If you are a fan of video games and generational theory I would like to your opinions on the eras over the years. For me I would define it like this:

1971-1977: Pong Era

1977-1982: Atari Era

1982-1985: Commodore Era

1985-1991: Nintendo Era

1991-1996: Super Nintendo Era

1996-2001: Playstation Era

2001-2006: Playstation 2 Era

2006-2013: Wii Era

2013-Present: Playstation 4 Era


Using generational theory (Baby Boomers, Gen X,Y,Z) you could divide it like this

(Note I go by whichever generation occupied the youth of a certain era, aka age 11-22)

1971-1982: Baby Boomer Era (Pong/Atari)

1982-1996: Gen X Era (Atari/Commodore/Pac Man/NES/Genesis/SNES/32X)

1996-2013: Gen Y Era (PS1/N64/Gameboy Color/PS2/Xbox/Wii/PS3)

2013-Present: Gen Z Era (PS4/WiiU/XboxOne/3DS)

If you are a fan of video games and generational theory I would like to your opinions on the eras over the years. For me I would define it like this:

1971-1977: Pong Era

1977-1982: Atari Era

1982-1985: Commodore Era

1985-1991: Nintendo Era

1991-1996: Super Nintendo Era

1996-2001: Playstation Era

2001-2006: Playstation 2 Era

2006-2013: Wii Era

2013-Present: Playstation 4 Era

VERY Interesting, so you chose the console that best defined those eras?

My thoughts on the gaming eras.
1970-1977: 1st gen(The Pong era)
Late 1977-1982: 2nd gen(Atari era)
1982-1985: transition from 2nd to 3rd(Commodore era)
1986-1991: 3rd gen(NES, Master System, Atari 7800)
Late 1991-1996: 4th gen( SNES, Genesis, Neo Geo,Game boy)
Late 1996-2001: 5th gen( PS1, N64, Saturn, Gameboy color)
Late 2001-2006: 6th gen(PS2, XBOX, Gamecube, Dreamcast, GB Advanced)
Late 2006-2013: 7th gen(Wii, PS3, XBOX 360, DS)
2013-present 8th gen(PS4, XBOX one, Wii U)

Time periods in general
Early age of video gaming, 1st and 2nd gen

Dark age of gaming, post 2nd gen pre 3rd gen

1st golden age of gaming, 3rd and 4th gen

Transitional period first half of 5th gen

2nd golden age of gaming, second half of 5th gen-first half of 7th gen

second half of 7th gen-present: modern period

Gaming generations IMO!!
1971-1982: Baby Boomer Era/Early Gen X Era (Pong/Atari)
1982-1996: Main Gen X Era/Early Gen Y Era (Atari/Commodore/Pac Man/NES/Genesis/SNES/32X)
1996-2013: Gen Y Era/Early Gen Z era (PS1/N64/Gameboy Color/PS2/Xbox/Wii/PS3)
2013-present: Late Gen Y Era/Main Gen Z era (PS4, XBOX One, Wii U, 3DS)

If you were a PC gamer, it looks a little more like this.  I wonder if any '00s kids were PC gamers at all.  It was HUGE in the '90s, peaked in 2004, and then slowly became irrelevant going into the late '00s.

1985-1992 - 1st Generation DOS era (pre-3D)
1992-1996 - 2nd Generation DOS era (3D) - Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem 3D
1996-1999 - Windows 95/98 era - Quake 2, Half-Life, Tomb Raider, Age of Empires, Baldur's Gate
1999-2002 - Y2K Era - Quake III Arena, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Unreal Tournament
2002-2006 - Windows XP Era (Peak of PC Gaming) - Half Life 2, Doom 3, Far Cry, Counter Strike Source, F.E.A.R., UT2004, Battlefield, Elder Scrolls Oblivion
2006-2009 - Decline Era (gaming industry shifts away from PC being a preferred platform) - Bioshock, Crysis, Unreal Tournament 3, Wolfenstein 2009
2009-Present - Steam Era - Rage, Battlefield 3, Skyrim, Amnesia the Dark Descent, Bioshock Infinite, Wolfenstein the New Order, Grand Theft Auto 5

Gaming generations IMO!!
1971-1982: Baby Boomer Era/Early Gen X Era (Pong/Atari)


1982-1996: Main Gen X Era/Early Gen Y Era (Atari/Commodore/Pac Man/NES/Genesis/SNES/32X)


1996-2013: Gen Y Era/Early Gen Z era (PS1/N64/Gameboy Color/PS2/Xbox/Wii/PS3)


2013-present: Late Gen Y Era/Main Gen Z era (PS4, XBOX One, Wii U, 3DS)


