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[Sosokrates]

Which gens do you think had the best visual improvement?

Multiple votes is appreciated because i want to get an idea which is the biggest leap and which is the smallest, thank you.

 

[TheBROgamer]

Conker - N64 (Gen 5)

Conker - Xbox (Gen 6)

Tekken - PS1 (Gen 5)

Dead or Alive 2 - Dreamcast (Gen 6)

Resident Evil 1 - PS1 (Gen 5) on left vs Resident Evil 1 Remake - GC (Gen 6) on right.

Gen 6 (DC/PS2/GC/Xbox) is the correct answer.

 

[Sosokrates]

Conker - N64 (Gen 5)

Conker - Xbox (Gen 6)

Gen 6 is the correct answer.

Remakes have been with us a while

 

[dottme]

Yeah. The Gen5 to Gen6 is the one giving the most. We go to ugly, hardly guess what is on screen to something that starts to looks like what we are trying to show.

 

[Flabagast]

I don’t know how you can answer something different than PS2 generation

 

[nial]

Gen 5?

 

[Deputy Moonman]

1) The N64 taking things from 2D to 3D was probably my favorite jump.

2) I also really enjoyed the Xbox One/PS4 generation quite a bit (surprisingly?). In addition to a lot of good looking 1st party games, the indie games really got kicked up a notch.

3) Lastly, the current gen is bound to have some real gems once games finally start releasing on a regular basis.

 

[op22]

NES. The sprites and scrolling stages were quite a leap over the ten or twenty rectangles Atari could handle simultaneously.

 

[Hendrick's]

Where's Dreamcast?

 

[supernova8]

I don’t know how you can answer something different than PS2 generation

Yeah PS1 to PS2 was breathtaking. Those were the days when practically every single game (around launch) looked way better than the previous generation. Even just renting out ESPN snowboarding around launch and being in awe at the snow deformation animations... also I remember seeing small screenshots of WWF(E?) Smackdown for PS2 in Playstation magazines and thinking "oh my god that is amazing how can that be real?!".

I'd also say that PSP at the time was equally mind-blowing because it seemed like impossible sorcery that they could run visuals somewhere between PS1 and PS2 in such a small device. Especially coming from the GBA and it helped that the Nintendo DS was incapable of anything remotely similar.

Probably helped that I was like 10 years old at the time.

 

[Hawk269]

Not in the poll, but Dreamcast was the biggest leap from one generation to the next. Hands down.

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

PS3,Xbox gen...the HD upgrades to me were the biggest jump I experienced. Seeing Gears of war the first time was mind blowing.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Not in the poll, but Dreamcast was the biggest leap from one generation to the next. Hands down.

yea i gotta agree. soulcalibur day 1 running flawless 60 fps and looking like it did at the time felt like black magic.

 

[existensmaximum]

Easily going from the 8-bit to the 16-bit generation for me. Massive improvement in graphics, music quality, storage, the scope and ambition of games - also don't forget the arrival of CD and different kinds of helper chips in cartridges, etc.

 

[Sid Of Bee]

I was 16-17 years old when the PS1 /N64 generation started. Seeing Mario 64 was mind-blowing. We went from a Super Nintendo with a 3.58 megahertz processor and tile based 2D capabilities to the N64 which had a 94 megahertz processor and the advent of (at the time) advanced 3D gaming on consoles.

If you were my age at the time, maybe you can relate to how revolutionary this time was.

But looking back that generation was pretty ugly. But that is only in hindsight. The next big leap being the 6th generation with three great consoles that really cleaned up 3D gaming and is probably the baseline for what is still really playable today.

 

[Robb]

I went with Ps1/N64/Saturn. Going from this;

To this;

Was just an absolutely crazy jump.

 

[PonyStation4]

I went with Ps1/N64/Saturn. Going from this;

To this;

Was just an absolutely crazy jump.

I'll raise you GBA to PSP

 

[TheTony316]

Gen 5 with the jump to full 3D and Gen 6.

 

[cireza]

Dreamcast was the biggest leap.

 

[lachesis]

Within the generation, definitely PS2 gen. Early PS2 game to late PS2 game is like night and day.
However I think PS3/360 generation had also a big jump - specifically in HD resolution, and also the style of gfx pretty much matured almost to the modern gfx - hence I picked that gen.

 

[DonJimbo]

PS1 to PS2 and PS2 to PS3

 

[Hunnybun]

1) The N64 taking things from 2D to 3D was probably my favorite jump.

2) I also really enjoyed the Xbox One/PS4 generation quite a bit (surprisingly?). In addition to a lot of good looking 1st party games, the indie games really got kicked up a notch.

