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Now I know you're all going to rebuke me for the length of this but it was impossible for me to make it any shorter without cutting out some important sections. So here it goes.
Back in the old ages of video game consoles, when the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis were running the show in the console world, a little competition began to spark up in the world of video games under the name of the personal computer, which had been around for quite a while, but with gaming potential just now being realized. Around this time, PC games were being released with graphics unmatched by console titles around the different systems. PC games were amazing console gamers around the globe, surpassing them to a point that many people flocked away from consoles. All of a sudden, a machine once not thought of as gaming hardware had gotten the jump on the people of Sega and Nintendo that had been around for years. The console industry never lost its steam but it was the computer industry, with Microsoft's Windows programs leading the way, that was slowing them down.
One major advantage that PCs had on the consoles those days is that they were constantly being upgraded, at a pace that Nintendo and Sega could by no means catch up. Everyone, I'm sure, has heard the cliché "A new computer is obsolete once you open the box," and back in those days, this was true. They were being upgraded faster than anyone could have imagined with better games being released everyday with even more impressive visuals. While the console industry was left in the dust only waiting for an overhauling upgrade every few years, PC technology was booming. The PC looked like it was going to destroy the console world forever, but things began to look a little better for
the console developers.
Of course, each side had individual advantages. The hardware of the computers themselves ranked extremely expensive, while your typical console was moderately cheap. At about this time, PC games and console games were about the same price, but later in the cycle between these two, the price of console games grew and surpassed that of the PC games. Another thing that restricted the sales of PC games is that PC's revolve on hard drive, and once that hard drive is full, no more games can be put on it, while how ever many console games you buy is solely dependent on how much cash you possess. Of course, then consoles received a major overhaul...
In 1995, Sega released another system, The Sega Saturn, and entertainment developer Sony jumped on the console bandwagon releasing their Playstation. While the Saturn ended up bombing with unsuccessful sales, Playstation sales were booming and the console industry never looked stronger. Nintendo followed up Sega and Sony's releases with the highly-successful Nintendo 64, which presented even better looking games than the Playstation. The Nintendo 64 also took the advantage and stepped up from only allowing two players to play a game at once, to four. This was where four-player gaming hit its height. Other than that, it had seemed that, visually, the consoles had taken a major step closer to
being at the point with their PC competitors. But the PC was still winning the war in graphics, as new upgrades were made everyday, with the Windows 95 operating system, and Intel putting processors in computers that could do outstanding things. But the console industry did remain in the game. Once again, though, the PC people had another pitch to throw at the budding consoles.
The Information Superhighway had begun making news all over the nation as the newest form of communication, and the most amazing technology released in the world today. It actually let people send and receive visual information over phone lines at break-neck speed, even allowing one person and another to have a chat conversation typing with their keyboards very similar to a telephone conversation to anyone across the globe, and without long distance telephone charges. Obviously, this new rage in technology for the PC's known commonly as the Internet was going to have an impact on the world of video gaming, somehow, and that it did, in a very big way. Online gaming had begun, and all of a sudden, large numbers of people worldwide could play each other in any game they could imagine without even having to be in the same room like the consoles required you to do. More successful versions of these online games have been the first person shooters like Jedi Knight and Half-Life, and the Real Time Strategy games like Starcraft and Age of Empires. Obviously, the home consoles could in no way at this point take advantage of this online world, and it almost seemed that the PC's would have a jump on them forever. But obviously this is not the case.
Of course, this happens to be where we are in the present, and the future presents how the consoles are going to catch these PC's. The three new 128-Bit next generation consoles, Sony's Playstation 2, Microsofts Xbox , and Nintendo's GameCube; all present features that may lead them to match the world of PC gaming. Particularly Nintendo's GameCube has what it takes to match up with the PC's; even with as little as we have seen of the technology. All of these consoles look to be very promising in how they match up with the PC's.
Yes, finally, it seems that the consoles have matched if not surpassed PC games in terms of graphics, for now, at least. Just looking at the demo that Saffire showed off, even if it was not run exactly on the GameCube hardware, is an image to behold. The game is, obviously, the popular Rainbow Six franchise, and judging by the demo, the game looks visually equal to its popular PC online counterpart. The game is stunning in terms of graphics and lighting effects so far, and games on the Playstation 2 look just as stunning. For the time being, the PC's graphical supremacy will be over.
Of course, the PC industry's other advantage was countered by the console companies as well, and the Internet was finally be brought to the consoles. The Playstation 2 does not include a modem (as I’m sure you know) but will be selling it separately, and have already planned their online network. Nintendo, as well, has planned their online network and hope to have it ready by launch, but there is no word on whether to modem will be built-in with the system or not. And, of course, with online capabilities, games are needed, and with Rainbow Six already "announced" and Nintendo planning a huge online network, you can be sure that Nintendo will have the stuff it needs for December of 2001 when it comes to the world.
