First of all we need to look at the history of consoles.  I know that I haven’t covered all the consoles that were ever made but I’m covering the ones that I remember.

 

The 8 Bit era

 

NES

 

First we have the Nintendo Entertainment System.  There was only one model released world wide that I am aware of and it became the biggest seller in Japan and the US.  It had a perfect version of the arcade game Super Mario Bros.  I think this helped to shift units in Japan and the US, but in Europe.

 

Sega Master System

		The Europeans chose the Sega Master System and it sold by the truckload.  I don’t really know why but maybe it was because we were idiots.  The trouble with the early consoles was personally; I own the Sinclair Spectrum computer.  The game were considerably cheaper; even if they were inferior.

 

PCEngine

			The Pc Engine was never sold in Europe.  It was only sold in Japan (PC Engine) and the US (Core Graphix).
			It’s not surprising that it didn’t sell well outside of Japan, when there were so many different versions of the console released.  It was a hybrid 8 bit / 16 bit console.

 

The moral of the PC Engine debacle was that you shouldn’t release multiple versions of the same console and expect your user base to keep upgrading.  It was a lot worse than the consoles of today.  There was the CD Add-on, a graphically enhanced version, a 32bit version, they added extra ram, increased the CD speed.  The last version of this console did not have any similarity to the original release of the console at all.  This was a big warning to any company hoping to sell a console in large amounts how not to do it.

 

The 16 Bit era

 

Sega Megadrive / Genesis

 

I bought my first Megadrive in 1989; it was an import machine.  I was told to wait until the official machine was released.  It would be cheaper and I wouldn't be able to play the games when released in Europe.  Both of those statements were lies.  This was the first abortion that Sega made.  The Megadrive was a great console.  The trouble was they wanted to keep it going until the Saturn was released.  They released the Mega CD; the add-on cost £299.99 (around $600) and then the 32x and it was never used properly.  The public never forgave Sega for their stupidity.

 

Super NES

I purchased my first SNES sometime in 1993 and bought it for one game.  That game was Super Mario World.  I found it to be such a cool little console.  I didn’t have to spend a small fortune for a CD add-on device or anything like the 32x.

The funny thing about the SNES was that near the end of its life, there were rumours of a CD add-on that would make the games look great.  We now know that Sony had built this add-on and when Nintendo decided not to use it, Sony would use the add-on to create the console that we would know as the Playstation .  I hope the irony wasn't lost on Nintendo.  In effect, Nintendo was the catalyst to Sony creating the best selling console series and for the next decade would dominate the market.

 

FM Marty

This Console was not released outside of Japan but deserves a mention.  It was the first 32 bit console on the market.  The FM Marty was produced by Fujitsu and was based on the Fm Towns computer that was only sold in Japan.  It had some amazing games but Fujitsu didn’t have the money or faith in this console to release it worldwide.

 

32 Bit era

 

Sony Playstation

I remember hearing that this console was coming soon and I didn’t really have much hope for it to succeed.  I couldn’t see how this console could dislodge Sega (Europe) and Nintendo (USA and Japan) of the top spots, until I saw the first screen shots of Ridge Racer and then I got it.  The game look amazing and I decided to buy this console.

Why did I buy this console rather than the Sega Saturn that was available?  The Sega Saturn cost £399.99 (that’s around $800).

 

Sega Saturn

If you think Sony is making some stupid mistakes, well Sega was doing the same thing long before Sony.  Coming up to the release of the Sega Saturn; Sega saw the specs for the new Playstation and crapped their pants.  Their engineers were told to add a second CPU to the console and that was because the machine was not powerful enough.

 The problem was that very few programmers could make use of the second CPU and it was rarely used.  This meant that when a game was released on both consoles, the Saturn version usually looked like SHITE.  This wasn’t always the case but especially 3D games.

