The first decade of the 2000s showed huge shifts in in gaming. Nintendo kind of faded into the background failing to hold peoples interest, Sega decided to pull out of making hardware in the gaming industry, Sony began to show its dominance and take the lead with the likes of the playstation and Microsoft, best known for PC software, made their own console.
To kick-start the period, the Dreamcast was launched in 1998 and was the first console that came with the luxury of a built in modem for online gaming. Every major console that has come out after this has had the ability to support an Internet connection or has had the option available as an aftermarket add-on. This shows that the growing popularity of online gaming challenged companys to provide online services as this was becoming a deciding factor when it comes to console sales and popularity.
The next release, that over shadowed the dreamcast before it had even arrived, was the
playstation2. A year later Nintendo brought out the gamecube, but it wasn’t particularly a success
due to its lack of adult themed games and was deemed a bit ‘childish.’ So again, developers faced more challenges trying to provide for a growing adult audience, changing the trend in gaming and creating new types of games. Console gaming generally continued the complex and sophisticated adult gameplay trend, which Sony started. Even Nintendo, who were more known for steering clear of mature rated games, started to release games like resident evil to keep up with the public’s growing appetite for more complex gaming. The popularity of greater realism and more complexity within games is still a huge demand from gamers today, for things like better graphics for a more intense gaming experience. The innovation that the playstation 2 started may be the reason it still sells steadily eleven years later.
2004 was the time when handheld consoles really took off. The Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP were brought out within the space of a month of each other. In attempt to reclaim dominance over Sony, Nintendo developed their technology to a two screen system, which distinguished them from the rest of handhelds. The two screens, one for display and one touch sensitive was extremely popular. Nintendo continued to develop, bringing out the DS Lite in 2006, DSi in 2009, and DSi XL.
In November 2005, Microsoft brought out their Xbox 360 followed by the PS3 in 2007. These consoles were like nothing seen before. Both of them had HD graphics, large storage and integrated networking. They were the only gaming devices that could begin to rival PC's. They were huge developments in technology, becoming two of the biggest icons in gaming to date. Nintendo also brought out their Nintendo Wii shortly after the PS3, proving to be successful due to its motion interactivity and family friendliness , creating the big three: Xbox 360, PS3 and the Wii.
With the fast development in technology, there was huge strain put on companies in the shape of larger development budgets needed. This created heavy losses for some developers, sometimes causing entire projects to be cut.
In general, the gaming industry are under a lot of pressure. Like the majority of the entertainment industry, there is huge pressure from us as consumers for these companies to churn out game/ films etc as quickly as possible because we're anticipating a sequel that's bigger and better. To do so these companies use a high turnover of staff and expensive technology which they never cash in on with sales making game development a constant losing battle.
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