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User:Crimsonfox/sandbox/gen3

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In the history of computer and video games, the third generation (sometimes referred to as the 8-bit era) began on July 15, 1983, with the Japanese release of two systems: the Nintendo Family Computer (commonly abbreviated to Famicom) and the Sega SG-1000.[1][2] When the Famicom was released outside of Japan it was remodelled and marketed as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) This generation marked the end of the North American video game crash, and a shift in the dominance of home video games from the United States to Japan.[3] Handheld consoles were not a major part of this generation, although the Game & Watch line from Nintendo had started in 1980 and the Milton Bradley Microvision came out in 1979 though both are considered second generation hardware.

Improvements in technology gave this generations consoles improved graphical and sound capabilities. The number of simultaneous colours on screen and the palette size both increased which, coupled with larger resolutions and more sprites on screen, meant that developers could create scenes with more detail. Five channel audio became common giving consoles the ability to produce a greater variation and range of sound.

The best-selling console of this generation was the NES/Famicom from Nintendo, followed by the Sega Master System, and then the Atari 7800. Although the previous generation of consoles had also used 8-bit processors, it was at the end of the third generation that home consoles were first labeled and marketed by their "bits". This also came into fashion as fourth generation 16-bit systems like the Sega Genesis were marketed in order to differentiate between the generations. In Japan and North America, this generation was primarily dominated by the Famicom/NES, while the Master System dominated the European and Brazilian markets. The end of the third generation was marked by the emergence of 16-bit systems of the fourth generation and with the discontinuation of the Famicom on September 25, 2003.

History

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The Family Computer (commonly abbreviated the Famicom) became very popular in Japan during this era, crowding out the other consoles in this generation. The Famicom's Western counterpart, the Nintendo Entertainment System, dominated the gaming market in North America, thanks in part to its restrictive licensing agreements with developers. This marked a shift in the dominance of home video games from the United States to Japan, to the point that Computer Gaming World described the "Nintendo craze" as a "non-event" for American video game designers as "virtually all the work to date has been done in Japan."[3] The company had an estimated 65% of 1987 hardware sales in the console market; Atari Corporation had 24%, Sega had 8%, and other companies had 3%.[4]

The popularity of the Japanese consoles grew so quickly that in 1988 Epyx stated that, in contrast to a video game-hardware industry in 1984 that the company had described as "dead", the market for Nintendo cartridges was larger than for all home-computer software.[5] Nintendo sold seven million NES systems in 1988, almost as many as the number of Commodore 64s sold in its first five years.[6] Compute! reported that Nintendo's popularity caused most computer-game companies to have poor sales during Christmas that year, resulting in serious financial problems for some,[7] and after more than a decade making computer games, in 1989 Epyx converted completely to console cartridges.[8] By 1990 30% of American households owned the NES, compared to 23% for all personal computers,[9] and peer pressure to have a console was so great that even the children of computer-game developers demanded them despite parents' refusal and the presence of state-of-the-art computers and software at home. As Computer Gaming World reported in 1992, "The kids who don't have access to videogames are as culturally isolated as the kids in our own generation whose parents refused to buy a TV".[10]

Sega was Nintendo's main competitor during the era in terms of market share for console units sold.[4] Unlike the NES, Sega's SG-1000, which preceded Sega's more commercially successful Master System, initially had very little to differentiate itself from earlier consoles such as the ColecoVision and contemporary computers such as the MSX, although, despite the lack of hardware scrolling, the SG-1000 was able to pull off advanced scrolling effects, including parallax scrolling in Orguss and sprite-scaling in Zoom 909.[1] In 1985, Sega's Master System incorporated hardware scrolling, alongside an increased colour palette, greater memory, pseudo-3D effects, and stereoscopic 3-D, gaining a clear hardware advantage over the NES. However, the NES continued to dominate the North American and Japanese markets, while the Master System would gain more dominance in the emerging European and South American markets.[11]

This era contributed many influential aspects to the history of the development of video games. The third generation saw the release of many of the first console role-playing video games (RPGs). Editing and censorship of video games was often used in localizing Japanese games to North America.[12] During this era, many of the most famous video game franchises of all time{[citation needed] were founded that outlived the third generation and continued through releases on later consoles. Some examples are Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Quest, Metroid, Mega Man, Metal Gear, Castlevania, Phantasy Star, Megami Tensei, Ninja Gaiden, and Bomberman.

The third generation also saw the beginning of the children's educational console market.[citation needed] Although consoles such as the VideoSmarts and ComputerSmarts systems were stripped down to very primitive input systems designed for children, their use of ROM cartridges would establish this as the standard for later such consoles.[citation needed] Due to their reduced capacities, these systems typically were not labeled by their "bits" and were not marketed in competition with traditional video game consoles.

