All Generations Of Gaming Consoles History Explained

Introduction

"These are the games from the very first generation of gaming, and we are currently living in the ninth generation of video games. It just blows my mind how much games have changed in the last 50 years. But what were all these gaming generations, and how did we go from this to this? Let's find out the complete history of gaming generations in this blog.

First Generation

So, let's come to the first generation of games, AKA Pong, which was an arcade game. It was the best game of the first generation of gaming, and the amazing fact is that there were almost 800 consoles in the first generation. But alas, it didn't last that long. You can also call this generation one-bit games, which means only two colors, black and white. 

Second Generation

Now let's come to the second generation. There were new improvements in the second generation; the color range was up to 8 bits, but the graphics were not that much improved due to the limitations of the hardware. Only 12 FPS game rendering was possible. The Atari 2600 was the most popular console of this generation, and there was a movement stick and an action button on those consoles. *Golga* is one of the most recognized titles of this generation. 

Third Generation

I don't think I need to tell you about the Next Generation. The best console of this generation was the Nintendo Entertainment System, AKA NES, and we all have played games on this console like Super Mario, Contra, and Mighty Final Fight. And this generation did what no other console could do. Where consoles like the Atari 2600 had only one function and movement, Nintendo had two functions and features like jump and attacks. In a few games like Double Dragon, this button was for kicks and punches instead of jumps, and Atari used the move-up button for jumps. There was a lot to focus on graphics in this generation because, in Atari 2600 where it could run a maximum of eight color palettes at a time, the Nintendo Entertainment System could simultaneously render 32 colors, which means more pixels and more detailed characters. In this generation, they did not focus on sounds at all because the NES had only three sound cards, whereas Atari had five: one sound card for low pitch, one sound card for medium pitch, and one sound card only for high speed and pulses. But honestly, where there were five sound cards in Atari 2600, NES gave such soundtracks with only three sound cards, which were awesome: Mega Man 2 Wiley's stage, Mighty Final Fight round two, Riverside jungle stage of Contra, and the most unique Ninja Gaiden stage 42. 

Fourth Generation

Now let's move on to the fourth generation. This generation also focused on graphics so much that you can enjoy 8-bit and 16-bit graphics, and the game's hardware could simultaneously render around 226 colors. The sound hardware was the same, but it's still not confirmed how it was used because, according to the experts, almost five sound cards were used in the Super Nintendo, whereas only three cards were used in the Sega Genesis. This is not confirmed as this hardware has been updated from time to time. However, it's confirmed that the conflict between Sega and Nintendo started only in this generation, where only four Direction buttons and two action buttons were there in the third generation. In the fourth generation, there were six action buttons for the SNES: XY, AB, L, and R, and for the Sega Genesis, it was ABC and XYZ. 

Fifth Generation

Let's move on to the fifth generation. If you guys don't know, then let me tell you that 3D gaming started in this generation only with consoles like the N64, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn. 2D games of this generation were also quite advanced: Mega Man X4, Mega Man 8, and the texture of games like Heart of Darkness, Rapid Reload, and Final Fantasy VI were revolutionary. However, the graphics were low as the 3D technology was new. Titles like Super Mario 64 on Nintendo's N64 and Crash Bandicoot were the first to use 3D technology, and gaming was about to change completely due to this new technology because games were being liked in 3D instead of 2D. And this game generation seriously changed gaming. This generation introduced analog sticks, one for movement and one for camera adjustment. The Direction buttons on the left side were set to select options, and four new function keys L2, R2, L3, and R3 were introduced so that all the required functions of the game could be done by keys, and the player could feel 100% control. This was the start of a revolutionary gaming generation. 

Sixth Generation

Let's move on to the sixth generation, and in this generation, three main gaming consoles ruled the whole gaming industry: Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, and everybody's favorite PlayStation 2. Due to video cards, higher RAM, and new CD technologies, these consoles could render games very quickly, and this generation gave series like God of War, Halo, and Prince of Persia, which are still some of the biggest names. No matter how much you honor the sixth generation, it was less. 

Seventh Generation

Now let's look at the Seventh Generation. You can assume this generation includes the PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, and high-performance video cards were used in this generation for graphics. The amazing thing is that even after not being so powerful compared to the last generation video card, the graphics of these consoles could almost render 25 polaroid images, such as in games like God of War 3, GTA 5, and Assassin's Creed. Where the characters were quite realistic, but the quality was not that much. But this generation is known for its tinkering. Fun fact: The U.S. Air Force needed a supercomputer, but they didn't have the budget to afford it. Penn State developed a supercomputer by arranging 1,760 PlayStation 3s. This generation introduced one more thing which is called trigger buttons, and due to these keys, open-world games like the GTA series and Watchdogs, and racing games like the Need for Speed franchise greatly benefited as these buttons were very useful for checking how much it's pushing the accelerator and how much smoother the driving is. This generation is over after the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 were declared dead. 

Eighth Generation

Now let's come to the eighth generation. What to say about this generation? It had consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One whose graphics were quite close to reality. Though this generation didn't give a lot of original games, existing franchises like GTA, God of War, Assassin's Creed, Watchdogs, Call of Duty, etc., greatly benefited from them. Their graphics features and advanced gameplay improved a lot. This generation also saw a lot of games with alternative endings like GTA and Detroit: Become Human, as consoles could connect the whole story path with multiple conditions due to advanced technology. 

Ninth Generation

Ninth generation (2020 to present). And now let's talk about the current generation of consoles, which is the ninth generation. It started with the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox One consoles. They featured 4K and 8K resolution gaming at high FPS, real-time ray tracing rendering, and SSD storage drives. This led to faster loading times and seamless experiences in large open-world games. We're still in the early stages of this generation and are yet to experience its full potential in some of the upcoming release pieces. But games like The Matrix Awakens and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 show how close to reality the graphics have come. So, I hope that you have understood in brief the gaming console generations. 

Outro

I wanted to go into a lot more detail, but I thought of starting with a brief blog to see how you feel about it. Which was your favorite console generation? Let me know in the comments. See you in the next one. Till then, adios."