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In the past 5 years or so, we have supposedly seen technological "advancements". I agree with that statement but I think that Sony, Nintendo and Sega have interpreted this entirely the wrong way.
It all really began when Amiga was released. An Amiga 1200 has 32bit, the same power as a PlayStation! Then, when the PlayStation was released, it was as though 32bit was the newest fad, and everyone has forgotten about the Amiga. Granted, the PlayStation has more advanced development kits, but it is still a sad fact that the Amiga is not congratulated for pioneering 32bit. You may of expected Sega to come up with this first but all they were able to pull out of their sleeve was the useless Sega DD, a 32bit disc operated system that coincides with the Mega Drive. Amiga deserve the credit but receive none. Then again, since Amiga went into liquidation, nobody would know where to delegate the accolades.
The PlayStation was a hit and Amiga was yesterday’s news. Amiga had been thrown out with yesterday’s garbage and Sony was left to pick up the pieces, and they did so with a very well executed plan. They mass marketed the PlayStation and hyped it like hell. Surprisingly, the critics were impressed and it was not penalized for over-hype. It sold like hotcakes and was easy to get hold of, until Christmas time, of course, where it was like gold dust.
When the Nintendo was slated for release in 1996, it has reasonable exposure but nothing to put the PlayStation in danger, or so Sony thought. The Nintendo 64 was said to run at 64bit, double the bit rate of the PlayStation, and that is when Sony woke up and smelt the stench of competition.
Game companies shouldn’t be too scared of competition, because like everything in this world, it generates better games, and a contest of “Can you top this?” – like antics.
I was not overly impressed with Ninty at first glance, because it didn’t seem clear to me that Ninty was using the full capabilities of the N64. Now, I see that. When you have amazing games like Perfect Dark and Goldeneye, you can’t go wrong. When the N64 came out, I was 8, I was naïve and I thought that graphics were everything. I was utterly wrong. Now I realise how dumb I was. I realise that gameplay is much more important than graphics.
Putting consoles aside, this is when the PC gaming market really began to heat up. Microsoft realised that this was an opportunity too good to miss. With such powerful PC’s, they had the consoles wars licked. They could beat Sony, Ninty and any other contenders that opted to step up to the button. They were superior in graphics, audio, gameplay and basically every other factor you can manage to muster from your minds.
Microsoft had Sony and Ninty eating firmly out of their hands and if gaming were banned tomorrow, Microsoft would have been the clear winner. Just when we had assumed that Sony and Ninty have blown Sega out of the water, they give it another shot with the Dreamcast. It was hyped to have 128bit capabilities, which was seen as an amazing feat. The graphics surpassed anything seen before on any console. PC had the most realistic-looking titles but Sega, by far, had the smoothest titles around. They had the slickest graphics ever seen and it was as though gamers were on Cloud 9. Unfortunately, the Dreamcast’s life was too short to make a huge impact. It reaped millions of pounds in losses but it gave great games to avid game players. Such games as Phantasy Star Online, Shenmue and many others, would not have been possible, had the Dreamcast not been released. It’s a tragedy that Sega’s final shot at the gaming industry has to go up in flames as it did, so very, very quickly, but that’s gaming for you. One minute, a console is there, the next, it’s been beaten and last week’s news. Sega are now left in the comfortable position of developing games, and ruining other consoles, not their own.
Nowadays, new consoles are coming out left and right. We have the X-Box and the Gamecube both vying for the attention of game-hungry fans. They are showcasing the best parts of their respective consoles, but what if both consoles end up being terrible? Some people have already said that Luigi’s Mansion is mediocre at best (but then you can’t judge it by one game), and people could end up wasting hundreds of hard-sought money on something that is very bad.
In a few months, all will be revealed and we will all be able to sleep safely in our beds, with our favourite console nestled under our TV in our living room, waiting for the next gaming masterpiece…or disaster.
