History of video game consoles (fifth generation)

The **fifth generation** of video game consoles began in 1993 and ended in 2003. The fifth generation was also called the 32-bit, 64-bit or the 3D generation of video game consoles. Throughout the fifth generation, only three consoles were among the most popular video game consoles in this era. These consoles include, the Sega Saturn (1994), the Sony PlayStation (1994), and the Nintendo 64 (1996). In different parts of the world, console sales varied widely. However, the PlayStation was the best-selling system of the fifth generation. The 3DO, Atari Jaguar, Amiga CD32 and PC-FX and other consoles were also part of this generation. However, those systems were not very successful.

The handheld game consoles of the fifth generation were not that successful. The first handheld, Sega Nomad had a lifespan of two years. The Virtual Boy only had less than one year. Both of them were discontinued. Nintendo's Game Boy Color became the best-selling handheld video console of the fifth generation. There were two updated versions of the original Game Boy such as the Game Boy Light (Japan only) and the Game Boy Pocket.

The bit ratings of consoles in the 5th generation began to blur & were less of a selling feature than the previous "bit wars" of the 8 and 16 bit era. The number of "bits" in console names referred to the CPU word size. It had been used by hardware marketers as a "show of power" for many years. The fifth generation saw the increase of emulation. The development of the Internet made it possible to save and download tape and ROM images of older games. This led the seventh generation consoles to make many older games available for purchase or download.

### Comparison

|style="width: 10%"|Name|style="width: 15%;"|3DO Interactive Multiplayer|style="width: 15%;"|Atari Jaguar|style="width: 15%;"|Sega Saturn|style="width: 15%;"|PlayStation|style="width: 15%;"|Nintendo 64|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|The 3DO Company|Atari|Sega|Sony|Nintendo||||||||
|US$699.99|US$249.99|US$399.99|US$299.99|US$199||||||||
||||3 December 1994|||||||||
|CD-ROM|Cartridge|CD-ROM, cartridge (limited, Japan only)|CD-ROM|Cartridge, (proprietary magnetic disk via Japan-only add-on)||||||||
|||_Virtua Fighter 2_, 1.7 million in Japan|_Gran Turismo_, 10.85 million shipped <small>(as of April 30, 2008)</small>|_Super Mario 64_, 11.62 million <small>(as of May 21, 2003)</small>||||||||
|ARM60 32-bit RISC CPU at 12.5 MHz|"Tom" (26.6 MHz), "Jerry" (26.6 MHz) and a Motorola 68000 (13.3 MHz)|Two Hitachi SuperH-2 7604 32-bit RISC processors at 28.63 MHz|MIPS R3000A-compatible 32-bit RISC chip running at 33.8688 MHz|NEC VR4300 64-bit at 93.75 MHz||||||||
|Two accelerated video co-processors|5 processors contained in 3 chips: "Tom", "Jerry" and Motorola 68000|Two custom 32-bit video display processors at 28.63 MHz|66 MIPS vector math unit in the main CPU|Reality Co-Processor: MIPS R4000-based 8-bit integer vector processor at 62.5 MHz||||||||
|2MB RAM, 1MB VRAM|2 MB of fast page mode DRAM(4 chips x 512 KB)|1MB SDRAM, 1MB DRAM, 6x 512KB for 3D graphics, 3D frame buffers, 2D graphics, sound, CD subsystem, BIOS ROM|2MB, 1MB VRAM, 512KB sound|4MB (8MB with Expansion Pak)||||||||
|* MPEG cards * FZ-EM256 save memory backup unit * Gamegun * Mouse||* Arcade Stick * Saturn digital gamepad * 3D controller * Light guns * Multitap (up to 12 players) * Sega NetLink – modem and keyboard * Keyboard * Mouse * 1.44 MB 3.5" disk drive * DirectLink * Memory card * MPEG cards * RAM expansion cartridges|* Multitap (up to 8 players) * Fishing reel controllers (_Bass Landing_ and _Reel Fishing_) * Dual Analog Controller * DualShock * GunCon * Jogcon * Konami Justifier * NeGcon * PocketStation * PlayStation Mouse * Analog Joystick * Dance pad * LCD screen (for PSone systems only) * Memory card * Link Cable|* Controller Pak * Memory Expansion Pak * Rumble Pak * Memory card * Fishing Reel * Transfer Pak * Nintendo 64DD (Japan only) * Microphone * TiltPak||||||||
|2 million|500,000|9.4 million|102 million|32.93 million||||||||

### Other consoles

|style="width: 10%"|Name|style="width: 10%;"|FM Towns Marty|style="width: 10%;"|Pioneer LaserActive|style="width: 10%;"|Amiga CD32|style="width: 10%;"|Neo Geo CD|style="width: 10%;"|PC-FX|style="width: 10%;"|Apple Bandai Pippin|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Fujitsu|Pioneer|Commodore|SNK|NEC|Apple|||||||||
|US$450|¥89,800, US$970|US$500|US$300|US$250|US$599|||||||||
|CD-ROM, 3½-inch floppy disk|Laserdisc|CD-ROM|CD-ROM|CD-ROM|CD-ROM|||||||||

- Non-mass-market systems

### Worldwide sales

|Console|Units sold|
| --- | --- |
|PlayStation|102.49 million shipped <small>(as of March 31, 2007)</small>|
|Nintendo 64|32.93 million <small>(as of March 31, 2005)</small>|
|Sega Saturn|9.4 million <small>(as of May 4, 2007)</small>|
|3DO|2 million <small>(as of May 4, 2007)</small>|
|Atari Jaguar|500,000 <small>(as of May 15, 2007)</small>|
|Amiga CD32|100,000|
|PC-FX|<100,000|
|Apple Bandai Pippin|42,000 <small>(as of May 4, 2007)</small>|

### Milestone titles

- _Crash Bandicoot_
- _Dragon Warrior VII_
- _Final Fantasy VII_
- _Gran Turismo_
- _GoldenEye 007_
- _Star Fox 64_
- _The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time_
- _Metal Gear Solid_
- _The Need for Speed_
- _Nights into Dreams..._
- _PaRappa the Rapper_
- _Perfect Dark_
- Nintendo's Pokémon titles for the Game Boy
- _Super Mario 64_
- _Resident Evil_
- _Silent Hill_
- _Spyro the Dragon_
- _Tomb Raider_