The 90s, the golden age of PC gaming

Looking back and remembering the old days of PC gaming. Digging through all these years, there are many games Developed for arcade machines, consoles, handhelds, and computers. Today we'll focus on these versatile devices, and we dare say that their best season, or rather, their golden years, was in the 1990s.

From the beginning to the end of the decade, it was full of surprises. We were able to see the beginning of the Fallout, he Grand Theft Auto, Red Alert, the impressive and spectacular Need For The Speed, just to mention a few, as mouth-openers.

At the beginning of the decade

As the decade began, 1990, we saw how The Prince of Persia, captivated more than one. It had initially been released a year earlier to Apple II and then I arrive at Microsoft unleashing a good gaming fever, gaining followers everywhere. Because the animation developed, using a technique called rotoscoping, had never been seen before. Later, it evolved, and new versions of the character began to appear.

On the other hand, that year of 1990, the young man at that time John Carmack, who demonstrated that these devices could run the same games as consoles. In this way, he developed the Commander Keen, a game very similar to Mario Bros from Nes. Known under the seal of Softdisk for PC Dos, created a stir by using IBM graphics technology, called EGA. Thus, we would see the first steps of PCs in 2D games.

In 1991, Catacomb 3D arrived., being one of the first 3D games, created by John Carmack. Remember that we are talking about computers like the Intel 386 and AMD 386 that worked with floppy disks. Where the speeds and capacities of the devices are nowhere near what they are today.

Shortly after, the super-famous appeared Doom 3D. That later in In 1993 they launched a new reading technology with CD-ROMs.Thus began the story of one of the classic games. With this revolution, floppy disks were replaced by a storage device with greater capacity and data transfer speeds.

At the end of 1994, a strong competitor for PCs appears, Sony launched its first console, the Play StationIt also came with a CD-ROM, and was cheaper than computers, although it didn't have as much power.

Windows 95 and 98

Then when it comes to market Windows 95, offered a better interface, but it took a while for the operating system to become standardized. By 1995, They developed Command & Conquer and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. They also launched for sports fans EA's FIFA 96 and Maniac Mansion 2 just to mention a few.

It's worth noting that the following year saw the arrival of a console that would challenge PC gaming. The first 3D console, the 100%, appeared, and we were in the presence of the Nintendo 64.

Without a doubt, the arrival of Windows 98 allowed Microsoft to take center stage that year. In addition to the system, it also launched DirectX, which allowed all APIs to be bundled into a single set. This was a huge help for developers, so they started with version 5.2 and are currently on version 11.1.

We saw the famous games come out into the ring, like Half Life from Valve and Unreal the shooter created by Epic MegaGames. Who created one of the most well-known and used graphic engines to date, the Unreal EngineThis in turn resulted in higher resource demands.

On the other hand, competitive computer games became popular. And by the end of the decade, hardware was more accessible and software more manageable and engaging.

Advances in PC hardware

It is worth noting that in the 90s, the advances in this branch were very marked, going through the P5 and P6 architecture of Pentium processors. Both in the 95 version and version II in 98. Similarly, its closest competitor AMD, the manufacturer of the famous clones along with Cryx. At that time They launched the AMD K5 and later the K6, as a cheaper and equally powerful alternative to the Pentiums.

Thus, it was well received by the developers, to be able to create their routines more and more amazing. For example, for the Unreal Engine, a PC was needed, with at least one processor Pentium 166 Mhz, 16MB RAM, 1 Mega CPU, in addition to a CD-ROM, a 100MB hard drive, and a sound card. It's worth noting that these were demanding requirements for the time.

Obviously, all these advances will allow for better and more elaborate developments. Added to this is the Graphics cards and the emergence of 3dfx Interactive accelerators with the calls VoodooIts function was to support the main graphics card in calculations for games that consumed more resources.

For this reason, the graphics cards became more economical when companies Creative, OTI and Matrox They began producing them. They expanded rapidly, leading to the development of APIs for compatible software.

Finally, this was just a taste of what happened during one of the most exciting periods in the PC world. Tell us, did you live through that golden age of computers? Have you played any of these games from that decade?

Image: Timetoast