Square Enix America, the creators of such great hits throughout the history of video gaming as Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, Star Ocean, just to name a few;
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Sunday, December 15, 2013
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Handheld gaming advances through the generations as well.
After 14 years of handheld gaming market dominance, Nintendo took the next step in the common era with the release of the Nintendo DS in November 2004 in North America.
The DS built on the Game Boy Advances correction to the monochrome deficit of the original Game Boy, building in color capabilities that Sega almost capitalized on during their competition bout, and took it even further.
It utilized a LCD screen with touch-screen capability, ahead of the current technology of phones by almost a decade! It also supported Wi-Fi capacity, so people could multi-play without the prior need to hook a wire connecting each other's systems physically together, as in the previous Game Boy.
The DS has had multiple upgraded versions throughout its reign, each one tweaking the prior in minor, yet significant ways.
The first upgrade was the DS Lite, which was sleeker and upgraded to brighter screens, yet still kept the same basic configurations of screen size and make, just being lighter and more portable.
The DSi basically was a larger version of the DS Lite.
Then came the DSi XL (Which I still use even now), which offered larger screens and more visual angles.
All 4 versions of the DS have sold a staggering 153.96 million units and has 1,826 games according to Nintendo's official site.
The DS built on the Game Boy Advances correction to the monochrome deficit of the original Game Boy, building in color capabilities that Sega almost capitalized on during their competition bout, and took it even further.
It utilized a LCD screen with touch-screen capability, ahead of the current technology of phones by almost a decade! It also supported Wi-Fi capacity, so people could multi-play without the prior need to hook a wire connecting each other's systems physically together, as in the previous Game Boy.
The DS has had multiple upgraded versions throughout its reign, each one tweaking the prior in minor, yet significant ways.
The first upgrade was the DS Lite, which was sleeker and upgraded to brighter screens, yet still kept the same basic configurations of screen size and make, just being lighter and more portable.
The DSi basically was a larger version of the DS Lite.
Then came the DSi XL (Which I still use even now), which offered larger screens and more visual angles.
All 4 versions of the DS have sold a staggering 153.96 million units and has 1,826 games according to Nintendo's official site.
Handhelds continued, Sega Game Gear tries to compete with the Game Boy.
Sega took its own bid for the handheld gaming market with its own version, the Game Gear. It released in Japan in 1990, North America and Europe in 1991 and Australia in '92.
It used the same processor as the Sega Genesis, and unlike the Game Boy, the Game Gear was actually in color!
Despite this great advancement, the Game Gear didn't do so well.
For starters, the price was much higher than the Game Boy, and Sega was behind Nintendo's release by 2 years.
Another downside to the Game Gear was that it ate batteries. Whereas the Game Boy ran on 4 AA batteries for upwards of 30 hours of life, the Game Gear took 6 batteries and would generally run out of charge within ~5 hours. All that processing power and color graphics came at a high power consumption cost.
Another set back was that Nintendo did not stagnate during this, and released their Game Boy Pocket, which was a smaller version of the original in order to further compete with their competition.
Sega's corporate tactics also signed the Game Gears failure. Sega was at the same time frame concentrating on its next-generation of consoles, the Sega CD and 32X consoles, and the Game Gear took a back-burner to this endeavor. Without the full support of corporate funding, the Game Gear couldn't keep up with the efforts of Nintendo.
Despite this early demise, Sega's Game Gear did have ~300 games produced for it, and sold 11 million units worldwide, however that wasn't even one-tenth the sales of their rival.
It used the same processor as the Sega Genesis, and unlike the Game Boy, the Game Gear was actually in color!
Despite this great advancement, the Game Gear didn't do so well.
For starters, the price was much higher than the Game Boy, and Sega was behind Nintendo's release by 2 years.
Another downside to the Game Gear was that it ate batteries. Whereas the Game Boy ran on 4 AA batteries for upwards of 30 hours of life, the Game Gear took 6 batteries and would generally run out of charge within ~5 hours. All that processing power and color graphics came at a high power consumption cost.
Another set back was that Nintendo did not stagnate during this, and released their Game Boy Pocket, which was a smaller version of the original in order to further compete with their competition.
Sega's corporate tactics also signed the Game Gears failure. Sega was at the same time frame concentrating on its next-generation of consoles, the Sega CD and 32X consoles, and the Game Gear took a back-burner to this endeavor. Without the full support of corporate funding, the Game Gear couldn't keep up with the efforts of Nintendo.
Despite this early demise, Sega's Game Gear did have ~300 games produced for it, and sold 11 million units worldwide, however that wasn't even one-tenth the sales of their rival.
The History of handheld game systems; Nintendo Game Boy.
Taking a step back from the consoles that hook into your television set, handheld gaming systems have also had their part in shaping video game history.
Starting with Nintendo and its Game Boy, handheld gaming has grown among the video game industry the same as consoles.
Game Boy was really the first successful system in this category. By 'hand-held', that term is used rather lightly. The original Game Boy was quite large and would honestly take easily both hands to play, but it was still a lot smaller than the consoles of the time, not to mention that tube-style television that was required for console-play.
The original Game Boy had a green monochrome screen, where the figures on the screen showed up as black pixels. It was released in April 1989 and lasted 14 years before being discontinued in 2003. That is a remarkably long time for one system to exist if you think about it in the computer entertainment industry.
The screen was a whopping 2.6 inches diagonally, as compared to the now common television set rivaling 64-86 inches. Can you imagine playing a game on such a tiny screen and enjoying it?? Well, we did enjoy it as kids when I'd play my friend's Game Boy.
(Picture retrieved from http://www.cyberiapc.com/vgg/nintendo_gameboy.htm )
Over the course of its lifespan, and that of the Game Boy Color, they combined to sell over 118 million units worldwide, and in its U.S. release, it sold its entire 1 million unit shipment in weeks.
(Kent, Steven L. (2001). The Ultimate History of Video Games (1st ed.). Roseville, CA: Prima Publishing. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4., p. 416. "According to an article in Time magazine, the one million Game Boys sent to the United States in 1989 met only half the demand for the product. That allotment sold out in a matter of weeks and its black and white" )
Game Boy had a library of over 800 games, with Tetris being the top-seller selling more than 30 million copies.
Starting with Nintendo and its Game Boy, handheld gaming has grown among the video game industry the same as consoles.