Of course, I can't talk about the world of PC and console gaming unless I bring up Microsoft's splash, the up and coming X-Box. The X-Box is basically a PC and a home console in one. The console promises that it will have easy Internet access, plus PC to X-Box conversions should be able to be done with ease. Bill Gates' little PC-console hybrid powerhouse is proposed to be able to blow competition away, with a release planned for just about the same time as the GameCube. With as little as we've seen of the console, it is truly hard to tell, but the idea of a PC-console hybrid really does show how the two originally different worlds of the PC and the console have really come together over the
years.
Little side note that I found amusing – Microsofts leading spokesperson said in a recent press conference that the X-box is as powerful as a nuclear reactor… errrrr…. Yeah…. right
The PC and the consoles were originally very different, with numerous people faithful to only one side, and others just trying to get the best of both worlds. The PC's offered plenty more than the consoles graphics and multiplayer options, but the home consoles thrived and are still thriving today, when the two worlds are about to collide. With a new breed of consoles soon to be released, with one from Sony already out, the PC and console gaming mediums are moving toward the same future. With online gaming and improved graphics coming to the home consoles, the PC-console mixture in Gates' X-Box, and the ease of PC to console game conversions on all types of hardware, the two worlds are now basically the same. No more will there be strict PC gamers and strict console gamers, as there once were, because the two mediums will have merged into one. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome the best gaming the world has had to offer to date.
Back in the old ages of video game consoles, when the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo, and Sega Genesis were running the show in the console world, a little competition began to spark up in the world of video games under the name of the personal computer, which had been around for quite a while, but with gaming potential just now being realized. Around this time, PC games were being released with graphics unmatched by console titles around the different systems. PC games were amazing console gamers around the globe, surpassing them to a point that many people flocked away from consoles. All of a sudden, a machine once not thought of as gaming hardware had gotten the jump on the people of Sega and Nintendo that had been around for years. The console industry never lost its steam but it was the computer industry, with Microsoft's Windows programs leading the way, that was slowing them down.
One major advantage that PCs had on the consoles those days is that they were constantly being upgraded, at a pace that Nintendo and Sega could by no means catch up. Everyone, I'm sure, has heard the cliché "A new computer is obsolete once you open the box," and back in those days, this was true. They were being upgraded faster than anyone could have imagined with better games being released everyday with even more impressive visuals. While the console industry was left in the dust only waiting for an overhauling upgrade every few years, PC technology was booming. The PC looked like it was going to destroy the console world forever, but things began to look a little better for
the console developers.
Of course, each side had individual advantages. The hardware of the computers themselves ranked extremely expensive, while your typical console was moderately cheap. At about this time, PC games and console games were about the same price, but later in the cycle between these two, the price of console games grew and surpassed that of the PC games. Another thing that restricted the sales of PC games is that PC's revolve on hard drive, and once that hard drive is full, no more games can be put on it, while how ever many console games you buy is solely dependent on how much cash you possess. Of course, then consoles received a major overhaul...
In 1995, Sega released another system, The Sega Saturn, and entertainment developer Sony jumped on the console bandwagon releasing their Playstation. While the Saturn ended up bombing with unsuccessful sales, Playstation sales were booming and the console industry never looked stronger. Nintendo followed up Sega and Sony's releases with the highly-successful Nintendo 64, which presented even better looking games than the Playstation. The Nintendo 64 also took the advantage and stepped up from only allowing two players to play a game at once, to four. This was where four-player gaming hit its height. Other than that, it had seemed that, visually, the consoles had taken a major step closer to
being at the point with their PC competitors. But the PC was still winning the war in graphics, as new upgrades were made everyday, with the Windows 95 operating system, and Intel putting processors in computers that could do outstanding things. But the console industry did remain in the game. Once again, though, the PC people had another pitch to throw at the budding consoles.
The Information Superhighway had begun making news all over the nation as the newest form of communication, and the most amazing technology released in the world today. It actually let people send and receive visual information over phone lines at break-neck speed, even allowing one person and another to have a chat conversation typing with their keyboards very similar to a telephone conversation to anyone across the globe, and without long distance telephone charges. Obviously, this new rage in technology for the PC's known commonly as the Internet was going to have an impact on the world of video gaming, somehow, and that it did, in a very big way. Online gaming had begun, and all of a sudden, large numbers of people worldwide could play each other in any game they could imagine without even having to be in the same room like the consoles required you to do. More successful versions of these online games have been the first person shooters like Jedi Knight and Half-Life, and the Real Time Strategy games like Starcraft and Age of Empires. Obviously, the home consoles could in no way at this point take advantage of this online world, and it almost seemed that the PC's would have a jump on them forever. But obviously this is not the case.
Of course, this happens to be where we are in the present, and the future presents how the consoles are going to catch these PC's. The three new 128-Bit next generation consoles, Sony's Playstation 2, Microsofts Xbox , and Nintendo's GameCube; all present features that may lead them to match the world of PC gaming. Particularly Nintendo's GameCube has what it takes to match up with the PC's; even with as little as we have seen of the technology. All of these consoles look to be very promising in how they match up with the PC's.
Yes, finally, it seems that the consoles have matched if not surpassed PC games in terms of graphics, for now, at least. Just looking at the demo that Saffire showed off, even if it was not run exactly on the GameCube hardware, is an image to behold. The game is, obviously, the popular Rainbow Six franchise, and judging by the demo, the game looks visually equal to its popular PC online counterpart. The game is stunning in terms of graphics and lighting effects so far, and games on the Playstation 2 look just as stunning. For the time being, the PC's graphical supremacy will be over.
