Timeline: Japanese contributions to video games (5/5)
- September 21, 2007 13:04 PM PST
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1996 - Capcom releases Resident Evil for PlayStation. The Survival Horror genre -- a mix between Western and Japanese horror film elements -- is born, and the series will go on to be one of Capcom's most successful franchises.
1998 - Konami releases Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Freaks, and a slew of other rhythm-based games to wide appeal in Japan. Eight years later, Americans will finally realize what all the fuss is about when a highly localized spin-off called Guitar Hero hits the PS2.
1998 - Sony releases Gran Turismo for PS1, auto enthusiasts flip out, and the game will sell over 10.5 million copies worldwide (the best selling game for the PlayStation) emboldening the driving genre as a result.
1998 - Nintendo simultaneously launches Pok?mon Red and Pok?mon Blue for the original Game Boy nine years after the handheld's release. Combined, the games will sell a whopping 20 million copies seemingly because 10 million players "gotta catch 'em all" so they buy both versions. (Most) Adult gamers are left scratching their heads.
1999 - Sega releases its last console, the Dreamcast, before leaving the hardware business altogether amid surmounting financial loss. They will now concentrate on less risky software development for multiple platforms. While marking the end of an era, Sonic will awkwardly appear on Nintendo systems now.
2000 - Sony releases its second console, the PS2. Bundled with the console is the hotly desired DVD playback which helps to sell the system. Many developers will complain about the lack of power and inferior graphics when compared to the soon-to-be released Xbox and Nintendo GameCube, nevertheless, the PlayStation 2 will garner the most third-party support, feature the greatest number of games, and go down in history as the best selling console of all time.
2001 - The Nintendo GameCube goes on sale available in two colors; black and purple. Never before has a single paint job done so much to damage the reputation of the very product it coats. Sadly for GameCube, purple did precisely that. While far from being a commercial failure, the GameCube fell short on expectations due to its inability to differentiate itself outside of a strong library of first-party games.
2004 - Nintendo releases the successor to the portable Game Boy Advance, the Nintendo DS. Radically different in form, Nintendo decided to zig in a zagging industry. The crux of their approach? Popularize a new way to interface with games, create new genres of games, and expand the gamer audience to include inexperienced players. As a result, the DS is on pace to match or even outsell the mighty PS2. Subsequently, this same recipe for success will be used when Nintendo launches its next home console two years later.
2004 - Six months after the DS, Sony launches its first foray into the handheld gaming market, the PlayStation Portable (PSP). It will initially sell well given its brand name and robust feature set which is more akin to a multimedia device than a game machine, but it will ultimately be outsold by the DS 2 to 1 due to a lack of games. Still, the PSP will manage to thrive in a market still dominated by Nintendo, something no other portable competitor has done before it.
2005 - Nintendo releases a pair of uncommon games for DS -- Brain Age followed by the Tamagotchi-inspired Nintendogs. Japan implodes, the world follows suit, and the birth of the casual gaming initiative begins much to the ire of many long-term gamers. In little more than a year, Nintendogs will become the third best selling game of all time with Brain Age taking the twentieth spot just below Halo 2.
2006 - Sony releases the PS3 to much criticism given the console's $499-599 price tag. It will mark the first time that a Sony console would launch to poor reception -- something Nintendo also experienced upon releasing its third-generation console, the Nintendo 64. In its first year, the PS3 will continue to face negative publicity due to a lack of compelling games, its high price, and its identity crisis as a dedicated game machine or multimedia device.
2006 - Nintendo expands and divides the gaming industry in one fell swoop with the release of the Wii, a motion-enabled console that's light on graphics but heavy on gumption. In less than a year, the system will become the number 1 selling home console given its novel approach to controls. Critics believe its early success will soon fade.
Stay tuned for our American and International timelines.
