The 2000s
The 2000’s was a decade where games managed to creep into different technologies that were starting to emerge, e.g. games were now available on the mobile phone, and the internet. This decade saw the focusing of producing various genres for many different people other than the usual player, whether it was young, old, girl, boy, groups of players or solo players; there was a game for someone. Straight from 1999 the Playstation 2 was a hit, however a new rival was about to be unleashed by none other than Microsoft. Microsoft’s decision to join the ‘console war’ was a risky one; with production starting before the ps2’s release it seemed that there was big pressure to compete with such a popular console company. Even so in 2001 the ‘x box’ was released. Too many people’s surprise the x box managed to hold its own with its impressive technology and built in network for online play. One of the consoles first released games was the FPS halo. At this point in time there were not as many first person shooters on the market as we see today; people would’ve probably been only familiar with Golden eye 007 on the N64. A few FPS were around at that time including medal of honour and perfect dark, but it was Halo that outshone from this genre and contributed greatly to the x box’s sales (due to it being x box exclusive). Although the x box made an impact, it still wasn’t enough to overcome the success of the Playstation 2, which managed to obtain 1 million sales. It was so popular that there was a stock shortage, and even people who had pre ordered weren’t able to receive their consoles.
as the decade went on the x box and the GameCube (Nintendo’s 6th gen contender, used disks for the first time, essentially making cartridges extinct in the gaming world) never managed to beat the ps2’s number in terms of sales. The ps2 outlived its competition by managing to sustain sales during the overtaking of the market from the 7th generation consoles, unlike the GameCube and x box, where their production was discontinued. During the period of 6th generation consoles, the game company Rockstar released its 3rd instalment of the grand theft auto series GTA III. The game itself is considered a milestone in the gaming world, due to its open world gameplay and non linear storyline and gained a lot of success commercially.
The 2000’s saw the rise of online gaming, and one the most successful online games that continues to the present day is world of warcraft. Gamers could now interact and play a game simultaneously with people the other side of the globe. This new way of playing games was popular amongst PC players, and were gaining popularity in the consoles with the x box live, and the ps2 releasing the network adaptor. But the online capabilities became more crucial in terms of sales for the next generation of console. The ps3, the x box 360 now had to expand on the online aspects of their consoles, so they created online stores so that games could be purchased and downloaded within the console itself, they made it so you could connect to facebook and the internet in general, they also incorporated online TV like bbc iplayer and 4od. It was the 7th generation console that companies started to look at expanding from the video games and looking into other features that they could provide, essentially creating not a console, but more a media centre, a machine that could play blue-rays, access television, play music, go on the internet as well as play games. They also explored new ways of playing games, rather then pressing buttons, you could use your movements to control a game. The Nintendo wii innovated this trend with its wii controller, which encouraged the player to move the controller in order to fulfil the objective. This technology crept into the x box and ps3 systems with x box kinect, a way of playing games using just your body, and ps3 move, with controllers similar to the wii. The games industry unfortunately is taking a turn for the worst, with recent sales dropping significantly. This will probably cause employment for people who want to work in games to be even more restricting than it is now, making it very competitive between possible employees. However the future may bring some fortune, as of yet it may be clear as you what that would be. But with an ever changing industry with ever improving technology, the gloomy looking future may take a turn for the better.
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