In North America the Atari 7800 and Master System were discontinued in 1992, while the NES continued to be produced for several more years. In Europe, the Master System was discontinued in the late 1990s. However it has continued to sell in Brazil through to the present day. In Japan, Nintendo continued to repair Famicom systems until October 31, 2007.[13][14]

Home Systems

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SG-1000

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Main article: SG-1000

On July 15, 1983 the SG-1000 was released in Japan, the first console to be created by Sega.[15] It was released alongside the Famicom making them the first two consoles of the third generation. While it didn't sell as well as other consoles of the generation, it was considered important to the development of Sega as a console manufacturer.[16]

Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System

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Main article: Nintendo Entertainment System

Released by Nintendo on July 15, 1983 in Japan as the Family Computer and in the North American region in September 1986 as the Nintendo Entertainment System,[17] it went on to become the most popular console of the generation. It was the first home system to feature a controller with a directional pad which became an industry standard.

Sega Master System

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Main article: Sega Master System

The Sega Mark III was released on October 20, 1985 for the Japanese market and was the third iteration of the SG-1000.[18] The name was changed to the Master System and the design altered for release outside of Japan. It was designed to be more powerful than the NES in an attempt to give it an edge over the competition but despite good sales, it couldn't match the success of the NES making it the second best selling console of the generation. This was the case in all regions apart from Brazil where it continued to sell for years after the end of the generation. The Master System had few third party games which was likely due to Nintendo's licensing agreements that required developers only to release games for their system.

Atari 7800

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Main article: Atari 7800

The Atari 7800 was release in May 1986 and was the successor to the Atari 5200 and was the first console to be backwards compatible without additional hardware It was originally due for launch on May 21, 1984 but due to the sale of the company the launch didn't happen until two years later and coupled with a small library of games the console didn't sell well.

Comparison

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Name SG-1000 Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Sega Mark III/Master System Atari 7800
Manufacturer Sega Nintendo Sega Atari
Console 200px 200px
200px 		200px
200px
200px 		200px
200px
Launch prices JP¥15,000 (equivalent to ¥18,600 in 2019) JP¥14,800 (equivalent to ¥18,400 in 2019)
US$199.99 (equivalent to US$570 in 2023)
CA$240 (equivalent to CA$600 in 2023) 		JP¥15,000 (equivalent to ¥17,800 in 2019)[19]
US$199.99 (equivalent to $560 in 2023)
UK£99.99 (equivalent to £360 in 2023) 		US$140 (equivalent to $390 in 2023)
Release date
  • JP: July 15, 1983
  • NZ: 1983
  • JP: July 15, 1983
  • USA: October 18, 1985
  • NA: September 1986
  • EU: September 1986
  • WW: 1987
  • JP: October 20, 1985
  • NA: October 1986
  • WW: June 1987
  • NA: May 1986
  • WW: July 1987
Media
  • Cartridge

Famicom Disk System:

  • Cartridge
  • Data card (first model only)
 Cartridge
Top-selling games N/A Super Mario Bros. (pack-in), 40.24 million (as of 1999)[20]
Super Mario Bros. 3, 18 million (as of May 21, 2003)[21] 		Hang-On and Safari Hunt (pack-in)
Alex Kidd in Miracle World (pack-in)
Sonic the Hedgehog (pack-in) 		Pole Position II (pack-in)[22]
Backward compatibility None None Sega SG-1000 (Japanese systems only) Atari 2600
Accessories (retail)
  • Bike Handle Controller
  • Card Catcher
  • Sega Handle Controller
  • Sega Rapid Fire Unit
  • SK-1100
More...
CPU NEC 780C (based on 8/16-bit Zilog Z80)
3.58 MHz NTSC (3.55 MHz PAL) 		Ricoh 2A03/2A07 (based on 8-bit MOS Technology 6502)
1.79 MHz (1.66 MHz PAL) 		Zilog Z80A
4 MHz 		Custom 6502C (based on 8-bit MOS Technology 6502)
1.19 MHz or 1.79 MHz
GPU Texas Instruments TMS9918 Ricoh PPU (Picture Processing Unit) Yamaha YM2602 VDP (Video Display Processor)
Sound chip(s) Texas Instruments SN76489

Famicom Disk System:

Japan only:

Optional cartridge chip:

Memory

3 KB RAM

4.277344 KB (4380 bytes) RAM

  • 2 KB main RAM
  • 2 KB video RAM
  • 256 bytes sprite attribute RAM
  • 28 bytes palette RAM

Upgrades:

  • MMC chips: Up to 8 KB work RAM and 12 KB video RAM[26]
  • Famicom Disk System: 32 KB work RAM, 8 KB video RAM

24.03125 KB (24,608 bytes) RAM

  • 8 KB main XRAM
  • 16 KB video XRAM[27]
    (256 bytes sprite attribute table)
  • 32 bytes palette RAM[28]

