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Cyberpunk Now! 5
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Cyberpunk Now! 5 (Disk 1 of 2).adf
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CYBERTEXTS
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1992-09-02
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THE FUTURE OF 16-BIT
First came the reign of the eight-bit's, the glories of the Atari 2600's,
the Master System,the NES,the C64 and the omniprescent Spectrum - this
was in the Triassic Period of computer evlution. In 86/87 the next
generation arrived - oh, glory of glories - the 16-bitters - and they
have ruled ever since until over the last two years the 32bits have
arrrived, and the first 32 bit console - the CD32 which has yet to make
a big impact on the scene (see Amiga article).
Now 32 bit should be dominant and 64 is looming on the horizon,and on
the far horizon 128bit and full all-dancing,all-talking super Virtual
Reality. How long will the 16 bits last? Nintendo are dumping catridges
on the market we are told - the 16 bit era is done - yet they still sell
despite a small dip, in vast quantities. Even the Master System and NES
are holding their own due to extremely cheap machine prices, as are
the Game Boy and game Gear. The Speccy as bit the dust totally, though
there's still a few C64'ers around - and even a mag...
It is estimated that there are at least 1.5 million Megadrives in Britain
and 3/4 of a million SNES - they won't go away easily and be replaced
easily by the 32's and 64's. Also it is a known fact that machines sold
off when folk upgrade just create new users.
The end is not yet in sight for 16-bit. Coexistence seems to be the rule
of the day.Eight bit may even last a little while longer. Technological
advances may be one thing - but the pound in the general publics pocket
is another....