FIRST GENERATION : 1972 - 1977 Key games : Pong , Wheels , Gun Fight , Gran Trak 10 , Tank , Sea Wolf The first console , the Magnavox Odyssey , was released , and a table tennis game on that console was the inspiration for Pong by Atari .
SECOND GENERATION : 1976 - 1984 Key games : Space Invaders , Pac-Man , Ms . Pac-Man , Donkey Kong , Q * bert , Galaga , Asteroids , Tetris Known for being one of the earliest shooters , Space Invaders is responsible for many important concepts in video games , including playing by lives instead of a timer or set score , gaining extra lives via points , tracking the high score , and background music during game play . Asteroids , released the following year , also popularized showing multiple high scores . Starting with Pac-Man , new games appeared with identifiable characters and the beginnings of platforming . This time period also featured the first true console war and the first handheld console .
THE 8-BIT ERA : 1983 - 1992 Key games : Super Mario Bros ., Legend of Zelda , Final Fantasy , Metal Gear , Dragon Quest , Mega Man The third generation of video games began with the Nintendo Entertainment System , which helped revitalize the U . S . gaming industry when it was brought over from Japan . The stealth genre was also born at this time , with the release of Metal Gear . The precursor to survival horror games debuted as well , in Capcom ’ s Sweet Home .
THE 16-BIT ERA : 1987 - 1996 Key games : Mortal Kombat , Sonic the Hedgehog , Doom , Shenmue , Street Fighter , NBA Jam , Myst The fourth generation marked the debut of Street Fighter , which revitalized arcade games to a level unseen since the Pac-Man days . The success of Street Fighter led to games such as The King of Fighters and Mortal Kombat . The release of Mortal Kombat sparked an intense national discussion about the violence of video games and how they affect children .
3D computer graphics started to make their debut , in games such as Virtua Fighter . This would inspire the launch of the PlayStation as a 3D-focused hardware . The major consoles of the time were the SNES and Sega ’ s Mega Drive .
32-BIT ERA / 64-BIT ERA : 1993 - 2002 Key games : Super Mario 64 , The Sims , PaRappa the Rapper , GoldenEye 007 , Resident Evil , Wolfenstein 3D , The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time , Final Fantasy VII With the fifth generation , 3D graphics and compact disks became the norm , though the Nintendo 64 continued to hold out for cartridges . The debut of Sony ’ s PlayStation and the Sega Saturn marked the first time Nintendo ’ s market share dropped significantly , something they did not recover from until the Wii . The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time came out for the Nintendo 64 and is one of the most critically acclaimed
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