This is very accurate! If we are going by childhoods (age 3-10 or 12) then it would look like this:

1971-1985: Main Gen X Childhood Era; Pong,Colecovision,Atari,Commodore 64, Apple I & II, Pac Man

Late 1985-1991: Gen X/Y Cusp Childhood Era; NES Domination, Early Genesis, Early Gameboy, Super Mario Bros., Alex Kidd

Late 1991-2001: Main Gen Y Childhood Era; SNES, Genesis, Turbo Grafix 16, Microsoft DOS, Early Windows, Gameboy, 32X, PS1, N64, Gameboy Color, Dreamcast, Super Mario vs. Sonic the Hedgehog

Late 2001-2006: Gen Y/Z Cusp Childhood Era; PS2, Gamecube, Xbox, Gameboy Advance, Windows XP, early Nintendo DS, Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Kingdom Hearts

Late 2006-Present: Main Gen Z Childhood Era; Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, Steam, Apple App Store, Android Marketplace, Minecraft, Angry Birds

Pretty sure we already discussed the various video game eras in another thread, so I'll just refer to you it:

http://www.inthe00s.com/index.php?topic=51991.0

If you are a fan of video games and generational theory I would like to your opinions on the eras over the years. For me I would define it like this:

1971-1977: Pong Era

1977-1982: Atari Era

1982-1985: Commodore Era

1985-1991: Nintendo Era

1991-1996: Super Nintendo Era

1996-2001: Playstation Era

2001-2006: Playstation 2 Era

2006-2013: Wii Era

2013-Present: Playstation 4 Era


Using generational theory (Baby Boomers, Gen X,Y,Z) you could divide it like this

(Note I go by whichever generation occupied the youth of a certain era, aka age 11-22)

1971-1982: Baby Boomer Era (Pong/Atari)

1982-1996: Gen X Era (Atari/Commodore/Pac Man/NES/Genesis/SNES/32X)

1996-2013: Gen Y Era (PS1/N64/Gameboy Color/PS2/Xbox/Wii/PS3)

2013-Present: Gen Z Era (PS4/WiiU/XboxOne/3DS)


I'm more of a fan of the Atari and Nintendo eras.

Since I already briefly outlined the dates for video game eras based on personal appreciation in the thread I linked to, I'll have a little more fun with this list and create a mini-history:

1958-1971 - Prehistoric Age:
+ Video games are being invented, but aren't yet sold to the public.
+ Spacewar
+ Tennis for Two
+ Brown Box

1971-1977 - First Generation:
+ Video games are first commercially released.
+ Computer Space
+ Pong
+ Gunfight
+ Magnavox

1977-1979 - Transition from First to Second Generation:
+ Pong consoles begin to decline in popularity.
+ Atari 2600 is first released, though it isn't an immediate success.
+ Magnavox Odyssey2
+ Release of Space Invaders is a breakthrough moment for the gaming industry.

1980-1982:  Second Genearation:
+ Pac-Man becomes gaming's first significant mascot.
+ Peak of the Atari 2600's popularity
+ Donkey Kong
+ Pitfall
+ 2600 port of Space Invaders
+ Intellivision
+ ColecoVision
+ Video games are treated as a fad rather than an established media industry.

1983-1986 - Transition from Second to Third Generation:
+ Video Game Crash of 1983 causes console gaming to grow unpopular in the United States.
+ Famicom is popular in Japan but not yet introduced to North America as the NES (there was a New York test launch in 1985, but the system was not successful at the time).
+ Arcade games remain popular; graphics for arcade games begin to resemble Sega Genesis more than NES around 1985.
+ Expansion period for computer games

1986-1989 - Third Generation:
+ The Nintendo Entertainment System gets a full release in North America, saving the region from the Video Game Crash of 1983, in large part thanks to the revolutionary Super Mario Bros.
+ Sega Master System and Atari 7800 also come out, but are completely overshadowed by the NES.

1989-1991 - Transition from Third to Fourth Generation:
+ NES peaks in popularity, but Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 are also released during this time, initiating the bit wars of the early-mid 90s.
+ Portable gaming first becomes significantly popular thanks to the Nintendo Game Boy.

1991-1994:  Fourth Generation:
+ Sega Genesis becomes the dominant console in North America following the debut of Sonic the Hedgehog.
+ Super Nintendo is released just a couple of months later in the United States (having already hit shelves in Japan back in November 1990), thus bringing the Nintendo vs. Sega rivalry into full swing.
+ First attempts at CD-based gaming consoles (Philips CD-i and Sega CD)
+ Very primitive examples of 3D graphics in gaming (Alone in the Dark, Wolfenstein 3D, Star Fox, etc.)

