Everything You Need to Know About Fifth Generation Video Game Consoles

The fifth generation of video game consoles was from 1993 -2006. For most reflecting on this time, the only gaming consoles that come to mind are the Sony Playstation and the Nintendo 64. Although, there were far more options than that! There were actually a huge selection of systems available.

Personally during this era I still owned fourth generation gaming systems (Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis). My parents could not afford to get me any of the consoles from the fifth generation, so I have always had a fascination with them. I went to friend's and cousin's houses and got to experience true 3D. Unfortunately this was through hours of "waiting my turn" on such famous games like Mario 64, 007: Golden Eye, Smash Brothers, Mario Kart, Twisted Metal, and even the infamous Playstation demo disks. I was lucky enough to have those experiences though. When I started working in high school I could finally buy my own systems and that was right when sixth generation gaming was coming out.

I have organized the information from an overview of the fifth generation, the two most recognizable systems and then the others. Some of the systems of this era were very limited release (example: the Marty), so there are not individual spots for them in this article. Although, they are mentioned and talked about in various videos. I have found the best selling and most top rated games for each system. I did this to give readers more things to research (and examples of games to start playing if you are planning to track down one of these systems). The top tens are not organized in any order or greatness, just top ten overall.

I found this great mini series by Adam Koralik about the fifth generation video gaming systems. He pretty much covers everything you need to know with a break down of every system. I feel like after watching these videos you get college lecture level experience in this subject. If you have the time to explore this era of video game history, your education begins now! (Estimated time to watch all the videos is 163 minutes (almost 3 hours!))

Here are the two consoles you may remember well from this era. You may remember seeing ads for these two, and most likely saw them in the store.

1. Gran Turismo
2. Final Fantasy VII
3. Gran Turismo 2
4. Resident Evil
5. Tekken 3
6. Final Fantasy VIII
7. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
8. Tomb Raider II
9. Crash Bandicoot: Warped
10. Metal Gear Solid

1. Super Mario 64
2. Mario Kart 64
3. GoldenEye 007
4. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
5. Super Smash Brothers
6. Diddy Kong Racing
7. Pokémon Stadium
8. Donkey Kong 64
9. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
10. Star Fox 64

You may not know some, or even all, of these even existed! Some of these consoles didn't get released in certain countries, and some were very poorly presented in advertising. It sure did seem like everyone was trying to pump out some kind of system during this era!

1. Zool
2. Simon The Sorcerer
3. D/Generation
4. Alien Breed: Tower Assault
5. Beneath A Steel Sky
6. Guardian
7. Banshee
8. Flink
9. Worms
10. Diggers

1. Missile Command 3D
2. Black Ice/White Noise (CD)
3. Rayman
4. Highlander (CD)
5. Alien Vs Predator
6. Iron Soldier 1/II
7. Gorf Classic
8. Tempest 2000
9. Protector SE
10. Battlesphere

1. Star Control II
2. Street Fighter II
3. Space Hulk
4. Return Fire
5. Road Rash
6. Alone in the Dark
7. Need for Speed
8. Samurai Showdown
9. Lemmings
10. Wing Commander III

1. Panzer Dragoon Saga
2. Virtua Fighter 2
3. Guardian Heroes
4. NiGHTS into Dreams
5. Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
6. SEGA Rally Championship
7. Virtua Cop
8. Saturn Bomberman
9. Astal
10. Dragon Force

Wikipedia Article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles_%28fifth_generation%29

Ebay Article

http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/Your-Guide-to-Fifth-Generation-Consoles-for-Retro-Gaming-/10000000177589876/g.html

TV Tropes Article

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/TheFifthGenerationOfConsoleVideoGames

8bitx.com Article about the transition to CDs from Cartridges

http://www.8bitx.com/shownotes/100709/info.html

Video Gaming: An Overview (By various Wikipedian Authors)

This is a beautiful book, with tons of information! Check out page 36-41 for fifth generation history.

Read online:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book:Video_game

Buy the Book

http://pediapress.com/books/show/video-gaming-an-overview-by-wikipedians/