Video game-related events in 1990s
The 1990s was the third decade in the industry's history. It was a decade of marked innovation in video gaming. It was a decade of transition from sprite-based graphics to full-fledged 3D graphics and it gave rise to several genres of video games including, but not limited to, the first-person shooter, real-time strategy, survival horror, and MMO. Arcade games, although still very popular in the early 1990s, began to decline as home consoles became more common. The fourth and fifth generation of video game consoles went on sale, including the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color and the Sega Dreamcast. Notable games released in the 1990s included "Super Mario World", "Sonic the Hedgehog", "Street Fighter II", "Mortal Kombat', Tekken 3," "Doom", "Wolfenstein 3D", "Quake", "Duke Nukem 3D", "Final Fantasy VII", "Unreal Tournament", "Star Fox", "Half-Life", "Grand Theft Auto", "Super Mario 64", "Pokémon Red "and" Blue", "NBA Jam," "Daytona USA", "GoldenEye 007", "System Shock 2, Civilization," "Ridge Racer", "Sonic Adventure", "Gran Turismo", "Super Mario Kart", "Pokémon Gold" and "Silver'," ', "Super Metroid", "Silent Hill", "Dead or Alive 2", ', "Crash Bandicoot", "Spyro The Dragon", "Fallout", "Metal Gear Solid", "Diablo", "Virtua Fighter, Tomb Raider," "Sega Rally Championship", "Wing Commander," "Super Smash Bros", "Secret of Mana," "", "Age of Empires", "Nights into Dreams", "Panzer Dragoon", "Gunstar Heroes", "EverQuest, Chrono Trigger", "Battletoads", "Worms", "Myst", "Micro Machines", "Streets of Rage 2," "Baldur's Gate," "Donkey Kong Country", "Wipeout", ", ," "Lemmings", "EarthBound", "StarCraft", "Banjo-Kazooie", "PaRappa the Rapper", "Resident Evil", "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater", "Soulcalibur", "Command &amp; Conquer," and "Dance Dance Revolution".
Consoles of the 1990s.
Fourth generation consoles (1987–1998).
Starting in 1987 and ending in 1998, the fourth generation of video game consoles consisted primarily of games and systems programmed for the 16-bit era. During this generation, 2D graphics had improved over the previous generation and experimentation began to occur with 3D graphics, although 3D games were more prevalent on the PC at the time. The fourth generation also was the first time compact discs were considered a viable port for video game retail sales with the CD-i. Some of the most notable systems released during this generation were the Mega Drive/Genesis (1988), the Super NES (1990) and the Neo Geo (1991). Nintendo's Game Boy was also released during the fourth generation, which would later become the most popular series of handheld gaming systems during the 1990s. A rivalry between Sega and Nintendo occurred during this generation, starting the 2nd major console war, The 1st being between Atari 2600 &amp; Intellivision.
Fifth generation consoles (1993–2001).
Starting in 1993 and ending in 2001, the fifth generation of video games are most widely known to be the 32/64 bit era and for being the transition period for video games to evolve into the third dimension. The Nintendo 64 (1996), PlayStation 1 (1994), Sega Saturn (1994), and Atari Jaguar (1993) are considered to be the big four gaming systems of this generation. With the introduction of the PlayStation and Saturn, compact discs (CDs) began to replace cartridges however Nintendo continued using them with the Nintendo 64 due to the load times on CDs at the time and became one of the last cartridge based systems in mass production.
Sixth generation console (1998–2006).
The sixth generation was initiated by the release of the Dreamcast in 1998. It introduced several innovations including Internet gaming as a standard feature through its built-in modem, and a web browser. It was also the first home console to always display full SD resolution. Despite its early success, the Dreamcast was discontinued prematurely as sales slowed following the release of the PlayStation 2 on March 4, 2000.
Technological innovation.
Introduction of 3D polygons and environments.
There was a "3D Revolution" in the 1990s, where video games made the transition from 2D and pseudo-3D graphics to real-time 3D polygon graphics, a trend popularized by 3D arcade video games in the early 1990s. This transition was largely driven by a technological arms race between two of the largest arcade game manufacturers, Sega and Namco, during the early-to-mid-1990s. The Namco System 21 which was originally developed for racing games in the late 1980s was adapted by Namco for new 3D action games in the early 1990s, such as the rail shooters "Galaxian 3" (1990) and "Solvalou" (1991). Sega responded with the Sega Model 1, which further popularized 3D polygons with Sega AM2 games including "Virtua Racing" (1992) and the fighting game "Virtua Fighter" (1993), especially popularizing 3D polygon human characters. Namco then responded with the Namco System 22, capable of 3D polygon texture mapping and Gouraud shading, used for "Ridge Racer" (1993). The Sega Model 2 took it further with 3D polygon texture filtering, used by 1994 for racers such as "Daytona USA", fighting games such as "Virtua Fighter 2", and light gun shooters such as "Virtua Cop". Namco responded with 3D fighters such as "Tekken" (1994) and 3D light gun shooters such as "Time Crisis" (1995), the latter running on the Super System 22. Other arcade manufacturers were also manufacturing 3D arcade hardware by this time, including Midway Games, Konami and Taito.
On home consoles, the success of Sega's "Virtua Fighter" in the arcades inspired Sony to develop the PlayStation (released 1994) as a 3D-focused hardware, rather than a 2D-focused hardware as they had originally planned. "Super Mario 64" (1996) is said to be one of the most revolutionary video games. It was praised for how it took to 3D environments of wide open spaces and graphics at the time. Many games that moved onto 3D also tried to mimic Mario's success. Instead of pixels, polygons became a standard sight to be in video games from then on as they looked more lifelike when programmed into the right shapes. Lara Croft of the "Tomb Raider" series became the first video game sex symbol, becoming a recognizable figure in the entertainment industry throughout the late 1990s.
