Consoles & Hardware

Gaming console

The global gaming console market have reached to 36.84 $ billion in 2021 Before have a look at giant companies in this market, let’s have a look at a console itself. What is a home gaming console? What can be a gaming console?

A video game console is an electronic device that output a video signal or image to display a video game than can be played by gamer with a gaming controller. A console is a specialized desktop computer used to play video games.

Usually consoles have a custom processor which is completely different from desktop computers. Now let’s have a look at companies which are manufacturing consoles.

Sony

In December 1994, Sony released the first PlayStation, when the industry didn’t even consider Sony as a legitimate rival. From the fifth generation till now, Sony has been doing great by manufacturing amazing consoles, releasing incredible games and offering the best service.

They’ve released 5 main PlayStations which are numbered from 1 to 5 and all of them has been sold to million units. PS2’s great record is still inaccessible. This wonderful console sold 155 million units and I don’t think this record could be broken in a foreseeable future.

Sony’s policy has been selling consoles in a large number of units and then releasing best exclusive games. They have the best studious in creating single player games. Sony’s studios have best IP’s of game industry. These games have been doing great from the first console till the fifth.

They are giving the best service for their console. They convince people to buy their console for the elite exclusive games. Their games have been nominees and won multiple awards. Just in this year they have God of War: Ragnarok which have the best chance to win the game of the year award. 

Usual PlayStations were not sufficient for Sony and they entered to handy console market. PSP and PS Vita were the best examples of how to support your secondary console. They released the best spin offs for God of War franchise.

VR is growing in the game industry and Sony didn’t missed this wave. They had PSVR 1 in October 13, 2016 and expand their games to the world of Virtual Reality. Astro Bot Rescue Mission, Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, Hitman 3, Horizon VR: Call of the Mountain and etc. are the examples of what a VR console need.

Microsoft

After Sony’s success with PlayStation 1, Microsoft decided to enter the market of gaming consoles. On November 15, 2001 they introduced Xbox Original along famous Hollywood Star, Dwayne Johnson.

Along this gigantic console, they released Halo Combat Evolved and changed the First Person Shooter on Consoles. Halo was exactly how to port FPS on consoles and was completely adaptive with its controller.

They compete with Great Sony and in a period of time they won the competition. They released Xbox 360 a year before Sony, it was cheaper than PS3, it has better User Interface. The best thing about this console was its games.

Between 2005 till 2013, Xbox franchises like Halo, Forza, Blur, Gears of War, Fable and etc. were at the best status. They could change GTA’s situation on platforms. Pervious GTAs were PlayStation’s exclusive for a year or more so Sony could earn a great profit from people’s excitement, but Microsoft had deal with Rockstar and not also GTA IV released simultaneously on both consoles, but also DLCs of the games were only at the hand of Xbox 360 players for a year.

But this success cost them too much. They repeated Sony’s mistakes and Xbox One was not good at all. The only point of Microsoft on previous generation was their gaming service.

On June 1, 2017 they released Xbox Game Pass and changed the game industry. If you need FPS, Xbox Game Pass have Doom, Halo and battlefield for you. If you need a racing game, Xbox Game Pass offers you Dirt 5, Need for Speed, MotoGP 20, F1 and Forza Horizon. I can give you same examples for RPG, single, multiplayer games.

Microsoft Policy have been the selling console but their priority is changed to selling subscription for their service.

Microsoft on this generation have done great and is offers gamers all they need. Xbox Series X is the strongest console of all the time and this gigantic black console can perform most of the games on 120 FPS and 4K. in addition of Series X, they released Xbox Series S which is not as strong as rivals but it is cost you 300$ and can perform all of the games in 120 FPS and 1440 p.

Microsoft has enough strength to direct the game industry and make other companies to make decisions as they wish. Now they have the upper hand and after buying Activision-Blizzard they worth more than Nintendo.

Nintendo

Nintendo was founded in 1899 as Nintendo Karuta by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade hanafuda playing cards. Nintendo’s role in game industry in not deniable. After Atari crash in 1983, Nintendo was grown and they conquered most of the game industry.

They released NES on October 18, 1985 and changed the western gaming market. After these releases, they were at the beginning of the legacy which spawned seven home console, six handhelds, and countless beloved franchises.

In 1990s, all was going well. Like NES, Game Boy did great too and make Nintendo’s place on top of the list of the console manufacturers. Hits like Pokemon, Super Mario Bros, Tetris, Donkey Kong and Kirby define new concepts in games. From that time till now, while competitors have focused almost exclusively on home consoles, handheld devices have been a signature of Nintendo.

This successful way continued with Nintendo 64. Nintendo 64 was marketed as one of the first consoles to be designed with 64-bit architecture. Some of the best games of video game history were released for this console. Particularly Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Golden Eye 007 are some distinguished examples of 64’s games.

Nintendo’s way continued with Game Boy Advance, Game Cube and Nintendo DS. Nintendo was conquering everywhere and everything.

Then they released Nintendo Wii and expand the gamers incredibly.

Wii was not like previous consoles and changed the definition of video game. Its controller was like TV remotes. Wii made non-gamers an addiction to sport and family games. Nintendo 3DS also did great and could make enough benefit for Nintendo.

