/vr/ - Retro Games

>>8774660
Kwab

>>8774660
Only rich people had the newest consoles back then. I played 32 bit way into the second half of the 90s, early 90s was 16 bit, 5th gen was almost the 2000s already.

Super Nintendo had just launched in Europe (or at least here in Spain), Mega Drive was still strong with many good games coming out for it. I'd say 1992-1995 was the peak of 4th gen.
5th gen didn't really start until 1996.

>>8774660
>Why do people say that 16-bit was still in its prime in 1992 and wasn't on the way out yet?

The 3DO and Jaguar didn't get released until late 1993. The top consoles were the SNES, Genesis/ Mega Dive/ Sega CD/ Mega CD, GameBoy, Game Gear, the TG-16 sadly had a short life in the west. I would say that 1993 and 1993 were the height of 16bit gaming.

>>8774660
Maybe because it was? It wasn't until 1994 when people were ready to leave these systems behind, and even so, DKC prolonged the SNES lifespan.

>>8774680
>5th gen didn't really start until 1996.

3DO: October 4, 1993 (NA)
Atari Jaguar: November 1993 (NA)
32X: November 1994 (NA)
Sega Saturn: November 1994 (JP)
Sony Playstation: December 1994 (JP)
Virtual Boy: August 1995 (JP)
N64: June 23, 1996 (JP)

In 1992, we were starting to hear about rumours of a machine being made by Trip Hawkins, and that Atari is getting back into the console business.

>>8774721
>In 1992, we were starting to hear about rumours of a machine being made by Trip Hawkins, and that Atari is getting back into the console business.

also in 1992-1993, magazines were talking about the 'upcoming' SNES CDROM add-on, that would be available sometime in 1994.

>>8774721
>>8774746
It's a stretch to say that 16-bit was past its prime in '92 just because plans for the future were being made. If 1992 was past the prime, then what was the prime? The first 16-bit console was 1987 and things didn't really take off until 1989/1990.

>>8774660
Why do children ask silly questions on an 18+ board?

>>8774660
it started in like 91 man how would it be on its way out then?

>>8774801
Didn't it start in 1987?????

>>8774765
>It's a stretch to say that 16-bit was past its prime in '92 just because plans for the future were being made. If 1992 was past the prime, then what was the prime? The first 16-bit console was 1987 and things didn't really take off until 1989/1990

The PCEngine wasn't really a 16bit machine, as it has an 8bit 6502 that can clock up to 7MHz. They could not market it as a 16bit machine in America, and had to go with TurboGraphix16, in reference to the 16bit graphics. The Mega Drive that was released in 1988 was 16bit, and Sega marketed it as the worlds first 16bit gaming console. They were going by the Motorola CPU in the system.

>>8774721
I appreciate that you took the time to go page after page on wikipedia to check for the exact release date of each of these, but that's not what I meant.
The early days of 5th gen were very weak, there wasn't much worth playing on a 3DO or a Jaguar, if you were a kid in 1993, the novelty of having a console with "better graphics" was probably cool for a few days, but when you realized the best games were coming for Sega and Nintendo systems you probably would have regretted selling your old and trustful consoles for the new kid on the block that ended being disappointing.
1994 was a bit different, we already had 2 years worth of more 4th gen goodness, with many of the best games coming out in those years, and Sega consolidated their place in video game realm even more with the success of Sonic 2 in 1992, and Sonic 3 in 1994. 32X was exciting and Saturn was so mysterious, but both Saturn and PS released in late 94, in Japan.
In 1995, Saturn and PS made their little babby steps with some genuinely good games, but not many and not real masterpieces, all games that would make better later on with sequels, devs were still trying out stuff with 3D technology, and 1995 is when devs were total masters of the 16-bit machines, so many of the most impressive games for Mega Drive and SNES were in this year, even in 1996 too.
In 1996 is when N64 launched, with an actual masterpiece for a launch title, and PS and Saturn got some of their most well-known and best selling games that year too. This is the year when I think "yeah, people in general started to care more about the new systems than the old ones", it's when the new era actually started.

>>8774837
I agree with all of this, but I disagree with people who think 16-bit was almost completely dead in 1997. That's much too pessimistic. The SNES/Genesis and PS1/N64 had almost equal billing, imo. 1997 was an even split, 1998 was 70 percent 5th gen and 30 percent 4th gen, 1999 was the first purely 5th gen year.