Game Boy was really the first successful system in this category. By 'hand-held', that term is used rather lightly. The original Game Boy was quite large and would honestly take easily both hands to play, but it was still a lot smaller than the consoles of the time, not to mention that tube-style television that was required for console-play.
The original Game Boy had a green monochrome screen, where the figures on the screen showed up as black pixels. It was released in April 1989 and lasted 14 years before being discontinued in 2003. That is a remarkably long time for one system to exist if you think about it in the computer entertainment industry.
The screen was a whopping 2.6 inches diagonally, as compared to the now common television set rivaling 64-86 inches. Can you imagine playing a game on such a tiny screen and enjoying it?? Well, we did enjoy it as kids when I'd play my friend's Game Boy.
Over the course of its lifespan, and that of the Game Boy Color, they combined to sell over 118 million units worldwide, and in its U.S. release, it sold its entire 1 million unit shipment in weeks.
(Kent, Steven L. (2001). The Ultimate History of Video Games (1st ed.). Roseville, CA: Prima Publishing. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4., p. 416. "According to an article in Time magazine, the one million Game Boys sent to the United States in 1989 met only half the demand for the product. That allotment sold out in a matter of weeks and its black and white" )
Game Boy had a library of over 800 games, with Tetris being the top-seller selling more than 30 million copies.
Nintendo returns to the console competition
After the Gamecube was released in 2002, and was relatively ineffective at wedging itself into the market shares of Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo took a second try at it with the Nintendo Wii.
The most unique part of the Wii was that it was more interactive than the systems prior to it. The controller can actually respond to being physically moved and allow players to swing the controller like a golf club, a baseball bat, a bowling ball or even a sword (in Dragon Quest Swords), granting a new sense of 'realism' to gaming. No more hitting the 'X' button to somehow kill the slime, now you actually are swinging at it and stabbing towards the screen with your controller!
Later in its timeframe, Nintendo realized that people were more conscious about getting fit and exercising, and with a controller that responds to movement already, why not go the next step and make fitness related games, hence came Wii Fit.
The folks at Nintendo really put innovation on a pedestal with their ideas with the Wii, and keeping a tight hold on their staple icons of Zelda and Mario Bros. made it that if you wanted to have a go with these all-time favorites, you needed to return to the Nintendo franchise to have access to them.
Nintendo Wii actually beat both Xbox 360 and PS3 in sales numbers worldwide, and in Dec. 2009 broke the sales record for a single month in the U.S, with their DS handheld device coming in 2nd for the month. (^ "Wii and DS thrash competition in US News". Eurogamer. January 14, 2010. Retrieved Nov. 24, 2013)
Wii has sold over 100.3 million units worldwide, with a game library consisting of over 1,200 games, but their network store also allows you to play games from older systems (NES, SNES and even Sega Genesis games) on the Wii, which brings it's totals to 1778 games (according to Nintendo Inc. Official Site) (http://www.nintendo.com/games/gameGuide accessed Nov. 24, 2013)
The most unique part of the Wii was that it was more interactive than the systems prior to it. The controller can actually respond to being physically moved and allow players to swing the controller like a golf club, a baseball bat, a bowling ball or even a sword (in Dragon Quest Swords), granting a new sense of 'realism' to gaming. No more hitting the 'X' button to somehow kill the slime, now you actually are swinging at it and stabbing towards the screen with your controller!
Later in its timeframe, Nintendo realized that people were more conscious about getting fit and exercising, and with a controller that responds to movement already, why not go the next step and make fitness related games, hence came Wii Fit.
The folks at Nintendo really put innovation on a pedestal with their ideas with the Wii, and keeping a tight hold on their staple icons of Zelda and Mario Bros. made it that if you wanted to have a go with these all-time favorites, you needed to return to the Nintendo franchise to have access to them.
Nintendo Wii actually beat both Xbox 360 and PS3 in sales numbers worldwide, and in Dec. 2009 broke the sales record for a single month in the U.S, with their DS handheld device coming in 2nd for the month. (^ "Wii and DS thrash competition in US News". Eurogamer. January 14, 2010. Retrieved Nov. 24, 2013)
Wii has sold over 100.3 million units worldwide, with a game library consisting of over 1,200 games, but their network store also allows you to play games from older systems (NES, SNES and even Sega Genesis games) on the Wii, which brings it's totals to 1778 games (according to Nintendo Inc. Official Site) (http://www.nintendo.com/games/gameGuide accessed Nov. 24, 2013)
Sony answers with the release of the Playstation 3
After Microsoft released the Xbox 360, Sony needed to improve too. The 360 was released in 2005, and later that year, Sony announced their new system at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Although, Sony still was not able to release the PS3 until the end of 2006, which did give Microsoft a definite edge on the market for more than a year.
However, the PS3 quickly caught back up, despite another large setback when it came to price of their new system, which at its release was a staggering $600 per system! Over time, they lowered their price and the system quickly caught on among their loyal fan-base.
The PS3 was the first gaming console to use Blu-Ray discs, which gave them an edge over the CD-Rom discs still widely used by the gaming industry. As well, it also had a fully built in hard drive to store and save games onto, where the Xbox 360 relied on an external hard drive, and all other systems prior to the PS3 relied on other various external memory capabilities.
As of today, the PS3 has sold over 80 million units worldwide, and had over 800 games released.
The Sixth Generation of Video Games draws to a close as Xbox 360 hits the scene.
Microsoft heralded the end of the "sixth generation" of video gaming as they released their upgraded Xbox 360 to the markets in 2005, which forced Sony to upgrade their own system shortly after.
The Xbox 360 was overall a very strong system, but there were quite a few bugs and problems with it, as anyone who ever fell victim to the dreaded "Red Lights of Doom" issue, denoted by the power switch flashing red instead of green like it was supposed to, usually because the processor going bad for any number of reasons.
Xbox 360 was the system I took with me to Iraq during my deployment, which gave me and my roommate multiple hours of zombie killing, monster killing mayhem to wind down after duty. It was while here that I first witnessed the aforementioned dilemma, probably in part due to the vast amounts of fine dust getting inside the system's processor.
Luckily, I had the extended warranty, and during leave got a replacement absolutely free! A recommendation I'd give to any who buy one of these systems as a precaution. GET THE SERVICE PLAN, the $20 is well-worth it for a console!
