Past Present and Future

2000 to Present

Part 3: Fighting Each Other

The Big 4

The big four is more than just a reference to metallica and co; to me it also sums up the consoles of the millennium.
These are the main competitors in the home gaming market, the company's that pulled through the crash of the 80's and are readying for battle, or at least readying you for battle against your friends.
So who are these horsemen four?

http://www.doseofmetal.com/2010/11/review-the-big-4-live-from-sofia-bulgaria-deluxe-box-set/

Let's start with the grandad, Sega.

Sega released a console called the Dreamcast in 1998 later released overseas in 1999. 
Although this was the last really popular machine Sega made for the overseas market the dreamcast was an on and off hit.Big games like Sonic adventure, a Sega made game, were massive hits along with Soul Calibur, another golden oldie from the 2000's(Birch, 2013)

http://sega.wikia.com/wiki/Dreamcast

My personal favourite has to be House of the Dead 2, an arcade game turned console, revived by Nintendo for the Wii. With some kind of loose but interesting plot you battle your way through houses, rooms and realistic environments, ones that seem to be of this world but against monsters that very much are not. The game, if you're gun happy enough, ends with the shocking discovery that some mad man has tried to wipe out mankind by releasing the hoards of zombies... shocking? not really but still a good laugh.

http://djboyali.weebly.com/the-house-of-the-dead-2.html

Is it a speaker? Is it a phone? No it's a PlayStation 2!

Sony's PlayStation 2 first appeared on the market in early 2000. The PS2 has a multitude of games, many cherished and vintage titles are still played today in the retro revival. Games like Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto and Street Fighter are still played today for the novelty or in cases like Fahrenheit, cult status (McCarthy, 2006).

http://www.officialplaystationmagazine.co.uk/2013/01/28/how-playstation-2-changed-the-world/

My personal favourite is Shadow of the Colossus. You enter the world of Wander, a young boy who has carried an ex damsel in distress(Mono) to a cursed part of the world, a place where the colossi lurk. The forbidden lands are home to a shrine, where a disembodied voice, Dormin, promises to return the soul to the dead. Wander in outrage of Mono being sacrificed for having a cursed destiny, steals an ancient sword, the only sword capable of killing the colossi. With Dormin's instructions Wander starts his quest to destroy the 16 idols of the shrine via killing the colossi and the game begins. As you play however you realise a little too late that you are in fact not the good guy, Dormin is not a deity but a demon held chained by the innocent colossi and is using Wander. I think the game is fantastic as it makes the player question if they are the good guy, is their intention more important? It stretches how far the Psyche will push to do the right thing. The final battle being at least a 20 minute all out struggle; many players feel the exhaustion that Wander must go through as he scales the last nigh impossible hurdle. Adding the breath taking beauty and quality for its time, the addition of puzzle solving to create intense battle experience, it's truly a lesser known gem among vintage games (Pewdiepie,2012).

In the green corner tonight... Microsoft and the Xbox, 2001. 

http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/5-things-next-gen-systems-need/xbox-original-image/

After being pitched to Bill Gates, the project to launch a competitor to the PlayStation 2 began. With Nvidia supplying better hardware, adding a savable hard drive and refining the modem feature of the Sega Dreamcast; the Xbox was designed to not just have graphics to match and out perform the PS2 but to do something new. The world of gaming was about to go live, online gaming on consoles took flight in 2002.

All that was needed was games, enter Halo. A first person shooter meets Sci-Fi game perfect for the performance the Xbox could offer and potential for online play. Halo not only became a mass selling game for its time but the perfect exclusive for the Xbox's release allowing it to break into the European market more efficiently than the PS2. However the lack of Japanese titles and overwhelming amounts of American development on new games meant that it isolated the Asian market and in Japan the Xbox was a flop.

http://www.ilovebees.com/

However Xbox did a good job of campaigns, advertisement and buying into games for the console. I love bees being one of the first viral advertisements for a game(Dyer, 2011).

http://crashbandicoot.ucoz.ru/publ/characters/main/crash_bandicoot_novyj_perevod/2-1-0-32

Personally my favourite was Crash Bandicoot, a game not exclusive but with a bright colourful art direction, and fantastic style. Throughout the game a certain Aztec/ Tiki Tiki feel is consistently upheld and proves very immersive. It's a game that to me proves the strength of childhood connections, I know many people that still own and play the games at 20+. That's the kind of game I want to be part of, timeless and loved; something that ten years down the line you pick up and brush off the dust for another whirl.   

http://gamesworldbodmin.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=85

The time has come to announce my personal favourite, the underdog, the Nintendo Game cube.

http://giphy.com/search/gamecube/2

Nintendo released the Game cube in 2002, an update for the ancient console that was the 64 and it was fantastic.

