which console belong to which generation?

[Poofta!]

i was reading over another thread, and this current generation was dubbed the 7th.

i was wondering, who considers which system to be in which generations?


lets all agree on one list, not each person giving their own opinion, after a while ill come back and edit this original post with each generation (1st, 2nd etc etc) and all consoles belong to it.


do we start with the atari generation as the 1st?

or the odyssey 1, and other game in a box systems as 1st?


im very excited to read the responses. please include all consoles you can think of. including the wierd ones (arcadia, cd-i, jaguar --- which i cant think of it should be placed in the 16bit cirlce or not, 3do etc etc)

[Slate]

Generation 1:

PONG machines and all systems that had games built in in the 70's. I can't give a list of those but any system that had it's games built in I consider to be from the first generation. (1972 - 1976 or so)

Generation 2:

Now we go to the Channel F, The first system to use cartridges. And then we have the Atari 2600, Colecovision, intellivision And atari 5200.. I know there is one more system that I have forgot (RCA Studio 2?) But i'm not sure what it's called. (This generation goes from 1976 to 1982)

Generation 3:

Atari 7200
Master System
NES

However, The atari 2600 and intellivis in 1986 and 1988. This generation goes from late 1985 to 1989, But the NES was still kicking in the early 90's.

Generation 4:

This generation had many systems that failed.

Atari Systems:

Lynx
Jaguar
Jaguar CD

Nintendo Systems:

Game boy
Super NES
Virtual boy

NEC Systems:

Turbografx-16
Turbografx-16CD
TurboExpress

Panasonic:

3DO

Pioneer:

Laseractive (Laserdisc based system that could play laserdiscs, CDs, karaoke discs, Sega genesis games, Sega CD games and turbografx-16 games)

Sega Systems:

32x
Game Gear
Genesis
Sega CD

There was also the Neo Geo AES and Neo geo MVS, Although I forgot who they were made by. This generation started in 1989 and some of these systems did not last long, But the SNES went into 1996 and was still going, Aswell as the Game boy. The sega CD and 32x did not last very long, And the virtual boy didn't last a year.

Generation 5:

Game Boy Color
Nintendo 64
Playstation
Saturn

This generation started in 1995 (For the USA, Playstation was out in japan in 1994) and ended in 2000.

Generation 6:

Dreamcast
Game Boy Advance
Gamecube
Playstation 2
Xbox

This generation started in 1999, And is still going although microsoft no longer manufactures xboxes.

Generation 7:

Nintendo DS
Playstation 3
PSP
Wii
Xbox 360

There you have it.

[ALAKA]

nice list, slate.

also, for further info check this out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computer_and_video_games

[chrisbid]

i would put the 3DO with the saturn/PSX/N64 generation. it had more in common with those machines (optical media, 3D graphics) than it did with cart based 2D machines

[j_factor]

I don't understand placing Colecovision and 5200 in the same generation as VCS. The former two came out several years after and were intended to replace the latter on the market -- does that not constitute a new generation? Hell, Coleco themselves even used the term "third wave".

I would therefore put it like this:

1 - Pong, Odyssey, Telstar, etc.
2 - Atari VCS, Intellivision, Odyssey2
3 - Colecovision, 5200, Vectrex
4 - NES, SMS, 7800
5 - Turbo, Genesis, SNES, Neo Geo, CDi
6 - 3DO, Jaguar, PC-FX, PSX, Saturn, N64
7 - DC, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox
8 - 360, PS3, Wii

Thus putting us at the 8th generation. I do remember hearing "7th generation" during the PS2 era.

[Kevincal]

i would put the 3DO with the saturn/PSX/N64 generation. it had more in common with those machines (optical media, 3D graphics) than it did with cart based 2D machines

The Atari Jaguar and Jaguar CD also belong with these...

[chrisbid]

i would call the jag the mason dixon line of the two generations. it was split between 2D and 3D games, and it used more cart media than optical media.

[Trebuken]

i would put the 3DO with the saturn/PSX/N64 generation. it had more in common with those machines (optical media, 3D graphics) than it did with cart based 2D machines

Yeah I agree too. I think it fell into a similar situation as the Dreamcast; which some would move to the preceding generation.

[rxd]

I don't understand placing Colecovision and 5200 in the same generation as VCS. The former two came out several years after and were intended to replace the latter on the market -- does that not constitute a new generation? Hell, Coleco themselves even used the term "third wave".