It all really began when Amiga was released. An Amiga 1200 has 32bit, the same power as a PlayStation! Then, when the PlayStation was released, it was as though 32bit was the newest fad, and everyone has forgotten about the Amiga. Granted, the PlayStation has more advanced development kits, but it is still a sad fact that the Amiga is not congratulated for pioneering 32bit. You may of expected Sega to come up with this first but all they were able to pull out of their sleeve was the useless Sega DD, a 32bit disc operated system that coincides with the Mega Drive. Amiga deserve the credit but receive none. Then again, since Amiga went into liquidation, nobody would know where to delegate the accolades.
The PlayStation was a hit and Amiga was yesterday’s news. Amiga had been thrown out with yesterday’s garbage and Sony was left to pick up the pieces, and they did so with a very well executed plan. They mass marketed the PlayStation and hyped it like hell. Surprisingly, the critics were impressed and it was not penalized for over-hype. It sold like hotcakes and was easy to get hold of, until Christmas time, of course, where it was like gold dust.
When the Nintendo was slated for release in 1996, it has reasonable exposure but nothing to put the PlayStation in danger, or so Sony thought. The Nintendo 64 was said to run at 64bit, double the bit rate of the PlayStation, and that is when Sony woke up and smelt the stench of competition.
Game companies shouldn’t be too scared of competition, because like everything in this world, it generates better games, and a contest of “Can you top this?” – like antics.
I was not overly impressed with Ninty at first glance, because it didn’t seem clear to me that Ninty was using the full capabilities of the N64. Now, I see that. When you have amazing games like Perfect Dark and Goldeneye, you can’t go wrong. When the N64 came out, I was 8, I was naïve and I thought that graphics were everything. I was utterly wrong. Now I realise how dumb I was. I realise that gameplay is much more important than graphics.
Putting consoles aside, this is when the PC gaming market really began to heat up. Microsoft realised that this was an opportunity too good to miss. With such powerful PC’s, they had the consoles wars licked. They could beat Sony, Ninty and any other contenders that opted to step up to the button. They were superior in graphics, audio, gameplay and basically every other factor you can manage to muster from your minds.
Microsoft had Sony and Ninty eating firmly out of their hands and if gaming were banned tomorrow, Microsoft would have been the clear winner. Just when we had assumed that Sony and Ninty have blown Sega out of the water, they give it another shot with the Dreamcast. It was hyped to have 128bit capabilities, which was seen as an amazing feat. The graphics surpassed anything seen before on any console. PC had the most realistic-looking titles but Sega, by far, had the smoothest titles around. They had the slickest graphics ever seen and it was as though gamers were on Cloud 9. Unfortunately, the Dreamcast’s life was too short to make a huge impact. It reaped millions of pounds in losses but it gave great games to avid game players. Such games as Phantasy Star Online, Shenmue and many others, would not have been possible, had the Dreamcast not been released. It’s a tragedy that Sega’s final shot at the gaming industry has to go up in flames as it did, so very, very quickly, but that’s gaming for you. One minute, a console is there, the next, it’s been beaten and last week’s news. Sega are now left in the comfortable position of developing games, and ruining other consoles, not their own.
Nowadays, new consoles are coming out left and right. We have the X-Box and the Gamecube both vying for the attention of game-hungry fans. They are showcasing the best parts of their respective consoles, but what if both consoles end up being terrible? Some people have already said that Luigi’s Mansion is mediocre at best (but then you can’t judge it by one game), and people could end up wasting hundreds of hard-sought money on something that is very bad.
In a few months, all will be revealed and we will all be able to sleep safely in our beds, with our favourite console nestled under our TV in our living room, waiting for the next gaming masterpiece…or disaster.
Ok, cheers Strafy.
You do know that the "bit rating" is done by counting the pins in the main processor.
Yes, more "bits" mean that more complex calculations and more different colours can be shown but it's no more important than the RAM or graphics card or the processors frequency speed...
