In 1972 Atari created Pong. Although not the first ever game, it was certainly the one that captured the interest of a mass market. In its first year, the coin-op table tennis simulation sold thousands of units and created queues at many establishments that housed the game. In 1975, Pong went to the home consoles and video games were born.
Video games have come a long way since the much loved Atari phenomenon. Although Atari managed to win over the market, and hold off the rivals for several years, as the market grew so did the competition. The industry was booming, as the consoles were manufactured so were the games, literally in their thousands. Unfortunately these games were lacking in quality and in 1983 consumer demand dropped in America and the market crashed. Many experts predicted this was the end of video games. With technology forever advancing, it would seem foolish to predict the downfall to an industry still in its infancy.
It wasn't until 1985 that Nintendo released their first console in America. The Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES as we all know it, gave the industry the kiss of life. With a little help from some iconic character creations and franchises, Nintendo dominated the market for many generations to come.
At E3 in 2005, Nintendo unveiled its 5th and most recent console, the Wii (originally and intriguingly code-named Revolution). After the failure of the underrated GameCube, Nintendo were under real pressure to deliver the goods. Microsoft Corporation and Sony had both taken over the market and Nintendo were heading to their doom. They could not afford for the Wii to fail. Sony had proved they had the following of the developers and Microsoft proved they had the powerful machine. Consumers didn't see anything new or innovative about the GameCube and it just didn't appeal or sell.
Other than graphics improving each generation, games and consoles were failing to do anything original. The last generation showed signs of change, but it wasn't until this current generation that things have started to get more interesting and grab the imagination. The developments of other technology such as High Definition, Blu-Ray and Online capability are the selling points of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.