 

N64

This started off as the Ultra 64 (which I still think was a better name).  The console stayed with cartridges and was meant to be a 64 bit console.  That of course was a lie.  The trouble with this cartridge-based machine, was the fact that games on CD was so much cheaper to make and offered a larger capacity for the games.  I remember Turok costing £80 ($160) and I was never going to pay that much money for a game that could turn out to be crap.

 

This was the beginning of the end for Sega.  The trouble was that the public seemed to remember the debacle that was the Mega CD / 32x and the fact that Sega should have realised that Sony was making a machine that would give it a good chance in this generation of consoles.  That should have been a warning to Sega to do more than they did and when they did react; it looked like the reaction of a company of fools.

 

Nintendo’s decision to stick with cartridges was also a stupid decision and in part effected the sales of the Gamecube.  The trouble for Nintendo and a lesser extent Sega was that Sony was fresh and marketed its console to the generation of clubbers, mid twenties and people like me; who no longer were children but still enjoyed playing games.  The Playstation also cost less than the Saturn console and the games were a lot cheaper than the N64.  I would come back from the pub and switch the Playstation on and play a round of Tekken and not feel stupid for playing games.

 

I remember Sony opening up booths at clubs for people to play this console.  There wasn’t any childish mascot like Mario or Sonic here (not that Mario or Sonic was childish but you wouldn’t really expect to get a bigger audience using them at clubs).

 

Nintendo must have been cursing their stupidity.  If they had used the add-on that would become the Playstation, Sony never would have become their rival and also made the biggest selling console up to that time.

 

Sega Dreamcast

Sega decided to release their console earlier than anyone else in this generation of consoles and it did no good what so ever.  They just dropped the Saturn with out much warning (the same way that Microsoft did with the XBOX) and apart from the Sega fans, was never forgiven for this.

The games on this console were great but one thing that always seemed to get in the way, was the fact that shops were telling their customers that the Playstation 2 was on the way and would be a lot more powerful than the Dreamcast.  The trouble; now I hear that the Dreamcast was in fact more powerful than the Playstation 2;  Probably Dreamcast fans trying to justify their purchase over the Playstation 2.

 

Sony

The king is dead; long live the king.  I purchased my Playstation 2 in 2001;  I bought a Dreamcast sometime in 2004 and that was after the machine had ceased to be produced.  I enjoyed the games on the PSX (Playstation Sexy, the name of the original console) and decided to buy this machine instead.  The first year or so was rather barren in regards to quality games.  I purchased Super Bust-A-Move when I bought mine; I really loved this machine and still own it today.

 

XBOX

Microsoft decided that they could do something that hadn’t happened since Atari had dominated the 70s and early 80s.  They released what was the most powerful console and in America sold very well.  In Europe it sold well but as anyone with two brain cells could have told Microsoft; would never have sold well in Japan.  I had a theory that the Japanese were all Xenophobic but the Japanese were buying Rover Minis and that blew my theory out of the water.  The fact that it was big enough for a family to live in might have had some affect on the sales of the console in Japan.

It was massive; I remember buying mine up London and thinking to myself; damn this things heavy.  Maybe I bought an amp by mistake.  If anyone was to have mugged me, they wouldn’t have got very far.  

 

Ninetndo Gamecube

I remember picking this console up on the day of release (I bought the XBOX on the day of release as well) and thinking to myself; Why does this thing look like a handbag?  The handle was added to allow you to carry the console to your friends house.  It looked a bit gay if you ask me.  I almost purchased the purple version but thankfully a black version came up at the last moment.

 

I personally like the colour purple but didn’t really want a purple console.  The last thing I needed was my friends taking the piss out of me for having a purple console.  It was the first Nintendo console that used CD.  It was a proprietary Panasonic format.

 

Now in my opinion; the reason the Playstation 2 became the biggest seller was simple.  Like the hundred million other owners of the PSX, I too enjoyed the original console.  It had something for everyone and I expected the same from the second generation.  The XBOX was a glorified PC and Nintendo was still stuck on the idea that only children played games, even though the generation of children who played the original NES games were now in their mid twenties.

