Technological History of Video Games
The First Generation (1972-1977)
Technological Innovations:
-This was the era of home dedicated consoles.
-These consoles could only play a limited number of games, which often lacked sound and colour. Most of the games were built into the console.
-Limited Power: discrete circuits with no microprocessors (Until the Nintendo Colour TV-Game 6 in 1977)
Consoles of the time were: Magnavox Odyssey (1972), Home Pong (1975), Nintendo Colour TV-Game 6 (1977)
Game Development:
-Developers were restricted by hardware limitations.
-Most games were often variations of sports games.
Player Experience:
Gameplay was confined to simple mechanics, and players interacted with games in a minimalistic way.
The Second Generation (1976-1983)
Technological Innovations:
-Around this time was when the ROM cartridges were being introduced.
-Hardware featured microprocessors and rudimentary graphical displays!
-Consoles could now run multiple games, assisting the concept of expandable game libraries.
Game Development:
-Cartridges allowed developers to store game data externally. Games also became more complex with better visuals and simple AI.
-This time also saw the rise of Third-Party developers. A great example of this being Activision, which rose from 4 developers who left Atari because they were displeased with the treatment they were receiving at Atari.
Player Experience:
-Players gained more choice, control, and variety in games, adding up to 500 total games to choose from.
-We also saw beloved arcade style games being developed for home consoles!
We could also see the first movement stick with a button as a controller for the Atari 2600
The Third Generation (1983-1990)
This was the start of the soft rivalry between Sega and Nintendo, which would later emerge into the console wars. International releases of the Famicon they had to change the console to be labelled as an “entertainment system” so that audiences didn’t link it to the bad fame of the Atari 2600. And thus, the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) was born!
Technological Innovations:
Game Development:
-Developers could now create larger, more detailed worlds. Scrolling, multi-level platformers.
-The Nintendo Seal of Quality ensured that Third Party game developers had produced quality games, to set it aside from the Atari 2600’s fame of having many lackluster and often copy pasted games.
-The development costs also started to rise during this time.
Player Experience:
-Games became more engaging and interactive, with more storytelling and adventure focused games releasing (Such as Mario Bros. Legend of Zelda, and Final Fantasy.)
-Home consoles started competing with arcades in terms of quality.
(This advertisement also shows that multiplayer and overall quality of their software was one of the main drivers for Nintendo to promote their console to their audiences.)
The User Interface (UI) That we see in the original Legend of Zelda (1986) was one of the first steps in the industry to display information to the player such as your Life and Items.
A good example of the technological advancements for this generation would be Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988) and Final Fantasy II (1988), with their scrolling background allowing the player to feel like they’re progressing through the level as well as the complexity of various numbers appearing on screen such as HP bars as well as the damage inflicted to the bosses.
Another game that I would like to mention is Mega Man 2 (1988), Specifically in this boss fight we see that the boss is significantly bigger than Mega Man. This is actually a genius play from Capcom since the hardware limitations wouldn’t allow for bosses to be much bigger than the player characters. So as a work around, they made the background pitch black and made the boss a part of the background, which would only work if the background was black. This “feature” was so beloved by fans, that games like Shovel Knight use this nowadays as a “call back” to this revolutionary feature.
The Fourth Generation (1987-1994)
Technological Advancements:
-Transition to the 16-bit microprocessors.
-Better graphics and audio, which allowed for more colours, sprites, and multi-layer scrolling backgrounds.
-Introduction to Mode 7 (Nintendo’s scaling and rotation graphics mode, creating many levels of depth with the scenery.)
-Introduction of handheld devices such as the Gameboy.
Game Development:
-Games featured richer, more immersive environments.
-Game design evolved with more intricate level designs, character development, and strategic gameplay.
-Mode 7 allowed developers to simulate 3D environments.
Player Experience:
-Players experienced more immersive worlds and sophisticated narratives.
-More complex control schemes added depth to the gameplay.
-This also started the “console wars”
The Fifth Generation (1994-2001)
Technological Innovations:
-Transition from 2D to 3D gaming. A huge emphasis on 3D polygons.
-Introduction of optical discs (CD-ROM) for greater storage, leading to longer, more detailed games.
-Analogue controls for smoother 3D movement (Super Mario 64)
-Consoles that were made more than just gaming consoles, such as the PlayStation 1.
Game Development:
-3D Environments and open-world design became a reality.
-The larger storage capacity of CDs allowed developers to add full-motion video (FMV), CD quality soundtracks and voice acting (a great example of this would be SquareSoft/SquareEnix with Final Fantasy 7)
-Larger development costs and teams.
Player Experience:
-Players Engaged with more immersive 3D worlds and experienced greater freedom in exploration.
-Optical Discs allowed more storage, paving the way for cinematic storytelling.
Controllers were also a hot topic. With Sony’s PlayStation 1 controller mimicking the simplicity of the SNES and NES controller but allowing for more user comfortability with handles for players with bigger hands allowed for hours of gameplay without your hands getting cramped (Thank you!). However, Nintendo’s N64 controller continues the trend of serving its purpose, but having a weird feel to it. Despite the analogue stick being amazing for games such as Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the controller does feel a bit off to use for long play sessions.
In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998), the developers thought of a genus and revolutionary idea for an action packed game with many enemies on the field. The Z button on the N64 controller was used to lock into specific targets to be able to focus your attention and direct your attacks to, or even guard with your shield at specific angles to avoid enemy attacks!
Half way through the fifth generation, Nintendo and Sony did a revision of their controllers, with Nintendo’s questionable Rumble Pack aiming to have even more of an immersive feel to the game, and Sony’s controller now having two joysticks (which will become a staple for years to come) which allowed users to move even more freely within the 3D environments.
Alien Resurrection (2001) was a game who’s developers knew how to take advantage of the revisited PS1 controller, with movement done with the left analogue stick and now being able to move the camera with the right analogue stick. This game was critised for being too complicated because of the controls. However, nowadays, this is also viewed as a staple in games which allow players to move the camera (Just because it’s criticized doesn’t mean it’s bad!)
