. The first fan translation project, on Final Fantasy V, was released to the emulation community during this era.

Transition to 3D

The 32 bit /64 bit era saw the rise of 3D games, which largely replaced the traditional 2D games. The best example is Super Mario 64 which really showed other developer how the transition from 2D to 3D opens new ways to play games.

'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 amusing 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 a realistic animation instead of a quick action (which had already been tried with Prince of Persia, but really brought to the fore with games like Tomb Raider and Tekken). 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

More so than any other previous era however, the 32-bit / 64-bit era was home to the "system wars". The "system wars" was a phenomenon where 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 it took a long time for the systems to come out, and even longer for most of the games to come out, people chose early and defended their choices in many online and offline arguments. Many events transpired to mislead game players during this era, further causing controversy and bitterness over the process:

• Despite massive third party support, the 3DO Multiplayer was released in the US for a price of nearly $700.00 and failed to garner the quality and quantity of software needed to compete with its competitors despite unprecedented hype for a first time entrant into the game industry.
• The Atari Jaguar was released in 1993 with a suprisingly successful start, but quality software for the platform arrived few and far between.

• 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. 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 than what was used for Killer Instinct and Cruis'n USA.
• 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 texturing).
• 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 faults.

CD vs Cartridge

During the 32/64-bit era, Nintendo's somewhat controversial decision to make the N64 a cartridge based system, while most every other contemporary system (Jaguar was more or less gone by then) was moving to CD-ROM. This sparked a bit of a small scale war amongst gamers as to which was better. One of the most memorable events in this conflict, and arguably the event that ultimately won the battle in favour of CD was Squaresoft's move from Nintendo to Sony and their flagship the Playstation. Final Fantasy VII, long expected to have been an N64 title (see Final Fantasy SGI Demo), was released on Playstation due to the limited memory of cartridges, and the restrictions this would have placed on the game.

Consoles of the 32-bit / 64-bit era

• Commodore Amiga CD32 (1993-1994: U.S.; Europe)
• Atari Jaguar (1993-1996: Japan, U.S., Europe)
• Sega Saturn (1994-1999: Japan; 1995-1998: U.S.; Europe)
• Sony PlayStation (1994-present: Japan; 1995-present: U.S.; Europe)
• Virtual Boy (1995-1996: Japan, U.S.)
• Neo Geo Pocket (1996-1998 Japan)
• Game.com (1997-2000 US)
• Wonderswan (1997-2000 Japan)
• Neo Geo Pocket Color (1998-2001 Japan: 1999-2000 US and Europe)
• Nintendo 64 (1996-2002: Japan, U.S.; 1997-2001: Europe)
• Game Boy Pocket (handheld) (1996-2000: Japan, U.S., Europe)
• Game Boy Light (handheld) (1998-2000: Japan)
• Game Boy Color (handheld) (1998-2003)
• 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (1993-1995 US)
• Philips CD-i
• PC FX
• Laseractive

Video game franchises established

Milestone titles

• Super Mario 64 was the first game released for the Nintendo 64. It helped proved that analog controllers were almost a necessity for 3D games compared to the d-pad. 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 opended the door of the mainstream US market for Japanese RPG's. It signalled 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 and one of the most influential action/adventure games ever. It smoothly transfered the playing mechanics of the previous 2D Zelda adventures.

• Tomb Raider featured a supposedly sexy female lead. It brought the video game industry the mainstream spotlight and Lara Croft became one of the most recognisable video game characters created in recent years.

• GoldenEye 007 arguably transformed the first-person shooter genre across console and PC systems alike. Offering a more cerebral experience than genre founders and leaders (Wolf 3D, Doom, Quake et al), GoldenEye 007 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.

See also

• Nintendo
• Sega
• Sony
• Atari
• Commodore
• 3DO