Which gen had the most impressive jump in graphics for you?

[CharlesAznable]

Imo from most impressive to least:

Gen 4 > 5
Gen 5 > 6
Gen 6 > 7
Gen 7 > 8
Gen 3 > 4

When I was younger/getting into games. It was right around when the 3d revolution happened and everything was starting to go 3D. From Tv shows like reboot and Beats Wars, to animated films like Toy Story. I thought 3D graphics was the most amazing thing ever. So 3D games naturally looked so fucking cool to me, which is why the jump from gen 4 to 5 was so impressive to me even though the 3D back then was pretty shit. I'd say with each new gen, the jump in graphics is slightly less impressive than the previous one. With the exception being the gen 3 to 4 jump, since that was a bit before my time and I didn't really find the jump from 8 to 16 bit graphics all that impressive back then.

 

[Exellus]

Mario 64 was a moment

 

[Datajoy]

I would say shitty 3D to good 3D.

The jump to 3D in the N64 generation was technically amazing, but objectively speaking the graphics look worse than they did in the SNES generation. You can't deny Super Mario World is a better looking game than Mario 64.

 

[aerozombie]

That HD jump was just mind boggling going into the PS3/360 era. The difference was night and day over its prior generation

 

[Thrill_house]

Mario 64 was a moment

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Yeah. Jeeze that was a huge one at that. People were legit amazed by that game and rightly so. Throw that in with OOT, goldeneye and all the stuff SE was doing with playstation and 4 to 5 wins easy for me.

 

[EdLin]

Actually, for me it was when home consoles looked as good or better than arcade games. That would be the NES era, before then, stuff like the Atari VCS were quite a bit worse than coin-op machines. That choice isn't listed though, so I picked the PSX->PS2 generation. I wasn't impressed by the graphics and cut-scenes in something like FF7, it didn't look real. Stuff like FFX or FF12 looked great, and really don't look too bad today at all.

 

[nightstalker962]

For me it was Gen 6 to Gen 7, although Gen 4 to Gen 5 would be right behind. Playing Dead Rising and Lost Planet was mind blowing at the time along with seeing games like Bioshock and Mass Effect for the first time. And who could forget seeing the original Uncharted or Assassins Creed tech demos.

 

[Zoph]

Moving from 2D to full polygonal 3D was a huge fucking deal.

 

[BriGuy]

If you were alive at the time, nothing compares to going from SNES/Genesis to something like Mario 64.

 

[JustJavi]

Going from Super Mario World to Mario 64, so gen 4 to gen 5

 

[mescalineeyes]

all of them were incredible. Still, SNES to PS1/N64 was probably the most extreme.

 

[Keldroc]

Shitty 3D to good 3D. Mario 64 was a moment and all, but nothing ever made my jaw drop like NFL 2K and Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast.

 

[Pooh]

Mario 64 was just mind-blowing at the time, like a secret door had been opened that you never knew existed

 

[EdLin]

Going from Super Mario World to Mario 64, so gen 4 to gen 5

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Mario 64 is just an impressive game period. :)

 

[CountAntonio]

I went from N64 to Dreamcast. NFL 2k Soul Calibur and Ready To Rumble Boxing blew my damn mind. Then came Dead or Alive and NBA 2k and yeah. Nothing will hit me again like those games did.

 

[Slim]

In terms of graphics, shitty 3d to good 3d.

 

[FRS1987]

If you were alive at the time, nothing compares to going from SNES/Genesis to something like Mario 64.

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I still remember not wanting to do anything but play Mario 64 when it was new. Was mind-blowing back then

 

[low-G]

2D to 3D by a country mile.

First time I saw PS1 games I thought it was literally impossible. It actually made me mad. I swore to my friend it was BS and lies and FMV.

When I first played a PS1 I saw how I had been wrong. It was the real shit.


I had played Doom and Duke 3D. I'd played full 3D games (which were much more crude than PS1 stuff, either flat shaded or basic texture mapping). HELL, I HAD A 3D ACCELERATOR IN MY PC LONG BEFORE 3DFX - THE MATROX M3D! PS1 blew all that shit completely away. Back then I didn't know how you could save so much processing by not having perspective correct texture mapping, and other vector simplifications that I only learned about recently on this forum from Durante or someone. PS1 took a lot of image quality hits to achieve what would otherwise be impossible.


I knew a guy who didn't even think PS1 games were real time AFTER playing them himself. He thought it was completely impossible.


Other gens:

Around the SNES gen, there was definitely a smoother continuity of graphics due to so many different kinds of personal computers, tons of arcade games, tons of consoles.

After PS1 gen,

Dreamcast was a nice little bump over a 1998 PC, mainly in the increased poly counts, but it was completely possible to see a 1998 PC and understand the late 1998 Dreamcast. PS2 in some ways was even a step down from that. GameCube looked great, and Rebel Assault was almost unbelievable, but it was still in the realm of possible. Halo 1 was amazing, but not shocking.

