h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Console Wars - A811135
Author: Hussassan the Silicon Samurai - U200779

OK, if anyone has anything to add, please tell me.

Not bad. I was surprised we didn't already have an entry- I reckon this is a good idea and I for one didn't know about the Sony/Nintendo connection.

Could you put and at the beginning and end of each paragraph? As it is they all get run together. Also there's a couple of first person bits which an editor would rewrite if you don't do them yourself. Also I don't know if you'll get away with calling things good and bad quite so much - the guide likes to seem impartial.

Picky perhaps, but could you say "Sinclair ZX Spectrum" the first time you mention it?

Finally, what does FMV mean?

fmv probably means Full Motion Video.

now to the article. I quite like it, but the author's preference shows up quite well. this might be toned down a bit, with more favourable things mentioned about the other consoles.

also the author might like to mention that microsoft is losing its shirt on every xbox it sells, in the hope of getting a critical mass, and thus a foot in the door of yet another market for it to monopolise.

Hi there,

I really like this article. You tell a good story and your writing style is very slick.

As everyone else has said, you need to tone down the opinions a bit. Apart from the fact that the Guide is supposed to be relatively impartial, such opinionated pieces can be really boring to read if you're not careful!

However, it's not too bad - amend a few comments here and there, and it'll be fine.

I've got some more specific comments - and questions about things I didn't quite understand, not being a dedicated gamer:

First thing, when discussing the differences between the consoles, you don't say very much about the 'user experience', apart from mentioning "that damn controller". Doesn't this have an effect on popularity? It certainly applies to mobile phones - the difference between Nokia and, say, Motorola is enormous. Motorola appears to have been designed by a bunch of engineers who have no idea what people want from a phone. Nokia got it spot on. Is there an equivalent in the gaming world?

>>but had one thing that neither Nintendo nor Sega could compete with - vast advertising revenue.

I think you mean "vast advertising budget" or "vast advertising resources" here. Revenue is the opposite.

>>but Compared to the other two, it was as nothing.

There's nothing to back this up - either take it out, or explain what you mean.

>>since Nintendo only sided with a few:

What does "sided with" mean? Do you mean supported them against something? Or do you mean that Nintendo only used a few select suppliers?

>>Gone were the carefree days of friendly competition and peaceful coexistence;

Dearie me, I don't think the gaming world was ever like that. I think this is unquantifiable and a bit dewy-eyed.

However, I agree with this:
"video games were now a highly fashionable accessory, rather than a slightly nerdish (in places) pastime. "

In fact, I think its worth expanding on. How did Sony manage this? Was it just the advertising? Or is it also to do with the fact that Sony is a cool brand, associated with cool design? Maybe its to do with the fact that Sony is a familiar brand to older consumers (e.g. in their thirties) who wouldn't respond to the latest thing advertised on children's telly, but trust the Sony brand?

>>You know the type - brainwashed, thought that Sony could do no wrong,

Hmm, apart from the fact that this is way too partisan, I would quite like to know what (or who) you mean as I don't know the type. Are you talking about people who have migrated from other Sony products, ie not serious gamers? And is it that they think Sony can do no wrong, or is it more to do with the fact that Sony products are the 'must-haves' of the digital world?

>>the GameCube is just as powerful if architecture is taken into account and stats placed in context.

I think you need to prove or quantify this.

>>annoyingly new-school,

What's 'new-school'? (a couple of popular examples would probably suffice).

I think this has the makings of a very good article, but as a writer you need to make an effort to be more generous and balanced. However, I think its good stuff and I enjoyed reading it!

Gubernatrix

Thanks guys, I've taken your stuff to heart and will update it accordingly.

Hi Hussassan - really liked this!

I should probably correct a few little things in this though. I worked for SCEE (the people behind the European launch of PlayStation) for just over six years, from just after launch until just after the 1st birthday of PS2, so there are a few things that immediately jar for me.

