Video Games

Video games have been around for over 50 years, albeit in an extremely basic format. From humble beginnings, the market has grown and flourished since the 1980s, with giants of the industry like Nintendo, Sega, Sony, and Microsoft creating a global following, and a multi-billion dollar market.

While the Commodore 64, Magnavox Odyssey, and Coleco Telstar are all considered to be pioneers in the first generation of video game technology, it was the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) that skyrocketed the video game sensation into the mainstream. Since then, Nintendo have released several popular systems including the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Nintendo 64, Gamecube, and of course the Wii. When the Nintendo Wii was released, it changed the face of gaming forever. New interactive peripherals allowed players to move their entire bodies within the game, rather than simply their hands, and titles such as Wii Fit, and Wii Sports Resort have allowed gamers of all ages to become involved.

Sega soon joined the race after the success of the NES by releasing the Sega Master System. The competition was fierce between Sega and Nintendo, with both releasing next-generation consoles one after the other. Sega continued as a successful console developer with the Mega Drive, Sega Saturn, and Dreamcast, which would ultimately be their last foray into consoles. They have since merged several aspects of their company with Nintendo in order to compete with the new big boys of game development: Sony and Microsoft.

Sony initially jumped into the realm of gaming with the highly successful Playstation. Their new consoles, including the revamped PS1, were market leaders of the fifth generation, and the Playstation 2 only increased the company’s popularity. The seventh generation of gaming saw four companies diminish to three, as Sega fell out of the race for gaming monopoly. The Playstation 3 only had two competitors, but they were powerful competitors indeed.

Rumour has it that Microsoft only set out to make a console to prove that they could successfully achieve such an endeavour. And succeed they did. The Microsoft Xbox was a leader in not only groundbreaking visuals, but also online gaming. The Internet became a massive resource for all video game companies, and their latest offering, the Xbox 360, has created one of the largest online gaming communities in the world. Xbox Live, NintendoWIFI, and the Playstation Network are leaders in their field for online gaming services.

Gaming is not simply an entertainment outlet for the mainstream market, it is also a growing industry for professionals. Professional gaming – or eSports – is only a new occurrence, barely more than a decade old, but it has already grown into an intensely lucrative market in the western world, for both gamers and organisers. In South Korea, the Starleague is one of the most popular annual tournaments. The very best Starcraft gamers from across the nation battle it out for superiority in front of tens of thousands of adoring fans, and are watched by millions more via television.

The evolution of video games over the past thirty years has been staggering, to say the least. And with the ascent of massively multiplayer online (MMO) titles such as World of Warcraft and Aion, you can be assured that the video game craze will only continue to grow.