Going to 360, I'd see the previews and I was like, yeah I guess that looks real damn good. I guess I want that a lot. Abundant parallax mapping was impressive.

PS4 gen was a nice little blip, but frankly I had to lie to myself a bit to think it was real impressive.


Again, for context, I had gaming PCs between each of those console gens after SNES.

SNES -> PC (Doom, Duke 3D, Lemmings 3D, etc etc) -> PS1 -- absolutely shocking
PS1 -> PC (Unreal, Half Life, Myth, Everquest) -> Dreamcast -- looked really amazing, but a single step up
Dreamcast / Xbox -> PC (Unreal Tournament 2K4, Doom 3, Half Life 2) -> 360 -- looked really amazing, a good jump in visuals
360/PS3 -> PC (Crysis, Crysis 2, Battlefield 3) -> PS4 -- eh, nice new graphics in stuff like Killzone

Anyways, that's my frame of reference, and it's difficult for me to imagine what it would have been like never seeing a PC game during those gens.

 

[Foffy]

The PS2/GC/Xbox era was the biggest jump, I felt, as many 3D games there are still playable today.

 

[Deleted member 34714]

The 360 being a year early in the jump to HD showing off Kameo and all that was quite impressive to me at the time that I was sold and bought one at Circuit City (3 total, 2 died to RROD...) with an HDTV ready screen. Unfortuately MS fucked up rushing it but it was worth it for all the jrpgs they also funded and but again, it just stopped there.

 

[Bliman]

from pong to super mario on nes for me.

 

[jett]

There will never be a jump as massive as going from the PS1/N64 to the Dreamcast.

 

[NuclearCake]

Seeing the E3 trailer for MGS2 was mindblowing.

 

[Chamber]

Gen to 5 to 6. Seeing Metal Gear Solid 2 for the first time was quite the moment.

 

[Raiden]

N64 and PS1 to PS2 and Gamecube, and then the hd jump.

Man that was great

 

[Deleted member 36578]

Quite honestly I'm shocked at the poll results. Doesn't everyone remember when sprites became polygons? That was insane.

 

[HououinKyouma00]

I voted Gen 6>7.

My first console was a PS1 so I wasn't there for the jump from 2D to 3D. I don't remember the jump from PS1 to PS2 being that huge but I also didn't get huge into gaming until the PS2 where I revisited some PS1 RPGs and stuff like MGS. I do remember looking at MGS3 and Gran Turismo 3 and thinking to myself "There is no possible way anything could look more real".

Getting a PS3 (was a PS guy so didn't get a 360 until the Slim despite having a OG Xbox) was mind blowing for me.

The gen that did the least for me was the move to this current gen originally. However going back and playing 360/PS3 games and looking at even early PS4 games is a huge jump that I didn't see when the gen started.

 

[Clive]

Current gen flat screen gaming to VR. Absolutely astonishing what a difference "being in" the room makes. Otherwise, SNES to PS1. It also more or less added a dimension.

 

[Dennis8K]

For consoles, PS1 to PS2 era.

The initial console shift to 3D didn't really look good enough but once PS2 hit we were on solid ground.

For PC, Alone in the Dark in 1992. Goddamn I couldn't believe how good it looked. Mindblown. Crysis-era comes second.

 

[Ayirek]

I'm vacillating between gen 4-5 and 5-6. Going from SNES to N64 was a revelation; SMW to Mario 64 and LttP to OoT was beyond words. But at the same time, the fidelity gained from 2nd gen console 3D was incredibly impressive. Bigger worlds, more expressive characters. Wind Waker's characters had emotions you could read without hearing words or reading text.

It's tough to answer. I'm gonna give it to 5-6, early 3D to 2nd gen 3D.

 

[Bluelote]

XB to 360, finally consoles were no longer stuck with 480i/240P as the base res
shaders were finally mature and the console had lots of power and ram all around,

the prior gen for me was N64 to DC and while it was a good increase it was not THAT amazing for me.

 

[hussien-11]

2D to 3D wasn't just impressive it was almost like a miracle. the most impressive thing is how those creators always had the imagination to make those awesome games, they were just waiting for technology to catch up to their ideas and imagination.

16-bit Sonic and Streets of Rage and the like were what I think of when I hear the word "video games", but during a visit to some of my relatives I witnessed someone playing with that grey machine...

at first my brain couldn't process or believe the fact that this is a video game, I fully thought and believed it was a movie playing on the TV. there was someone that looks like a cop shooting zombies, streets were full of them, everything felt dangerous and almost life-like at the time.

then this guy reached a police station and an incredible melody and adventure were waiting for him.

and you know what? characters were actually talking! and there were cutscenes that made me feel like ... those people are real

that experience won't ever be repeated to me again. it wasn't just a huge leap in technology, it was a huge leap in video games as expressive art form

Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Super Mario 64, Zelda Ocarina of Time, Silent Hill

almost every new game at the time felt like discovering a wholly new, never seen before world.

