Biggest gap between console generations?

M

mrkgoo

Member
So which generation leap of console do you think was biggest? It may be unfair to include the 2d-3d jump between the 16-bit/32-bit era, so also include your second choice if that be your first.
Which was your FAVOURITE generational leap?

It's funny to think that we're only really 4 (maybe 5 if you include pre-NES era) generations in in our favoruite pastime. Imagine how far we've got to go!

The reason why I ask is because I've been playing The Legned of Zelda for the first time ever (NES), and it's remarkable to see the roots to A Link to the Past - it becomes very apparent why people oft choose ATTLP as their best game ever - NES Zelda is still a lot of fun and very engaging, and to experience the leap to the SNES must've been a huge wake-up call to gamers, in terms of where it was possible ot take a video game. Not just in terms of graphics (colours, number of sprites, resolution, art), but also in terms of gameplay and level design. I can see also, why Mario Bros 3 is considered as best ever too - becasue , like Zelda, at the time it came out, it must've been marvelled.

For me, I think I must admit that the biggest leap would be the one to 3D. It was inevitable, but really brought forth new mechaincs (for better or worse). Personally though, and maybe this is just coming from nostalgia or perhaps bias, I think the jump from 8-bit to 16-bit was also very huge, and certainly better in terms of videogaming. We got huge scrolling worlds, beautifully coloured. The gap between PS1/N64 -> now is mostly technical, and even then many of the games are still identical (and some would argue worse).

eidt: ok, I officialy suck at the internet. Obviously, this belongs in the gaming forum.
 
There is no leap such as snes->n64. Jaguar, 32x, Sega CD, Playstation, Saturn were allready released when N64 was released not to mention AMIGA and PC.
The biggest leap is definitely IMO going from 8-bit to 16-bit though, i.e. going to the Megadrive from whatever 8bit console was the best technically.
 
I think generations should be expressed in terms of games rather than systems, and if you don't believe me, then the words "Super Mario 64" might convince you...
 
16bit->32bit. Going from 2D to 3D has been the greatest paradigm shift for the industry. Things just totally took off then. Going from the NES to the SNES was big, but mostly for the fact that Nintendo almost ran the industry into the ground with the NES. But even then, the largest boost in performance came with the PSX, which really made 3D mainstream. Left to just the Saturn, the leap would have been smaller than the NES->SNES. PEACE.
 
I don't know...I was going to come here and say 16 bit -> 32 bit, but some posts reminded of the first time I played Sonic Adventure, specially "Emerald Coast"...I was fucking floored. I mean, so graphically impressed that at the time I thought SA was a better game than SM64. I'll go with 32/64bit -> Dreamcast. It's a close one, though.
 
I'm going to move this over...I guess none of the other mods read the thread because of the misleading title.

By the way -- it's a somewhat interesting question, but you REALLY need to specify what you're referring to when you say "gap." Are you talking hardware capability? Gameplay complexity? Quality of the "best" software titles?

And, oh yeah, is it obvious to everyone what the "generations" consist of?
 
Outside of the jump to 3D: going from Atari/Intellivision/Colecovision to NES/SMS. There were some pretty big changes there in game mechanics, styles of games that were popular, and audio/video. The move from 8-bit to 16-bit in comparison was almost entirely about better graphics and sound. However, my favorite generational change was still the move to 16-bit (especially early on from 89 to 91, starting with the intro of Turbografx-16 and Genesis and ending with intro of SNES in US).
 
WipeOut impressed me much more than Mario 64 did. What impressed me about Mario 64 was texture filtering but the 3D aspects never did as much as WipeOut and to some extent Toshinden.
 
mrkgoo said:
It's funny to think that we're only really 4 (maybe 5 if you include pre-NES era) generations in in our favoruite pastime. Imagine how far we've got to go!
Click to expand...

I'd say there are seven distinct generations.