The main franchise wasn't left out at all. Mario Cart was a gripping and still going spin off from the classic Mario and Legend of Zelda was soon to take over the hearts of many, especially one Robin Williams.

However for me these are small fry compared to the holy grail of Pokemon games, Pokemon XD Gale of Darkness. This was the second  in Nintendo's attempts to make a 3D RPG aimed to introduce more adult content for the ageing but loyal fans. As you look through a completely new 3D world where wild Pokemon are rare and you must STEAL other trainers "shadow" Pokemon for your team, you quickly catch on to the theme. You must purify the shadowed hearts of all the Pokemon and defeat the nasty bad men who have imprisoned and tortured innocent Pokemon. Well we all knew it was never going to be deep but it was more than enough for any Pokemon fan I can assure you, it sells for more now than before and hasn't lost value as a game, so it can't be all bad. Unfortunately it wasn't as successful as Colosseum and no further Wii or Wii U games on this concept have been made.

What about the modern gaming in 2014 or the recent history that is the Xbox360 and PS3? Well to me the PS3 and Xbox360 are both equal and very popular game consoles, each have notable series on them, each have good systems; the Xbox is a better online system but the PS3 has more games that appeal to an Asian market. In all honesty I find the current battle more interesting and it brings up new competitors.

Arcade to console to pc to phone.

1) http://www.arcaderestoration.com/Content/My+Current+Arcade.aspx 2) http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/desktop-pc/3412579/pc-specialist-vanquish-xt680-review/ 3) http://gigaom.com/2011/12/05/windows-phone-is-an-xbox-360-video-remote-control/

Many people have already stopped buying consoles and haven't updated to the new xbox one or PS4 so one has to question is the battle over? 
In the 80s arcade games were booming and the open market for creating and releasing a game was huge. But as the rise of the PC came so did the crash of the arcade; games of better quality started appearing on your home computer, so why pay 20p a pop for something over something with a one time cost?
Of course as computer games got bigger game consoles went from fiction to fact. Now not only could you play games but you could have them on your TV with all the family. However as more options were created less interest was given to each one. By the 80's companies had invented themselves into an early grave. Only the fittest survived. Now however we have a different clash of the titans; long gone are the days of arcade Vs home. Now the battle rages on with PC Vs Console... or does it?

Personally I think PC may have this round but not the war as many iPhone and android games outsell in mass and some even out profit triple A titles like GTA5. Angry Birds profits currently mount over most PC or console games. This may be just the new kid on the block but he's brought his super soaker to play with.

We're onto the next fight, tonight it's Home gaming Vs phone gaming, social and immersive Vs cheap and novelty. Only time will tell.

http://nameofsport.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/boxing-gloves.html

Birch (2013) The top 25 Sega Dreamcast games [online] Den of Geek. Available from: http://www.denofgeek.com/games/sega-dreamcast/25026/the-top-25-sega-dreamcast-games [accessed 02/04/2014]

Campbell (2012). Are Consols Dead. [online] IGN Available from: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/03/15/are-consoles-dead. [accessed 02/04/14]

Dyer, (2011) The Life and Death of the Original Xbox [online] IGN. Available from: http://uk.ign.com/articles/2011/11/23/the-life-and-death-of-the-original-xbox [accessed 02/04/14]

McCarthy (2006) The History of PlayStation 2 [online] gamesindustry.biz. Available from: http://web.archive.org/web/20071011071905/http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=21241 [accessed 02/04/14]

Pewdiepie (2012)Shadow Of The Colossus - Playlist [online] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYH8WvNV1YEnVyjMQbFXuYwxi0RazMBo0 [Accessed 02/04/14]