Diagnóstico y estatus del recurso

In 1989, readers of video game magazines began seeing a new term appear: 16-bit games. In computer jargon, a bit, which is the contraction of the words ‘‘binary digit,’’ is a fundamental unit of information having just two possible values, 0 or 1 (or two states: on and off ). All of the video game systems, from the mid-1970s through the late 1980s, were 8-bit systems. This meant that the system processed, and sent data to the screen in units of bytes that consisted of 8 bits each. Since each bit could be either turned on or off, each byte represented a total of 256 different combinations. These buzzwords were suddenly important because in 1989 the news came out that 16-bit systems were going to be released. A 16-bit system processed and delivered information in 16-bit words that allowed for over 65,000 different combinations, thus allowing more information to be processed by the system in the same amount of time, resulting in faster speeds.

The first console to be advertised as a 16-bit system was the PC-Engine, released in Japan by computer company NEC. Technically, this was only slightly true. The PC- Engine did indeed have a 16-bit processor—a graphics processor that could display up to 256 colors on the screen at once at a number of resolutions. However, its CPU was 8-bit as were all of the systems that preceded it. When NEC released the PC-Engine in

the United States, it chose a name that more honestly reflected its processing power: The TurboGrafx-16.

Games for the TurboGrafx-16 came on small plastic cards very similar to the ones that were used in the Sega Master System. The cards themselves were packaged in plastic jewel- cases similar to the type that housed audio CDs. Although NEC did not make history by releasing the first true 16-bit console, it claimed its place in history for another reason.

In 1989 NEC released a CD player for the console that gave it the ability to read data from compact discs. While the CD player could be used to play standard audio discs, it had been designed especially for video game use. CDs were a great breakthrough in video game technology. Prior to their introduction, the maximum amount of code that a game could utilize was 256 kilobytes. A compact disc was able to contain 550 megabytes of code; or 2,000 times that of the most powerful cartridge. Since the CD could be accessed randomly and quickly, the console was able to load new information without the gamer being aware that such input was taking place. Because the disc could hold so much infor- mation, CD-based games offered the ultimate in complexity, detail, and sound.

Despite its claim to history, the Turbografx-16 was not the runaway best-seller that NEC had hoped for, even with the addition of the optional CD player. That claim went to Sega.

Shortly after the release of the PC-Engine in Japan, Sega announced its intentions to release a true 16-bit console. That promise became a reality in the United States when Sega shipped the first Genesis units in late August 1989 to stores in the New York and Los Angeles areas. Nearly everyone who bought one was pleased with the console’s high resolution and crisp stereo sound. The unit was quickly compared to the Turbografx-16 and while many felt that NEC’s console offered better graphics, most gamers were impressed by the Genesis’s speed.

Sega also offered exciting peripherals for the Genesis. One was the Telegenesis modem, which allowed gamers to compete against one another online via the telephone. For Sega Master System owners, Sega released a power base converter that plugged into the Genesis and played Master System games. Finally, Sega released a CD player for the Genesis, which it simply called the Sega CD. Sony manufactured the CD-ROM player that sat beneath the Genesis and the two units worked in tandem to produce outstanding games. The Sega CD contained its own processor that ran at 12.5 MHz—much faster than the 7.5 MHz speed at which the Genesis’s processor ran. Together, the two CPUs eliminated any game pauses while the system loaded new information from the CD.

In addition to the 68000 CPU, the Sega CD also had two custom graphics chips. These chips allowed the CD player to add more colors and sprites to the TV screen than the Sega Mega-Drive (released in North America as the Sega Genesis) could do by itself. The two chips also added scaling and rotation to Sega games. Along with the custom Sega CD games, the unit also could play standard music CDs and the new CD+G discs (CD plus graphics). In Japan this was a big deal because it meant that gamers could play karaoke discs.

Nintendo was expected to respond and release its own 16-bit console following the release of the Genesis, and eventually the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) was released in 1991, nearly two years after the first appearance of the Genesis. But before that occurred, a new type of gaming console was released.

SNK was a manufacturer of arcade games. Its Neo•Geo looked like any other arcade upright except that players had a choice of five different games to play. As in previous

home video game systems, each game was stored on a cartridge. In the case of the Neo•Geo, each cartridge was the size of a VHS videotape and could store 330 megabits of data. When a game began to lose its appeal, the arcade operator simply had to change the cartridge instead of the entire machine. Players also could purchase 4K memory cards from the arcade operators which could be inserted into the machine to save games.

Following a successful introduction of the unit in Japan in 1989, SNK released a home version of the Neo•Geo in the United States a year later. The home version utilized the same cartridges as the arcade machines so gamers could play exactly the same games in the arcades or at home. It also accepted the memory card which allowed gamers to save their games in the arcades and then play them at home.

Although SNK flaunted the Neo•Geo as a 21-bit machine, it actually used the same 16-bit processor as the Genesis. It also had an additional 8-bit processor that was the same as the one in the Sega Master System. The dual processors allowed the Neo•Geo to display 4,096 different colors on the screen at one time (as opposed to the TurboGrafx-16 which could only display 512 simultaneous colors). The Neo•Geo also produced sounds from 15 different channels (the Genesis used only 10 separate channels).

Unfortunately, all of the features that the Neo•Geo offered came at a separate price. SNK sold the Neo•Geo in two different packages. The basic Green System retailed for $399 and included a console and one controller. For an additional $200, a consumer could purchase the Gold Set, which came with an additional controller and one game cartridge. The cartridges themselves carried a suggested list price of $199. While the system attracted hardcore gamers who liked the type of games that SNK was known for, it was in no way any competition for the Genesis.

That competition would be provided by Nintendo. With the eight-year-old NES beginning to show its age, Nintendo knew that it had to have a more advanced system on the market. Nintendo planned a September 1, 1991, release for the $200 Super NES which would boast a 16-bit processor. Many NES owners quickly wondered how much support their 8-bit machine would continue to receive. Nintendo announced at the Summer CES that the SNES would be backward compatible with the NES via a plug-in. With the release of the SNES, Nintendo again had a serious contender in the home console race. However, despite the popularity of the SNES and Nintendo’s reputation, during the 1991 Christmas season, the company lost its position as the top-selling video game company to Sega, which had taken control of 55 percent of the 16-bit market. In many cases, the Genesis had outsold the SNES by as much as two to one.2Many of the sales were in part due to a new game that Sega released called Sonic the Hedgehog, a Super Mario-type game that played at lightning speeds.

Despite Sega’s slight dominance, their success would be short lived. Even as they fought it out with Nintendo over the 16-bit machines, the console designers were already looking into the following generation of machines. And along with the 32-bit machines would come new competition.

CHAPTER

21

CD-ROM GAMES