History of computer games: 1990's

The 1990s were a decade of marked innovation in video gaming. It was a decade of transition from raster graphics to 3D graphics and gave rise to several genres of video games including real-time strategy, and MMO. Handheld gaming began to become more popular throughout the decade, thanks in part to the release of the Game Boy in 1989. Arcade games, although still relatively popular in the early 1990s, begin a decline as home consoles become more common.

One of the main focuses of the generation was the ongoing war between Sega and Nintendo. The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, SNES, was in direct competition with the Sega Mega Drive. “Genesis does what Nintendon’t”, a bold statement by Sega but with the release of the immensely popular Sonic in 1991 not only did this game earn Sega a lot of money but it was the birth of their mascot to counter Mario.



In 1992 the game Dune 2 was released. It set the standard game mechanics for later RTS games such as Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, Command & Conquer and Starcraft. All that went on to make sequels that would be extremely popular. Alone in the Dark, also released in 1992, while not the first survival horror game, planted the seeds of what would become know as the survival horror gnre today. It took the action adventure style and retooled it to de-emphasize combat and focus on investigation. A style used by silent hill to great effect.

In 1994, only a few years after the third generation, the fourth generation came into popularity. Technoolgy, however, was advancing with such vigour that the fifth generation was beginning. The Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation were released in Japan. More advanced than anything on the market, both platforms used CD’s over the outdated cartridges of the NES. Nintendo caught up in 1996 releasing the Nintendo 64 however their mistake to carry on using the cartridge system resulted in their fall from the top as the Playstation and Saturn had two years worth of games more than the 64.



Id Software’s 1996 gane Quake pioneered play over the internet for first person shooters. Aswell as being an awesome game, Quake was the stable foundation of many modern shooters including Team Fortress 2, a class based shooter orginaly a Quake mod. Quake was so popular that internet play is now considered a must have in most modern FPS. Real Time Strategy games starting using online play like Age of Empire and Warcraft. Games that would become extremely popular.