4 KB RAM

Video Resolution 256×192 256×224 or 256×240 256×192, 256×224, 256×240 160×200 or 320×200
Palette 21 colors[25] 53 colors 64 colors 256 colors (16 hues, 16 luma)
Colors on Screen 16 simultaneous (1 color per sprite) 25 simultaneous (4 colors per sprite) 32 simultaneous (16 colors per sprite) 25 simultaneous (1, 4 or 12 colors per sprite)
Sprites 32 on screen (4 per scanline), 8×8 or 8×16 pixels, integer sprite zooming up to 16×32 pixels 64 on screen (8 per scanline), 8×8 or 8×16 pixels, sprite flipping 64 on screen (8 per scanline), 8×8 to 16×16 pixels, integer sprite zooming up to 32×32 pixels[29] Display list, 100 sprites (30 per scanline without background)
Background Tilemap playfield, 8×8 tiles Tilemap playfield, 8×8 tiles Tilemap playfield, 8×8 tiles, tile flipping[28]
Scrolling Smooth hardware scrolling, vertical/horizontal directions
 Smooth hardware scrolling, vertical/horizontal/diagonal directions,[30] IRQ interrupt, line scrolling, split‑screen scrolling[29]
MMC chips: IRQ interrupt, diagonal scrolling, line scrolling, split‑screen scrolling 		Coarse scrolling, vertical/horizontal directions
Audio Mono audio with: Mono audio with:

Japan only upgrades:

Mono audio with:
  • Three square wave channels
  • One noise generator

Japan only:

Mono audio with:
  • Two square waves

Optional cartridge chip:

  • Four square wave channels
  • One noise generator

Other consoles

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Sales comparison

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See also: List of best-selling game consoles

The NES/Famicom sold by far the most units of any third generation console in North America and Asia. In North America in 1989, between Nintendo and Sega, there was a 94% to 6% split between the two in market share between the NES and the Master System, in Nintendo's favor.[31] By 1992 in North America, Nintendo had a market-share of 80%, followed by Atari's 12% and Sega's 8%.[32] This was due to its strong lineup of first-party titles (such as Super Mario Bros., Metroid, Duck Hunt, and The Legend of Zelda), and Nintendo's strict licensing rules that required NES titles to be exclusive to the console for two years after release, putting a damper on third party support for other consoles.[33] Atari, on the other hand, fared a bit better than the Master System in North America, but still finished a distant second place. In Europe, competition was tough for the NES, and was outsold by the Master System despite the hegemony that it had in the North American and Japanese markets.[11][34]

Console Units sold worldwide Japan Americas Elsewhere
Nintendo Entertainment System 61.91 million (December 2009)[35][36] 19.35 million (December 2009)[35] 34 million (December 2009)[35] 8.56 million (December 2009)[35]
Sega Master System 17.8 million (2016) 1 million (1986)[37] United States: 2 million (1992)[38]
Brazil: 8 million (2016)[39]		 Western Europe: 6.8 million (1993)[40]
Atari 7800 0.1 million — — —
SG-1000 0.16 million — — —