Granted the one I replaced the faulty one with has lasted about 3 years now and shows no signs of breaking anytime soon, but I wouldn't take the chance.
Again, X360 heralded the dawning of the 7th generation, forcing Sony's hand to upgrade beyond the PS2, leading to an overall, and rather vast upgrade to video game capabilities.
The PS2 and Xbox began dabbling in 3-D space, but the Xbox 360 and PS3 (Sony's answer to Microsoft's release) really pushed the envelope on the 3-D graphic spectrum, and really streamlined the over-the-net multiplayer capabilities more fully.
Xbox 360 is still having games released on it even today, until the new Xbox ONE fully phases out the old system, but as of date there have been around 960 games released on this platform, and has held strong to their market share for a good 8 years now, a rather long time when you compare it to most genres of the technology era, where things become generally obsolete within 2 years.
The Xbox 360 was overall a very strong system, but there were quite a few bugs and problems with it, as anyone who ever fell victim to the dreaded "Red Lights of Doom" issue, denoted by the power switch flashing red instead of green like it was supposed to, usually because the processor going bad for any number of reasons.
Xbox 360 was the system I took with me to Iraq during my deployment, which gave me and my roommate multiple hours of zombie killing, monster killing mayhem to wind down after duty. It was while here that I first witnessed the aforementioned dilemma, probably in part due to the vast amounts of fine dust getting inside the system's processor.
Luckily, I had the extended warranty, and during leave got a replacement absolutely free! A recommendation I'd give to any who buy one of these systems as a precaution. GET THE SERVICE PLAN, the $20 is well-worth it for a console!
Granted the one I replaced the faulty one with has lasted about 3 years now and shows no signs of breaking anytime soon, but I wouldn't take the chance.
Again, X360 heralded the dawning of the 7th generation, forcing Sony's hand to upgrade beyond the PS2, leading to an overall, and rather vast upgrade to video game capabilities.
The PS2 and Xbox began dabbling in 3-D space, but the Xbox 360 and PS3 (Sony's answer to Microsoft's release) really pushed the envelope on the 3-D graphic spectrum, and really streamlined the over-the-net multiplayer capabilities more fully.
Xbox 360 is still having games released on it even today, until the new Xbox ONE fully phases out the old system, but as of date there have been around 960 games released on this platform, and has held strong to their market share for a good 8 years now, a rather long time when you compare it to most genres of the technology era, where things become generally obsolete within 2 years.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Playstation's 2nd machine
Sony came back after more than 6 years of dominance with the original Play Station with the Playstation 2 (PS2) system.
The new system allowed for greater graphics and faster loading times over the original PS, and also began to touch the fully 3-dimensional capabilities that are now rampant in today's gaming industry.
The Playstation 2 beat Microsoft's Xbox to release by more than a year, and as such, commanded the market despite Xbox's capabilities. Sega tried to compete with the DreamCast system, and ceased production after only 3 years.
Playstation 2 lasted a staggering 12 years, going from March 2000 and finally discontinuing production altogether in December 2012.
During its reign, it had an impressive library of 1,850 games released on it.
One of my very favorite aspects of the PS2 was that it was 'backwards-compatible' with the original PS games, meaning you could play both PS2 and Playstation games on the same console. This led to only needing the one system, rather than a different system for every different generation of games out there.
This little, yet sought after capacity is one I really hope eventually comes back into existence in the near future. I am hoping that eventually Sony will make a all-inclusive system that can play any Playstation 1-4 title on one gaming system.
There is already similar systems out there for the more retro systems, combining SNES/NES/Genesis on one console. I own one of those myself for when I get the inkling to get beaten by Super Mario Bros. or Dragon Warrior 4.
Just a little side-note that I thought was cool. Here is a picture of one man's collection of all 1,850 PS2 games ever released still factory sealed!
Ahans 76 went to great trouble to collect every single game ever produced on PS2, intent on getting a factory-sealed version of every one for his collection, spending some $300 for an acceptable copy.
http://www.odditycentral.com/news/guy-collects-all-1850-playstation-2-games-leaves-them-sealed.html
The new system allowed for greater graphics and faster loading times over the original PS, and also began to touch the fully 3-dimensional capabilities that are now rampant in today's gaming industry.
The Playstation 2 beat Microsoft's Xbox to release by more than a year, and as such, commanded the market despite Xbox's capabilities. Sega tried to compete with the DreamCast system, and ceased production after only 3 years.
Playstation 2 lasted a staggering 12 years, going from March 2000 and finally discontinuing production altogether in December 2012.
During its reign, it had an impressive library of 1,850 games released on it.
One of my very favorite aspects of the PS2 was that it was 'backwards-compatible' with the original PS games, meaning you could play both PS2 and Playstation games on the same console. This led to only needing the one system, rather than a different system for every different generation of games out there.
This little, yet sought after capacity is one I really hope eventually comes back into existence in the near future. I am hoping that eventually Sony will make a all-inclusive system that can play any Playstation 1-4 title on one gaming system.
There is already similar systems out there for the more retro systems, combining SNES/NES/Genesis on one console. I own one of those myself for when I get the inkling to get beaten by Super Mario Bros. or Dragon Warrior 4.
Just a little side-note that I thought was cool. Here is a picture of one man's collection of all 1,850 PS2 games ever released still factory sealed!
http://www.odditycentral.com/news/guy-collects-all-1850-playstation-2-games-leaves-them-sealed.html
Sixth Generation of video games begins, Microsoft joins the scene
Microsoft jumped on the bandwagon of video game console development, confident that its past in computer operating system design would yield relevance and popularity to the obvious side-step into video game operating system production.
Microsoft was long before the monster dominant in PC operating system software since the late 70s and early 80s, competing nicely with Apple Software Inc. for decades prior.
Then in Nov. 15, 2001, Microsoft launched the Xbox, to compete with Sony's Playstation 2, which was released March the previous year, and Nintendo's GameCube, released September of 2001.
The Xbox was the first video game consoled offered by an American company since the Atari Jaguar, which ended production in 1996. Since then, all consoles were developed by Japanese subsidiaries (ie Sega, Nintendo, Sony)
Xbox originated its Xbox Live during this period to allow players to play games interactively with others via a broadband connection.
Halo 2 was by far the most popular game offered, selling 8 million copies. Using Xbox Live, players could compete together in a first person environment against other live human beings in digital form.
