![]() The following generation - this generation - Sony amped up its online efforts, creating the PlayStation Network (PSN), a free, cohesive online service to answer Microsoft’s subscription-based Xbox Live. While Nintendo was known as a staunch naysayer of online gaming this past generation of consoles, it did release a modem for its faltering GameCube, which was so underutilized that it became a sought after collector’s item. Sony put out a modem attachment for it’s PlayStation 2, but didn’t provide any kind of cohesive service, instead opting to allow game developers to utilize the online capabilities if they so chose. ![]() With Xbox Live, Microsoft made it clear that gaming wasn’t necessarily about the power of the consoles or the games anymore: Now, it also mattered whether or not the games had an online component, which brought replayability to the table. The reason why Xbox Live was actually a big deal, however, is because the console gaming market was much bigger than the PC gaming market at that point, bringing the fun (and addiction) of online gaming to an audience that hadn’t previously experienced it. Many PC gamers didn’t see the big deal (myself included), because PC games generally already came with competent online aspects. Probably the first time the console gaming market had something other than console power and exclusive games to fight over was when Microsoft released their online console gaming service, Xbox Live. This is why I find this generation of gaming so interesting. Now, however, with Microsoft’s online service, Nintendo’s motion control, and Sony’s history of humongous blockbuster franchises and co-opting and improving original technology (Nintendo’s analog stick comes to mind), the number of battlegrounds has grown exponentially. There were only two main competitive facets to previous generations of gaming: The power of the consoles and the exclusivity of the games. During the following generation, the success of Sony’s PlayStation and PlayStation 2 spurred Microsoft to join the fray with their Xbox, which brought online gaming to a much wider audience than its original locus of PC gaming. When Nintendo surprisingly canned the deal with Sony, Sony decided they weren’t going down that easily and created a little thing called the PlayStation, the brand that would eventually send Nintendo to the brink of collapse. When it came time for Nintendo’s Super Nintendo Entertainment System to evolve to a next-gen product, Nintendo was working with Sony on a CD attachment for the SNES. The success of Nintendo’s NES spurred Sega to push forward with the Genesis, starting what is most likely considered modern gaming’s first big console war. A wide variety of popular game mechanics that are considered normal practice in modern times (3D instead of 2D vantage points, the analog stick, vibrating game controllers) trace back to Nintendo.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |