Video gaming has come a long way since the early days of Pong and Pac-man. We can now play affordable games of high definition with 3D graphics and awesome interactivity in the comfort of our home, taking for granted the little and subtle improvements made to each and every consoles before becoming what they are today. In a way, the aggressive competition between companies of video game consoles had churned out the superior features that we witness today.
The golden age of video gaming has arrived in between 1981-85! With progressively advanced gaming technology, the 1980s was a period of genre innovation when the industry began experimenting with non-Pong games like fighting, platform, adventure and RPG games and the market witnessed a steady development in the gaming sector from thereon.
The original PlayStation was launched in Japan on December 3, 1994. It went on to become the first video game console to ship more than 100 million units. It’s considered to be a part of the fifth generation of game consoles and competed against the Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64 in the mid-’90s. The original PlayStation played a pivotal role in transitioning the industry away from 2D graphics to real-time 3D rendering.
Starting its tradition of releasing smaller versions of its consoles, Sony released the PSOne on July 7, 2000. It also received an updated graphical user interface. The gaming fraternity was overwhelmed by its series of games and visual clarity.
First released in Japan on March 4, 2000, the PlayStation 2 was a part of the sixth generation of consoles and competed with the Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo’s GameCube, and Microsoft’s Xbox. Ultimately, the PS2’s leg up on the competition was its sheer library size–the console produced well over 2,000 games. To add to the joy of advanced gaming experience, in September 2004, Sony unveiled the PlayStation 2 slimline. Not only was the system smaller, but it was also quieter and included a built-in Ethernet port.
After their tremendous success in the form of PS2, Sony released on November 11, 2006, in Japan (followed a week later by its North American debut), the PlayStation 3 sold more than 80 million units worldwide and competed against Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. It was the first console to have a Blu-ray drive and was priced cheaper than most standalone Blu-ray players when it was launched. the console also saw the birth of the PlayStation Network, which allowed players to download games and use video-viewing apps like Netflix and YouTube. In addition, the PS3 introduced the company’s PlayStation Plus subscription service, which provided gamers with early access to betas and game discounts that opened a new vista for the deep routed gamers. The PS3 also introduced the DualShock 3, which was the first wireless version of Sony’s long-running controller. On top of that, the DS3 also featured motion-sensing technology. It was a great stride towards taking the virtual platform of gaming to the next level and not to forget its real like graphical interface. Sony released the PS3 slim in September 2009. The Slim removed the power switch on the back of the console. The console also featured a new PS3 logo, with Sony moving away from the original model’s font (also famously featured in Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man films).
Then came the revelation, the PlayStation 4 in North America on November 15, 2013, and it sold one million units within its first day, making it the fastest-selling console in a 24-hour period to date. The PS4 marked the first time Sony would release a console with a CPU based on the x86 instruction set, which is the same processor architecture that gaming PCs use. Specifically, it uses an 8-core AMD x86-64 Jaguar CPU clocked at 1.6GHz along with 8GB of GDDR5 memory, which it shares with its integrated AMD Radeon GPU. The PS4 also introduced the ability to upload and share gameplay clips. A Share button was added to the DualShock 4 controller, which also received an ergonomic overhaul and added headset and mic ports.
The PS4 also paved the way for PlayStation VR support later on. Its slim and pro version added new dimensions to gaming.
In the meantime, Xbox created and owned by Microsoft represented a series of video game consoles, with three consoles released in the sixth, seventh, and eighth generations, respectively. The brand also represents applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox Live, and the development arm by the name of Xbox Game Studios. The brand was first introduced in the United States in November 2001, with the launch of the original Xbox console.
But the fact is the competition between brands and their exclusive series of gaming titles took the gaming world to the storm and added variety to our gaming experience! And let’s not forget about the release of PS5 in the near future and that might be another addition to the wonder list of developments in gaming!