The original Xbox console sold 24.5 million units, and Xbox Live subscriptions since it's inception have reached 31 million. (according to Microsoft statistics)
It had a total of 478 authorized game titles produced on it, selling a total of 104 million copies over the life of the Xbox.
Microsoft was long before the monster dominant in PC operating system software since the late 70s and early 80s, competing nicely with Apple Software Inc. for decades prior.
Then in Nov. 15, 2001, Microsoft launched the Xbox, to compete with Sony's Playstation 2, which was released March the previous year, and Nintendo's GameCube, released September of 2001.
The Xbox was the first video game consoled offered by an American company since the Atari Jaguar, which ended production in 1996. Since then, all consoles were developed by Japanese subsidiaries (ie Sega, Nintendo, Sony)
Xbox originated its Xbox Live during this period to allow players to play games interactively with others via a broadband connection.
Halo 2 was by far the most popular game offered, selling 8 million copies. Using Xbox Live, players could compete together in a first person environment against other live human beings in digital form.
The original Xbox console sold 24.5 million units, and Xbox Live subscriptions since it's inception have reached 31 million. (according to Microsoft statistics)
It had a total of 478 authorized game titles produced on it, selling a total of 104 million copies over the life of the Xbox.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Video game history podcast
Here is a podcast I cohosted with Kevin Boyle, highlighting the hallmarks of video game industry throughout its history.
Video game highlights podcast
The history spans from Arcade skyrocketing through the "Golden Age of Video Games" and to the current release of PS4. Where will the video game industry be 10 years from now?
Video game highlights podcast
The history spans from Arcade skyrocketing through the "Golden Age of Video Games" and to the current release of PS4. Where will the video game industry be 10 years from now?
Video Game Consoles finally match the Arcade specs.
The emergence of the Sony Playstation, Sega Dreamcast, and Nintendo GameCube finally saw the in-home game console matching the superior processing power of Arcade games. This led to a rapid decline in Arcade goers, as the former patrons of the aforementioned group began to be able to get the same quality and gameplay value at home.
Why go out to the arcade if you can stay at home and play the same quality games on your own TV?
With this decline, Arcades were no longer viable social locations as they'd once been in the 70s and 80s. With fewer people going to arcade outlets, there's less reason to go to hang out with people, who aren't there.
Here is an article by Vancouver Video Games writer Jordan Rudek
I agree with him, I do miss the environment video arcades provided. The bells and whistles and 'otherworldly' feel is something that game consoles at home can never mimic, regardless of their graphics and gameplay.
Sure, there are a limited number of shops around most towns that are 'gathering places' for gamers to play on the shop's console, but its still not the same. Las Vegas still has full-scale arcades, as do Japan, where the video arcade is still seen as a social gathering place for gamers to compete and hangout, but as in large, the video arcade in the U.S. is pretty much extinct.
Why go out to the arcade if you can stay at home and play the same quality games on your own TV?
With this decline, Arcades were no longer viable social locations as they'd once been in the 70s and 80s. With fewer people going to arcade outlets, there's less reason to go to hang out with people, who aren't there.
Here is an article by Vancouver Video Games writer Jordan Rudek
I agree with him, I do miss the environment video arcades provided. The bells and whistles and 'otherworldly' feel is something that game consoles at home can never mimic, regardless of their graphics and gameplay.
Sure, there are a limited number of shops around most towns that are 'gathering places' for gamers to play on the shop's console, but its still not the same. Las Vegas still has full-scale arcades, as do Japan, where the video arcade is still seen as a social gathering place for gamers to compete and hangout, but as in large, the video arcade in the U.S. is pretty much extinct.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
ESRB instituted, the video game rating system is born
In 1994, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) was founded, in reaction mainly to the institution of violence in video games.
During this time, the arcade game Mortal Kombat grew very popular, and for the first time in mainstream video gaming and arcades, violence and blood shed had taken the spotlight, leading to a massive reaction among society. This new craze led to many psychological studies conducted on if violence in video games leads children to commit violence in reality.
Many studies were done on this topic, but there was never a clearly-defined statistical correlation between the two. However, society was concerned enough about this new bloodshed in games, namely in Mortal Kombat that it paved the way for a rating system to develop on par with the already instituted system on movies. (such as PG, PG-13, R, etc.)
That ratings board became the ESRB, which still exists today, and is now prominently displayed on all packaged games on all current systems that are both for retail and rental.
There are currently 8 rating categories in the ESRB to guide consumers to age appropriateness of the games.
These ratings are Early Childhood (EC), Kids to Adults (K-A), Everyone (E), Everyone 10+ (E10), Teen (T), Mature (M), Adults Only (Ao) and Rating Pending (RP).
Also on the package is a more detailed description of certain criteria that was used to determine and classify the rating level. (ie. Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violent themes)
The ESRB serves as guidance for parents and consumers as to what games are appropriate for what age groups.
To this day, ESRB ratings are not used to censor games, or even legally limit sale of Mature or Adults Only rated games to minors, however, the ESRB does work closely with retailers and renters of software about informing their customers about the rating system. Many retailers have generated their own policies against sales of Mature ESRB rated or above games to minors.
ESRB website ,
During this time, the arcade game Mortal Kombat grew very popular, and for the first time in mainstream video gaming and arcades, violence and blood shed had taken the spotlight, leading to a massive reaction among society. This new craze led to many psychological studies conducted on if violence in video games leads children to commit violence in reality.
Many studies were done on this topic, but there was never a clearly-defined statistical correlation between the two. However, society was concerned enough about this new bloodshed in games, namely in Mortal Kombat that it paved the way for a rating system to develop on par with the already instituted system on movies. (such as PG, PG-13, R, etc.)
That ratings board became the ESRB, which still exists today, and is now prominently displayed on all packaged games on all current systems that are both for retail and rental.
There are currently 8 rating categories in the ESRB to guide consumers to age appropriateness of the games.
These ratings are Early Childhood (EC), Kids to Adults (K-A), Everyone (E), Everyone 10+ (E10), Teen (T), Mature (M), Adults Only (Ao) and Rating Pending (RP).
Also on the package is a more detailed description of certain criteria that was used to determine and classify the rating level. (ie. Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violent themes)
The ESRB serves as guidance for parents and consumers as to what games are appropriate for what age groups.