 

The current generation of consoles

 

XBOX 360

 

 

When Microsoft released this console, very few people were aware of how shoddily built  this machine was at first.  In a matter of days, people were complaining about scratched discs and when that was solved; things seemed to calm down. The games were and are very good (If a little bit too similar to PC games for my liking; but that’s progress I guess).   Suddenly the console started to suffer from the red ring of death and Microsoft; even to this day; will not admit any fault with the console.

 

For the next year Microsoft would be the darlings of the console world, even though they released two SKUs of the consoles on the day of release.  This had never been done before and everyone was predicting that the 360 would never knock Sony of the top spot;  How wrong they were.

 

This console has sold around twelve million worldwide (I don’t know if they include all the replacements though).  The trouble with Microsoft was that they started to release unnecessary versions of the console into the market.  The next version was called the Elite that included a 120 Gig Hard Drive and included a HDMI port that should have been included in the console from day one.  They are  releasing in the near future another two packs to replace the core pack that had no hard drive and  also the premium pack (20 Gig Hard Drive).  Both the consoles will have HDMI ports.  I personally find this annoying as I have a HD TV with a HDMI port (although it is only 1080i) and would have liked to have had the option of using that port.

 

Sony Playstation 3

I haven’t purchased this machine because it’s too expensive at the moment and for a long while before and after its release; Sony was saying so many stupid things about this machine.  It was going to have two TV ports, it was going to be so powerful and practically sweep everyone before  it aside.   It was going to be the second coming and everyone would bow before it.

We would be grateful that Sony had given us the most powerful console on the market (something that did not work in the last generation of consoles), but like camels with their heads in the sand, they decided to ignore the mistake that Microsoft made and released two SKUs as well. 

 

You had a twenty Gig version that didn’t have any wireless controllers and no WI-FI service.  They also released a sixty Gig version of the console with wireless controllers and WI-FI.  Well I’ll just buy the sixty Gig version; then I saw the price.  $499 for the twenty Gig version and $599 for the sixty version.  Maybe Sony was smoking crack or something like that to think that I would pay that kind of money for this console.  It may have Bluray as its CD device but DAMN!

 

They have released a eighty Gig version, with a forty Gig version on the way and there is a rumour of a hundred and sixty Gig version of this console with two HDMI ports and ironically; this is what was promised at the 2005 E3 show.  That would be five SKUs that would have been released in less than a year.  I wonder why no one is buying this console?

 

Nintendo Wii

 

The Nintendo Wii was released in America a few weeks after the Playstation 3 and cost less than half of the price of both SKUs.  It uses a wand like remote and a numb chuck thing.  I can’t comment personally because I can’t find the thing in shops to purchase one.

The Wii is an upgraded Gamecube and a lot of journalists were thinking that it would not sell well.  With a low price point and only one SKU, it has gone on to become the biggest selling console of this generation so far.  Will it keep selling at this rate?  Who knows; The one thing that really keeps this thing flying off the shelves is the type of games it sells and the price point (Ok.  That’s really two points). 

 

Why are people buying this console rather than the more powerful machines on the market?  I think the fact that there is only one SKU, might have something to do with it; the fact that the price is reasonable also affects the buyers choice and the fact that it does something different (even if it is really a gimmick).  The trouble with releasing too many different SKUs is that it confuses the market.

 

For an example:  With the Playstation 3 and the 360.  If I buy it today, will I get the best console for my money?  Is it possible that something better might come out in the short term?  The trouble is that this effects which machine the buying public purchase.  If the public don’t buy the machine; then the software isn’t made for it and you can see the cycle that forms.

 

So what should be done in the future?  I wish I knew; all I do know is that it would advisable to stick to a standard set of specifications and not constantly updating the machine.  Confuse the public and loose the sales.

 

This is just the opinion on one person and means nothing but maybe I have a good point and maybe I’m talking out of my butt. 

 

I hope you enjoyed my brief history of consoles.