The Future Of Gaming

In November 2005 Microsoft released their follow up to the XBOX- the XBOX 360, the first of the new seventh generation of home games consoles. The new console is far more powerful than the original XBOX and is capable of producing vastly improved High Definition graphics. This increase in power means that the development of its games cost more due to the increased amount of time and resources spent on creating larger, more detailed game environments and characters. The PlayStation 3 due to be released in the UK in march 2007 will be even more powerful than the XBOX 360. The increasing costs in developing games for new hardware could be bad news for smaller 3rd party developers who will simply not have the necessary resources to compete with larger developers. It is rumored that certain developers have already been forced to cancel games in development for the PS3 due their cost.





With the Wii Nintendo are taking a slightly different approach to the seventh generation. The Wii is at least twice as powerful as the GameCube but far less powerful than Microsoft and Sonys new consoles, and is not capable of producing HD graphics. This is good news for developers because games will be relatively cheap to develop and take less time to make. The real innovation with the Wii is in its motion sensitive controller or remote that recognizes any movement or gesture that the player makes while holding it. With less emphasis on graphics and more on gameplay nintendo hope to appeal to a much broader market than just the "hardcore gamers". The console aims to be easy to use no matter how much experience players have had in the past with video games and nintendo aim to make the Wii accessible to all the family.





The handheld war between the Nintendo DS and Sony's PSP has been very interesting. Despite the DS being far less powerful than the PSP and having less in the way of multimedia funtionality, it has managed to out sell the PSP in every major territory worldwide. Its success may be down to Nintendo's plan to make it appeal to a wide variety of people. Nintendo has produced simple, easy to play games targeted at females and/or older players.















Whats interesting is that Nintendo and Sony are taking the same approach with their home games consoles as they have with their handhelds- the Wii favours gameplay over graphics whereas the PS3 is focused more on power. If their strategy worked for their handheld console then Nintendo may have a good chance of winning the seventh generation console war, however Sonys already large user base for the PS2 and Microsoft's head start with the 360 could affect their chances.

The success of these new consoles will determine the future of video gaming. Will the success of the Wii change how we interact with games in the future? Or will the success of the PlayStation 3 mean even more realism in games causing them to become more and more like films? And what affect will the rising cost of game development have on the future of the video game industry?

The seventh generation console war will certainly be an interesting one...

The Middle Ages

In 1972 the Magnavox Odyssey is the first video games console released and is followed by a string of other home games consoles. In 1983 there's a crash in the video games industry due to a number of poor quality games being released the increasing popularity of home computer systems. This causes many video games companies to become bankrupt. After two years of no significant developments within the industry Nintendo release the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom and due to its popularity the industry is revived.





In 1990 Sega return with their popular Genesis console and Sonic the Hedgehog is introduced. A year later Nintendo fight back with their Super NES and a follow up to the popular Super Mario series. The first significant console war begins with Sega using advertising to market their console as the mature, "cooler" console while nintendo continue to market their console as being more family friendly. During this time many quality games were released and many of today's popular franchises were born such as Final Fantasy, F-Zero, FIFA, Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, StarFox, Mortal Kombat.

The next major console war began in the mid-90's when Sony entered the video game market with the PlayStation marketed at older male gamers. Sega struggled to compete with their new Sega Saturn console which was much harder to develop games for and the games lacked the graphical quality of the PlayStation. In 1998 Nintendo released their follow up to the SNES- the Nintendo 64. Their decision to continue using cartridges rather than CD's meant that the games were more expensive to produce than the PlayStation's and therefore cost more to buy in shops. The console war was won by Sony because of the early release of the PlayStation and the much larger choice of games available for the system.




Sega, Sony and Nintendo had now proven themselves as being the three major companies in the industry and were the only companies to release consoles for the sixth generation of video games consoles. Sega's Dreamcast was released much earlier than the other consoles but again failed to compete with the popularity of Sonys new console the PlayStaion 2 which was released a year later. By the time Nintendos GameCube was released in 2000 the Dreamcasts life was nearly over. The last console to enter the current generation was Microsoft's first video games console the XBOX.

Matt's Top 5 GameCube Games

These are my personal top 5 GameCube titles, anyone who has a GameCube needs to have these games, they're all bloody amazing!

1. The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker



Well its Zelda so it had to be good. Its absolutely massive and the sword-fighting is better than ever. Personally I think the cell shaded graphics were a little unnecessary for a Zelda game, but I still think it still looks brilliant.






2. Metroid Prime



One of those games that just feels expensive, like a big budget Hollywood movie only much better. Great environments, great music, great storyline, great creature designs and the hardest final boss fight ever!





3. Resident Evil 4



This is exactly what the series needed after the inadequate resident evil 3. Easily the best resident evil yet, taking all the best bits from previous games and getting rid of those frustrating camera angles. One of the most entertaining and satisfying games I've ever played, and its bloody scary too!





4. Super Smash Bros. Melee



This sequel makes the n64 version look absolutely rubbish- its 10 times faster (perhaps a little too fast...), has hugely better graphics and loads of trophies to collect. It's the perfect multiplayer game, and theres sooo much to unlock in single player, this game lasts for ages.





5. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door



I'm not really a fan of RPG's but this one had me hooked from start to finish. Its funny, its cute and has extremely varied gameplay, plus the visuals and character designs are brilliant.




Regards,
Matt.

The First Video Game

In 1952 A.S Douglas created a version of Tic-Tac-Toe using a vacuum-tube computer, and in 1962 Steve Russell created the first ever computer game called SpaceWar! using a PDP-1 computer the size of a small car, however the first ever video game was made in 1958 by Willy Higinbotham. The game was called 'Tennis for Two' and consisted of a basic side on view of a tennis court where two players could hit a ball to each other using controllers.




Willy Higinbotham worked at a nuclear research facility where tours were conducted in order to give the public an idea of what went on in the facility. Each division within the facility was asked to set up a display for the public and Willy decided that it would be more interesting for the public if they had a display that they could interact with, so he and his colleague set about making the game, and after just three weeks it was done. The game was displayed on an oscilloscope which was connected to a basic analog computer, and the controllers consisted of two wooden blocks with a dial mounted on each which the players would used to control the angle of the ball as they hit it.

The game was brought out only twice during every visitors day, and after a year it was dismantled so that the equipment could be used for other projects. It's clear to see that this may have been where the concept of using computers for entertainment - as well as work - originated. The popularity of Higinbotham's display - especially with school children, gave an early indication of how popular the use of computers for fun would be, and possibly inspired the first popular home console game 'PONG', 14 years later.

What's In A Blog?

I've been putting this off for the last week and have typically gone and left it to the last minute. Now while my flat mates enjoy pizza and trivial pursuit's (haven't these people heard of Mario Kart?) I'm sat in my room all by myself stressing over my first ever blog. The thing is I not only find it hard writing in general but talking about myself and my opinions is also quite a scary task for me. Anyway I'm sure this will get easier with time.

The only blogs that I've read prior to this task are ones posted by people of interest to me, like friends on myspace, or blogs from my favorite musicians and so on. I have never really been interested in reading blogs posted by people that I don't know, what's the point? So I had a quick look at some other blogs, mostly for inspiration. The majority of blogs seem to be short and concentrate on one particular subject, with the blogger expressing their own personal opinions on the topic. None of them are too formal and the blogger usually tries to convey their own personality within their posts, using their own style - something that I will need to develop. I've found that reading blogs posted by people who are of a similar age group to me and who share the same kind of interests as me is definitely more engaging than I thought.

Alright sorry about the rubbish first blog, I promise my next blog will be much more exciting with funny pictures and links and all sorts.

Thanks
Matt