I would therefore put it like this:

1 - Pong, Odyssey, Telstar, etc.
2 - Atari VCS, Intellivision, Odyssey2
3 - Colecovision, 5200, Vectrex
4 - NES, SMS, 7800
5 - Turbo, Genesis, SNES, Neo Geo, CDi
6 - 3DO, Jaguar, PC-FX, PSX, Saturn, N64
7 - DC, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox
8 - 360, PS3, Wii

Thus putting us at the 8th generation. I do remember hearing "7th generation" during the PS2 era.

That's the way I see it too. Though I'm not totally sure where my DC fits. It's kind of a 'tweener between the PSX and the PS2....

[vintagegamecrazy]

1st Pong
2nd dedicated cart based (maybe)
2nd Single fire button cart based consoles
3rd 2 or more fire buttons. The intellivision being the first in this generation.
4th Post crash 8 bit
5th 16 bit.
6th 32/64 bit
7th 128 bit
8th modern 360 PS3 Wii.

[Ze_ro]

Here's how I would describe them:

1st Generation - Dedicated Systems (Pong, Stunt Cycle, Odyssey, etc)
2nd Generation - Early Programmable Systems (2600, O^2, ColecoVision, etc)
3rd Generation - Post-Crash 8-Bit Systems (NES, SMS, 7800)
4th Generation - 16-Bit Systems (SNES, Genesis, TG-16)
5th Generation - Early 3D Systems (PSX, Saturn, N64, etc)
6th Generation - 2nd 3D Generation (Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube)
7th Generation - High-Definition Systems (360, PS3, Wii)

Yes, I know some systems were doing 3D before the 5th generation, and I know the Wii doesn't really do high-def, but whatever. I also hate using "X-Bit" to describe anything, but it seems to be the best way to name the 4th generation. Grouping systems like this also runs into trouble because the generations always overlap by some degree... the 3DO and Jaguar have already been mentioned as being somewhat ambiguous (I'd put them in the 5th gen myself), but so are systems like the Dreamcast (6th gen in my opinion) and Telstar Arcade (1st gen, I'd say). Not to mention weird stuff like the SegaCD and 32X.

It gets complicated trying to fit handheld systems into these lists... ditto for "game computers" like the C64 and Atari 800. You pretty much need to make up new generational definitions for those two categories.

--Zero

[chrisbid]

another way to classify games would be through general control schemes

Precambrian - Pong, Odyssey, Telstar

Joystick era - Atari VCS, Intellivision, Odyssey2, Colecovision, 5200, Vectrex, 7800

D-Pad era - NES, SMS, Turbo, Genesis, SNES, Neo Geo, CDi, 3DO, Jaguar, PC-FX

Analog era - PSX, Saturn, N64, DC, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox, 360,

Motion Sensor era - PS3, Wii


this method does a better job of describing the general gameplay, rather than the general graphics. for instance, while the 7800 was on the market the same time as the NES, the gameplay had more in common with the 2600.

[KingCobra]

I just go by decade era myself, sure there's losts of debeat over the few consoles that are ahead of their time or just on the edge of a new area, but overal it works.

70's = stand alone, Tapes and floppy disc and early cart Atari/Int/ody ect..

80's = 8bitt Coleco/Nes/SMS Home cart and 2D at full tilt ect..

90's = 16bitt cart/CD based first good arcade ports and begaining of the 3D
era Genny/SNES/NEO GEO/N64, Playstation/Dreamcastect.. ect..

2000 = This will be the tuffest to define IMO as because of the short console life of today, I think outside of the PS2 5 years could be the normal life of consoles now. 3D takes over, 2D loose's major ground overall and the online consoles starts become the norm, PS2/Xbox/Cube/360/PS3 and Wii


Nice response's! I life Chirsbid's controller style of consoles.

[Griking]

I don't understand placing Colecovision and 5200 in the same generation as VCS. The former two came out several years after and were intended to replace the latter on the market -- does that not constitute a new generation? Hell, Coleco themselves even used the term "third wave".

I would therefore put it like this:

1 - Pong, Odyssey, Telstar, etc.
2 - Atari VCS, Intellivision, Odyssey2
3 - Colecovision, 5200, Vectrex
4 - NES, SMS, 7800
5 - Turbo, Genesis, SNES, Neo Geo, CDi
6 - 3DO, Jaguar, PC-FX, PSX, Saturn, N64
7 - DC, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox
8 - 360, PS3, Wii

Thus putting us at the 8th generation. I do remember hearing "7th generation" during the PS2 era.

This seems to make the most sense to me. I also don't look at the Atari 2600 and the Atari 5200 or Coleco Vision as being from the same generation. As someone had already said, the 5200 was designed to replace the 2600