What Is Your Favorite Console Generation?

[mr_me]

Intellivision wasn't identified as a third/next generation system in those articles like the atari 5200 or colecovision was.  I'd put Vectrex in there as well.

[Sneakyturtleegg]

3 hours ago, high voltage said:

16 bit...Intellivision was that as well

 

Technically correct, but not the point of my original post. The Intellivision is part of what I consider the the pre-NES/classic era of consoles, however that is broken down. It seems some of the problem with this thread is defining what systems are part of what generation. In my above post, I listed the systems I consider part of the era I think is best, including some 8-bit handhelds. The Intellivision is not included, but is a system fit to duke it out with its contemporaries. 

Edited November 27, 2019 by Sneakyturtleegg

[+GoldLeader]

I don't plan on voting since the "Generations" are not defined (in the voting area I mean).

[DJ Clae]

If 5200 is a separate generation, I guess we have to make a separate generation for the Jaguar, 3DO and 32X, right?

[godslabrat]

8 hours ago, DJ Clae said:

If 5200 is a separate generation, I guess we have to make a separate generation for the Jaguar, 3DO and 32X, right?

Some people do.

 

Me personally, I consider them "in between" systems, both technologically and chronologically, since they appeared in the middle of the generations of far more influential systems.  I think there's value in removing systems with such limited libraries from the discussion.

 

but that's me.

[Zap!]

I think the 12% that voted 1st Generation likely made a mistake, wrongly thinking that the Atari 2600 was in that category (it's 2nd). I respect any opinion, but I can't imagine anyone picking pre-1976 Pong-type systems as their favorite Generation.

[zzip]

On 11/25/2019 at 11:58 AM, MrMaddog said:

Another reason for the definitions of "generations" that's not so cut and dry are the Pre-Crash systems.  The Atari 2600 & Channel F are 2nd Gen. consoles that came out in the late 70's but the Atari 5200 & ColecoVision not only came out in the early 80's but were more advanced.  But yet they were lumped in the same catagory because of The Crash that seperated Atari from the NES (nevermind that the Famicom came out a year after the ColecoVision...)

 

Yeah, this irks me.   In what crazy world are the 5200 and 2600 same generation?    If anything, 5200 & CV should belong to the same generation as NES since they are closer to it in tech.  Or maybe call it a lost gaming generation that was "won" by the C64 ?      The years between the crash and NES dominance were some of my favorite years in gaming, and it's too bad how it gets ignored.

[zzip]

I've been more of a computer/PC gamer than console.   So my console-owning history is spotty.   I've only owned four consoles--   2600, Jaguar, Wii and PS4.   Out of those, PS4/current gen is my favorite.

[VectorGamer]

12 minutes ago, zzip said:

If anything, 5200 & CV should belong to the same generation as NES since they are closer to it in tech. 

OK but I look at it from the software side. The 5200 and CV library had a lot of translations of the golden age of arcade games, which I would define as being 1978-1983. While the NES had some translations of golden era arcade games, the offerings were largely moving forward from that era. Same could be said of the 7800.

 

This may be totally incorrect according to what a technical definition of a console generation is. But it's just how I view the early consoles if I had to classify them.

[mbd30]

17 minutes ago, zzip said:

Yeah, this irks me.   In what crazy world are the 5200 and 2600 same generation?    If anything, 5200 & CV should belong to the same generation as NES since they are closer to it in tech.  Or maybe call it a lost gaming generation that was "won" by the C64 ?      The years between the crash and NES dominance were some of my favorite years in gaming, and it's too bad how it gets ignored.

 

The 5200 & CV were closer to the NES in terms of tech, but also closer to the 2600 in terms of still largely emphasizing bringing simple 80s arcade hits home. Early NES/Famicom titles were more in line with the 5200 & CV, but then games like Mario, Zelda and Metroid were totally next generation.

 

[mr_me]

The smithsonian art of video games had five eras.  They had the colecovision in the first era with the atari 2600. The commodore 64 in the second era with the SMS.  DOS/Windows in the fourth era with saturn, dreamcast, and playstation.  And in the fifth era are xbox, ps2, ps3, xbox360, gamecube, wii, and modern windows.

Edited December 4, 2019 by mr_me

[zzip]

57 minutes ago, VectorGamer said:

 

This may be totally incorrect according to what a technical definition of a console generation is. But it's just how I view the early consoles if I had to classify them.

A generation is easiest to define when the same company is putting out replacement consoles.   The 5200 was meant to be a replacement of the 2600 with night and days differences in visuals and sound.   Therefore it's a new console generation.   Something like the Intellivision is harder to define where it's somewhere in-between the tech of the 2600 and the 5200/CV.    But Atari also muddied this with the 7800 which was a second 2600 replacement designed only two years later.  Is the 7800 a generational leap over the 5200?  I'd say no.   Not like 5200 over 2600 anyway.

 

If you go by software, then you could argue that the current generation is actually still a part of the PS3/Xbox 360 generation since many of the genres and game design techniques are still similar.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Whatever generation the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo were part of. The 16-bit era just rocked for 2D games at their finest, with little splashes of some really neat 3D polygon games too later in the generation.

 

[Flojomojo]

3 hours ago, mr_me said:

The smithsonian art of video games had five eras.  They had the colecovision in the first era with the atari 2600. The commodore 64 in the second era with the SMS.  DOS/Windows in the fourth era with saturn, dreamcast, and playstation.  And in the fifth era are xbox, ps2, ps3, xbox360, gamecube, wii, and modern windows.

That makes a lot more sense to me. And that was a cute little exhibit (if a bit basic for lifetime gamers like us). 

 

Hmm, the poll is closed for votes? Who won? Who's next?

 

 

[mr_me]

The smithsonian should have included golden age arcade machines.  Did they really show atari 2600 pacman and colecovision donkey kong instead of the real thing.

[Zap!]

I'm glad I missed this poll, because I love Generation 2, 3, and 4 petty equally, so I wouldn't know what to pick. Once 1994 came, I was never really the same.

Edited December 5, 2019 by Zap!