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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8.2005
ENTER
AIN
THE CONSOLE COMING OF AGE New systems show an industry's evolution
BY CAMERON MONKEN
editor@kansan.com
KANSAN CORRESPONDENT
The current generation of college students, those born in the early to mid '80s, has grown up alongside a rapidly evolving form of entertainment, the home video game.
We were born with the original Nintendo and the industry took its first steps with us. The consoles began to develop their basic genres (RPG/action/sports) on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis as we entered elementary school, learning the foundations of knowledge (science/math/history).
Then came middle school and as we began getting more specific and difficult with what we were learning, the games became more vivid and interactive as the consoles grew again into the Sony Playstation, Nintendo 64, and Sega CD.
Into high school and into college, we matured and began taking the steps we would need to attain the ultimate life goals we envisioned for ourselves. At the same time, the Playstation 2, Nintendo Gamecube, and Microsoft X-Box showed the world what games were capable of, and built the foundations of what they would become. Even as many of us hit puberty, the games seemed to notice. This is when controllers began to vibrate.
Now, as many of us are getting closer to graduation and the real world,the video games are reaching a point where they are poised to become the dominant form of entertainment and break out into the real market. A new generation of seriously powerful video game consoles is about to hit the market,and they are going to hit it hard.
According to Doug Lowenstein, president of the Electronic Software Association, the video game industry will surpass the music industry as the No. 2 form of entertainment, earning a projected $58 billion a year by 2008. At the 11th annual Electronic Entertainer Expo., a video game symposium, he said games are more and more developing a mass market appeal, getting licenses from movies, TV shows, and books.
The newest step in this development of gaming will be arriving soon, a generation of gaming consoles that demonstrates the undeniable power they can wield.
This May, at the symposium, The Microsoft X-BOX 360, Sony Playstation 3, and Nintendo Revolution were unveiled.
The "Revolution" is the successor to the longest running line of consoles, the Nintendo. While the system itself hasn't been finished and there hasn't been any software officially announced, the capabilities of the machine have been hinted at by Nintendo officials.
The biggest new feature of the Revolution is its internet connectivity. The wireless card being built into the system will allow users to interact between two consoles face-toface or over their wireless gaming service, the Nintendo WiFi Connection.
Nintendo Revolution
Satoru Iwata, Nintendo president, said in a press release that Nintendo "will show the world what a next-gen system can be."
With this new level of connectivity, gamers will be able to learn a whole new meaning to the phrase "backwards compatible," meaing the Revolution will be able to download the best games released over the past 20 years of Nintendo consoles.
The Revolution runs off a chip code named "Broadway" and a graphics card known as "Hollywood." It also comes with 512 megabytes of internal flash memory and an SD memory card slot, which will be used by owners to store games in the console.
The projected release date of the Revolution is sometime in 2006, putting it behind Microsoft's 360. As of now, no games have been announced but Nintendo has hinted at new Metroid, Tony Hawk, and Smash Bros. titles among the first run of games for the new system.
— Edited By Adam Land
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