Being a Gamer Ch3: The Console Wars

A classic Console War was between the Super Nintendo and the SEGA Geniuses. In any commercial business, you have to have a cool name to back up your product. SEGA had that cool name. GENIUSES, it kind of just rolled of your tongue like some delicious pie slice. The Geniuses was jet black and looked like something out of Star Wars. The Geniuses' key advantage was that it had the ability to have attachments. The SEGA 32X was a top attachment that allowed the "Gamer" to have many other games that were in a smaller cartridge. It was cheaper and more efficient then having the bigger cartridge. Another attachment was the SEGA CD. This advancement of technology was the first of its kind for any console at the time.

The 4th Generation

This new CD technology was the turn of gaming generation 3. Nintendo had a much cheaper more watered down system. Its name was the Super Nintendo. The Super Nintendo used cartridges just like the Geniuses, 16bit was the standard back then, but the Geniuses had better graphics than the Super Nintendo. I'm not talking about the SEGA CD graphics, or the 32X graphics. The regular 16bit graphics seemed much clearer, and the color levels were much higher and destined. The SEGA CD graphics were like Playstation graphics only it was much grittier, because it was a brand new technology. The Geniuses controller had a little weight to it, and a much better grip. The weight made it like you had something to grab and be rough with. The Super Nintendo controller was this rectangular piece of crap with rounded ends, making it uncomfortable to play with.

However what won that console war was the game titles and game play. Nintendo had better game titles such as Super Mario World, Battle Tank 2, Eek the Cat, and many other great titles. The Geniuses had more adult story lines, but don't get me wrong the Geniuses did have some good games too. Sonic, Madden, and Mortal Combat, but SEGA thought that the 32X and the Sega CD would be able to save them with their great graphics. The 32X hit titles were DOOM and Star Wars, and when the SEGA CD came out it was Batman Returns and Sonic CD. Nintendo was working on a gun for their console. There were a number of games that came out that used the gun, but the one that people loved was called "". You played as Mario and you rode on the back of Yoshi shooting enemy's just like in the old west. SEGA then came out with a system that would only play the CD's.

They called it the SEGA SATURN. SEGA was looking to take their CD technology to the next level, and see if they could make a much-needed come back in the 4th generation. No one wanted the thing. It sucked so bad that SEGA threw in the white towel. Its last ditch effort was a total plunder. That's right people, a 16bit cartridge won against CD technology not because of graphics, but because of better childish story lines and gameplay. During the 4th generation the main "gamer" of the era was the 6 to 10 year old kid. In today's world, every age can play a video game. The Geniuses was looking to attract a much older audience. In the 5th generation SEGA tried making another attempt at winning the next console war…………….

The 5th Generation

Sony was looking into the video gaming industry and found its place instantly with its Sony Playstation. Although Sony was new to the savage world of Video Gaming, it had learned from SEGA's mistakes and expanded upon Nintendo's idea's. The Playstation was a gray box. It's first controller game had a lot feel to it, but later on in the war Sony came out with Duel Shock. Duel Shock added analog control and rumble feature to your gameplay. When you shot a gun or any other movement, the controller shocked itself in your hands. Nintendo had experience in the Console War. Nintendo thought that since they kicked SEGA's ass with a cartridge, a 16bit cartridge, they could do the same to the Playstation or any other person that was apart of this new war. Nintendo's monster was called the Nintendo 64 which stood for 64bit.

This console had 4 controller ports, and a beast of a controller. It was gray but later on in the war you could purchase one in other colors. A surprise was that SEGA came out with the SEGA Dreamcast. The Dreamcast was the first console to have online play!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its color was white, and had a controller that looked like a space ship, again something from Star Wars. SEGA thought that this online play would roll in some dollars for the company. The online play didn't go off as big as they wanted it to but as far as graphics went, it was the equivalent to the first PS2 graphics, they were the best. It would be a 3- way battle royal.

Gameplay and immature story line won the previous Console War, but Nintendo did not learn from that. They came out with Mario64, Donkey Kong64, StarFox64, and MarioKart64. Basically the same thing with the same story line but not only that, they only had a few great games. The kids that grew up with the beloved Super Nintendo are now much older. The war was to deep for them to turn and do something about it. They came out with a few mature games like, PerfectDark64, Goldeneye64, and Metal Gear Solid VR mission64, but it wasn't enough for them to regain their dominance as a console.

The Dreamcast offered graphics but didn't have good games nor launch titles. Sony won because of its ability to offer a product that gets the job done at cost efficacy, and having games that sold so many units got the honor of being called a Greatest Hit. The Playstation had a perfect balance of games for children, games for teens, and games for adults. In the 5th generation a new entry to the videogaming audience were the adults. Sony was like a god at the time, and made more godly moves in the 6th generation. The Sony Playstation had won.

6th Generation

There was a new devise that could store large amounts of data in a compact disc. It was called the DVD. The DVD was used to put movies on, and soon everyone had a DVD player. The DVD disc would be used to put video games on. This was the beginning of the 6th Generation, and in my opinion the most climatic Console War to date. After the Sony Playstation won against the N64 and the SEGA Dreamcast. Now with this new DVD technology the next generation game system will be able to have better graphics and better quality games. Microsoft was looking into the video game industry, Microsoft's XBOX. A black box with green center with 4 controller ports.

The XBOX would be a force to be reckoned with. Microsoft was also using the DVD format. A big shock was when Nintendo announced that they were making another game system called the Game Cube. The Game Cube was a purple cube with a wide variety of games in the consoles arsenal, but in this new generation it take more than story lines and a good gameplay to out play the other video game computers. Those that bought the Dreamcast can tell that the controller layout of the Dreamcast controller is exactly the same as the XBOX controller. That means Mircosoft is an evil corporation that doesn't have one original idea in the entire company. Damn you BILL GATES……………..Damn you.

The PS2 was winning the war, but Microsoft came out with XBOX Live, a revolutionary online system. Halo2 was the game that was played online. This clever move made the XBOX number 1 for quite some time. The PS2's video games were just too much for the XBOX and Game Cube to out wit. The game designers and game developers were much better, just as when the British fleet beat the Spanish Armada because the British had better gunners. Whatever machinery man has made it has been made with hard work.

The Playstation and the Playstation2 had better game designers and better game developers. I would like to take this time in my essay to thank all the game designers and game developers in the world that has worked for Sony. The Playstation2 is a competator beyond any console's pedigree. Its eternal in its own existence. It cannot be destroyed and so its legend lives on as the number one console of the late 20th-century and early 21st-century. I wonder what the future holds for us gamers…