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History of video game consoles (third generation)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| History of… |
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| Video games |
| Console, handheld, and personal computer games |
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First generation (1972–1977) |
| Arcade games |
In the history of computer and video games, the third generation (with the end of the period usually seperated off and known as the 8 bit era) began in 1983 with the Japanese release of the Famicom (later known as the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America). This generation was the first after the video game crash of 1983 and is considered by some to be the first "modern" era of console gaming (sometimes known as the "silver age" of video game consoles). 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.
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The Famicom (short for Family Computer) became very popular in Japan during this era and ended up crowding out the other consoles in this generation. The Famicom's American counterpart, the Nintendo Entertainment System, dominated the gaming market in North America, thanks in part to its restrictive licensing agreements with developers. Although the NES dominated the market in North America, the Sega Master System made large inroads in Brazil and Europe and the NES was never able to break its grip. The Atari 7800 also had a fairly successful life, and the Sharp X68000 began its niche run in Japan in 1987.
In the later part of the third generation (argued by some as part of the 4th 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.
The third generation saw the first console role-playing video games (RPGs), and also saw the birth of the side-scroller. 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 notable examples include Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Quest, Metroid, Mega Man, Metal Gear, Castlevania, Phantasy Star, and Bomberman.
This generation is often mislabeled as the "First Generation" as it saw the beginnings of the video game industry as we know it today (although the grouping of generations is arbitrary).
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) / Family Computer (Famicom) sold by far the most units of any third generation console in North America and Japan. This fact was partially due to its earlier release, but it mostly resulted from Nintendo's strict licensing rules that forbade developers from releasing their games on other systems if their games were released on the NES. This put a damper on third party support for the other, less popular consoles. However, Sega's Master System was far more popular in Europe, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand, 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. The Master System was finally discontinued in the late 1990s.
| Name | NES/Famicom | Sega Master System | Atari 7800 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Console |  |
 |
 |
| Launch prices | ¥14,800 US$199.99 CA$240 |
¥24,200 US$199.99 |
US$140.00 |
| Release date |  July 15, 1983 October 18, 1985 February 1986 1986 and 1987 |
June 1986 1987 1987 |
June 1986 1987 |
| Media | Cartridge, floppy disc (Japan only) and Cassette (Japan only) | Cartridge and data card | Cartridge |
| Top-selling games | Super Mario Bros. (pack-in) Super Mario Bros. 3 (separately)[citation needed] |
Alex Kidd in Miracle World[citation needed] | Pole Position II[citation needed] |
| Backward compatibility | None | Sega SG-1000 (Japanese system only) | Atari 2600 |
| Accessories (retail) | |||
| CPU | Ricoh 2A03 (based on | NEC 780C (Zilog Z80 clone) | Custom, 6502C (based on |
| Memory | 2 KB main RAM 2 KB video RAM 256 bytes sprite RAM 28 bytes palette RAM |
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 |
64 sprites (8 per scanline) 256x240 resolution 32 simultaneous colors 64 color palette |
Unlimited sprites 320x200 resolution 16 simultaneous colors 256 color palette |
| Audio | Mono audio with:
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Mono audio with:
|
Mono audio with:
|
- See also: List of best-selling game consoles
| Console | Units sold |
|---|---|
| Nintendo Entertainment System | 60 million (as of August 4, 2007)[1] |
| Sega Master System | 13 million (as of September 6, 2005)[2][3] |
| Atari 7800 | 1 million[citation needed] |
- ^ NES. Classic Systems. Nintendo. Archived from the original on 2007-08-04. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
- ^ Russell Carroll (2005-09-06). Good Enough: Why graphics aren't number one. Game Tunnel. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.
- ^ Sam Pettus (2007-01-21). SegaBase Volume 2 - Master System and Game Gear. Eidolon's Inn. Retrieved on 2007-10-28.