When Microsoft and Sony were in a breathtaking competition, Nintendo was struggling with Wii U. Nintendo’s ideas were failing and they couldn’t support this console well. Wii U was the least successful console in Nintendo’s history. Nintendo was the most successful company and at that time was in a critical situation. Success for the next console was really vital for them and second failure could end Nintendo’s life in manufacturing consoles.

Before talking about next console, let’s have a look at Nintendo’s activities in other markets. As smart phones were becoming popular, Nintendo didn’t miss the chance and released Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal crossing: Pocket Camp, Mario Kart Tour and of course Pokemon Go. Pokemon Go’s was a complete success and everyone was trying to hunt a Pokemon at that time (even in the middle of the streets).

In 2017, the Dear Nintendo Switch finally came out. The Switch features a hybrid design as a home and handheld console. Joy-con controllers each contain an accelerometer and gyroscope. Switch started great and continued as well as the first day. Now Switch is one of the most successful consoles of all time. Even COVID_19 pandemic couldn’t stop Switch’s success.

Nintendo has created an amazing legacy. Nintendo has created amazing franchises. On top of them is Pokemon which is the most valuable franchise of video game. They have Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Animal crossing, Metroid and etc. too.

Nintendo has played its role well. They are heading to a parallel way and no one can stop them. Nintendo’s Market is completely separate from others. We should wait and see what they will have for us in the future.

Valve

Valve was founded in 1996 by former Microsoft employees Gabe Newell and Mike Harington. Valve started its activity with Half_Life, a first person shooter with elements of horror. Half_Life changed the world of FPS games. A science fiction- shooter game with a mute protagonist and amazing controlling.

Not only Half_Life itself, but also its mods were amazing. You should know everything about Counter Strike. At the very beginning, Counter Strike was a mod for Half_Life which was made by Minh Gooseman and Jess Cliffe.

This game will team up players in two groups: 1. Terrorist who have to kill polices, plant a bomb 2. Counter_Terrorists who have to neutralize the bomb, free hostages and kill terrorists. This simple core of game-play with amazing gunplay and community has live up from those days till now. CSGO is the newest version of Counter Strike series.

Six month after Half_Life success, they started to work on its sequel. They had a new engine and an advance physics system. The game came out and wrote the history. Half_Life 2 was perfect!

In addition of Half_Life 2, they were working on a digital market for selling games on PC. The internet was growing and demand for such market was increasing. They introduced Steam as an online shop for games and in-game items. All of the publishers were able to sell their games on this service and with great support everyone was happy.

Valve continued releasing games like Portal and its sequel, Dota 2 and Left for Dead. They were separating their ways from a game studio. Valve was becoming a company which provides you the best services of all time.

As VR was growing, Valve decided to enter to the market of Virtual World. They decided to run a service as Steam VR and after that released Valve Index as a full VR kit. They made Half_Life Alyx for this headset which is one of the best VR games of all time.

Now Valve has decided to enter a new way. Steam Deck is a hybrid console but we can’t call it a console! Steam Deck is a handheld PC which runs by Steam OS. Steam OS is a system operating made by Valve and is based on Linux. This tiny little computer can run the games as well as a PC.

Valves’ Policies have been great. They have the biggest store of games but they don’t force you to download games from them. Steam Deck is similar to Switch but Steam Deck is powerful enough to run Elden Ring and God of War!

I hope we can play Half_Life 3 and portal 3 on Steam Deck as soon as possible.

Facebook

I’d rather not to talk about Facebook start and etc. because Facebook in not a gaming company. They tried their luck in mobile game market with Facebook gaming and released some mobile games.

At Oculus Connect 3 in 2016, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Oculus was working on a standalone virtual reality headset codenamed “Santa Cruz”. On the following year and at the Oculus Connect 4, they announced their new VR headset as Oculus Quest and it will be available in 2018. This headset did good and could expand the market of VR games.

Oculus Quest 2 came out in COVID_19 pandemic and changed everything. You can see all of the content creators were playing VR games on their social medias. Quest 2s’ specification and unbelievable price could bring them an amazing success.

Now they have changed their headset name to Meta Quest 2 and hope to get use from Metaverse technology.

Sega

 In May 1940, American businessmen Martin Bromley, Irving Bromberg, and James Humpert formed Standard Games in Honolulu, Hawaii. Their aim was to provide coin_operated amusement machines, including slot machines, to military bases as the increase in personnel with the onset of World War II would create demand for entertainment.

They entered to the market of the arcade games and gaming consoles. Sega’s rival was Nintendo and Sega was trying to simulate all of the Nintendo’s properties. Even Sonic was a try to create a new Super Mario. Sega Genesis and Sonic the Hedgehog were successful at that time but finally Sega lost everything. Sega Saturn and Dreamcast were not able to repeat the success of Genesis.

These failures are the reason of stopping manufacture consoles. In new millennium, Sega shifted to a third_party software developer. Sega is the only company on this list which faded from video game industry.

Now they are come back with a new Sonic Game, but it looks like Sonic shouldn’t leave the 2D games!