When you sit back and think about it (if you are indeed interested in the subject), videogaming has come a very long way from those classic pong games on that old Atari machine our elders experienced a long time before we even saw the light of day. We have now journeyed to lifelike graphics that enrich the player from angles of the story. However, how did this journey take place?
The answer is as simple as it is complex, because basically the videogaming industry has evolved throughout the years to stop becoming a niche market, and is now on its way to full mainstream appeal with a mass audience. Games consoles have evolved with every new piece of technology available, offering players new gaming experiences with the invention of full multiplayer gaming, but we’ll talk about that later. Of course, this natural progression has occurred like any other electronic devices such as the evolution of the walkman, but games consoles are becoming more important, as the industry is now worth an amazing $16 Billion, which is more money than you are likely to ever have in the old bank account.
As we mentioned before, Pong was the very first game, and a short description of it would be a game like tennis, but instead of players you get two white rectangles, and instead of a ball you get a white square, then there was a white line in the middle to separate the two “players”, and a basic counter above each section. This game was incredibly basic, but still entertained the youths in that day and age. Keep your fingers crossed for Pong: Source on the Xbox Live Arcade on the Xbox 360, but more on that later.
The next major step in gaming was the invention of gaming-based computers such as the Amiga or the ZX Spectrum. On these systems, games either came in floppy disc format or cassette tapes, which pushed the boundaries of gaming during their era, but when compared to today there really is a clear winner, which is obvious due to the aforementioned technological advancements.
Moving on, and the first mainstream home console was the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES to its mates. Featuring such classics as Super Mario Bros. and a lot more besides, it caused a sensation in the world of gaming, as many people had to put up with abysmal games on old gaming computers up until this point. The NES was followed up by Nintendo with the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), which further improved on Nintendo’s brand image and showed them as the true market leader, after fending off Sega with their own console, the Megadrive, which introduced the iconic Sonic as a key marketing figure. Nintendo thought they would continue to control the industry in the future, but they were incredibly wrong…
It all started when Nintendo signed up with Sony to create a CD-based games console, when Nintendo decided to stop with negotiations straight after development kits were believed to reach certain key developers, but this was never confirmed. Needless to say, Sony saw a gap in the market, and set to fill it with the product, and named it the PlayStation. Modern gaming was born.
Nobody knew then (1995) that the PlayStation brand would continue to the ripe old age of ten years old, and already be in its second version, with the third in development to be released next year. However, Nintendo didn’t take the battle against the PlayStation lying down, and released a competitor codenamed Ultra 64, and later named 'Nintendo 64'. This console was a personal favourite of mine, not least because of its strangely awesome controller with three handles and a joystick (which was subsequently 'borrowed' by every other games hardware manufacturer), but also because it was quite powerful and offered unbelievable titles such as the still-played-today GoldenEye and Perfect Dark alongside the prestigious Super Mario 64. The console was good, but just couldn’t take the crown back from the PlayStation.
As mentioned before, Sony released the PS2 around five years after the original launched, and has became one of the most played and best selling consoles, racking up the 100 million sold mark lately. However, with every generation there comes new competition, and this saw Microsoft announce and release the Xbox, a huge console with huge power, and huge confidence. What it lacked in grace, it made up for with pure unadulterated raw power under the hood. Also, it was the first console to include a hard drive, which meant players could copy music to their console and play it back during games, and also meant that you no longer had to buy memory cards to save games. Finally, they launched Xbox Live, one of the very first true online gaming service for games consoles, and this proved to be an astounding success. Nintendo didn’t sit this war out either, as they released the much-touted GameCube, which despite having one of the most successful console launches in history, obtained a “kiddy” image that it still can’t shake off today due to incompetent advertising and too many first party releases for younger audiences.
Looking into the future, the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Revolution will be released next year. When combined, the two will offer mind-bending graphics, innovative features and of course, online play alongside other initiatives as online downloads, streaming, music, video, images, etc. However, why wait until then? This year saw the release of the Xbox 360 in the US, UK and Japan. Offering full downloads, high-definition graphics, more multimedia features than most pieces of modern technology and a lot more besides just games, the Xbox 360 is really a revolution. Also, it offers the Xbox Live Arcade, where users can download old or new arcade titles for the 360 through the Xbox Live service, including free trial versions.
In conclusion, games consoles are continuously evolving, and whether they are good, bad or indeed ugly, they are a marvellous part of modern technology. Plus, they give us guys an actual job.