'In the mid-90s, Nintendo hired Sony to create a CD-drive add-on for the SNES... Sony had no experience whatsoever with video games'

Not quite true - for one thing, Sony did know a thing or two about games . Up to this point, Sony were a publisher of games for developers such as Namco, publishing titles Like Bomberman for the SNES. When one of Sony's techie guys came up with the idea of a CD-based system, it was rejected by Nintendo, who refused to abandon cartridge technology. It was then that he began to develop the system (originally known as PSX before being renamed PlayStation) in-house.

'a vast advertising budget'

Again, not true - the advertising budget wasn't huge at all, it was just economically handled. SCEE in particular have quite a small ad budget, which they spend on branding - promoting PlayStation as a concept rather than focusing on one mascot game (Mario / Sonic). Nintendo and Sega had bigger advertising budgets, but their branding was aimed at 14-year olds, whereas PlayStation always aimed higher - mainly to the 18-25 market, which has an aspirational effect upon the 14-18 bracket (18-25 year olds have more disposable income, while the younger kids look up to them to set the trends).

'The PlayStation also changed the nature of the market. Gone were the carefree days of friendly competition and peaceful coexistence'

Funnily enough, while I was at SCEE, we were expressly told never to try to rubbish the opposition as it undermined our own strengths. We only ever 'bigged up' our own wares; other companies however employed negative marketing only for it to backfire on them. PlayStation changed the industry simply by working in isolation and thereby creating a target / rival for the others to compete with

'Sega then seemed to try and distance itself from this new product, referring to it not as Sega Dreamcast but simply as Dreamcast.'

...which they did to copy Sony Computer Entertainment; while others refer to 'Sony' PlayStation, Sony itself never did - the product was 'PlayStation'. And never 'the PlayStation. Just 'PlayStation'.

'3rd world leaders using them as missile guidance systems (which never happened).'

That was an in-house joke generated from SCE's European marketing office that was leaked, hyped up and then misreported in the press. We all thought it was funny at least

One thing you don't mention is that Sony were the first software developer to break in traditionally difficult markets. The reason they succeeded where others continue to fail is their support for 3rd party developers (Namco, by the way, is a 1st-party developer as they continue to publish through SCEE). They gave them strong technical help and often did co-promotions, helping 3rd parties with their advertising and marketing in countries other than the usual UK, France, Germany, Italian and Spanish. For the first time, computer games broke the Eastern European and Scandinavian markets by providing in-game translations and manuals.

One interesting effect of this was with the issue of piracy. Russia is rife with priacy - it accounts for something like 80% of commerce. One thing that was happening was Russian software pirates would hack the code and do their own translations, effectively making a better product than the games companies could provide themselves. What Sony did was simple - they hired the hacks, gave them access to the software direct and then managed to undermine rival pirates by allowing them to ensure that the official software came out earlier than the pirate rivals and with better translations.

Now that they're the global No 1, some peple have started to see Sony as the evil corporation. The strange thing is, Sony itself was devastated when the N64 collapsed; if only one company is keeping the industry afloat that's a very worrying situation. Sony *need* competition, as it strengthens EVERYONE's position, whereas if they're the only ones doing business and something goes wrong, that's the entire industry up the spout.

Well, enough of the corporate bull, hope some of this has been useful. It's interesting to read the situation from an outsider though.

Jimster

Hiya..
well done I have just one comment that I'm surprise that no one else has made. To get into the edited guide you need to write in 3rd person. And there's quiet a few times where you've written in first person. Also it does need to be balanced but incorperating some of Jimsters comments shuold make it balanced enough!

In general goo

Again it needs to be less partisan, but an interesting discussion piece.

I bought the PS2 for the games available on it, and I've looked at the X box for the same reason. Next year I might buy one, but the deciding factor for me last year was the reverse compatability of the PS2 - I could probably still play my favourite games. An added bonus was that I didn't have to buy any extras to play DVDs - which meant the player in the lounge being freed up id my kids rented something I didn't like.

