by
Binh Ton Le and Khamphayvanh Snow Khounborinh
The 3 Major Players in the Video Game Industry
Sony
Sony came into the video game hardware industry purely through luck.
This is because their introduction into the hardware industry left a bitter taste.
The Playstation One was originally designed as a hardware add-on for Nintendo’s then 16-bit
system, the Super Nintendo. Nintendo then scrapped the deal and went ahead with their newest
system Nintendo-64. Sony angered by this move introduced the Playstation One into the market,
thus marking their first foray into the video game world and led to the crowning of their current system the
Playstation 2 as the king of the video game console world.
Microsoft
Microsoft, is the new
comer to the hardware business. Its system is the XBox which was just launched in 2001.
It is still too early to determine Microsoft’s success as hardware company. While by no
means a failure, it has yet to achieve the success of Sony’s Playstation 2.
Nintendo
Out of the current three companies, Nintendo by far has the most experience in the industry.
While not wildly successful like Sony in the Playstation/Nintendo-64 era, Nintendo seem
to establish themselves a niche and rather than trying to rule the market they seem to be content
with their current position due to their many exclusive software titles and loyal fans. Nintendo
originally started in the industry with the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), followed by
the Super Nintendo, the Nintendo 64, and now the Nintendo Gamecube. While their Nintendo 64 lost in popularity
to Sony’s Playstation it was by no means a financial lost. Seemingly, the Gamecube will be in the same situation.
The Current State of the Market
If current trends continue the video game industry (hardware and software) is on pace
to out-gross the movie industry. In the year of 2001 the industry grossed $6.35 billion
dollars and that figure is expected to increase for 2002. While previously assumed as a
predominately male and childish, the video game industry is starting to mature.
Roughly 60% of Americans, or 145 million people, report that they play video games.
Also, 43% of
the market are women and the average age of people playing games are 28 years old.
61% of
the video and computer game market are 18 and over. While originally a children’s industry,
the video game market has surely matured and soon will be taking on Hollywood for people’s
dollars and its standards.
More and more hardware consoles are moving away from being solely for playing video games.
In 1999 the Sega Dreamcast, now no longer in the market, was the first home video game console
to be able to go online. The Sony Playstation 2 and Microsoft XBox have only continued this
trend. The Playstation 2 is the first home console ever to support DVD content. This has only
broadened its appeal now that it is a part family entertainment set up. Why go for the pure
DVD player when one is able to get a Playstation 2, a home video game console and a DVD player
straight out of the box? The Xbox though took a step back and requires an extra piece of
hardware to play DVD content. Despite this its no wonder why 44% of U.S. households have
video games consoles compared to only 25% for DVD Players.
The Social Impact of Video Games
The first time that the video game
industry seriously came under fire was during the era of Mortal Kombat and the “lightgun”
games. “Lightgun” games are games in which players use a hardware peripheral to play the
game which resembles a gun. In 1993 Senate hearings were being made on the industry by
Senators Joseph Lieberman and Herbert Kohl.
What these hearings produced though is the Entertainment Software Ratings
Board which established a rating system for all video game software. The ratings vary for
different games so that one may be able to differentiate from a game suitable for everyone
to a violent game suitable for mature audience only. It is large, bold, and appears on every
video game cover. The Ratings are as follows: early childhood, kids to adult, everyone,
teen (ages thirteen and up), mature (ages seventeen and up), adults only (ages eightteen and up),
and rating pending.
Studies on the effects of video games on their players have for the most part showed that
video games have had little negative effects. However there is a correlation between playing
video games and a slight increase in negative behavior after playing videogames. Another point
these studies make is the unrealistic world that the video game sets the player it such as one
without consequence or the killings were unjustified.
Where the Market is Heading
The current trend of the market is to just continue forward.
With consoles now being able to both play DVD content and be able to surf the internet and
be available at a reasonable price point there is no stopping this industry. Video game
software is approaching Hollywood standards in terms of overall package and immersing the
player in its world except it’s interactive.
References