Today Imma write something different because this has been on my mind for quite a long time.
I'm pretty sure that most of you here play video games, and many of you sure don't know the history of video gaming one. So as a intelligent and knowledgeable person (I mean me), I will teach you guys some history lesson la.
BTW, this is a very long post, read at your own risk!
The first home video-game console, is the Atari 2600.
It was released in 1977, and of cause, the graphics damn sucky la.
But back then, it was super amazing.
Some of their memorable good games are games like Space Invaders, Pitfall and Pong.
Back then in Atari 2600, everything was in square and blocks, no circular shapes, that's why the graphics are limited during this era.
Then comes the two ultra-fucking ancestors of gaming.
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Sega Master System. Back then, these systems utilize gaming cartridges. You stick the cartridges in, and you play the game. CD-ROMs for gamings are still not invented yet during that time.
The NES was released in Europe during 1986.
Sega Master System was released during 1987.
Of cause there were other gaming systems too but those just failed hard la. These two are the ones that were fighting like heaven and hell back then. Both the systems were 8-bit at the time.
What is bits? I think you can define them as graphics at the time la. The more the number, the better graphics. If you ask me what is 8-bit like? Maybe is the graphics of a game from Game Boy Colour.
Some of the memorable NES games that all of us recognized are games like the first masterpiece,
The Legend of Zelda.
Who would've thought that such a small adventure game will evolve into one of the statue of Nintendo nowadays.
And of cause, Super Mario, Super Mario II and Super Mario Bros III are the master-trilogy from NES.
Not to mention other games like Metroid, Double Dragon, Contra and etc.
Then Sega made a comeback during 1989, just 3 years after NES came out, they released Sega Genesis. A 16-bit gaming system that will beat their rival, Nintendo to the ground.
So basically, now is all about the battle between Nintendo and Sega. Sega Genesis stirred up a lot of attentions back then and eventually, NES's 8-bit games are no match for Genesis' 16-bit games.
Many Nintendo fans back then were furious because they think that better graphics doesn't mean better gameplays. Although many Genesis games are not that good although they had good graphics, but they introduced their own gaming mascot too. Nintendo had Link (From Legend of Zelda), Mario, Metroid, Sega have Sonic the Hedgehog too!
The first Sonic game immediately gives all the players exciting fun and so, the battle between Nintendo and Sega is still not over yet. Not until the year 1991, Nintendo will rise once again.
1991, Nintendo introduced Super NES.
The SNES is also another 16-bit console and actually if we look into the specs, almost every specs of SNES is better than Genesis. So this is why many people said that Nintendo wins the battle against their ultimate rival, Sega.
Many memorable NES games take advantage of the 16-bit era and had their own follow-ups too. Like The Legend Of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario World, Super Metroid, the Final Fantasy Series, Doom and etc.
Nintendo is beating the hell outta Sega and of cause, the battle is not over yet.
The battle had just started.
In the mid 90's, comes the 32-bit gaming era.
Sony made their movie, they introduced the gaming console that most of us played during our childhood.
All those nostalgic memories, all came from this one console.
The PlayStation/PSX. Which what we known as PS1 now which utilizes CD-ROMs to play was released during 1995.
32-bit can did a lot of things apparently. Fully functional 3D, extremely great graphics back then.
It was a dream for all the gamers back then, a sweet-ass dream.
Many masterpiece-games were introduced back then. Like Crash Bandicoot, Final Fantasy Series, Spyro, Silent Hill II and etc.
But then, Sega made their move during the same year too. They introduced yet another 32-bit console, the Sega Saturn.
Well, Sega Saturn did not really do well here in Malaysia. So I'm going to skip it, lol.
Then here comes Nintendo. 2 years after the release of both PSX and Saturn, Nintendo introduced Nintedo 64 (N64).
This is when gaming is at the peak back then. Many memorable Nintendo games had their own follow-up in N64 too, like Super Mario 64, Banjo and Kazooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and the game that most of the people regarded as the GREATEST GAME OF ALL TIME until today,
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
We will talk about this later.
Now the battle has evolved into a fight between Sony and Nintendo. We can actually abandon Sega now because they suck by the way.
But then, yet another company will rise and make this battle epic again.
In year 2000, Sony introduced PlayStation 2/PS2.
Now people don't talk about bits anymore because they don't matter anyway.
PS2 is yet another childhood of mine. The graphics back then were amazing, and I can still play some of their greatest games if you give me a controller now too. Games like Kingdom Hearts 1&2, Winning Eleven, Yakuza, GTA: San Andreas, Metal Gear Solid Series and etc, they still live up to their names today.
Well well well, I know this post is becoming longer and longer, but we will stop after this one last introduction. The company that I mentioned just now is Microsoft as they introduced XBox during 2002.
Although I didn't own a XBox and it's not as popular as PS2 here in Malaysia. But it sure is a fierce competitor in European countries.
If you're wondering what happened to Nintendo? Well I guess they are too busy making handheld consoles like Game Boy Advanced and just like simply surrendered from the battle. But they will introduce Wii in 2006 to join back into the Triple Threat Match again.
The reason that I created this post is to remind you guys when did this all started? Sure of cause today we had PS3, XBox 360 and Wii U. Not to mention PS4 and XBox One is coming soon this year. But we must pay our respect to the ancestors of gaming. Without them, we wouldn't have so much good games today. The games you are playing now, do you realized they have their own prequels back then?
For example, if you're playing Tomb Raider (2012) now, did you realized the first TR game was released 12 years ago? :)
Back to the topic of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time being the greatest game of all time.
It's weird and funny that comparing the graphics of games back then with the games today, how come so many people will choose a 32-bit game as the greatest game of all time? Which brings me to my next point.
Gamers nowadays cared too much about the graphics and they often forgotten about gameplay is what matters the most. I admit that I'm one of them too.
We too damn indulged ourselves in the high-detailed graphics that the gaming companies offered us today, like Skyrim, Far Cry 3, all the Battlefield and Call of Duty games and etc. But of cause, they are fun to play. But, why don't we try back some of the old games? All these old games from NES, Genesis, SNES that we didn't play before, we know that their graphics are bad, but they can be as much fun as the games today too.
Although I still haven't finish this game yet (I'm playing it now), in my opinion it's pretty fun. But the greatest game of all time? I still can't answer this question yet.
Perhaps our perception nowadays will be our greatest distraction, because we've played too many good-graphic games, so when it comes to a bad-graphic games, no matter how fun it is, we still think that it lacks something. This kind of thinking is not good actually. If we love playing games, we will look at them in all different kind of angles, even if it's a 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, if they are fucking good, they can still rank up there with some of the good games nowadays.
My job here is done, thanks for reading.
:)
'' Impolan7sibble lar ''
-Lim Chan Chung
(Sohai Friend)
End.