I also think that Sony sold the box rather than the characters, but thats opinion.

Z- Is this general goo a new skin ? I s it better that Brunel ?

sorry oohps but I do have a nasty cold and yesterday I had the from hell as well(hangover smilie underused really)

Wow, thanks, Jimeen!

Sorry, that should have been Jimster, it's a rather horrendous typo. By the way, Jimster, I'm thinking of writing a paragraph on handhelds, so I'd like to know - did Sony ever consider making a handheld console?

Not really a handheld, as it was very basic, graphically, but in Japan there was the PocketStation, a small white (or clear plastic variant) egg-shaped peripheral with four directional buttons, an enter button and a small 2cm x 2cm black-and-white screen. It allowed the player to download minigames from their PlayStation, and it was the number one platform in Japan for a time because it was comparatively cheap and easy to use, but it was decided not to release it in Europe because the batteries (similar to watch batteries) tend to be much more expensive in many of the leading territories, and they didn't last very long.

It was quite fun though - one of the Crash Bandicoot games (Crash Warped, I think) had a kind of tamagochi Crash that danced, juggled with apples and did a few other tricks that racked up wumpa fruit points that could then be uploaded into the main game. Final Fantasy XIII had a mini RPG game involving a chocobo exploring areas. It could collect rare items that could be used in the main game, and it could increase its level by fighting other creatures. The game also used the PocketStation's infra red system to transfer data to another person's unit, or to indulge in remote battles, the outcome for which depended on your own unit's serial number. If you won a battle, you could steal someone else's serial number and increase your chances of gaining the ultimate rare items.

The PocketStation also had other abilities - you could use it as a calculator, or as a Sony TV remote control, alarm clock or simply a Memory Card. I seem to remember that aside from Europe's issues over the batteries, Sony simply couldn't fulfil the demand as they were selling at ridiculous rates in Japan and so SCEJ didn't need to even worry about exporting them as their home market was strong enough. And there were something like 100 games that were compatible with it in Japan at launch or soon after. Only a very few of those games retained their PocketStation compatibility for the European version though - FF8 being one of them.

Great input one and all, especially from Gubernatrix and Jimster! Hussassan, is this ready, do you think? I'll hit the accept button as soon as you give me the nod.

I know I'm coming late to the party, but reading the article I did think it was a little odd that you lumped the C64 and Speccy in with consoles. Would it not be better to open talking about the early growth of home gaming in computers (e.g C64 and Speccy), then introducing the consoles as they came in?

BTW, with regards to the C64 you might like to mention the ill-fated C64GS (basically a C64 chipset with a cartridge slot - died due to total lack of game support.)

Looking really good now, Hussassan!

Gubernatrix

I think I agree with Auberius, that the early home computers (C64 and similar) don't really fit in in a discussion about consoles, apart from as part of an introduction to computer games in general. The C64GS wasn't unique, though, in having a cartidge slot, the ordinary C64 (with a keyboard, and tape recorder attached) had one. The change I think was that it would only take cartridges, and presumedly didn't let you program it. I can't really comment about how successful it was though.

Also, there are other problems with the entry. In the first section you talk about a number of computers :"Atari 2600,SNK Neo Geo, Commodore 64, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Magnavox Odyssey, and Mitsubishi Colour TV Game 6.", at the same time, suggetsing they were competitors, whereas I think the Neo Geo was quite a bit later than the Commodore and Spectrum. It's certainly worth checking your dates here.

Another point is the lack of dates, to give an idea of the timescales involved in this.

In the 'Golden Age' section, you seem to be suggesting that the Playstation came immediately after the NES and Master System, as you only briefly mention the existence of the SNES (as a precursor to the Playstation), and only hint at the existence of the Megadrive (I presume that that is one of the next wave of technology you mention). Having dates would help this, as would more talk about SNES and Megadrive.

