Gaming: What each generation brought

[Musashi]

I've had a theory that one or two big things were accomplished with each console generation:

1st Gen: (ex. Pong): Video games were invented!
2nd Gen: (ex. Atari 26): Changeable carts; Color
3rd Gen: (ex. original Nintendo): Real sprites (ie not just lines and blocks). New genres invented: RPGs, platformers.
4th Gen: (ex. Super NES, Genesis): Stereo Sound, bigger sprites, color shading
5th Gen: (ex. PlayStation): 3-D graphics, CD*
6th Gen: (ex. PS2): DVD, Online
7th Gen: (ex. PS3): High-Definition

*CD was introduced 4th gen but not in common use until 5th.
Wonder what's next?

[WickyWoo]

1st Gen: (ex. Pong): Video games were invented!

The first action video game was Space War, on the PDP-1 mainframe in the 60s.

2nd Gen: (ex. Atari 26): Changeable carts; Color

Magnavox Odyssey was first

[quote]
3rd Gen: (ex. original Nintendo): Real sprites (ie not just lines and blocks). New genres invented: RPGs, platformers.
[quote]

Adventure even had a 2600 version, and could be classified as an RPG. There were platformers on the 2600 as well (and in the arcades)

6th Gen: (ex. PS2): DVD, Online

The NES had online in Japan, and so did the SNES and genesis through a proprietary subscription dialup system.

7th Gen: (ex. PS3): High-Definition

Both the PS2 and much more successfully the Xbox support 1080i and XB 720p

[Rob71]

Damn, now I'm going to have to pull out the old Atari, Odyssey2, and Intellivision this week-end.

[Aaron]

The Apple Pippin, (1995), had online play.

[Musashi]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

The first action video game was Space War, on the PDP-1 mainframe in the 60s.

Playing a game on a 60s mainframe..that must've been a scream

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Adventure even had a 2600 version, and could be classified as an RPG. There were platformers on the 2600 as well (and in the arcades)

I remember Adventure. And that obnoxious White Dragon too.

Well, arcades were a step ahead of consoles back then.

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

The NES had online in Japan, and so did the SNES and genesis through a proprietary subscription dialup system.

I don't think I heard about the NES having online functions in Japan; what games went online?

I do remember the Bantai Sattleaview piece for the Super; not exactly the best use of online as I recall.

Computers weer always far ahead of consoles regarding online uses; 6th was where it became common in console games.

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Both the PS2 and much more successfully the Xbox support 1080i and XB 720p

That's true; I've seen a list of hi-res 6th gen games somewhere. I'll still say that hi-def is a big part of 7th gen, certainly one of the selling points is how almost all games are 720p or higher.