1st: Dedicated (self-contained) game consoles like Magnavox Odyssey, Atari Home Pong, Coleco Telstar, etc.
2nd: Fairchild Channel F, Atari 2600, Magnavox Odyssey 2, Bally Astrocade, Mattel Intellivision
3rd: ColecoVision, Atari 5200, GCE Vectrex
4th: NES, SMS, Atari 7800
5th: Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, Neo-Geo, SNES
6th: 3DO, Jaguar, Saturn, PlayStation, Nintendo 64
7th: Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, X-Box

Looking back, I would probably say the most significant jump was between the first and second generations. Before the second-generation systems, the early video game consoles all had their complete game libraries built into them--mostly consisting of a few Pong-style games where you twisted a knob to control a paddle, so you could bat a blocky ball back and forth with your opponent. Other exciting game variations had you controlling two paddles at once rather than the usual one. :) You didn't buy any games for the system--you just bought the system, and played whatever games were included. If you got bored of the games and wanted something different, then you'd have to buy another system...although most of the systems were all ripoffs of the Odyssey or Pong anyway.

The second generation systems changed all that. Instead of being saddled with a few simple paddle-and-ball games forever and ever, you could buy these little rectangular plastic items called "cartridges," and plug them into a slot on the system. Each cartridge contained an entirely new game...and they weren't simple remixed Pong variations, but whole new genres like racing games, and maze games, and shoot-em-up games, and team sports like baseball and football, and more...it wasn't evolutionary, it was revolutionary!

Apart from that, the other two significant jumps were from the third to the fourth generations, and the fifth to the sixth generations.

As far as hardware is concerned, the fourth-generation systems really aren't very different from the third-generation systems. I'd even go as far as to say that of all the generational leaps, third to fourth generation was the smallest with regard to hardware. However, there were two events that radically altered the games from a software point of view: the home computer revolution (making more sophisticated games available), and the ability to make larger ROM chips at lower prices. When the new generation of video games arose, they wanted home video games with the complexity and depth of the latest computer games and arcade games. Thanks to cheaper and bigger chips, it was now possible.

Many people here have already gone over the difference between the fifth and sixth generations, mostly crediting the ability to render convincing 3D worlds on more powerful hardware. That's part of the picture, but I'd also credit the fact that CD-ROM had finally caught on, and (like the third to fourth generation) brought the ability to create larger, deeper games at an affordable price.
 
drohne said:
gba to psp. it's ridiculous. the gba suddenly looks like an antique.
Click to expand...

Thanks for reminding me. I almost forgot about the portables. Here's where they fit in with my descriptions of the video game generations above:

1st: none
2nd: Milton Bradley Microvision
3rd: none
4th: none
5th: Game Boy, Lynx, TurboExpress, Game Gear
6th: Virtual Boy, Nomad, Game.Com, Neo-Geo Pocket, WonderSwan, Game Boy Color
7th: Game Boy Advance, N-Gage, Zodiac
8th: Nintendo DS, Sony PSP

That's the other thing I forgot. With the recent release of the DS and PSP, I consider them to be the beginning of the eighth generation of home video games.
 
drohne said:
gba to psp. it's ridiculous. the gba suddenly looks like an antique.
Click to expand...
Does biggest gap mean biggest gap in graphics though? That's something the original post didn't really specify, but if we're talking game quality, the gap between GBA and PSP is a jump backwards (so far).
 
Grubdog said:
Does biggest gap mean biggest gap in graphics though? That's something the original post didn't really specify, but if we're talking game quality, the gap between GBA and PSP is a jump backwards (so far).
Click to expand...

Looks like someone's about to open Pandora's box.

06.jpg


"That's not cool."
 
if you're comparing the total libraries of the two consoles, then yes, obviously the gba wins at this point. but lumines and ridge racers are already far beyond any of their gba counterparts. they're complete in ways gba games never were. the psp is an astonishing generational leap by any metric.
 
