An Alternate Reality

Semi-Day Off Blog:

I just watched the second episode of a documentary on the history of video games. It supposedly covered the period of the NES to last generation consoles. I say supposedly because, while it did rest on some truths, it didn't quite reflect what actually went on in that time period.

First off they started by saying that Miyamoto was one of the first people to create videogames that centred around a hero - namely Mario in 'Donkey Kong' and 'Super Mario Brothers', and Link in 'The Legend of Zelda' and that was all well and good.

After that was when things started going downhill.

The 16 Bit Era

Their view: Video games then needed to be more 'mature' and powerful. So Sega brought along the Mega Drive which was much more powerful than the NES. Along with it they brough Sonic the Hedgehog - a character that had much more of an edge than Mario, and would apparently be more likely to 'give you the bird'. Nintendo was then virtualy forgotten. This generation was also driven by adult content.

Reality: Both Sega and Nintendo improved on their previous consoles with the Mega Drive and the Super Nintendo. Mario and Zelda have continously kept selling millions of games. Sonic did have a bit more of an attitude than Mario, but saying that he would give you the bird is a very very very very big overstatement, and Sonic was just as colourful and "childish" as Mario. Nintendo actually came out on top in the battle against Sega this generation.


The Playstation Era

Their View: Video games needed to be more realistic and powerful yet again. So people started playing more realistic games, and non-realistic games ceased to exsist. Sega and Nintendo were both long forgotten (the show then constantly made jokes comparing these realistic characters to Mario.) Playstation single-handedly brought a new 3D world to gamers, where they could live a completley new experience.

Reality: People played both 'realistic' and 'childish' games throughout all console generations. Both Sega and Nintendo kept going through this generation. Nintendo actually brought the 3D world to life with, ironically, 'Super Mario 64'. More Mario games came out this generation than any before it. Realistic games aren't always superior to the 'childish' ones. Although Playstation did come out on top this generation, Nintendo deffinately weren't forgotten, and their Handheld business was still alive and kicking.


The Playstation 2 Era

Their View: Now that players had gotten really realistic games (and of course, that was all that they were playing as well), players wanted emotion. So games became more... emotional? Nintendo is non-exsistant, and the thought of controlling a moustached man collecting coins is laughable. Playstation and X-Box are all there was.

Reality: Emotions being the big drive of this generation?... Riiiiiiiight. While Nintendo defiantely didn't do all that well on the console front, they were still dominating the Handheld market with ease. They actually exsisted. And people didn't just play Grand Theft Auto all the time. It was a very popular game... but you know... other games did exsist as well.


Phew, I feel a bit better now.

I can't say I had very high hopes for the program, the site for it said that his favourite video game character was Master Chief from Halo... come oooooooooooooooon. And while I can't remember what his favourite old-school game was, it all added up to scream that all this guy cared about was "realism", and "mature games". And of course this view defiantely showed. Though I'm still finding it hard to understand how he forgot that Nintendo didn't actually stop exsisting 20 years ago and that Mario, Zelda, and even Sonic are still alive and kicking now, hardley forgotten. While Master Chief... I'm sure he's pretty cool, but honestly, I really doubt he will last the test of time.