3) Lastly, the current gen is bound to have some real gems once games finally start releasing on a regular basis.

Yeah I voted PS4 and PS2, although I could also have included PS3.

PS4 was a relatively small jump in terms of power, but what people always seem to gloss over is the crucial fact that that was when games graduated from being basically ugly to basically good looking. That's a big deal when you're talking about visuals. There weren't really that many remaining visual blemishes last gen. IQ was pretty good. Materials in game looked like materials in real life. Geometry was complex enough that you didn't really notice the shortfall. Games just overall looked nice in a way that 2d SNES games will always look nice, or how Sonic will always look good.

But there's no doubt that the PS2 gen was a big one in terms of going from "ugly" to "less ugly".

 

[Robb]

I'll raise you GBA to PSP

For handhelds that was great as well, although it didn’t feel nearly as impactful to me since 3D graphics had already become commonplace on home consoles by that point.

 

[Rickyiez]

From PS1 3d to this was insane



Xbox Splinter Cell

 

[Self_Destructive]

LOL imagine saying anything else but PS1, N64, and Saturn...

 

[PonyStation4]

For handhelds that was great as well, although it didn’t feel nearly as impactful to me since 3D graphics had already become commonplace on home consoles by that point.

I would have agreed with you if the PSP didn't look a generation ahead of the NDS as well. It would be like Nintendo releasing the Gamecube, while Sony released the PS3 as the generational jump from the N64

 

[Hunnybun]

LOL imagine saying anything else but PS1, N64, and Saturn...

But virtually every game on those platforms was ugly as sin. Whereas most 16 bit games actually looked pretty nice.

 

[DavidGzz]

When I went from PS1 to Xbox. I think technically SuperNes to PS1 but looking back, those grainy graphics are disgusting today.

 

[Hunnybun]

I would have agreed with you if the PSP didn't look a generation ahead of the NDS as well. It would be like Nintendo releasing the Gamecube, while Sony released the PS3 as the generational jump from the N64

But by that point Nintendo had basically given up on pushing technical boundaries I think? I might be misremembering but the DS was a pretty modest improvement on the GBA.

 

[PonyStation4]

But by that point Nintendo had basically given up on pushing technical boundaries I think? I might be misremembering but the DS was a pretty modest improvement on the GBA.

I'm only going by graphics off google. I didn't start gaming until the Vita, but even I can see how bad the NDS was

 

[Hunnybun]

When I went from PS1 to Xbox. I think technically SuperNes to PS1 but looking back, those grainy graphics are disgusting today.

Was I the only one who thought PS1 games were ugly *even at the time*?

It's not like some benefit of hindsight with me. A lot of that shit looked hideous even then, but it was still cool to see 3d graphics so.

Arcade games looked good but all the warping and pop in and pixellation etc on consoles was pretty glaring. For me it was the N64 with Mario and its nice clean graphics that really brought acceptable looking 3d visuals to console.

 

[Robb]

I would have agreed with you if the PSP didn't look a generation ahead of the NDS as well

If you view handhelds in isolation I’d probably agree with you. But since we already had Ps2, GC and Xbox by the time PSP came out it, while still super impressive, was nowhere close to going from 2D to 3D for the first time on N64/Ps1/Saturn to me.

 

[Hunnybun]

I'm only going by graphics off google. I didn't start gaming until the Vita, but even I can see how bad the NDS was

It's like comparing the 360 to the Wii. Yeah the 360 blows it away, but the Wii just wasn't even trying.

As it happens though, the PSP was a really exceptional console on a technical level. It got closer to PS2 visuals than it had any right to.

 

[Bernd Lauert]

Gen 4 to 5 and Gen 5 to 6 are objectively the biggest jumps.

 

[skit_data]

Going from PS1/N64 to Gamecube always felt like the biggest leap to me.

 

[PonyStation4]

It's like comparing the 360 to the Wii. Yeah the 360 blows it away, but the Wii just wasn't even trying.

As it happens though, the PSP was a really exceptional console on a technical level. It got closer to PS2 visuals than it had any right to.

Everything I read about the PSP makes it seem incredible. Music, video's, web browser, online play, online store, the interface (especially themes) etc in 2005. Still seems like Nintendo is playing catchup with the Switch...

 

[ZehDon]

Going from a SNES to a Nintendo 64 was pretty mind blowing... but early 3D wasn't amazing. Blurry imagery, terrible frame rates, miniscule polygon counts. Our imaginations were doing the heavy lifting. However, the jump from the N64 to the original Xbox was when 3D proved itself.

Going from Goldeneye 007:

To Halo 2:

I doubt we'll ever see a jump that monumental again.

 

[Doczu]

Gen 6 but with Dreamcast.
My rich buddy got one for launch (in Poland that was something unheard off, the price was bonkers) with Soul Calibur and the few of us were sitting with our mouths wide open. We haven't something like that e er before...

 

[IDKFA]

I don’t know how you can answer something different than PS2 generation

I'd argue the PS1,N64,Saturn generation. That was the generation that gave us 3D gaming. The technical leap was insane. Look at Super Mario World on the SNES compared to the next mainline Mario game, which was Mario 64. Absolutely incredible leap in technology and graphics.

 

[Ogbert]

Dreamcast.

 

[93xfan]

LOL imagine saying anything else but PS1, N64, and Saturn...

I don’t like to compare consoles not meant for 3D with consoles that were made for 3D. I assume you’re comparing things like Star Fox (SNES) to Crash Bandicoot?

 

[Banjo64]

I’m sorry but anyone who went from SNES graphics to Ocarina of Time and Mario 64 couldn’t possibly give any other awnser.

From;

To;

 

[playXray]

Compare Super Mario Kart to Mario Kart 64 - that’s the biggest generational jump I can think of.

 

[Rykan]

The correct answer here is the jump from 16 bit (snes,Megadrive etc) to 32 bit/64 bit (PS1, N64 etc).

While I understand the appeal of saying that the PS1 > PS2 (And other consoles respectively) was a bigger jump because it consists of somewhat rough approximations of worlds and characters turning into much more detailed worlds and characters,
it's simply not anywhere near as big of a jump as the jump from 2D games to 3D games were. It was quite literally, video games reinvented. Video games went from 2D "Games" to 3D worlds. And they were exploreable as well. The example of Banjo64 is an excellent showcase of just how large that leap was. If you want another example, put Super Mario World next to Mario 64 and then place Mario 64 to Mario sunshine and ask yourself: Was that 2nd jump really as big? The answer is No.

There will probably never be another leap as big as the Fourth gen to the Fifth generation.

 

[Hunnybun]

The correct answer here is the jump from 16 bit (snes,Megadrive etc) to 32 bit/64 bit (PS1, N64 etc).

While I understand the appeal of saying that the PS1 > PS2 (And other consoles respectively) was a bigger jump because it consists of somewhat rough approximations of worlds and characters turning into much more detailed worlds and characters,
it's simply not anywhere near as big of a jump as the jump from 2D games to 3D games were. It was quite literally, video games reinvented. Video games went from 2D "Games" to 3D worlds. And they were exploreable as well. The example of Banjo64 is an excellent showcase of just how large that leap was. If you want another example, put Super Mario World next to Mario 64 and then place Mario 64 to Mario sunshine and ask yourself: Was that 2nd jump really as big? The answer is No.

There will probably never be another leap as big as the Fourth gen to the Fifth generation.

That's more of a leap in terms of the scope of games. I don't think that's necessarily a "visual" advance which is what the question asked.

So you're right if it's about the development of gaming. But not necessarily if it's about the biggest leap in how impressive graphics are.

 

[nkarafo]

5th gen made 3D textured graphics possible.

From this:

To this:

5th gen wasn't just a graphics jump. 3D being mainstream also meant gameplay changed dramatically as well.

6th gen refined the 3D even further, no question. But 5th gen was a bigger change overall.

 

[VN1X]

The one where the graphics were gooder.

 

[Mr Hyde]

I had two major jumps that I consider being revolutionary. First I went from 16-bit Mega drive to 32-bit Playstation and was just blown away with games like Resident Evil, Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy 7.

My next console was Dreamcast and that was truly a unprecedented generational leap. Soul Calibur, Code Veronica, Shenmue, Crazy Taxi. It was nuts how good the games looked on the DC. When Sega went up in flames I settled with a PS2 but it wasn't nearly as exciting. In fact, the death of Dreamcast ruined that generation for me.

 

[TheGecko]

While the PS2 Gen was incredible there isn't much like seeing what the PS1 could do, such as tomb raider for the first time. And I was a PC gamer.

 

[Caio]

1) N64 was a monster jump from Mega Drive/genesis Era, but also 2) XBox and GameCube were a hell of a jump from N64...and what about 3) PS360 jump from XBox and GameCube ? If you look at games like Mario64, Metroid Prime 2 / Resident Evil 4 / Rogue Leader, and games like GTA5, Uncharted 2-3, Bioshock Infinite, Gears2, it's easy to realize these are the biggest jumps ever from generation to generation. Now, which one was the biggest ? I don't know, I can only say I was "shocked" by the jump in the graphics department in the examples above. WOW, those were massive !