To this day, ESRB ratings are not used to censor games, or even legally limit sale of Mature or Adults Only rated games to minors, however, the ESRB does work closely with retailers and renters of software about informing their customers about the rating system. Many retailers have generated their own policies against sales of Mature ESRB rated or above games to minors.
ESRB website ,
Sony enters the scene of Video Gaming consoles
The PlayStation quickly entered the scene as Sony's debut into the gaming industry market, and just as rapidly snatched a huge share of the market.
What a lot of people probably didn't know was that Sony began its design for Nintendo, prior to the release of the Super Nintendo system. Nintendo began looking into CD-ROM capabilities and its vast superior memory capacity as an option, but due to contractual failings, Nintendo gave up on the idea.
Sony didn't, however, and continued development of CD technology with video gaming.
The original design of the "PlayStation" would have included both a slot for Nintendo's cartridges as well as a processor for CD-rendered game software. (How Stuff Works, How PlayStation Works by Jeff Tyson)
This new technology allowed for game storage on disks to climb to 650 megabytes, which was incredible at the time. The capacity was so great in fact that most games designed on the PlayStation never reached the full-capacity of the technology.
Sony released the PSX (PlayStation) in Japan Dec. 3, 1994, in North America Sept. 9, 1995 and Europe and Australia in Nov. 15, 1995.
Nintendo and Sega tried to answer with releases of the Nintendo 64 and Sega Dreamcast, which did provide some competition, the Dreamcast also utilizing CD-technology, which Nintendo continued using cartridges, but Sony kept the stranglehold.
Sony estimated throughout its lifespan that 1 in 4 households in the U.S. owned a PSX, I'd supposed including the 2 that I owned. (One stayed at home with my parents, and I bought another one for when I moved out)
That part that I find most amusing is Nintendo had the opportunity to work alongside Sony to develop this technology that pretty much knocked Nintendo out of the in-home video game console market for several years (after releasing another bid with the GameCube, then several years later with their current Wii system), but because of contract issues, they signed their own downfall, and allowed Sony to get involved in the industry and swallow Nintendo's market hold.
Sony PSX had a game library consists of over 2,400 games!
here's a link to the article by Jeff Tyson with in depth specifications of the system
What a lot of people probably didn't know was that Sony began its design for Nintendo, prior to the release of the Super Nintendo system. Nintendo began looking into CD-ROM capabilities and its vast superior memory capacity as an option, but due to contractual failings, Nintendo gave up on the idea.
Sony didn't, however, and continued development of CD technology with video gaming.
The original design of the "PlayStation" would have included both a slot for Nintendo's cartridges as well as a processor for CD-rendered game software. (How Stuff Works, How PlayStation Works by Jeff Tyson)
This new technology allowed for game storage on disks to climb to 650 megabytes, which was incredible at the time. The capacity was so great in fact that most games designed on the PlayStation never reached the full-capacity of the technology.
Sony released the PSX (PlayStation) in Japan Dec. 3, 1994, in North America Sept. 9, 1995 and Europe and Australia in Nov. 15, 1995.
Nintendo and Sega tried to answer with releases of the Nintendo 64 and Sega Dreamcast, which did provide some competition, the Dreamcast also utilizing CD-technology, which Nintendo continued using cartridges, but Sony kept the stranglehold.
Sony estimated throughout its lifespan that 1 in 4 households in the U.S. owned a PSX, I'd supposed including the 2 that I owned. (One stayed at home with my parents, and I bought another one for when I moved out)
That part that I find most amusing is Nintendo had the opportunity to work alongside Sony to develop this technology that pretty much knocked Nintendo out of the in-home video game console market for several years (after releasing another bid with the GameCube, then several years later with their current Wii system), but because of contract issues, they signed their own downfall, and allowed Sony to get involved in the industry and swallow Nintendo's market hold.
Sony PSX had a game library consists of over 2,400 games!
here's a link to the article by Jeff Tyson with in depth specifications of the system
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
The Fifth Generation of video game consoles, Nintendo 64
Now we're up to the 5th generation of consoles which lasted from 1993-2002. This era was the beginning of in-home gaming consoles utilizing compact disc technology for video games. Before this, all games were produced using cartridges, which were both expensive to produce and limited in their storage capacity compared to the emerging CD technology.
Notable systems of the era were Sega Saturn, Sony Playstation, and Nintendo 64.
The Playstation was by far the market success story, with the Saturn and the Nintendo 64 losing market share to the new competition Sony.
The Nintendo 64 was far less successful than the Playstation, mainly because it still relied on cartridge technology, limiting its capacity to store information, in an age where game producers' developing needs were climbing astronomically.
It only saw 368 games released on it, in comparison to Playstation's 1100, as developers who used to support the older Nintendo systems cut down, and sometimes completely cut off production for the N64.
Though this drawback hit them in the beginning, the N64 is still held in high regards as the 10th best video game system ever made (IGN) and Time Magazine named awarded it the 1996 Machine of the Year Award.
Notable systems of the era were Sega Saturn, Sony Playstation, and Nintendo 64.
The Playstation was by far the market success story, with the Saturn and the Nintendo 64 losing market share to the new competition Sony.
The Nintendo 64 was far less successful than the Playstation, mainly because it still relied on cartridge technology, limiting its capacity to store information, in an age where game producers' developing needs were climbing astronomically.
It only saw 368 games released on it, in comparison to Playstation's 1100, as developers who used to support the older Nintendo systems cut down, and sometimes completely cut off production for the N64.
Though this drawback hit them in the beginning, the N64 is still held in high regards as the 10th best video game system ever made (IGN) and Time Magazine named awarded it the 1996 Machine of the Year Award.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Recap, and game library lists of the great systems we've covered so far!
As the title states, this is just a recap of the systems we've touched base on, as well as links to the vast libraries of games which came out on all of these systems during their multi-year reigns.
First off, we have the original Arcade games, there really are too many to include all of them, so I will just post the VAPS (Vintage Arcade Preservation Society) top-100 ranked games list URL:
http://www.arcade-museum.com/members/statistics/most-collected-videogames.php
Then came Magnavox Odyssey, which flopped before it really got started, but still should have a game library listed too. However, it was responsible for Pong's release to the masses, and the craze that followed:
http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg70-odyssey.htm#page=games
The Odyssey only had 28 games released on it before it flopped.