Software

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Milestone titles

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Fahs, Travis. "IGN Presents the History of SEGA: Coming Home". IGN. p. 2. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  2. ^ Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), The video game explosion: a history from PONG to Playstation and beyond, ABC-CLIO, p. 115, ISBN 978-0-313-33868-7, retrieved April 19, 2011
  3. ^ a b Daglow, Don L. (August 1988). "Over the River and Through the Woods: The Changing Role of Computer Game Designers". Computer Gaming World. No. 50. p. 18. I'm sure you've noticed that I've made no reference to the Nintendo craze that has repeated the Atari and Mattel Phenomenon of 8 years ago. That's because for American game designers the Nintendo is a non-event: virtually all the work to date has been done in Japan. Only the future will tell if the design process ever crosses the Pacific as efficiently as the container ships and the letters of credit now do.
  4. ^ a b Katz, Arnie; Kunkel, Bill; Worley, Joyce (August 1988). "Video Gaming World". Computer Gaming World. p. 44.
  5. ^ "The Nintendo Threat?". Computer Gaming World. June 1988. p. 50.
  6. ^ Ferrell, Keith (July 1989). "Just Kids' Play or Computer in Disguise?". Compute!. p. 28. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  7. ^ Keizer, Gregg (July 1989). "Editorial License". Compute!. p. 4. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  8. ^ Ferrell, Keith (December 1989). "Epyx Goes Diskless". Compute!. p. 6. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  9. ^ "Fusion, Transfusion or Confusion / Future Directions In Computer Entertainment". Computer Gaming World. December 1990. p. 26. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
  10. ^ Reeder, Sara (November 1992). "Why Edutainment Doesn't Make It In A Videogame World". Computer Gaming World. p. 130. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  11. ^ a b Travis Fahs. "IGN Presents the History of SEGA: World War". IGN. p. 3. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
  12. ^ Altice, Nathan (2015). I Am Error: The Nintendo Family Computer / Entertainment System Platform. MIT Press. p. 115. ISBN 9780262028776.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ 初代「ファミコン」など公式修理サポート終了. ITmedia News (in Japanese). ITmedia. October 16, 2007. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
  14. ^ RyanDG (October 16, 2007). "Nintendo of Japan dropping Hardware support for the Famicom". Arcade Renaissance. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
  15. ^ Pettus, Sam; Munoz, David; Williams, Kevin; Barroso, Ivan (December 20, 2013). Service Games: The Rise and Fall of SEGA: Enhanced Edition. Smashwords Edition. p. 12. ISBN 9781311080820.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ Plunkett, Luke (January 19, 2017). "The Story of Sega's First Console, Which Was Not The Master System". Kotaku. Gizmodo Media Group. Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  17. ^ Wolf, Mark J. P. (2012). Encyclopedia of Video Games: A-L. ABC-CLIO. p. 449. ISBN 9780313379369.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ "Mark III" (in Japanese). Sega Corporation. Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  19. ^ "Mark III" (in Japanese). Sega Corporation. Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
  20. ^ "Best-Selling Video Games". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on March 17, 2006. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  21. ^ "All Time Top 20 Best Selling Games". May 21, 2003. Archived from the original on February 21, 2006. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  22. ^ "Pole Position II for Arcade (1983) - MobyGames". MobyGames (in German). Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  23. ^ "-Sega Emulation Overview - another overview". Retrocopy.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  24. ^ Maxim, Charles MacDonald (November 12, 2005). "SN76489 sightings". SMS Power!.
  25. ^ a b "SG-1000 data". Sega.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  26. ^ "NES Specifications". Problemkaputt.de. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  27. ^ "RAM - Development - SMS Power!". Smspower.org. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  28. ^ a b Charles MacDonald. "Sega Master System VDP documentation". Cgfm2.emuviews.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  29. ^ a b "SEGA MASTER SYSTEM TECHNICAL INFORMATION". Smspower.org.
  30. ^ マスターシステム 各種データ. Sega.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  31. ^ "How Sonic Helped Sega to Win the Early 90s Console Wars". Kotaku UK. October 30, 2014. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2019. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; August 13, 2017 suggested (help)
  32. ^ "COMPANY NEWS; Nintendo Suit by Atari Is Dismissed". The New York Times. May 16, 1992. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  33. ^ "The 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming". Archived from the original on March 20, 2008. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  34. ^ Welsh, Oli (February 24, 2017). "A complete history of Nintendo console launches". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  35. ^ a b c d "Consolidated Sales Transition by Region" (PDF). Nintendo. January 27, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 24, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  36. ^ "NES". Classic Systems. Nintendo. Archived from the original on August 4, 2007. Retrieved December 4, 2007.
  37. ^ Nihon Kōgyō Shinbunsha (1986). "Amusement". Business Japan. 31 (7–12). Nihon Kogyo Shimbun: 89. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
  38. ^ Sheff, David (1993). Game Over (1st ed.). New York: Random House. p. 349. ISBN 0-679-40469-4. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
  39. ^ Azevedo, Théo (May 12, 2016). "Console em produção há mais tempo, Master System já vendeu 8 mi no Brasil" (in Portuguese). Universo Online. Retrieved May 13, 2016. Comercializado no Brasil desde setembro de 1989, o saudoso Master System já vendeu mais de 8 milhões de unidades no país, segundo a Tectoy.
  40. ^ "Sega Consoles: Active installed base estimates". Screen Digest. Screen Digest. March 1995. p. 60. (cf. here [1], here [2], and here [3])
  41. ^ Junior Sagster (June 2012). "Alex Kidd - O mascote "renegado" da Sega". Neo Tokyo (77). Editora Escala. ISSN 1809-1784.
  42. ^ ラインナップ ドラゴンボール ゲームポータルサイト バンダイナムコエンターテインメント公式サイト (in Japanese). Bandai Namco Entertainment.
  43. ^ Semrad, Steve (February 2, 2006). "The Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  44. ^ Pettus, Sam; Munoz, David; Williams, Kevin; Barroso, Ivan (December 20, 2013). Service Games: The Rise and Fall of SEGA: Enhanced Edition. Smashwords Edition. p. 26. ISBN 9781311080820.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  45. ^ "Getting That "Resort Feel"". Iwata Asks: Wii Sports Resort. Nintendo. p. 4. As it's sold bundled with the Wii console outside Japan, I'm not quite sure if calling it "World Number One" is exactly the right way to describe it, but in any case it's surpassed the record set by Super Mario Bros., which was unbroken for over twenty years.
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