32-bit era Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
'' was one of Sony's launch titles for the PlayStation; it was a port of the Namco-made arcade game.]] The 32-bit era featured both 32-bit and 64-bit consoles. It was the fifth generation of video game consoles which was dominated by the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation. The Sega Saturn and Atari Jaguar were also part of this era, but failed to make an impact like their competitors. This era also saw three slightly improved 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.
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2 System wars 3 Consoles of the 32/64-bit era 4 Video game franchises established during the 32/64-bit era 5 See also |
'New school' gaming
'' is the first, and perhaps best-known, Nintendo 64 game. It pioneered 3D platformer gaming and was an example all others have strived to follow ever since.]]
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, who some 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 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. The 32-bit era was also the time console emulation started to become popular. NES and SNES ROMs have been easier to find during the 128-bit era than they were during the 32-bit era.
System wars
disappointed people, for various reasons. (Screenshot: Cybermorph)]]
More so than any other previous era however, the 32-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 gamer players during this era, further causing controversy and bitterness over the process:
Consoles of the 32/64-bit era
'' is one of the most popular Sega Saturn titles, known for its experimental concept and unique gameplay.]]
- Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom) (1983-2003: Japan)
- Super Famicom (1991-2003: Japan)
- Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1991-1999: U.S.; 1992-1998: Europe)
- AmigaCD32 (1993-1994: U.S.; Europe)
- Atari Jaguar (1993-1995: 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.)
- Nintendo 64 (1996-2001: Japan, U.S.; 1997-2001: Europe)
- Game Boy Pocket (handheld) (1996-2000: Japan, U.S., Europe)
- Game Boy Light (handheld) (1996-2000: Japan)
- Game Boy Color (handheld) (1998-2000: Japan, U.S., 1998-2003: Europe)
- 3DO Interactive Multiplayer
- Philips CD-i
- PC FX
- Laseractive
Video game franchises established during the 32/64-bit era
'' was a well-known franchise and released for PlayStation, Saturn and PC. (This screenshot is from the PlayStation version.)]]- 1080° Snowboarding;
- Arc the Lad
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Conker
- Crash Bandicoot
- Doubutsu no Mori (Animal Forest)
- Front Mission
- Grandia
- Grand Theft Auto
- Gran Turismo
- Legend of Legaia
- Mario Party
- NiGHTS Into Dreams
- Panzer Dragoon
- Perfect Dark
- Pokémon
- Rayman
- Resident Evil
- Silent Hill
- Soul Calibur
- Star Ocean
- Super Smash Bros
- Syphon Filter
- Tekken
- Tomb Raider
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
- Turok
- Virtua Fighter
- Wave Race
- Wild ARMs
- WipEout
See also
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