Sorry, just though I'd show off the stuff I've been learning in AS computing...
Yes, more "bits" mean that more complex calculations and more different colours can be shown but it's no more important than the RAM or graphics card or the processors frequency speed...
Sorry, just though I'd show off the stuff I've been learning in AS computing...
In the past 5 years or so, we have supposedly seen technological "advancements". I agree with that statement but I think that Sony, Nintendo and Sega have interpreted this entirely the wrong way.
It all really began when Amiga was released. An Amiga 1200 has 32bit, the same power as a PlayStation! Then, when the PlayStation was released, it was as though 32bit was the newest fad, and everyone has forgotten about the Amiga. Granted, the PlayStation has more advanced development kits, but it is still a sad fact that the Amiga is not congratulated for pioneering 32bit. You may of expected Sega to come up with this first but all they were able to pull out of their sleeve was the useless Sega DD, a 32bit disc operated system that coincides with the Mega Drive. Amiga deserve the credit but receive none. Then again, since Amiga went into liquidation, nobody would know where to delegate the accolades.
The PlayStation was a hit and Amiga was yesterday’s news. Amiga had been thrown out with yesterday’s garbage and Sony was left to pick up the pieces, and they did so with a very well executed plan. They mass marketed the PlayStation and hyped it like hell. Surprisingly, the critics were impressed and it was not penalized for over-hype. It sold like hotcakes and was easy to get hold of, until Christmas time, of course, where it was like gold dust.
When the Nintendo was slated for release in 1996, it has reasonable exposure but nothing to put the PlayStation in danger, or so Sony thought. The Nintendo 64 was said to run at 64bit, double the bit rate of the PlayStation, and that is when Sony woke up and smelt the stench of competition.
Game companies shouldn’t be too scared of competition, because like everything in this world, it generates better games, and a contest of “Can you top this?” – like antics.
I was not overly impressed with Ninty at first glance, because it didn’t seem clear to me that Ninty was using the full capabilities of the N64. Now, I see that. When you have amazing games like Perfect Dark and Goldeneye, you can’t go wrong. When the N64 came out, I was 8, I was naïve and I thought that graphics were everything. I was utterly wrong. Now I realise how dumb I was. I realise that gameplay is much more important than graphics.
Putting consoles aside, this is when the PC gaming market really began to heat up. Microsoft realised that this was an opportunity too good to miss. With such powerful PC’s, they had the consoles wars licked. They could beat Sony, Ninty and any other contenders that opted to step up to the button. They were superior in graphics, audio, gameplay and basically every other factor you can manage to muster from your minds.
Microsoft had Sony and Ninty eating firmly out of their hands and if gaming were banned tomorrow, Microsoft would have been the clear winner. Just when we had assumed that Sony and Ninty have blown Sega out of the water, they give it another shot with the Dreamcast. It was hyped to have 128bit capabilities, which was seen as an amazing feat. The graphics surpassed anything seen before on any console. PC had the most realistic-looking titles but Sega, by far, had the smoothest titles around. They had the slickest graphics ever seen and it was as though gamers were on Cloud 9. Unfortunately, the Dreamcast’s life was too short to make a huge impact. It reaped millions of pounds in losses but it gave great games to avid game players. Such games as Phantasy Star Online, Shenmue and many others, would not have been possible, had the Dreamcast not been released. It’s a tragedy that Sega’s final shot at the gaming industry has to go up in flames as it did, so very, very quickly, but that’s gaming for you. One minute, a console is there, the next, it’s been beaten and last week’s news. Sega are now left in the comfortable position of developing games, and ruining other consoles, not their own.
Nowadays, new consoles are coming out left and right. We have the X-Box and the Gamecube both vying for the attention of game-hungry fans. They are showcasing the best parts of their respective consoles, but what if both consoles end up being terrible? Some people have already said that Luigi’s Mansion is mediocre at best (but then you can’t judge it by one game), and people could end up wasting hundreds of hard-sought money on something that is very bad.
