View source for Fifth generation of video game hardware

{{Stub}}

The '''Fifth generation of video game hardware''' (1993-2005) expanded the home console market. With early [[CD]] technology, many companies made their own consoles such as [[Panasonic]]'s [[3DO Interactive Multiplayer]] in North America, [[Commodore]]'s [[Amiga CD32]] in Europe and [[NEC]]'s [[PC-FX]]. Unfortunately these consoles failed due the lack of third party developers. Learning from mistakes of previous games and using the technology they worked on from the canceled [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]] CD add on, [[Sony]] released the [[PlayStation]]. [[SEGA]]'s [[SEGA Saturn]] was planned to be released in late [[1995 in video gaming|1995]], but [[SEGA]] moved the Saturn's release date to early 1995 to get it released before the [[PlayStation]]. Many developers were upset by [[SEGA]]'s decision, since they didn't have the time to develop games. The SEGA Saturn had poor marketing in North America, but did well in Japan. One year later, [[Nintendo]] released their [[Nintendo 64]], which used cartridges, even though CDs were available at the time. The [[PlayStation]] and [[Nintendo 64]] were the main competition up to [[2000]]. This time in video game history also introduced the "hardcore" audience into gaming. Many notable events happened in this Generation; Sony entered the console market and 3 dimensional games became a reality.

==Sales==
{{VG History}}
===Worldwide===
{{See also|List of best-selling game consoles}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Console !! Units sold
|-
| [[PlayStation]] || 102.49&nbsp;million shipped<br>(74.34 million PlayStation, 28.15 million PSone)<br><small>(as of March 31, 2005)</small><ref name=ps1sales>{{Cite web |url=http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/data/bizdataps_e.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20110524023857/http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/data/bizdataps_e.html |archivedate=2011-05-24 |title=PlayStation Cumulative Production Shipments of Hardware |accessdate=2008-03-22 |publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment Inc}}</ref>
|-
| [[Nintendo 64]] || 32.93&nbsp;million <small>(as of March 31, 2005)</small><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nintendo.com/corp/report/NintendoAnnualReport2005.pdf#page=33 |title=05 Nintendo Annual Report - Nintendo Co., Ltd. |accessdate=2007-11-25 |date=2005-05-26 |format=PDF |publisher=Nintendo Co., Ltd. |page=33}}</ref>
|-
| [[SEGA Saturn]] || 17&nbsp;million <small>(as of 1998)</small><ref name="evans_131">{{Cite book|last=Evans|first=David S.|title=Invisible engines: how software platforms drive innovation and transform industries|year=2006|publisher=[[MIT Press]]|location=Cambridge (Mass.)|isbn=0262050854|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5Wx6-uv-DSkC&pg=PA131|author=David S. Evans|authorlink=David S. Evans|edition=[Online-Ausg.]|coauthors=Hagiu, Andrei; Schmalensee, Richard|accessdate=31 January 2012|page=131}} (with reference to {{Cite web|title=Table 2: Worldwide Video Game Console Annual Shipment History - 1989-1998|url=http://www.instat.com/abstracts/mm/2000/mm0019st_abs.htm|work=Video Game Consoles: Sony, Nintendo and SEGA Brace for Microsoft Challenge|publisher=In-Stat ([[NPD Group]])|accessdate=31 January 2012|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20010617172523/http://www.instat.com/abstracts/mm/2000/mm0019st_abs.htm|archivedate=2001-05-01|month=December|year=2000}})</ref>
|-
| [[3DO Interactive Multiplayer|3DO]] || 2 million <small>(as of May 4, 2007)</small><ref name="gamepro1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/111822/the-10-worst-selling-consoles-of-all-time/ |title=The 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time |accessdate=2007-11-25 |author=Blake Snow |publisher=[[GamePro]].com |date=2007-05-04 |page=1|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080905175406/http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/111822/the-10-worst-selling-consoles-of-all-time/|archivedate=2008-09-05}}</ref>
|-
| [[PC-FX]] || 290,000 <small>(as of 1997)</small><ref name="jp97"/>
|-
| [[Jaguar]] || 250,000 <small>(as of May 15, 2007)</small><ref>{{Cite web |url=
http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/multimedia/2007/05/gallery_game_history?slide=28&slideView=7 |title=Console Portraits: A 40-Year Pictorial History of Gaming |accessdate=2008-03-23 |author=Greg Orlando |date=2007-05-15 |work=[[Wired (website)|Wired News]] |publisher=[[Condé Nast Publications]]}}</ref>
|-
| [[Amiga CD32]] || 100,000
|-
| [[FM Towns Marty]] || 45,000 <small>(as of December 31, 1993)</small>
|-
| [[Apple Bandai Pippin]] || 42,000 <small>(as of May 4, 2007)</small><ref name="gamepro2">{{Cite web |url=http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/111823/the-10-worst-selling-consoles-of-all-time-page-2-of-2/ |title=The 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time |accessdate=2007-11-25 |author=Blake Snow |publisher=[[GamePro]].com |date=2007-05-04 |page=2|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080905175411/http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/111823/the-10-worst-selling-consoles-of-all-time-page-2-of-2/|archivedate=2008-09-05}}</ref>
|}

