[General Discussion] Generation6: 128-bit Memories (Cue the Toe-Tappin' Music)

And as the 128-bit generation close, the battlefield that was once fought by the 3 surviving combatants quieted down. 1 of the competitors died early, leaving the epic battle between 3 juggernauts, all of which had refused to follow the same fate as the first victim.

Now that times have moved on and technology is rising, we should look at the era that was and commemorate those who had fallen, those who are still fighting and how there were during the great big 128-bit Console War known as The Battle of Generation6.

Now this thread isn't to flame others or start arguments. No. This is a memorial thread to the era which, arguably ended on November 19th with the arrival of Nintendo's newest weapon, the Wii (which came after Sony's launch attack of it's new PS3). Sure, the Xbox, Cube and PS2 will still be around but as mentioned earlier, technology has rapidly advanced. The Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii are now the main players in the battlefield.

Now, here's my thoughts on the times that were: the 128-bit generation.

Dreamcast: 1999-2003
Ahh... One of the most prominent veterans in the gaming wars, Sega initially found itself in an uphill battle. With ground lost during the great PSX 64 wars, Sega released the system with a system that looked to be unbeatable: great specs, awesome triple A lineup and a revolutionary online service. How could anything possible go wrong?

Unfortunately, the hill was too steep. Though initally Sega managed to scale a great deal of the mountain, the hype and imminent arrival of the PSX's successor, the PS2, was too much for Sega and they started falling. Eventually Nintendo, Sega's greatest rival, came it with it's Gamecube and a new force, Microsoft, ambushed all parties with it's funkily named X-Box. Sega crash and fumbled, eventually falling the summit.

However, though Sega is still technically dead, some of its soldiers rally on and continue giving their services for the purpose of gaming. Some are in the Microsoft camp, others in the Sony camp and few in the Nintendo camp.

Though on paper Sega should've succeeded, their timing was not the greatest and this may have been one of their biggest mistakes. One that cost them to forfeit the console wars. However, the spirits and some surviving soldiers of Sega still exist today, and they all still fight for the purpose of developing great games for the common man: games that take the gamer away to another world.

Playstation 2: 2000-
Coming off in the best position after it's highly successful and well known inflitration into the Sega Vs Nintendo war, Sony's weapon of massed destruction (PSX) lifted Sony to becoming a gaming powerhouse, therefore allowing them to invest in creating new technology earlier than their competitors. This allowed them to strike first and with reports that the PS2 could shoot missiles, Nintendo (caught off-guard that the rookie was evenly matched) desparately tried to counter-strike the impending force from the once-puny juggernaught.

Sony seemed to be on high water with their missiles devastating the Nintendo camp, but seemingly from nowhere, Sony would face it's now biggest rival, Microsoft. Using ambush-like tactics, Sony, Nintendo and poor old Sega underestimated this new challanger and eventually, the celebrated veteran Sega met its doom. Sony was once more forced to play the game seriously and managed to hold off the seemingly endless battiions of soldiers led by their monopolistic leader, Bill Gates.

Sony still holds the lead in the console wars, but with Microsoft using Sony's tactics that allowed them to devastate Nintendo, the upcoming battle will be an epic one of Sony. Using the X-Box 360 early, Microsoft manged to create a huge dint in Sony's fortress giving them a chance to infiltrate the castle and gain leadership in the console wars. However, Sony's most well-known and efficient weapon the PS2 manged to hold the defenses well enough for Sony to create it's counter weapon: the PS3.

Gamecube 2001-2006
Nintendo knew that they had a fight in their hands. After some absolutely stupid and arrogant mistakes, Nintendo came to terms with their decisions and started developing a weapon that would not only make up for lost ground, but exceed the technology that Sony had implemented in their PS2. This conceived the Gamecube.

Nintendo seemed to believe in the Gamecube. On paper, it had the potential to take back what was theirs. Not only that, the soldiers in Nintendo's camp managed to find the Gamecube easy to develop for, allowing near-instant professionalism and proficiency. Furthermore, Nintendo finally utilised optical disk technology, which allowed for efficient development of weapons and information gathering (among other tasks). Along with other established weapons (such as The Mario, The Zelda and The Pokemon, a biological weapon of MASSED destruction), Nintendo could have recovered ground lost during the PSX 64 battle. T'was not to be, however.

One of the mistakes they did not consider was it's way of decision making. Nintendo still hadn't learnt it's pig-headed ways which to its competition was childish and too traditional. Nintendo's image was so severe, Sony had a period of time where they did not even take Nintendo seriously, seeing them as child-like, misguided pups. Rookies, even (ironic, as Nintendo viewed Sony during the PSX 64 era as rookies).

The decisions were many. The design of the Gamecube, the lower army forces and less weapons storage space, Nintendo did not have the means to take on the increasing power of Sony abd at the same time counter the ambush set up by another juggernaut, Microsoft. Nintendo barely survived the fate that came to it's old rival and last-minute ally, Sega.

Coming into the next gen-wars in the worst position, Nintendo eventually changed leaders in 2003, which reinvigorated them and put them in a position where they would devise and unorthodoxed and unconventional weapon to blow away the competition. Using the success of their new line of grenades (the Nintendo DS) as well as emotionally-provoking speeches (the concept of a revolution) Nintendo managed to sign up a new large army force and they seem to be back on track in the next-gen wars. Sony and Microsoft still regarding Nintendo as the little ant. but as many know little ants have the power to take out elephants.

X-Box 2001-
Starting out as a humble processor company, Microsoft soon became the most lucrative business in the whole world, lead by the man who had been there all along, Bill Gates. With technology rising and great demands for computers, Microsoft managed to virtually own the computer industry by creating a simple Operating System that many still prefer even to this day (though now Microsoft is facing competition from the new-looking computer veteran, Apple).

With almost nowhere to expand, Microsoft looked to new markets in order to expand their stunning success only to realise that they had the potential to succeed in the gaming market. And so they devised a plan. A plan so grand, that it would allow them to successfully infiltrate the war between Sony and Nintendo, and devastate the gaming leader Sony.

Their ambush on both parties worked, with Nintendo retreating and Sony stumbling. However, even with the all powerful Xbox that Microsoft had, Sony's numbers were greater than Microsoft, which eventually subdued the vicious attack. Even with the most powerful weapon in the Generation6 War, Microsoft was unable to take control of the gaming battlefield.

Regardless of the outcome, Microsoft was able to position itself in a very good spot, and this lead them (using the revenues from their computers departments) to quickly develop a new and uberly powerful system, designed to overtake Sony and devastate their once seemingly unbreakable fortress! Can this new force hold their small lead from the upcoming and equally as powerful weapon the PS3?



So there you have it. My thoughts and analysis of the The Battle of Generation6. Any thoughts, ideas, memories of the War that was?

(Sorry for the long read -_-')

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by devilmaycry

You just made a fool out of yourself by saying that the DC died in 2003, in case you don't know a new DC game is sheduled for released next month.
Oh you meant since 2003 there hasn't been any other games asides shmups? Well, yeah...

I meant in terms of Sega stopping production on March 2003 (I think.) As you can tell a few of my facts are a bit muddled up but neh, I'm human.

I really agree with everyone. Nintendo did have an opportunity to capture some more gamers but with decisions like Connectivity and (no matter how much you deny it) Wind Waker, they really blew.

Xbox, with or without Japanese success, still ended up second place. That's quite a feat.

With the outlook looking bleak, Sony might have to face some tough attacks from Microsoft. Oh yes, it's going to be exciting indeed.

There's nowhere I can't reach.