8-bit Generation Wars!! Tech Specs and Graphics: Lynx Vs Gameboy Vs Nes Vs Master System Vs PC Engine Vs 2600/7800 Vs Gameboy Color

[Pemalite]

The_Liquid_Laser said:

Pemalite said:

PC Engine is an 8-bit machine as it had an 8-bit CPU... And that tends to be the part that influences what "bits" a platform is classified as.

We could argue that the dual 16-bit graphics processor is what makes it 16-bit, but then that would mean the Master System and Lynx was also 16bit due to also having a 16-bit graphics processor.

Fun fact... The Original Xbox was a 32bit console... And it was vastly superior to the Nintendo 64 in every single way, despite that console being 64bit.

"bits" itself doesn't really characterize the capabilities of a device or it's visual output (Hence the wide varying visuals on offer in the ops comparison.)


I am more than happy to do a breakdown of what "bits" actually is and entails in regards to processing if people are interested in that sort of thing.

The poll and the title to this thread says "8-bit generation".  The PC Engine is not really considered part of that generation even if it does have an 8-bit CPU.

It released in 1987... So it could have been an extremely late 8-bit console or an extremely early 16-bit console that is actually 8-bit.
But it does fall in the 4th generation of consoles.
But I think the context of the Op is to lump "all" 8-bit devices together as a singular generation based on hardware characteristics, hence the mix of 1st-2nd-3rd generation devices.

Either way, the PC Engine is a difficult beast to quantify, but hardware wise it's part of the 8-bit hardware generation thanks to it's CPU, despite being a part of the 16-bit console generation.