In a few months, all will be revealed and we will all be able to sleep safely in our beds, with our favourite console nestled under our TV in our living room, waiting for the next gaming masterpiece…or disaster.
It all really began when Amiga was released. An Amiga 1200 has 32bit, the same power as a PlayStation! Then, when the PlayStation was released, it was as though 32bit was the newest fad, and everyone has forgotten about the Amiga. Granted, the PlayStation has more advanced development kits, but it is still a sad fact that the Amiga is not congratulated for pioneering 32bit. You may of expected Sega to come up with this first but all they were able to pull out of their sleeve was the useless Sega DD, a 32bit disc operated system that coincides with the Mega Drive. Amiga deserve the credit but receive none. Then again, since Amiga went into liquidation, nobody would know where to delegate the accolades.
The PlayStation was a hit and Amiga was yesterday’s news. Amiga had been thrown out with yesterday’s garbage and Sony was left to pick up the pieces, and they did so with a very well executed plan. They mass marketed the PlayStation and hyped it like hell. Surprisingly, the critics were impressed and it was not penalized for over-hype. It sold like hotcakes and was easy to get hold of, until Christmas time, of course, where it was like gold dust.
When the Nintendo was slated for release in 1996, it has reasonable exposure but nothing to put the PlayStation in danger, or so Sony thought. The Nintendo 64 was said to run at 64bit, double the bit rate of the PlayStation, and that is when Sony woke up and smelt the stench of competition.
Game companies shouldn’t be too scared of competition, because like everything in this world, it generates better games, and a contest of “Can you top this?” – like antics.
I was not overly impressed with Ninty at first glance, because it didn’t seem clear to me that Ninty was using the full capabilities of the N64. Now, I see that. When you have amazing games like Perfect Dark and Goldeneye, you can’t go wrong. When the N64 came out, I was 8, I was naïve and I thought that graphics were everything. I was utterly wrong. Now I realise how dumb I was. I realise that gameplay is much more important than graphics.
Putting consoles aside, this is when the PC gaming market really began to heat up. Microsoft realised that this was an opportunity too good to miss. With such powerful PC’s, they had the consoles wars licked. They could beat Sony, Ninty and any other contenders that opted to step up to the button. They were superior in graphics, audio, gameplay and basically every other factor you can manage to muster from your minds.
Microsoft had Sony and Ninty eating firmly out of their hands and if gaming were banned tomorrow, Microsoft would have been the clear winner. Just when we had assumed that Sony and Ninty have blown Sega out of the water, they give it another shot with the Dreamcast. It was hyped to have 128bit capabilities, which was seen as an amazing feat. The graphics surpassed anything seen before on any console. PC had the most realistic-looking titles but Sega, by far, had the smoothest titles around. They had the slickest graphics ever seen and it was as though gamers were on Cloud 9. Unfortunately, the Dreamcast’s life was too short to make a huge impact. It reaped millions of pounds in losses but it gave great games to avid game players. Such games as Phantasy Star Online, Shenmue and many others, would not have been possible, had the Dreamcast not been released. It’s a tragedy that Sega’s final shot at the gaming industry has to go up in flames as it did, so very, very quickly, but that’s gaming for you. One minute, a console is there, the next, it’s been beaten and last week’s news. Sega are now left in the comfortable position of developing games, and ruining other consoles, not their own.
Nowadays, new consoles are coming out left and right. We have the X-Box and the Gamecube both vying for the attention of game-hungry fans. They are showcasing the best parts of their respective consoles, but what if both consoles end up being terrible? Some people have already said that Luigi’s Mansion is mediocre at best (but then you can’t judge it by one game), and people could end up wasting hundreds of hard-sought money on something that is very bad.
In a few months, all will be revealed and we will all be able to sleep safely in our beds, with our favourite console nestled under our TV in our living room, waiting for the next gaming masterpiece…or disaster.