What are the significant milestones in the history of electronic game development and why did

individual game companies and titles succeed during game development history - and why did

some fail miserably?

Ans – The First Generation (1972 - 1977)

The creation of the first generation game consoles began in the late 1960s, when television
engineer Ralph Baer came up with the concept of interactive television, code-named "The Brown
Box." "The Brown Box" evolved from a two-player game in which dots followed each other across
the screen to include a third machine-controlled dot, two controllers, a light gun, and sixteen
console switches for selecting a game to play. With these updates, “The Brown Box” was released in
1972 as the Magnavox Odyssey with first generation consoles that didn't have a CPU, instead relying
on discrete transistor-based circuitry and 1-bit (2 colour) graphics with very limited and basic players
and objects.

Second Generation (1976 – 1984)

Second generation video consoles carried some distinct features separating its consoles
from last generation. CPUs were developed, graphics increased to 3 bit (8 colours), audio had up to 3
channels. These consoles were first introduced in 1976 with Fairchild Channel, worlds first CPU-
based console. Following year, Atari released their own CPU based console, named as Atari 2600. It
dominated the market for most of the second generation. Mattel's Intellivision was another
successful second-generation system, released in 1980. Intellivision used a special CPU that had a
wider range of instructions and registers, allowing for greater variety and speed.

More powerful consoles were released and succeeded in the market, in 1982. Like
ColecoVision and Atari 5200.

Third generation (1983 – 1990)

In 1983, the third generation of video game consoles, also known as the 8-bit era, debuted.
The difference between this generation and second generation is that third generation consoles had
directional pads. The hardware on these consoles allowed for multi-directional scrolling and a
resolution of up to 256 x 240 pixels. Graphics were between 3-bit and 5-bit, allowing for 8 to 32
colours to be displayed. Additionally, these consoles had up to five audio channels. During the third
generation, three consoles dominated the market: the Sega Master System, which succeeded the
Sega SG-1000; the Atari 7800; and the NES/Famicom, which was the best-selling console of the time.
This generation also saw the introduction of the first educational console market for children, as well
as the first console role-playing games, or RPGs. Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, and Super Mario
Bros. were among the most well-known games created during the third generation.

Fourth Generation (1988 – 1999)

Performance, design, and game development all improved significantly with the fourth
generation of gaming consoles. The Sega Genesis, a 16-bit console that debuted popular games like
Sonic the Hedgehog and Mortal Kombat, kicked things off in 1988. The following year, Nintendo
debuted Game Boy, an 8 bit handheld gaming that would dominated the console market. In 1990,
Sega responded with its own 8 bit handheld, the Game Gear. Though the Gaming Gear had some
new features it couldn’t matched The Game Boys monstrous sales figures of 118 million. Following
the Game Boy's success, Nintendo entered the 16-bit market with the Super Famicom, also known
as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the United States. Its release in 1990 had a huge
impact on the Japanese video game market, which Nintendo expanded to North America the
following year. If the Master System started the rivalry between Sega and Nintendo, the SNES was
the catalyst that brought it to a head. In terms of marketing, the two studios took opposing
approaches, with Nintendo opting for a more family-friendly approach to balance out Sega's edgy,
youth-focused campaign. Both the consoles were competitive in US but the SNES outsold the
Genesis worldwide, reaffirming Nintendo’s dominance. 32-bit platforms such as the Sony Playstation
and Sega Saturn began to appear as the 1990s proceeded. Unwilling to accept obsolescence, the
Super Nintendo began releasing 3D games that used the Super FX coprocessor embedded into the
cartridges. This led to the development of Star Fox, the first 3D console game, and Donkey Kong
Country, the SNES' third most popular game.

Fifth Generation (1993 – 2001)

This era is also referred to as the 32-bit era, the 64-bit era, and the 3D era. Three main
consoles dominated this generation: the Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, and Nintendo 64. The Sega
Nomad and the Nintendo Virtual Boy were both popular handheld video game consoles, however
Nintendo's Game Boy continued to dominate the market in this generation. 3D games are the most
well-known feature of the fifth generation. Some games from previous generations had 3D
backgrounds. The 3D era was officially launched with the release of Super Mario 64 for Nintendo,
Crash Bandicoot for Sony, and Tomb Raider for Sega. This transition also shifted the preference away
from cartridges to CDs, as games could be made for less money and storage space was greater.
Despite this, the Nintendo 64 continued to use cartridges for reasons such as faster loading times
and pirate protection. Atari attempted to release its own fifth-generation system during this
generation. Atari, on the other hand, never regained its market share in the fourth generation due to
its market troubles. Sega's share of the market was similarly on uncertain ground in the latter half of
the generation. The Saturn had limited marketing, and it was more difficult to programme than
other consoles at the time. In this era, the Sony PlayStation dominated console sales, with the
Nintendo 64 coming in second.

