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History Behind the Video Game Phenomenon Essay

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BANG! You fire another round into the horde of zombies’ lurching toward you, and reach for another clip. Then you realize that you’re out of ammo, and there are still loads of rotting corpses walking right at you. You take out your handy combat knife and prepare for a fight. Of course, you’re not actually being attacked by zombies; you’re playing a video game. Video games are the world’s fastest growing industry, with a net worth of more than 30 billion dollars. They are played by millions of people worldwide and have become a large part of contemporary society’s culture. They are played by a vast variety of individuals ranging anywhere from 5 years old to 50 years old. So, what’s the history behind the video gaming phenomenon? Video games …show more content…

Then in 1989, Sega came out with the Sega Genesis, and Nintendo responded with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Next came the Sega Saturn, and the Sony PlayStation in 1994 and 1995. Then they came out with the Nintendo 64, in 1996, which sold more than 1.5 million units in just 3 months. By the end of this era, Sony had become a leader in the video-game market, while Sega had fallen behind and was not doing very well. In 1998 Sega released the Dreamcast, which was ahead of its time, and probably Sega’s best console; however, it was not very popular and failed to save the company, which withdrew from the console business to be a third-party game producer in 2002. In 2000, Sony went on to release the PlayStation 2, which would eventually become the dominant console of the sixth generation, while Nintendo released the GameCube and the Gameboy Advanced in 2001. Microsoft entered the business the same year with the Xbox, which was very popular in the US, but was a flop in most other countries. What about the industry now? Currently there are five next generation consoles: the Xbox 360, the Xbox One, the Nintendo Wii, the Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Sony’s PlayStation 4. The Xbox One has the most processing power, but is very expensive and doesn’t yet have many games. According to “Electronic Arts: The Worlds Biggest Video Game Publisher Sees Good Times Ahead,” the PlayStation 3 is selling the worst so far

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