1994-1996:  Transition from Fourth to Fifth Generation:
+ An extremely volatile period for gaming companies in general, due to this being the time when 3D graphics were on the verge of standardization.
+ Sega begins to decline in quality due to the failures of the 32X and Saturn, plus the lack of any significant Sonic titles for years following Sonic 3.
+ Nintendo emerges as the victor of the 16-bit console wars, riding off the SNES's revitalization thanks to the Donkey Kong Country trilogy.
+ This was a period with an unusually high concentration failed next-generation consoles hitting the market, often overpriced and under-supported, including the Atari Jaguar, Panasonic 3DO, Tiger Electronics R-Zone, Nintendo Virtual Boy, Apple Bandai Pippin, and aforementioned Sega 32X and Saturn.
+ Sony PlayStation is first released, but isn't yet more popular than the Super Nintendo.

1996-1998:  Fifth Generation:
+ 3D gaming is fully established with the groundbreaking Super Mario 64
+ PlayStation becomes the runaway champion of the time, thanks to the massive third-party support it had built since the decline of Sega, as well as the release of landmark titles such as Crash Bandicoot and Tomb Raider.
+ 4-player party games become significant thanks to the release of Nintendo 64 classics like Mario Kart 64, GoldenEye 007, and Diddy Kong Racing.
+ PC gaming starts to enter its golden period following the success of Windows 95

1999-2001:  Transition from Fifth to Sixth Generation:
+ Sega gets the technological edge in the console wars with the 1999 launch of the Dreamcast, whose success is short-lived due to the anticipation for the upcoming PlayStation 2
+ 3D games start to become more dynamic, following the huge influence of Ocarina of Time and Metal Gear Solid from late 1998.
+ Resurgence of the Game Boy thanks to Pokémania
+ PS2 is released in October of 2000, but does not yet have a huge lineup of games.
+ Sega withdraws from the console wars for good in early 2001 and becomes a third-party developer
+ Simulation games become gigantic, thanks to the success of Sim City 3000, Roller Coaster Tycoon, and The Sims.

Sixth Generation (2001-2004):
+ Microsoft replaces Sega as the edgy, American-targeted game console producer of the time, riding off the success of Halo: Combat Evolved.
+ Sony continues to completely outmuscle the competition.
+ Transition to online era of PC gaming

Transition from Sixth Generation to Seventh (2004-2006):
+ XBOX 360 and Nintendo DS are the first leap into the coming generation, though PS2 still reigns supreme.
+ PC Gaming has one of its best years in 2004 with the groundbreaking Half-Life 2, The Sims 2, and World of Warcraft.
+ Online service becomes fully established on home consoles (beginning with XBOX), in addition to PC.
+ Sony finally introduces a worthy competitor to Nintendo in the handheld market with the PlayStation Portable.

Seventh Generation (2007-2012):
+ The only truly competitive console war besides the Nintendo vs. Sega rivalry in the early 90s, with Nintendo enjoying an early lead with the Wii but quickly running out of stamina as Microsoft and Sony battling neck-and-neck as the generation continues.
+ PC gaming starts to decline in popularity.
+ Gameplay innovation is less than a priority in gaming than ever before, with most of the biggest titles running off of their engrossing atmospheres and complex storylines.
+ FPS's first become completely dominant.
+ Towards the end, Android and iPhone games dominate the handheld market

Transition from Seventh to Eighth Generation (2012-2013):
+ Sales for the Nintendo 3DS improve as the device garners more solid titles.
+ Wii U has a very slow start, failing to garner the third-party support necessary to compete against Sony and Microsoft.
+ The seventh generation of gaming ends with quite a bang thanks to the dizzying success of Grand Theft Auto V, released during the lead-up to the XBOX One and PlayStation 4.

Eighth Generation (2014-present):
+ Graphics can now legitimately be confused for real life in console games.
+ Sony reemerges as the runaway champion, with both Nintendo and Microsoft struggling to keep up the pace.

There really was no Commodore era as it was more a home computer than it was a video game system.  Typically anyone who had a Commodore also had an Atari VCS. 

Commodore Computers sold for $500 and up, whereas the Atari VCS, which originally sold for about $200 in the 70s, was down to about $120 when it was re-branded the Atari 2600 in 1982.