Sixth Generation (1998 – 2009)

One contender dropped out of the Sixth Generation of consoles, while a new contender
made its debut and a shift toward online gaming was made. Sega needed to make a point after the
Saturn's poor success, so it launched the sixth generation in 1998 with the 128-bit Dreamcast
system. The new system came with a built-in modem for online play, detachable memory units with
visual displays for playing simple games on the road, and, most importantly, a Sonic the Hedgehog
game. Despite critical acclaim for games such as Metropolis Street Racer, Soulcalibur, Jet Set Radio,
and Shenmue, and widespread agreement that the Dreamcast was a significant advance over its
predecessor, the system failed to sell well. Sega's reputation had been tainted by the Mega CD, 32X,
and Saturn's failures, and the Dreamcast never had a chance, thanks in part to the feverish levels of
expectation for Sony's PlayStation 2. Sega dropped the Dreamcast in 2001 and shifted its focus to
multiplatform games.

Xbox, Microsoft's first system, was released in 2001. It was a massive beast that positioned itself as
the most powerful sixth-generation machine, complete with a built-in hard drive, an operating
system optimised for online gaming, and extremely big controllers. Perhaps most crucially, it
debuted with a true 'killer app' in the form of Halo, a game that cemented the console's reputation
among aficionados of first-person shooters. In 2004, Halo 2 was released with online play, and it did
for Microsoft's Xbox Live subscription service what its predecessor had done for the platform.
Seventh Generation ( 2005 – present)

Wireless controllers, digital game downloads, motion control, and (unless you owned a Wii)
high-definition graphics were all part of the seventh generation of consoles. Sony and Microsoft
went head-to-head with powerful machines (yes, they can run Crysis...just) that blurred the borders
between console and PC, while Nintendo dropped out of the technological arms race and provided a
low-spec machine centred on an innovative motion-control interface.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 console was released in 2005, a year before Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii, and
it was a big success. With graphics so fine you could look in the side mirrors, launch titles like Call of
Duty 2 and Project Gotham Racing 3 marketed the benefits of high-definition gaming to anyone with
a suitable TV screen. With such a noticeable increase in power over the previous generation, the
Xbox 360 won many converts. All that power, however, came at a cost; early Xbox 360 units were
beset by manufacturing issues, including one so notorious that it was given its own nickname:
'RROD' (Red Ring Of Death).

The PS3 was supposed to be the successor to the two most popular video game consoles of all time,
but it had a difficult start and spent much of the generation catching up. PS3 was more expensive
than Xbox or Wii since it included a Blu-Ray player and a cell microprocessor, meanwhile, Nintendo
tried something new after repeated generations of declining sales. Wii may have lacked the HD shine
and horsepower of its competitors, but the intuitiveness of its control method more than made up
for it. Though Wii's controller and lack of power left it unsuited to multi-platform development
however, so many of the generation's biggest games were not ported to the system.

Eight Generation (2012 – Present)

Microsoft attempted to recast Xbox as an all-in-one home entertainment system in the

eighth generation, while Sony concentrated on core gamers. Nintendo continued to set itself apart
from its competitors by refining the Wii's unique inputs. Wii U was released in 2012 and was
backwards compatible with all original Wii titles and numerous accessories, as well as capable of
high-definition graphics and performance comparable to Sony and Microsoft's seventh-generation
consoles. Nintendo experimented with a new control device, the GamePad, which was a hybrid
touchscreen and games controller that allowed limited 'Off-TV' play. The Wii U, on the other hand,
lacked a Wii Sports counterpart - anything to clearly explain the GamePad's potential - and thus
failed to catch the public's imagination in the same way that the Wii Remote did.

Sony didn't squander the chance. PS4 lost the complicated design of its predecessor, which enticed
developers. Sony's clearer messaging on secondhand games was well received by both retailers and
gamers. The system's specifications compared to the Xbox One thrilled techies, while its lower price
point wowed the general population. The seventh generation seems to have only one option.

The performance disparity between the machines was not as evident in the wild, manifesting itself in
slight variances in frame rates and resolution - nothing revolutionary - and both machines sold well
at first. The PlayStation 4 went on to become Sony's most successful system since the PlayStation 2,
while the Xbox One is thought to have sold more than the original Xbox but fewer than the Xbox
360.

The PS4 and Xbox One games were frequently shockingly identical. For all but the most eagle-eyed
viewers, the days of being able to determine what system a game was running on simply by looking
at it were ended. Premium game creation expenses have risen due to another generational leap in
graphical fidelity, hence it became normal for producers to distribute games on both machines.
Because so few titles were format-specific, the software libraries were nearly equivalent. Non-
gaming applications were mostly interchangeable, and controllers had been refined to homogenous
perfection.

Ninth Generation (November 2020– Present)

The 9th generation video game console started in November 2020, with Microsoft's Xbox Series X
and Series S consoles, PlayStation 5 and graphics processors, real-time raytraced graphics support,
4K resolution output, and possibly 8K resolution. Rendering speed is over 60 frames / sec (fps).
Internally, both console families have a new internal solid-state drive (SSD) system that is used as a
high-throughput storage and storage system for games to reduce or eliminate load times and
support in-game streaming. Introduced. Xbox Series S and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition do not have
an optical drive while maintaining support for online delivery and storage of games on external USB
devices. By positioning these consoles as high-performance computers, we can see that competitors
such as Nintendo Switch and cloud gaming services such as Stadia and Amazon Luna overlap with
the previous 8th generation video game consoles.