Next we go to the Atari 2600:
http://www.listal.com/list/complete-atari-2600-game-library
This link also provides great little tidbits of information on a few of the games.
Next, to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) (Famicom) I know this list is Wikipedia, but is a very complete list complete with release dates and developers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_Entertainment_System_games
Then under 16-bit revolution we had the Sega Genesis and Super NES:
Sega Genesis titles, which totaled a staggering 986 titles!
http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Sega_Genesis_games
Super NES games, there are some overlaps as developers for the first time began developing games for two consoles at once, 725 SNES games released in North America, according to GameFAQs:
http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Super_Nintendo_games
First off, we have the original Arcade games, there really are too many to include all of them, so I will just post the VAPS (Vintage Arcade Preservation Society) top-100 ranked games list URL:
http://www.arcade-museum.com/members/statistics/most-collected-videogames.php
Then came Magnavox Odyssey, which flopped before it really got started, but still should have a game library listed too. However, it was responsible for Pong's release to the masses, and the craze that followed:
http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg70-odyssey.htm#page=games
The Odyssey only had 28 games released on it before it flopped.
Next we go to the Atari 2600:
http://www.listal.com/list/complete-atari-2600-game-library
This link also provides great little tidbits of information on a few of the games.
Next, to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) (Famicom) I know this list is Wikipedia, but is a very complete list complete with release dates and developers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_Entertainment_System_games
Then under 16-bit revolution we had the Sega Genesis and Super NES:
Sega Genesis titles, which totaled a staggering 986 titles!
http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Sega_Genesis_games
Super NES games, there are some overlaps as developers for the first time began developing games for two consoles at once, 725 SNES games released in North America, according to GameFAQs:
http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Super_Nintendo_games
The 16-bit revolution
Sega Genesis proved to be the first main competitor to Nintendo's stranglehold on the market. While Nintendo still was focused almost primarily on keeping their NES developers on board, Sega Genesis took the chance to upgrade the market's expectations.
NES was a rather good 8-bit system, but the Genesis boasted 16-bit technology as well as a staggering 7.2 MHz processing power. In 1989 they launched, and quickly gobbled up Nintendo's former market share wresting Nintendo's 7-year dominance over the video game console market.
Here's a very in-depth article about the rise of the Sega Genesis:
http://classicgaming.gamespy.com/View.php?view=ConsoleMuseum.Detail&id=36&game=11
Nintendo finally answered the 16-bit demand with their release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in late 1991, almost two years after Sega Genesis's emergence. The SNES was slow to gather developers of games for their new system, and Sega continued its dominance in the 16-bit realm for another 2 years. In 1993, Nintendo finally closed the gap in regards to developers for their system, but not soon enough to weaken Sega's hold on the market.
Through 1994-97, there was a huge battle between both video game superpowers over dominance, with Sega retaining the upper-hand for the greater portion of the Genesis's almost eight year existence.
Other resources found during research:
http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/Super_NES
NES was a rather good 8-bit system, but the Genesis boasted 16-bit technology as well as a staggering 7.2 MHz processing power. In 1989 they launched, and quickly gobbled up Nintendo's former market share wresting Nintendo's 7-year dominance over the video game console market.
Here's a very in-depth article about the rise of the Sega Genesis:
http://classicgaming.gamespy.com/View.php?view=ConsoleMuseum.Detail&id=36&game=11
Nintendo finally answered the 16-bit demand with their release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in late 1991, almost two years after Sega Genesis's emergence. The SNES was slow to gather developers of games for their new system, and Sega continued its dominance in the 16-bit realm for another 2 years. In 1993, Nintendo finally closed the gap in regards to developers for their system, but not soon enough to weaken Sega's hold on the market.
Through 1994-97, there was a huge battle between both video game superpowers over dominance, with Sega retaining the upper-hand for the greater portion of the Genesis's almost eight year existence.
Other resources found during research:
http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/Super_NES
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
The revival of the in-home video gaming systems.
After Atari and Intelivision nearly died and marked the ultimate demise of the video gaming franchise, out of the ashes emerged a new spark of life.
Nintendo [Famicom (Family Computer)], which began as a Japanese card manufacturer took the leap to practically single-handedly revive the video game console industry with the establishment of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
In 1983, it released this system under the Famicom nominer, and later released the NES in the U.S., selling a total of 62 million units! This figure of sales was despite just a few years prior marked the single largest crash in the industry's history.
In 1985, Nintendo released what soon became the staple icon of its franchise, Super Mario Bros. which sold over 40 million copies, and held the title for most sales of any video game title until 2008. My math isn't that great, but I figured that span of time (with the aid of a scientific calculator, mind you) as 23 years. That's quite a span of time to hold such a title. It exceeds the amount of time Mike Tyson held the Heavyweight boxing title, both World Wars combined, and all the conflicts the U.S. has been involved in within the Middle East since Desert Storm.
Not bad considering. The design of the system still has components of it that still live on to this very day.
The controller, for instance. Controllers on the current PS3 and PS4 systems as well as Microsoft's X-Box systems still mimic the basic layout of the NES controller. Both of these "new and improved" systems still have the directional keypad on the left side, with the buttons on the right. The Start and Select buttons still exist even today, and are placed, you guessed it, in the center of the controller. And they still are designed to fit in a two-handed grip comfortably.
Granted, controllers now have overcome the dilemma of left-thumb video game blisters/calluses, which were the badge of shame and tell-tale sign of hard-core videogamers, and made it much more difficult for us to come up with clever excuses of why we weren't able to finish our homework over the weekend... You know as well as I the reason it didn't get finished!
The NES dominated the markets for a staggering five years, and in that time accumulated a library of over 500 games, including some classics that go hand-in-hand with video game knowledge even today: The Legend of Zelda (which laid the foundation of the RPG gaming genre), Super Mario Bros., Excite Bike, Tecmo Bowl (Pre-Madden days!), Metroid, and so many others.
Another neat factoid:
In a study done at the time showed children were as or more familiar with Mario as with Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny. (Nintendo's corporate history page: http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Corporate/Nintendo-History/Nintendo-History-625945.html
An article revolving around the 30th anniversary of the system which revived the nearly deceased video gaming industry:
http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/15/nintendo-famicom-30th-anniversary-nes/
Again, the video game industry was recovered from the fate of so many ventures who rise and fall throughout the hazardous realm of commerce, by a Japanese playing card manufacturer!