1986-1991: 3rd gen(NES, Master System, Atari 7800)
Late 1991-1996: 4th gen( SNES, Genesis, Neo Geo,Game boy)
Late 1996-2001: 5th gen( PS1, N64, Saturn, Gameboy color)
Late 2001-2006: 6th gen(PS2, XBOX, Gamecube, Dreamcast, GB Advanced)
Late 2006-2013: 7th gen(Wii, PS3, XBOX 360, DS)
2013-present 8th gen(PS4, XBOX one, Wii U)

Time periods in general
Early age of video gaming, 1st and 2nd gen

Dark age of gaming, post 2nd gen pre 3rd gen

1st golden age of gaming, 3rd and 4th gen

Transitional period first half of 5th gen

2nd golden age of gaming, second half of 5th gen-first half of 7th gen

second half of 7th gen-present: modern period

If you were a PC gamer, it looks a little more like this.  I wonder if any '00s kids were PC gamers at all.  It was HUGE in the '90s, peaked in 2004, and then slowly became irrelevant going into the late '00s.


Well I'll say this, back around 2002-2004 I was a huge PC gamer when it came to the "Planet Hot Wheels" stuff back then (underrated and forgotten as hell; but it was so epic on unbelievable levels). "Planet Hot Wheels" had different CD-ROM games and the online playing site itself, another than that throughout most of my childhood and youth the rest of my gaming was on the consoles or handhelds that was owned by Nintendo or Microsoft.

I use to be into gaming in my teens and 20s. These days I mostly like the older games for nostalgic reasons but I don't have time for it anymore. I think I've played all of the ones listed when I was younger.

Which era would you put The Gameboy? ???

Which era would you put The Gameboy? ???

4th generation along with SNES and Genesis.

Which era would you put The Gameboy? ???


That is definitely 1990s era.

That is definitely 1990s era.

yup with the SNES and Genesis era.

yup with the SNES and Genesis era.


Those were soo fun! I would spend hours gaming during that era. Every time I'd mess up the game, or lose it was so funny. I would laugh and laugh, in ways I didn't even know I could laugh! ;D

Aw now I'm all game nostalgic. :) 8)

4th generation along with SNES and Genesis.


Between 1990-1995? cause Gameboy came out in 1989 but it didn't get as popular up until the early 1990's.

Well, the Game Boy went through a resurgence in 1998 when Pokémon Red & Blue came out, and by then we were well into the N64/PS1 era of gaming.  Shortly afterwards, however, the Game Boy Color was released, fully emulating the NES' capabilities with color graphics and being an iconic device of the millennial era in general.  In fact, I distinctly remember Pokémon Red & Blue being packaged with the Game Boy Color in the midst of Pokémania; I got my copy of Pokémon Red with the Game Boy Color package at Costco in 1999.

1985-1991: Nintendo Era

I remember back in the mid-late 80's kids were playing Nintendo games and those games were a hot commodity.

I remember back in the mid-late 80's kids were playing Nintendo games and those games were a hot commodity.


I never got to gaming during that time.

I never got to gaming during that time.


You never had a Nintendo? ???

You never had a Nintendo? ???


My brother did, but I wasn't into gaming at that age.

1977-1982: Atari Era

I remember the Atari Era and having an Atari console, playing it almost the time and the games I bought were cheap too.

Well, thanks to infinity. I'll make another list
Transitional periods
1989-1991: Transition from 3rd to 4th a mix of NES, SNES, and Genesis

1995-1997: Transition from 4th to 5th, a mix of SNES/Gensis, and PS1, N64, Saturn

1999-2001: Transition from 5th to 6th, a mix of N64/PS1, PS2, Gameboy color, Gameboy advanced and Dreamcast

2005-2007: Transition from 6th to 7th, a mix of PS2, Wii, and XBOX 360

2012-2014: Transition from 7th to 8th, a mix of PS3/ XBOX 360/Wii, and Wii U

Well, thanks to infinity. I'll make another list
Transitional periods

1999-2001: Transition from 5th to 6th, a mix of N64/PS1, PS2, Gameboy color, Gameboy advanced and Dreamcast

2005-2007: Transition from 6th to 7th, a mix of PS2, Wii, and XBOX 360



I think these two eras were the best. I remember when we got our Playstation 2, it was late in 2004. The first game we played on it was Lara Croft: Angel of Darkness.

Well, thanks to infinity. I'll make another list
Transitional periods
1989-1991: Transition from 3rd to 4th a mix of NES, SNES, and Genesis

1995-1997: Transition from 4th to 5th, a mix of SNES/Gensis, and PS1, N64, Saturn

1999-2001: Transition from 5th to 6th, a mix of N64/PS1, PS2, Gameboy color, Gameboy advanced and Dreamcast

2005-2007: Transition from 6th to 7th, a mix of PS2, Wii, and XBOX 360

2012-2014: Transition from 7th to 8th, a mix of PS3/ XBOX 360/Wii, and Wii U


I remember The PS2 console, I liked it cause it was compact but at times I kept tripping over it cause of it being small.