>>8774840
>1997 was an even split, 1998 was 70 percent 5th gen and 30 percent 4th gen,

Sega officially cancelled all their 16bit machines in 1997. Tom Kalinske said that he thought the Genesis still had a good year left in it, but Sega axed it. Though in the later half of 1998, Majesco released the Sega Genesis 3 as an officially licensed project in the west, I think it sold at $50-$60 dollars? Nintendo was still releasing SNES games.

>>8774840
I was definitely spoiled by having all 3 5th gen big guys as soon as 1996.
All my friends were still playing Genesis, one of my friends (whose parents were better economically than mine, but didn't spoil him as much, also they were 3 brothers and I was an only kid) had just sold their genesis to buy a super nintendo. So yeah I didn't mean that interest or usage of 4th gen was dead in 1996, FAR from it, most people were still playing 4th gen, but I mean the 5th gen hype was already all out.

>>8774660
i was born in 92 and all of my earliest games were 16-bit
not every family could afford a children's toy costing hundreds of dollars at launch. paying $400-800 for new consoles is more of a modern manchild thing

Sonic 2 and aLttP came out that year, how can it not be the apex of the 4th gen?

>>8774660
Most of the classic 16 bit games were released between 1993 and 1995. Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country, most SF and MK clones like Killer Instinct, Mega Man X, Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire, Illusion of Gaia. Basically 90-92 had just a handful of big hits while the bulk of the library is 93 onward.

>>8775834
>thinking FF6 is the only SNES FF that matters
Normalfag spotted
(I prefer 4)

Even rich kids were playing 16 bit games in 1995
Look at the output of SNES and Genesis, still going strong, 32 bit was fancy and 3D but had few good games, you did not want to get rid of your old console until at least 1996 when games like Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Crash, Mario 64 came out
I mean, Ridge Racer had one single track with two layouts, Virtua Fighter was just another 1 on 1 fighting game, with 8 characters.
Most 3D games were arcade experiences not meant to be played for hours and hours, not fully realized games like 16 bits were you had Donkey Kong Country, Sonic 3 and Knuckles.

>>8776071
rich kid here, I was playing MS-DOS with high end peripherals ;^)

>>8774660
SNES and Genesis games were on retail store shelves into 1998. By 1999, they were pretty much gone and you had to go to a store like FuncoLand.
Dreamcast and especially N64 were everywhere into 2001 but completely gone by the start of 2002. When N64 THPS3 came out, it was at Circuit City in a corner by itself as the only N64 game in the store. Dreamcast accessories lingered in clearance racks.
PS1 survived in retail stores into 2005. It was mostly greatest hits games and FIFA, but PSOne kiosks were still very common. X360 was probably the wedge that drove them out.
Xbox and Gamecube had full support all through 2006 then completely fell off the deep end by the start of 2007.
PS2 had a retail presence as late as 2013, possibly even later.

>>8776138
Very interesting stuff, thanks anon.
How about the NES and Sega Master System?

>>8776027
IV is my favorite Final Fantasy I even like it more than V due to nostalgia, but anyone who isn't totally retarded recognizes IV is an early SNES title. It was one of the first SNES games I ever played, alongside Super Mario World and Street Fighter II.

>>8774678
this anon gets it
I got NES in 1990, SNES in probably 1992 or 1993. I was saving money for awhile and finally Kmart marked it down from $250 to $150.

>>8774660
Because it's true, baitposter-kun

>>8776184
Sega dropped sales and support for the Master System in NTSC regions in 1990, it lasted another three years in PAL regions.

>>8774854
>Sega officially cancelled all their 16bit machines in 1997. Tom Kalinske said that he thought the Genesis still had a good year left in it, but Sega axed it
It would have turned 10 in 1998. The NES/FC lasted 10 years so why not? The Mega Drive could have managed it.

>>8774721
the 3DO and Jaguar were non players. they were curiosities you saw the boisterous ads for in magazines and the like and otherwise never even seriously thought about, even as a little kid you saw the price tag for them and you're like "lol fuck off." The technology, games and honestly the public interest at large was just not quite there yet.

I remember the transition from 4th to 5th generation well, it was legit exciting.
I remember seeing PS1 kiosks running that Warhawk demo next to old Genesis ones with Vectorman... When you're like 10 years old in 1995, that shit is very impressive even when I had already some exposure to PC games of the time.
The other thing I cannot over emphasis is just how shocking it was to see mario 64 in action for the first time around the next holiday season, even with the ps1 having like a whole year to sell, people were still blown away by it.

>>8776720
>Sega dropped sales and support for the Master System in NTSC regions in 1990

Sonic the Hedgehog was the last Master System game that they published for NA in 1991. They tried to support it with the PowerBase Converter, and did release a Master System II unit in the west, with Alex Kidd in Miracle World built into the machine. I had one. They basically replaced the Master System with the Game Gear.

