A leap as big as 8-bit to 16-bit is unlikely to happen again: why it’s good for game developers

The arrival of 16-bit computers in the mid-1980s began to change everything beyond our borders, but Spain was still on its own. In 1985, the incipient Spanish video game industry was already pointing its way, and the founders of Dinamic, Indescomp and ERBE, which were three of the most important companies in the sector, began to glimpse the potential what they had in their hands.

At that time, it was enough for a team of no more than two or three people to work for a few weeks to perfect a commercial success. This was the business model on which the development of video games for 8-bit platforms was built throughout the planet, and both in Spain and in other countries in our neighborhood it reached its peak during the second half of the 1980s.

The American, British and German video game industry was timidly flirting with the first 16-bit computers, but the 8-bit market had an enviable solidity. If we analyze those games for Spectrum, Amstrad, Commodore and MSX, which were the most successful machines globally, taking as a starting point the perspective from which we observe video games today, we could not assess them fairly.

The technical shortcomings of 8-bit machines had a profound impact not only on the artistic finish of video games; also in its gameplay. This is precisely what began to change with the arrival of 16-bit computers and consoles. Commodore’s Amiga 1000 first, and the Amiga 500, SEGA’s Mega Drive and the Super Nintendo a few years later, among other platforms, put in the hands of developers some creative possibilities that were out of reach for much more modest 8-bit computers.

This is how 16 bits and consoles changed everything

In the early 1990s, 8-bit computers began to languish in a market dominated with insulting clarity by 16-bit machines. Video game developers who had not yet made the leap to these latter platforms were forced to release their titles for the Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, and PC. Otherwise your survival would be threatened.

However, programming for these machines was not the same as programming for 8-bit machines. Fine-tuning a version of a game designed on an 8-bit platform for a 16-bit one did not require altering the structure of the development teams, but this was not the right strategy for get the most out of it to an Amiga, an Atari ST, or a PC. To take advantage of the creative possibilities of these platforms, it was necessary to have larger and completely professionalized work teams.

As the 16-bit market consolidated and the 8-bit market faded, game development companies realized that they had no choice but to remarkably develop its structure and increase your resources. Otherwise your competitiveness would go to hell. Many were not able to assume this transition. Neither in Spain nor in other countries. The days when one or two people could program a commercial success in a week had passed.

The technological leap that occurred from 8 to 16 bits was the spark that set off the explosion of the video game market that has brought us here. The next two generations introduced decisive technological innovations, such as three dimensional graphics, but the turning point that occurred when going from 8 to 16 bits was reinforced by the consolidation throughout the planet of a market that at that time was only in good health in Japan: that of consoles.

The business model had changed forever. In the early 1990s, a successful game for any 16-bit platform, be it a computer or a console, necessarily had to be backed by a much larger framework than titles required for 8-bit machines. It should have top-notch production. Otherwise, the market would gobble it up and it wouldn’t have the slightest impact. I would be doomed to fail.

These are the foundations on which the current video game industry stands. And all the development companies that were not able to take on this change in business model disappeared in the early 1990s. Or they were taken over by larger ones that did. develop your structure to adapt to the explosion of an industry that today has an enviable turnover.

The last three generations of consoles have not come hand in hand with technological development so groundbreaking like the one that the previous three gave us, and that, as we have seen, began to take shape with the jump from 8 to 16 bits. And the evolution that the PC has experienced during this time, either.

During the last decade and a half, innovation has come progressively and much easier to take by video game developers, although some users miss those times when a new platform managed to leave us speechless.

Cover Image | Bill Bertram