Here is an interesting timeline I found in my research.
Nintendo [Famicom (Family Computer)], which began as a Japanese card manufacturer took the leap to practically single-handedly revive the video game console industry with the establishment of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
In 1985, Nintendo released what soon became the staple icon of its franchise, Super Mario Bros. which sold over 40 million copies, and held the title for most sales of any video game title until 2008. My math isn't that great, but I figured that span of time (with the aid of a scientific calculator, mind you) as 23 years. That's quite a span of time to hold such a title. It exceeds the amount of time Mike Tyson held the Heavyweight boxing title, both World Wars combined, and all the conflicts the U.S. has been involved in within the Middle East since Desert Storm.
Not bad considering. The design of the system still has components of it that still live on to this very day.
The controller, for instance. Controllers on the current PS3 and PS4 systems as well as Microsoft's X-Box systems still mimic the basic layout of the NES controller. Both of these "new and improved" systems still have the directional keypad on the left side, with the buttons on the right. The Start and Select buttons still exist even today, and are placed, you guessed it, in the center of the controller. And they still are designed to fit in a two-handed grip comfortably.
Granted, controllers now have overcome the dilemma of left-thumb video game blisters/calluses, which were the badge of shame and tell-tale sign of hard-core videogamers, and made it much more difficult for us to come up with clever excuses of why we weren't able to finish our homework over the weekend... You know as well as I the reason it didn't get finished!
The NES dominated the markets for a staggering five years, and in that time accumulated a library of over 500 games, including some classics that go hand-in-hand with video game knowledge even today: The Legend of Zelda (which laid the foundation of the RPG gaming genre), Super Mario Bros., Excite Bike, Tecmo Bowl (Pre-Madden days!), Metroid, and so many others.
Another neat factoid:
In a study done at the time showed children were as or more familiar with Mario as with Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny. (Nintendo's corporate history page: http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Corporate/Nintendo-History/Nintendo-History-625945.html
An article revolving around the 30th anniversary of the system which revived the nearly deceased video gaming industry:
http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/15/nintendo-famicom-30th-anniversary-nes/
Again, the video game industry was recovered from the fate of so many ventures who rise and fall throughout the hazardous realm of commerce, by a Japanese playing card manufacturer!
Here is an interesting timeline I found in my research.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Back to the beginning, a blast to the past where it all started, the Arcades!
As the title insinuates, where best to start than at the beginning of the popular boom of video gaming.
Arcade halls were highly successful and popular all the way through the 1980s, but what you might not remember or realize is the Arcade-version entertainment really first started in the 1920s with old midway style amusement centers. These centers provided the foundation for arcade centers of later years, with ball tosses, strength tests and shooting accuracy games.
This sparked a few other game developers to make their own versions, and Taito released a sports game using the same general settings called Crown Soccer Special.
Out of this era, we got the classic game Duck Hunt, released by Sega in 1969, and reintroduced in the Nintendo Entertainment Systems dual game Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt.
Arcade halls were highly successful and popular all the way through the 1980s, but what you might not remember or realize is the Arcade-version entertainment really first started in the 1920s with old midway style amusement centers. These centers provided the foundation for arcade centers of later years, with ball tosses, strength tests and shooting accuracy games.
In the 1930s saw the emergence of pinball machines, which still exist as a staple today. Granted, the pinball machines back then were nothing as glamorous as the ones of todays. They didn't have any bells, whistles, flashing lights, etc., but they did lay the foundation for current pinball machines.
Then in 1966, the next breakthrough of video gaming broke with the familiar video gaming namesake, Sega, led this charge. They developed Electro-mechanical games with the game Periscope, which was a submarine simulation using a light gun and mechanical waves that simulated a sinking ship when a hit was scored.
This sparked a few other game developers to make their own versions, and Taito released a sports game using the same general settings called Crown Soccer Special.
Out of this era, we got the classic game Duck Hunt, released by Sega in 1969, and reintroduced in the Nintendo Entertainment Systems dual game Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt.
This was merely the beginning though, and the 1980s, also known as the "Golden Age of Arcades."
Over the next decade, Arcades saw a booming increase in popularity with great classic titles as Pac-Man and Spaced Invaders, just to name a few. Arcade establishments popped up in shopping malls, convenience stores and even entire arcade shops on some street corners.
By 1981, the arcade video gaming industry exceeded $8 billion in the U.S.
Pac-Man alone was a blockbuster success, in and of itself.
"Estimates counted 7 billion coins that by 1982 had been inserted into some 400,000 Pac Man machines worldwide, equal to one game of Pac Man for every person on earth. US domestic revenues from games and licensing of the Pac Man image for T-shirts, pop songs, to wastepaper baskets, etc. exceeded $1 billion." according to Kao, John J. (1989). Entrepreneurship, creativity & organization: text, cases & readings. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. p. 45. ISBN 0-13-283011-6.
For a neat chart of arcade games and their past performance in a ranking go to:
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
The history of in-home video game systems
Most members of the classic retro video gaming culture of today know about the Nintendo, Sega and Playstation of the past, but here's a website that goes even beyond that. Time Magazine does a blast from the past to recap even earlier additions to the video game world prior to the video game crash of 1983, which nearly killed the video game in-home console industry in its wake.
http://content.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2029221,00.html
I remember playing the Intelivision at my cousins place, but couldn't for the life of me put a name to what the system was called. I used to play the sports montage on it, namely the baseball game. You'd put the game card inside the controller, and based on the icon on the card designating the player you'd want to throw the ball to or control, you'd push the button underneath the 'game card'. It was a neat idea in my opinion.
Like many families in middle-class America, my parents owned an Atari 2600 system with a variety of game cartridges. Man, how games used to be is amazing to say the least. We used to be satisfied and even thrilled with the Burger-Time or Donkey Kong style graphics made up of VERY noticeable pixels. Your character was a series of squares put together in some semblance of order, with different clashing colors to denote clothes and such. Ah, the good ol' days.
Then came the Nintendo Entertainment System into our home. We thought we were in heaven with games like Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt (although often times I lost bullets on the next round from trying to shoot the dog for laughing at me), Legend of Zelda, Bomberman and Duck Tales. I even now sometimes go back to play Super Mario Brothers and realize just how freaking hard that game was! How could I play is so well and even beat the entire game as a kid?
