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Author: CosmicRock

Jun 6th 2012 at 5:19:08 PM

I like this idea. I might make some suggestions.

To borrow from the Angry video game nerd, we might want to call the post 16-bit era the "bit wars" or "bit wars era" as this includes systems like the Jaguar(psuedo 64-bit) and the Sega 32x.

In this era 3D gaming was new and novel, but far from perfected. Wonky camera control, clipping, poor shading, and generally low polygon models marked true 3D games of this era. This was also an era dominated by what's known as 2.5D. Pre-rendered models in sprite form(Killer Instinct, Diablo2, Donkey Kong Country), motion capture(Mortal Kombat) and low polygon models on pre-rendered backgrounds(Final Fantasy 7) were standard techniques used in this era that took advantage of more powerful processors and larger capacity media.

My suggestions for the "ages and eras":

1) Development Age (19??-1978): From the early vector games made from radar equipment, through the pong consoles, to the first coin-op machines. Video games are an oddity and strange novelty to the popular culture.

Notable Games: Pong, Space Invaders, Nintendo Game & Watch series

2) Golden Age (1978-1983): Games began to have characters with personality and vibrant colors. Home consoles with a large library of cartridges became wildly popular. Atari dominated this age. Video games become part of the youth pop culture.

Notable Games: Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Pole Position, Pitfall

3) Silver Age (1985-1993): Arcades returned with more powerful hardware. Nintendo and Sega dominated the 8-bit and 16-bit home console market. Cartridge based hand-held systems emerged. Video games were now a pop culture staple.

Notable Games: Super Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog, Doom, Pokemon

4) Bit wars/Age of Chaos/Dark Age(1994-1999): Many new consoles, companies, and formats came and went. Bits, polygons, and technical specs became points of purchase in fiercely competitive market. 3D rendering technology and full motion video began integrating itself into gaming. Arcades used more elaborate and gimmick driven hardware and displays. Hand-held consoles remained popular. The internet and powerful video cards drove a new market to PC gaming.

Notable Games: Final Fantasy 7, Starcraft, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Wing Commander

5) Bronze Age/Millennial Age (1999-2005): This was the age of the decline of the arcade and the rise of the home console that could rival PC based games. Cell phones became commonplace and started to offer gaming. 3D technology had greatly improved. Online gaming grows in popularity. The big three console makers that emerge are Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony.

Notable Games: Grand Theft Auto series, Halo, The Sims, Madden NFL series

6) Current Age(2005-present): This age marks the effective end of arcades, the rise of Massively multi-player online role playing games, full online capability in home consoles, revolutionary new interactive game controllers, cell phones as mobile gaming and internet terminals, and actual 3D screens on a portable console.

Notable Games: Call of Duty and Battlefield series, Wii Sports, World of Warcraft