Of course, the PC industry's other advantage was countered by the console companies as well, and the Internet was finally be brought to the consoles. The Playstation 2 does not include a modem (as I’m sure you know) but will be selling it separately, and have already planned their online network. Nintendo, as well, has planned their online network and hope to have it ready by launch, but there is no word on whether to modem will be built-in with the system or not. And, of course, with online capabilities, games are needed, and with Rainbow Six already "announced" and Nintendo planning a huge online network, you can be sure that Nintendo will have the stuff it needs for December of 2001 when it comes to the world.
Of course, I can't talk about the world of PC and console gaming unless I bring up Microsoft's splash, the up and coming X-Box. The X-Box is basically a PC and a home console in one. The console promises that it will have easy Internet access, plus PC to X-Box conversions should be able to be done with ease. Bill Gates' little PC-console hybrid powerhouse is proposed to be able to blow competition away, with a release planned for just about the same time as the GameCube. With as little as we've seen of the console, it is truly hard to tell, but the idea of a PC-console hybrid really does show how the two originally different worlds of the PC and the console have really come together over the
years.
Little side note that I found amusing – Microsofts leading spokesperson said in a recent press conference that the X-box is as powerful as a nuclear reactor… errrrr…. Yeah…. right
The PC and the consoles were originally very different, with numerous people faithful to only one side, and others just trying to get the best of both worlds. The PC's offered plenty more than the consoles graphics and multiplayer options, but the home consoles thrived and are still thriving today, when the two worlds are about to collide. With a new breed of consoles soon to be released, with one from Sony already out, the PC and console gaming mediums are moving toward the same future. With online gaming and improved graphics coming to the home consoles, the PC-console mixture in Gates' X-Box, and the ease of PC to console game conversions on all types of hardware, the two worlds are now basically the same. No more will there be strict PC gamers and strict console gamers, as there once were, because the two mediums will have merged into one. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome the best gaming the world has had to offer to date.
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me, the silly sod wrote:
> about gaing
errrrr.. gaming :-)
> about gaing
errrrr.. gaming :-)
I don't post here to win a game. I post to get my views about gaing across to other people. Theres no one where I live that I can convey my opinions to
Humm.
The spelling of Gamecube shows it is not dedicated to Nintendo's console, or it's a really crap Nintendo site... neither of which I read. ;0)
So I'm stumped.
The spelling of Gamecube shows it is not dedicated to Nintendo's console, or it's a really crap Nintendo site... neither of which I read. ;0)
So I'm stumped.
Maybe you'll win for being so Honest!
However I wouldn't say that only an American would refer to Segas 16bit machine as a Genesis, Sometimes people have imported consoles and so may refer to the alternative name!
The actual article though is very good though and raises a number of good points.
I think that the battle between the Gamecube and the X-box will be interesting to say the least.
The Gamecube looks like a very sturdy console, and Nintendo seems to have thought hard about what gamers want with both a 56KB and Cable Modem add ons already made. In this respect I expect Nintendos launch to go really smoothly with no hiccups!
The X-box is of course made by Microsoft and backed by a serious advertising budget of $500 million. The X-box also has alot of third party support and should have alot of good games available at launch. It just remains to be seen if traditional console and PC gamers, or even just Joe Bloggs looking for a new device will trust Microsoft enough to shell out the cash on a Microsoft based entertainment system.
It also remains to be seen how Sony will cope with the other two competitors.
My prediction is that in 4 years time Nintendo will be doing very well, Microsoft will have lost alot of money on the X-box and Sony will lose its market lead. Ironically Sega will have come out the better for dropping the Dreamcast, and will be a major player in the videogames market!
However I wouldn't say that only an American would refer to Segas 16bit machine as a Genesis, Sometimes people have imported consoles and so may refer to the alternative name!
The actual article though is very good though and raises a number of good points.
I think that the battle between the Gamecube and the X-box will be interesting to say the least.
The Gamecube looks like a very sturdy console, and Nintendo seems to have thought hard about what gamers want with both a 56KB and Cable Modem add ons already made. In this respect I expect Nintendos launch to go really smoothly with no hiccups!
The X-box is of course made by Microsoft and backed by a serious advertising budget of $500 million. The X-box also has alot of third party support and should have alot of good games available at launch. It just remains to be seen if traditional console and PC gamers, or even just Joe Bloggs looking for a new device will trust Microsoft enough to shell out the cash on a Microsoft based entertainment system.
It also remains to be seen how Sony will cope with the other two competitors.
My prediction is that in 4 years time Nintendo will be doing very well, Microsoft will have lost alot of money on the X-box and Sony will lose its market lead. Ironically Sega will have come out the better for dropping the Dreamcast, and will be a major player in the videogames market!
No not, IGN it is sort of a professional site, but not a big one
I hope its not a professional site... cos the potted history is a touch incorrect...
Your next challenge is to try and find out where it's from!
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