Well, Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis came after, and from then on I tended to have enough spending cash to buy both systems. That was the only way back then to get the best games, as some games were only made on Sega, and others only on Nintendo. Alas, to think that we now describe Super Nintendo and the Genesis as "retro games" and I was a teenager when those two systems were in their prime.
This site does well in going even further back than my own lifetime and experience to some of the predecessors even to the Playstation and Nintendo even. We've all heard of Pong, but there was actually video game life prior to Pong!
Feel free to post any comments, negative positive or otherwise on this blog. All additions are welcome, and feel free to feed this blog to your other friends who used to live in the closet of Nintendo video gamers of the "retro age."
http://content.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2029221,00.html
I remember playing the Intelivision at my cousins place, but couldn't for the life of me put a name to what the system was called. I used to play the sports montage on it, namely the baseball game. You'd put the game card inside the controller, and based on the icon on the card designating the player you'd want to throw the ball to or control, you'd push the button underneath the 'game card'. It was a neat idea in my opinion.
Like many families in middle-class America, my parents owned an Atari 2600 system with a variety of game cartridges. Man, how games used to be is amazing to say the least. We used to be satisfied and even thrilled with the Burger-Time or Donkey Kong style graphics made up of VERY noticeable pixels. Your character was a series of squares put together in some semblance of order, with different clashing colors to denote clothes and such. Ah, the good ol' days.
Then came the Nintendo Entertainment System into our home. We thought we were in heaven with games like Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt (although often times I lost bullets on the next round from trying to shoot the dog for laughing at me), Legend of Zelda, Bomberman and Duck Tales. I even now sometimes go back to play Super Mario Brothers and realize just how freaking hard that game was! How could I play is so well and even beat the entire game as a kid?
Well, Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis came after, and from then on I tended to have enough spending cash to buy both systems. That was the only way back then to get the best games, as some games were only made on Sega, and others only on Nintendo. Alas, to think that we now describe Super Nintendo and the Genesis as "retro games" and I was a teenager when those two systems were in their prime.
This site does well in going even further back than my own lifetime and experience to some of the predecessors even to the Playstation and Nintendo even. We've all heard of Pong, but there was actually video game life prior to Pong!
Feel free to post any comments, negative positive or otherwise on this blog. All additions are welcome, and feel free to feed this blog to your other friends who used to live in the closet of Nintendo video gamers of the "retro age."
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Female gamers in the video game industry.
As promised, here's a little tidbit about the female gamer, and how the video game industry is finally starting to see this sector that makes up slightly over half the U.S. population as a potential market share base.
The gaming industry even 6 years ago was seen predominantly as a male-based sector, but lately video game producers are beginning to finally target and be concerned with female gamers. For the longest time, the female gamer did not "exist", although I am certain there were girls out there who did play and enjoy video games. Society as a whole did not fathom a girl playing video games, that would just be weird after all.
But lately, the emergence of the female gamer has been a very real and tangible thing, with girls and women openly starting to "come out of the box" so to speak, and embracing that which used to be hidden behind closed doors.
As far as me, being a guy, I think this new revelation is a very good thing for the industry. It forces video game developers to broaden their spectrum when it comes to producing concepts to video games to try to capture this "new" market.
You are beginning to see stronger female protagonists, and, in certain cases, antagonists. Another benefit women are tending to see is female characters which are a bit more clothed. There are not as many female characters who you'd be more likely to see in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Calendar, but now they can be a character girls can look up to. Also in some cases, they are characters even guy gamers can respect too.
I believe the video game industry has got their mind heading in the right direction, developing more games for girls to play with their significant other in multiplayer mode. Not only shooters that have always been seen predominantly as a "guy thing", but now even RPGs (Role-Playing Games) are taking on more of a multiplayer aspect, and not simply in the MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) spectrum, but on console games. This is very successful, and was mostly apparent in the Tales series by Bandai Namco who has been developing 4-player potential RPGs for years now.
Even the recent release of Diablo III has a multiplayer function where you can play with your family or as a couple. No more are the days where the girl is a spectator role as their male counterpart plays their way through a game.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Introduction
Greetings all you vintage video gaming fans! This blog is started out as a class assignment requirement, but I do not believe it will end just as that.
I've played video games all the way back to the Atari 2600 and 2200 days, and grew up with the regular Nintendo Entertainment System. The gaming systems back then used to have a much longer lifespan than they do now. The NES was dominant on the market for almost a decade. (1985-1991, according the the Nintendo Corporate webpage) Wow! 6 years of just one system on the market. The original NES stuck around for a couple years later. I for one know of one game with a copyright date of 1992 (Dragon Warrior IV) that I still play to this day.
There is something to say about a game that is over 20 years old still having great appeal even today! Sure, the graphics are very primitive, but the gameplay itself was revolutionary.
Atari really started it off however. Before the game console introduced by Atari, when you'd want to go play a video game meant a physical trip to an arcade. Normal people couldn't afford the massive gaming units, much less could fit them inside their house. A garage only has so much space when you park your car in there.
Atari solved this dilemma by producing a system roughly the size of a current day DVD player that could be hooked up to your television set. Then you could play any number of games that came on cartridges about the size of a common era Ipad. A much better solution to having a single arcade game taking up nearly the same size as a full-sized entertainment center, and in some cases an entire couch!
Granted, looking back on it now, the graphics of these two systems were very limited, but they still revolutionized an industry that is now one of the most lucrative industries in the world.
I plan to guide all of you through the progression of the process we are now at with the new generation of the video gaming world. How video gaming is now an accepted and often celebrated culture; a stark contrast to the past viewpoints of video game nerds/geeks. How video games have permeated into movies and television, and you can't forget: the icons that still survive through these decades as staples that every video game "geek" can't be worth his salt without knowing about. Video gaming pervasiveness into the OTHER gender, namely the female gamer as well as any other tidbits of interesting things I can find and condense here in this one blog post. A one-stop shop for video game enthusiasts and the formerly endeared "geeks."
Enjoy the trip through time and witness with me throughout the decades, from the arcades that would eat away an entire roll of quarters in a single afternoon to the common era with games that are as open-ended as a real jaunt through a post-apocalyptic landscape invaded by zombies and bandits.
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