Console: 16-bit to 32-bit. Why: The release of systems such as the Playstation, Saturn, and later the Nintendo 64 was when 3D gaming became the primary focus and polygons overtook sprites. There will probably never be another leap as great as this one was until some form of VR-based systems are finally released.


Portables: GBA to PSP. Why: There's always been a difference in handheld hardware ever since the 8-bit Gameboy was released and beat out the color Game Gear and 16-bit Lynx and Turbo Express systems.

But with the PSP, it's like going from the Super Nintendo to a Playstation 2 in one generation. The PSP's visual and audio quality is far ahead of any other handheld currently available, including the Nintendo DS.

You simply have to experience the PSP for yourself; it's just not the same looking at screenshots and movies until you're holding the PSP in your hands and looking in disbelief at a system that feels like it should be released several years from now. Simply an amazing piece of hardware.
 
Agent X, your console generations breakdown rocks. I agree wholeheartly - nothing comes close to the difference between playing two or three games on a dedicated Pong unit and being able to buy new content for your Channel F. Graphics upgrades are nice and all, but conceptually the upgrade to a cartridge system wins hands down.

FnordChan
 
I would say the Atari -> NES jump is the most significant if only for the fact that the NES ressurrected the industry and gaming wouldn't be like it is without it. It also introduced side-scrolling, the D-pad and the controller as we know it, which is technically as significant as the jump from 2D to 3D IMO.

I wouldn't include the handhelds, since so far they follow rather than lead home consoles in generational jumps. We'll have to see about the DS, though.
 
Not strictly consoles, as the UK was dominated by home-computers at the time, but the greatest leap I've ever seen was:

C64 -> Amiga

My jaw hit the floor for weeks on seeing Marble Madness, Defender Of The Crown and the Deluxe Paint demos for the first time. And the Juggler and NewTek demos that came later were so far ahead of everything else it was silly.

Both graphics and sound took a HUGE leap forward with the Amiga.
 
-jinx- said:
I'm going to move this over...I guess none of the other mods read the thread because of the misleading title.

By the way -- it's a somewhat interesting question, but you REALLY need to specify what you're referring to when you say "gap." Are you talking hardware capability? Gameplay complexity? Quality of the "best" software titles?

And, oh yeah, is it obvious to everyone what the "generations" consist of?
Click to expand...

Thanks for moving it - I meant to post it in the actual gaming- fourm, but like I said, I suck at teh internet.

As to specifying what I mean by gap, I deliberately left it open to interpretation. Just opening discussion. In terms of technical, the obvious answer to me is the 16-32 (jump to 3d), but in terms of gamepaly, I think there was a bigger leap from 8-bit to 16-bit. Sure Zelda and Mario were huge leaps in gameplay, but most other games weren't, so as a generation as whole...well..I think I've just repeated my other post.
 
do people only read the first line in the opening thread or something? I followed up on my question by stating differences between graphical (technical) advances, and gameplay advances...

I'm just trying to spark discussion - maybe it's because it's a question from my head, but I thought it was clear from my own opinion how I expected people's replies to be further jumping points of conversation. So I don't get why people want a specific question...
 
N64/PSX to DC is such a DC fanboy response. The biggest technological leap was unquestionably the 16-bit to 32-bit generation leap. 2-D to 3-D, end of story.
 
MomoPufflet said:
N64/PSX to DC is such a DC fanboy response. The biggest technological leap was unquestionably the 16-bit to 32-bit generation leap. 2-D to 3-D, end of story.
Click to expand...

True, the DC cant even be considered a to be leap.
 
MomoPufflet said:
N64/PSX to DC is such a DC fanboy response. The biggest technological leap was unquestionably the 16-bit to 32-bit generation leap. 2-D to 3-D, end of story.
Click to expand...

Do you know how it felt playing madden 2000 on the ps0ne then seeing a NFL2k1 commercial right after?
 
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