Fifth Generation (32/64-bit era)

Post Reply New Topic

I agree that the Nintendo 64 is the best of those three video game consoles.

I wonder why SEGA hated backwards compatibility so much? The Saturn might have did better if it played SEGA CD and 32X games.

Well, 32X games were cartridge-based, and they had the same pinout as regular Genesis cartridges.
Saturn was Cd-based. (Pay no attention to the huge cartridge slot on the top!)

Sega was likely confident that the Saturn would sell on its own, and in Japan, it did. It was still in third place in Japan, but it was a more comfortable third place. It largely didn't sell in America due to the lack of games, especially the numerous Japan-only Saturn RPGs.

Interestingly, the Dreamcast wasn't backward-compatible either (Though you could emulate PlayStation games on it...).

Also, the "SEGA Nomad" handheld didn't play Game Gear cartridges . And the SEGA Genesis didn't play Master System cartridges which were very similar in size. However, the Genesis had a large add-on you could buy to play Master System games. I guess that was the closest they came to backwards compatibility.

My understanding is that that add-on only works with the Genesis 1, so, of course, I have a Genesis 2...
But who wants to play Master System games, anyway? What was good on it? Ninja Gaiden (different from the NES game)... Only released in Europe. 3rd-gen=NES, SMS doesn't count.

Now, the fifth generation also included such systems as the Atari Jaguar (nothing good), the Panasonic 3DO (Policenauts), and the Virtual Boy (Wario Land).

I recently bought the original Phantasy Star in the Wii shop which is supposed to be the best Master System game.

And I own a Virtual Boy with five games including Wario Land by the way.

Virtual boy? you mean the nintendo brand seizure helmet?

The Virtual Boy was interesting... Yeah, that's the word.

There's actually a surprisingly large homebrew community, with custom-made link cables (because Nintendo never released any) and rewritable cartridges.

Virtual Boy emulation would be a good option... If the emulators had any sound. Apparently, not enough people care about emulating Virtual Boy.

I didn't even realise you could buy them. It wasn't exactly Nintendo's best console. Hell, even the Gamecube was more successful ( I <3 GC btw).
I get the feeling it'll be a long while before any company tries anything like it. Hold on to it and that virtual boy'll probably be worth alotta money some day.

It's funny how whenever I mention owning one someone refers to it as a some kind of threat. I've never got any headaches from it or anything else. It looks kind of weird when you play it around other people though.

Well, I've only ever heard about it's infamous health threat...ingness. I don't know from experience or anything.

Oh my god! I remember playing the arcade version when I was 4. I hit a cow and started crying and having nightmares!

Still better than Hard Drivin' where the cow just moos.

For me, it was Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. I started out with Link's Awakening when I was 12 years old, and have been hooked since that time.

PSX didn't bring much, if anything new to the gaming world. Other than more competition.

Nintendo added 4 Controller ports, analog joystick, feedback(rumble pak), they taught people how to make 3D games.

The only failure of the N64 was the fact they stuck with cartridges which although better as far as function(load times, saving) they also cost a lot more which kept developers away from them. Not that it mattered much as most people can tell you that owned a PS the third party support mostly sucked.

There was some really good games on PS. Final Fantasys, Chrono Cross, Resident Evil(although RE2 was ported to N64)


I noticed today that FFIX music is way better than I remember. Messing around on youtube listening to that games music makes me want to play it again.

...Speaking of the N64 version of Resident Evil 2, while I haven't played it, from what I've heard, it's the most impressive port in history.
Seriously, the PS version was on 2 CDs (with a lot of redundancy between them, but still...), and the N64 version is on a single 64MB cartridge! They must have cut the FMVs! Nope, still there. The sound in the FMVs? Still there. The awful voice acting used periodically throughout the game? Still there. Well, the backgrounds are probably lower resolution and full of compression artifacts. Actually, no.

That's really impressive. Incidentally, there was also a Dreamcast version, but who wants to play RE2 on Dreamcast? That's what Code: Veronica is for!

During the fifth gen, I liked the ps1(why des everyone call it psx? that name somehow makes me wanna throw up) better because I got into games during pokemon fever as a 5 year old and Crash Bandicoot and Spyro were games that had just come out. My cousins had a ps1 and initially I had nothing so I would watch them play Crash or Spyro or play virtua figter and tekken with them. In 2000, my bro gave me his ps1 and I remember renting Crash and Spyro and playing them for hours and hours. To this day I am still a Spyro fan(the games are still very good) but I kind of forgot Crash. in 2004, I got my own n64 and started to play games like zelda and star wars shadows of the empire( I was 3 when it came out and i recall always wanting to play it because star wars became my obsession at around 3 and remains so today) I like both, but I have noticed how the graphics on ps1 are grittier and more paperlik when compared to n64 which looked mucy smoother yet more blocky.