 

[Tetra-Grammaton-Cleric]

Honestly, every gen.

It begins, usually, with people claiming that the graphical upgrades aren't all that significant and then we eventually get those games that drop jaws and change religions.

That said, the first time I saw Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast was something I won't forget. Going from the visuals of the PS/N64 to that was miraculous.

 

[Futaleufu]

The jump from bad 3D to good 3D, it happened in 1994 when Sega released Daytona USA. Real 3D was a thing in arcades since the late 80s.

 

[Shadoken]

Glad to see the right choice is winning. I can't believe people are voting for the PS1 era , it looked bad back then and it still looks bad now. And compared to the beautiful 2D games we were getting and how they were criticized for just being 2D.

The first time seeing Shenmue and Soul Calibur though , holy shit the characters actually looked human.

There will never be a jump as massive as going from the PS1/N64 to the Dreamcast.

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Yup.

 

[BriGuy]

Quite honestly I'm shocked at the poll results. Doesn't everyone remember when sprites became polygons? That was insane.

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To be fair, the poll asks the reader which was most impactful for them personally. Younger fucks who started with an N64 or PS2 don't have the same frame of reference. Likewise, even though the biggest jump for me was 2D to 3D, older people might be more amazed going from literally nothing to pong.

 

[Pancracio17]

Probably SNES -> N64

The actual answer is 3DS -> Switch

 

[Bliman]

Honestly, every gen.

It begins, usually, with people claiming that the graphical upgrades aren't all that significant and then we eventually get those games that drop jaws and change religions.

That said, the first time I saw Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast was something I won't forget. Going from the visuals of the PS/N64 to that was miraculous.

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Yeah that is true. I remember circling round the characters in Soul Calibur and just admire the detail. It looked so good. Also in motion.

 

[low-G]

Current gen flat screen gaming to VR. Absolutely astonishing what a difference "being in" the room makes. Otherwise, SNES to PS1. It also more or less added a dimension.

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In terms of the continuity of game graphics, yeah I'd put VR just below the PS1 & 3dfx Voodoo jumps. Biggest graphical leap since the late 90's.

 

[AztecComplex]

From gen 5 to 6 no doubt. The first screen I saw of how a Dreamcast game looked like after years of PS1 and N64 games I couldn't believe it. Of course I ended up skipping the DC like most did so my first PS2 game I ever played I'm ashamed to say was Madden 2001 and I swore it looked photorealistic!

That jump was high as shit meanwhile going to the PS3 during the first year I was hard pressed to see the difference vs a PS2 game if you had your PS3 on an SDTV like I did for the first few years.

 

[Deleted member 36578]

To be fair, the poll asks the reader which was most impactful for them personally. Younger fucks who started with an N64 or PS2 don't have the same frame of reference. Likewise, even though the biggest jump for me was 2D to 3D, older people might be more amazed going from literally nothing to pong.

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Good point. and lol at "literally nothing to pong" :)

 

[AztecComplex]

Honestly, every gen.

It begins, usually, with people claiming that the graphical upgrades aren't all that significant and then we eventually get those games that drop jaws and change religions.

That said, the first time I saw Soul Calibur on the Dreamcast was something I won't forget. Going from the visuals of the PS/N64 to that was miraculous.

Click to shrink...

I call bullshit. No one who spent their time playing N64, PS1 or Saturn saw a DC or PS2 screenshot for the first time and thought "that could pass for a PS1 game!" No one.

It did happen to me with the jump to HD era and then again to PS4 gen though.

 

[Mechanized]

Going SNES to N64 was probably it for me. Everything else has been so gradual the impact is lost.

 

[Deleted member 2620]

Of the poll choices, I'd say that Late 80s 16-bit 2D to mid-90s 3D was big, but so was mid-90s 3D to late-90s 3D. I'd probably lean toward the latter as being stronger to me, but age might play a roll.

I think there's an argument for VR, though, as I'd place the jump between traditional gaming and VR as something far greater than, in this poll's term, Gen 6 to 7 and Gen 7 to 8 at least.

 

[Anthony Hopkins]

Ps2/xbox to 360/ps3 was the biggest imo.

 

[Acorn]

2d-3d. I was a kid, it was like watching the world be put on my TV.

It sounds ludicrous if you weren't alive then, but everything looked almost life-like to me (even though it looks like vaseline on a screen now). It felt like anything was possible.

There could be games that are just like life! I could be a cop catching robbers inside full 3d buildings in 3d towns. Or it could be like real football.

I liked gaming before, I loved it after 3d.

 

[Schreckweg 5000]

The jump to DS and PSP actually. 3D in your pocket was all the sudden standard and normal.

 

[Bio]

PS1

PS2

 

[Deleted member 8468]

The beginnings of the PS/360 era wow'ed me like I never have been before or since.

 

[nightstalker962]

The jump to DS and PSP actually. 3D in your pocket was all the sudden standard and normal.

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The PSP was mindblowing in 2005.