on-line play
the first on-line play service,offered by Sega with the Mega-Drive,was horrifically unreliable and patchy. Sony's answer PSN (PlayStation Network) was almost as bad, being unreliable and unintuitive. Finally, Microsoft came up with a service that actually worked- Xbox live in 2001. It allowed gamers to connect around the world, hosted on servers that could handle the traffic. Now, PSN and Live are almost identical, offering voice chat and text chat services. For PC Gamers, Steam is almost the only option. Created by Valve, one of the biggest game developers for PC, in 2003, Steam has over 700 million games available- 1 game for everyone 10th person. You can download games off it, play with friends, waste *serious* amounts of money (CS:GO...) and grab a-list games cheap in a flash sale.
the PlayStation 2-2000
The legendary PlayStation 2 (PS2) is the game console with the highest recorded sales ever. It sold roughly 155 million units worldwide, or 2 for everybody in the UK. It was also the first console to feature save cards, devices on which you could save progress, missions, or chapters in games. This further allowed for deeper storylines as longer total playtime meant more and more things could happen in one game. It was also one of the first consoles that really brought exterior aesthetics into play, with its transitioning colours and high contrast making it look like a device of the future. The PS2 was important for gaming as it proved so successful, selling 160 million units in 15 years.
the Xbox-2001
The X Box franchise is one of the most famous series of products in history, and the original X Box marked Microsoft’s wade into the Gaming community. Since then, they have produced legendary titles such as Halo and Gears of War: Microsoft basically made the FPS genre what it is today today. One of the main selling points of the X-Box was the online service, XBOX Live, that allowed users to connect to each others consoles and play together, all over the world, on a much more stable connection that that offered by PSN, the Sony alternative. The X-Box changed the way we game by being a good rival for Sony, giving them competition so a monopoly wouldn’t form. Nowadays, X-Box is similar in size, if not bigger than PlayStation.
the Source Engine - 2004
The Source Engine was a development by Valve Corp that allowed games with 3-D rendered graphics, such as Counter-Strike: Source and Half-Life 2 to run at higher fps on lower grade technology than ever. Even though it is 10 years old, it is still used in games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Team Fortress 2. It’s successor, Source 2, was first implemented on 2015 in Dota 2, the largest e-sport in the world at the moment, for some reason.
the Xbox 360 - 2006
The X-Box 360 is a very, very popular console. Almost every household in his country has one of either these or the PS3. Whilst remaining one of the most important consoles of the last decade, it is still incredibly popular amongst gamers, because it now retails for under £100. A lot of infamous FPS games such as Modern Warfare, Halo: Combat Evolved and Battlefield 3. This console was important for gaming as it was a huge, much-needed upgrade on the X-Box, and was the first one to outsell Sony, with the rather poor PS3.
the Nintendo Wii - 2006
The Nintendo Wii was massively popular worldwide, increasing the use of motion-based controllers, which are now used by VR consoles like the HTC Vive. This was Nintendo's chance to re-enter the industry, after leaving non-handheld consoles for almost 30 years. and, it worked. It has sold 101 million units to date, making it the 5th best selling console ever, 3rd if you don't count handhelds. it pioneered motion technology, along with the Xbox Kinect range, which never really took off. Aimed more at families than hardcore gamers, the Wii featured games that promoted fitness and lifestyle, like Wii Fit and Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games. The Wii was important for gaming as it used pioneering technology in its motion detecting technology, and was very open for interaction with other people, with the Mii series.