On personal computers, id Software's "Doom" (1993) is widely credited as the origin of modern first-person shooter (FPS) video games. Some people give this credit to id's "Wolfenstein 3D" (1992), as it was released roughly a year and a half earlier than Doom, but was not nearly as popular. "Wolfenstein 3D" was one of the first video games to feature ray casting with texture mapping, where graphical textures are wrapped around 3D objects. They were succeeded by id's "Quake" (1996), which made the transition from ray casting to 3D polygon graphics.
Optical disc storage.
Nearly every system released in the mid-late 1990s began to move to the new CD-ROM technology, with the Nintendo 64 being the last major home video game console to use ROM cartridges. Also appealing to publishers was the fact that CDs could be produced at significantly less expense and with more flexibility (it was easy to change production to meet demand), and they were able to pass the lower costs onto consumers. In particular, the fifth generation marked a turning point for optical-based storage media. As games grew more complex in content, sound, and graphics, the CD proved more than capable of providing enough space for the extra data. The cartridge format, however, was pushed beyond the limits of its storage capacity. Consequently, many game developers shifted their support away from the Nintendo 64 to the PlayStation.
Memory cards.
Due to CD-ROMs lacking the built-in memory of ROM Cartridges, the Sony PlayStation introduced the use of memory cards to store saved game data. This became the standard for video game consoles until it was replaced by the use of hard drives and built-in flash memory during the seventh generation in the late first decade of the 21st century.
Game controllers.
The Super NES controller introduced a more rounded dog-bone like design and added two more face buttons, "X" and "Y", arranging the four in a diamond formation. Another addition was the "L" and "R" shoulder buttons, which have been imitated by most controllers since.
The PlayStation controller was the first standard operating device for a home console to use two handle-bars at the bottom of the controller whereas previously this feature had been relegated to niche specialist controllers. This has been standard in most game controllers since, until the Wii appeared.
The Virtual Boy Controller was a controller which utilized dual joypads similar to how analog sticks functioned in later "dual control" sixth-generation systems. The presence of two pads was an effort to control objects in a 3D environment (one pad controlling pitch and turning while the other controlling forward movement and strafing).
An analog stick sometimes called a control stick or thumbstick, is an input device for a game controller that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a variation of a joystick, consisting of a protrusion from the controller; input is based on the position of this protrusion in relation to the default "center" position. While D-pads and digital sticks rely on single electrical connections for movement (using internal digital electrical contacts for up, down, left and right), analog sticks use continuous electrical activity running through potentiometers to measure the exact position of the stick within its full range of motion. In 1996 Nintendo introduced the first analog thumbstick on the Nintendo 64 controller. It was subsequently followed during the fifth generation by the 3D Control Pad (packaged with "Nights into Dreams..."), the Sony Dual Analog gamepad which introduced the use of two analog sticks, and the Sony DualShock. Since then, all major video game console controllers have included two analog thumbsticks, except for the Wii's "Wii-mote".
The optional Rumble Pak for the Nintendo 64 controller introduced the use of haptic force feedback technology in gaming. It was later followed by the DualShock controller for the PlayStation which had built-in haptic feedback. Since then, built-in force feedback has become standard for most game controllers.
The use of pressure-sensitive buttons was introduced by the Dreamcast in 1999. It has trigger-like shoulder buttons, similar to the earlier Nintendo 64 controller, but the main difference being that DreamCast controller's shoulder buttons are pressure-sensitive. Since then, most game controllers have included pressure-sensitive buttons.
Online gaming.
The rapid availability of the Internet in the 1990s led to an expansion of Online games, Video game consoles also began to receive online networking peripherals, such as the Satellaview (1995), SegaNet (1996). Online gaming, which had been the exclusive domain of PC games, became prominent in video game consoles starting with Dreamcast online functionality in 1999 with its built in modem, internet browsing software, and ability to play certain games online. Nearly all consoles since released then have had support for online gaming.
Genre innovation.
Many technically innovative and genre-defining games were developed during the 1990s, largely due to the impact of 3D graphics allowing three-dimensional environments as well as optical discs which allowed much greater storage capacity.
Fighting games.
The release of "Street Fighter II" in 1991 is often considered a revolutionary moment in the fighting game genre. Yoshiki Okamoto's team developed the most accurate joystick and button scanning routine in the genre thus far. This allowed players to reliably execute multi-button special moves, which had previously required an element of luck. The game was also highly successful because its graphics took advantage of Capcom's CPS arcade chipset, with highly detailed characters and stages. Whereas previous games allowed players to combat a variety of computer-controlled fighters, "Street Fighter II" allowed players to play against each other. The popularity of "Street Fighter II" surprised the gaming industry, as arcade owners bought more machines to keep up with demand.
SNK released "" a few months later, adding a two-plane system where characters could step into the foreground or background. Meanwhile, Sega experimented with "Dark Edge", an early attempt at a 3D fighting game where characters could move in all directions. Sega however, never released the game outside Japan because it felt that unrestrained 3D fighting games were unenjoyable. Several fighting games achieved greater commercial success, including SNK's "Art of Fighting" and "Samurai Shodown" as well as Sega's "Eternal Champions". Nevertheless, "Street Fighter II" remained the most popular, spawning a special "Champion Edition" that improved game balance and allowed players to use additional characters. The popularity of "Street Fighter II" led it to be released for home game consoles and allowed it to define the template for fighting games.
Sega began to attract attention with the 1993 release of "Virtua Fighter" in arcades. It was the first fighting game with 3D polygon graphics and