There are also problems in terms of bias, this seems to be fairly heavily anti-Sony, describing them as a 'dark force' in the 'Golden Age' section, for example.

Also, you say the Gameboy advance is 'supposedly as powerful as a Playstation'. The word 'supposedly' suggests you aren't sure of this. If you are then say so, if not, then I would remove the claim, as I don't think it's a good idea to speculate in a guide entry. I think it's supposed to be a more powerful version of the SNES, and they have re-released quite a few SNES games on it.]

The bit about handhelds doesn't really give an idea of timescale involved in this, as well as how it fits in with the general timescale of the rest of the console wars.

There are other things that could be included, to give a flavour of the attitutes of Sega and Nintendo. Nintendo seem to have aimed, for much of the time, to go for more 'family friendly' approach. They removed the gore from Mortal Kombat, and toilets and Bullies from Theme park, on the SNES. I think that has changed over time, although they probably still aim at a relatively young audience, or rather avoid more 'adult' titles, at least with their own releases.

Then there is the idea of iconic games. Nintendo and Sega were symbolized by Mario and Sonic. Sony and Microsoft don't seem to have that sort of game that instantly is associated with their formats. There seem to have been some games that the Playstation is particularly known for (Tomb Raider, Crash Bandikoot, say), and perhaps the odd one for the X-Box (I think Halo is one of these), but whilst there might be some shock if you saw Mario on Playstation 2 say, the same cannot be said of Tomb Raider (I think the games have all been on PC). There is something odd about Sonic appearing on Gameboy, as is now the case (as Sega now are a third party developer)

That's probably because Nintendo and Sega are known as games producers, whereas Sony and Microsoft are probably more known for producing the consoles themselves.

All that said, I think that this could become an edited entry, but I'm not sure that it's ready as it stands.

I liked your article, but you came across as another cliched Sony-hating Sega Zealot, sorry!

I still own a Dreamcast and played Phantasy Star Online and Quake III on-line for as long as the wages could cover the phone bill. It was a great console, Shenmue blew me away as did later titles like Headhunter and Shenmue's suberb sequel.

But why the Sony hatred? This industry has come on leaps and bounds thanks to their constant raising of standards. I used to work for a game developer/publisher (Infogrames) in the UK and was lucky enough to work closely with designers and programmers alike. They all had one thing in commom - they all appreciated the precious developer support offered by Sony (creating games can sometimes get a little tricky, I'm sure you can appreciate this!).

Unfortunately, the help you get from their competititors (SEGA and ***especially*** Nintendo) was practically worthless. Hence, cross-platform development rapidly became a thing of the past as the DreamCast or N64 versions of games fell further and further behind thier Sony counterparts, and were eventually canned.

People will only buy a console for the games, not some misguided sense of loyalty.

There is a valid reason that Sony are the market leaders, and it doesn't just boil down to money. It how you use it. Why aim games at seven-to-ten year old who can't afford the £50-60 for a cartridge (55 QUID FOR PERFECT DARK! I ASK YOU!!) and hope that the kids can put enough pressure on the parents to buy it for them?

Hopefully, the GameCube will go some way to redressing this balance, but only if nintendo learn to support third party developers, which is appears they are, judging by the titles coming out soon.

Sony ARE giants, but their expertise is spread across a wide spectrum. Please give them the credit they deserve.

Rant over

-rob

The C64GS was, as I recall, a white truncated triangular prism, about the same size as an original style C64 proper, with a single cartridge port on the top, an RF socket on the back and two game ports on the front; i.e. it was a 64 chipset with console-necessary gubbins only. I saw one in a shop many years ago, brand new - Wish I'd got it now, if only for nostalgia's sake...

Generally I agree with the other posts, this is a good article that is close to edited status, but it needs to go a little more in-depth and be a little less stanced.

Hussassan! What do you reckon?