Through the late 1990's and the beginning of the 2000's Nintendo was dominating the hand held video gaming world. From the original Game Boy in 1989 to the different variations of the Game Boy such as the Game Boy Color in 1998. The most recent that I've told you about would be the Game Boy Advance in 2002 and Game Boy Advance SP in 2003. No other company was competing with Nintendo in the hand held video gaming world. However, Nintendo was getting beat out hard core by Sony and Microsoft in the video gaming consoles for TVs. Nintendo's Game Cube could not compete with Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's XBox. But Nintendo's success in the hand held department only encouraged them to make more.
In 2004, just one year after the release of it's last hand held gaming system, Nintendo released the Nintendo DS. The Nintendo DS was similar to design to the Game Boy Advance SP in that it flipped open. It was a little bigger than the SP but still stylish and comfortable to play. The DS was an attempt to integrat more computer functions into hand held gaming. One unique thing that was never before seen on a hand held system would be the use of two screens. Hints the "DS". This means "dual screens". Each screen was an LCD screen and the bottom screen was a touch screen. The technology used to create the DS was the same used for PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) and other tablet PCs. Also, the Nintendo DS features allow it to play old games that were made for older versions of the Game Boy. This is one feature that Nintendo really liked and stuck with after using it with the Game Boy Advance. At this point in time, the Nintendo DS was one top of the hand held gaming world. Profits were definitely up for Nintendo, not just because of the Nintendo DS but also because of the Game Boy Advance which remained very popular even after the release of the DS.
As Nintendo was the dominating force in hand held gaming, Sony and XBox were competing on the other stage of video gaming.. the consoles for TVs. Microsoft's XBox was just as popular as Sony's PlayStation 2, if not more popular. Sony wasn't neccessarily desperate but wanted to make a statement for themselves. They decided to challenge Nintendo's dominance in the hand held gaming systems. Sony released the PSP or PlayStation Portable in 2005. The PSP was similar to the Nintendo DS in that it features wireless capability and high quality graphics. The PSP used small discs or cds for games. It also featured many of the same games that could be played on the PlayStation 2. This made it a very popular product for the PlayStation 2 lovers because they could play the same great games on the road. The PSP also was set up the same way a regular PlayStation contoller would be set up, but with a screen in the middle. It had the four main buttons on the right. (X,O, triangle, and square) It also had the directional pad on the left and a joystick as well. It also had the "left" and "right" buttons on the tops of each side of the system. Like the regular PlayStation controller, the "start" and "select" button were in the middle along with other buttons. Some of these other buttons controlled new features that only the PSP had. These were non gaming functions such as photo storage, digital audio and video capabilities. These functions were just like the ones of a PC based hand held device. The PSP was more than just a gaming system and that's exactly what Sony wanted to create.
At this point Nintendo was no longer dominant in the hand held world. Sony was becoming very popular in both types of video gaming. But a new day in video gaming was coming very soon. Learn about the three newest video gaming systems all developed by different companies in future blogs. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all develop new systems that are unique in their own ways. These systems are the future of video gaming!
1 comment:
Post a Comment