>>8774663
fpbp

>>8776731
There's really no equivalent to the NES. The NES was a cultural icon and cornerstone in the way no other console has ever been. The word "Nintendo" was probably uttered more in 1990 than "Covid" was in 2020.

>>8774721
>3DO
Expensive as all fuck, only about one or two good games, died before the 5th gen really came into form
>Atari Jaguar
A literal fucking joke
>32X
Another joke
>Saturn
Came out in 1995 in America
>Playstation
Came out in 1995 in America, the games that took full advantage of it and convinced people Sony was a serious choice came out in 1996
>Virtual Boy
Literal joke
>N64
Ok, it came out in 1996
5th gen really came into form in 96, it might have started years before but when people think of 5th gen, they think of games from 96 and beyond with 3D graphics. They don't exactly think of awkward FMV games of the early 5th gen.

>>8777743
The Playstation 1 and 2 arguably came close, if not usurped Nintendo, everyone talked about "Come over and play Playstation" for about a good decade before the 360 became the hot topic. I could argue that Playstation was to mid 90s and early 2000s vidya, what Nintendo was to 80s vidya, a literal icon that basically was synonymous with video games.

>>8774828
And?

>>8776138
Ps1 survived in my area into like 2009, being sold in pharmacies in the racks selling music cds, usually budget titles, but i kick myself for not grabbing a bunch of copies of Megaman Legends at the one near me.

Streets Of Rage 2 came out in '92. 16 bit couldn't have been more in its prime.

>>8774721
The 3DO, Jaguar and 32X were complete non-starters and the Saturn only saw any real success in Japan. The fifth gen was defined by the PlayStation and N64 worldwide.

>>8774721
The only two relevant consoles on that list are Playstation and N64, which didn't come out in the US until 1995 and 1996 respectively. '92-'94 were prime-time for SNES and Genesis, tons of great games came out around that time period. 3D games were still in their infant stages, and 16-bit 2D gaming was barely showing its age at all.

>>8776184
NES was still alive and kicking into the mid-90s from what I remember. Damn near everybody had one, so it made sense for developers to keep making games for it and for stores to keep selling them. I think it eventually dropped off after the N64 came out.

>>8774660
Early forays into 32 bit were shit.
A little more time was needed for technology to mature.

>>8778081
Furthermore, the Gameboy proved that hardware isn't the be all and end all.

>>8778021
>The 3DO, Jaguar and 32X were complete non-starters and the Saturn only saw any real success in Japan. The fifth gen was defined by the PlayStation and N64 worldwide.

The 16bit systems were dominant up to about 1996. But by 1993, most magazines would continually have articles on 'next gen' consoles, like Sega's 32bit CDROM machine, the SNES CD-ROM, the 3DO (which was near launch), Phillips CDI, NEC 32bit CD system, Jaguar, Amiga with the CD32. There were a lot of attempts to be the first to get the 32bit market rolling.When the 3DO launched, it did focus more on the FMV abilities of the system, to compete with the Sega CD. It did have a few impressive 3D games with NFS and Road Rash 3D. It was an interesting attempt though. But price made it non competitive with the 16bit machines, The Atari Jaguar, it didn't make a big dent in the market. The 32x was a hit when it released, the early launch games reviewed pretty well, and sales were good. But by 1995, retailers were trying to get rid of the 32x, because of some early Saturn launch announcement. Virtual Boy was a weird experiment from Nintendo. But it was 32bit hardware. I had a Saturn, hardware looked really promising, despite some rough early ports. But had issues competing with the PS1.

>>8778074
>the NES had retail presence all during the 4th gen and into the 4th / 5th generational transition period

absolutely not. You might see a pile of unsold Mario 3 and Tetris copies for a while very early on next to the SNES and Genesis games but otherwise no way. Sega stealing half the market from Nintendo made it abundantly clear that people were pretty done with the NES.

>>8778308
At my local Wal-Mart in Tennessee, NES games were still being sold new when I was in third grade. That was the 1996-1997 school year.

>>8778308
The NES was still getting new officially-licensed games released for it as late as 1994.

>>8778308
The NES was the quintessential poorfag console between 1992 and 1997... then it was the Genesis until 2002 when it was replaced with the PS1... then the PS2 by around 2008... then the PS3 by around 2015... so-on and so-forth. You'd still see poorfag console games occasionally in Walmart right up until the next gen launched.

>>8774660
>92
Kwab