===Japan===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! rowspan=2 | Year
! colspan=7 | Sales
|-
! [[FM Towns|FM Towns<br>Marty]]
! [[3DO Interactive Multiplayer|3DO]]
! [[Jaguar]]
! [[SEGA Saturn|SEGA<br>Saturn]]
! [[PlayStation]]
! [[PC-FX]]
! [[Nintendo 64]]
|-
! {{vgy|1993}}
| 45,000
|
|
|
|
|
| rowspan=3 |
|-
! {{vgy|1994}}<br><ref name="edge94">''[[Edge]]'', April 1995, [http://i.imgur.com/Y5wVn8z.jpg page 10]</ref>
|
| 365,800
| 2,000
| 840,000 <ref name="sat_jp">SEGA Saturn sales in Japan:
*http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=38012869&postcount=625
*https://www.toyo.ac.jp/uploaded/attachment/3049.pdf#page=3
</ref>
| 300,000 <ref name="edge94"/>
| 70,000
|-
! {{vgy|1995}}
|
| 615,800<br>(+250,000)<br><ref>[http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=149571848&postcount=4 Annual (FY) Japanese Home Console Hardware Shipments], Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei)</ref>
|
| 2,500,000<br>(+1,660,000)<br><ref name="sat_jp"/>
| 2,000,000<br><ref name=ps1sales/><br>(+1,700,000)
|
|-
! {{vgy|1996}}<br><ref name="jp96">''[http://segaretro.org/Mega Mega]'', [http://i.imgur.com/T3v467H.jpg issue 23], August 1994</ref>
|
| 750,000<br>(+134,200)
|
| 4,810,000<br>(+2,310,000)<br><ref name="sat_jp"/>
| 4,200,000<br><ref name="ps1sales2">{{Cite web |url=http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/data/bizdataps_e.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20110524023857/http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/data/bizdataps_e.html |archivedate=2011-05-24 |title=PlayStation Cumulative Production Shipments of Hardware |accessdate=2008-03-22 |publisher=Sony Computer Entertainment Inc}}. Note: These Japan sales figures include shipments to other Asian countries.</ref><br>(+2,200,000)
| 270,000
| 2,030,000<br><ref name=nintendosales>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library/historical_data/pdf/consolidated_sales_e1209.pdf|title=Consolidated Sales Transition by Region |accessdate=2012-10-24 |date=2012-10-23 |publisher=Nintendo |format=PDF |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20121112203633/http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library/historical_data/pdf/consolidated_sales_e1209.pdf |archivedate=2012-11-12}}</ref>
|-
! {{vgy|1997}}<br><ref name="jp97">http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=150080900&postcount=56</ref>
| colspan=3 |
| 5,620,000<br>(+810,000)<br><ref name="sat_jp"/>
| 8,600,000<br><ref name="jp97"/><br>(+4,400,000)
| 290,000<br>(+20,000)
| 3,140,000<br>(+1,110,000)<br><ref name=nintendosales/>
|-
! {{vgy|1998}}
| colspan=3 |
| 5,770,000<br>(+150,000)<br><ref name="sat_jp"/>
| 14,710,000<br><ref name="ps1sales2"/><br>(+6,110,000)
|
| 4,350,000<br>(+1,210,000)<br><ref name=nintendosales/>
|-
! {{vgy|1999}}
| colspan=4 |
|
|
| 5,290,000<br>(+940,000)<ref name=nintendosales/>
|-
! {{vgy|2000}}
| colspan=4 |
|
|
| 5,490,000<br>(+200,000)<ref name=nintendosales/>
|-
! {{vgy|2001}}
| colspan=4 |
| 15,255,000<br><ref>PlayStation sales in Asia by end of 2001: [https://web.archive.org/web/20070804074610/http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/data/bizdataps_e.html 19.07 million]
*Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore: [http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=155626759&postcount=118 3.815 million]
*Japan: 15.255 million
</ref>
|
| 5,540,000<br>(+50,000)<ref name=nintendosales/>
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Fifth-Generation Hardware}}
{{History of video games}}