GAMING CONSOLES THROUOGH HISTORY

Southwords travels back in time to discuss the most popular gaming consoles of all time.

unsuccessful partnership with released the PlayStation, also One, as their first gaming The PlayStation saw by 2005, was the first million units. Popular included “Castlevania: Night,” “Final Fantasy VII,” “Silent Hill.”

Xbox (2001)

The Xbox was Microsoft’s foray into the gaming industry and was a strong competitor against Sony’s PlayStation 2 and Nintendo’s GameCube. In 2002, Xbox released their gaming network, Xbox Live, which enabled subscribers to play against each other online. Exclusive to Xbox users, “Halo” was one of the most innovative first-person shooter games of its time and contributed significantly to Xbox’s success.

Nintendo Wii (2006)

The Nintendo Wii, had an extremely popular launch in 2006, due to its innovative motioncontrolled games via the Wii Remote, which inspired both Microsoft and Sony to develop similar products. The Wii repositioned Nintendo as a key player in the video game console marketplace. It appealed to new demographics; however, it was shunned by Nintendo’s core gamer audience. “Wii Sports” was its most popular game; other honorable mentions included “Super Mario,” “Legend of Zelda,” “Pokémon,” “Mario Kart,” and “Just Dance.” introduced the Nintendo 64 (N64) in first 64-bit processor console that integrated 3-D graphics was the last popular home to use plastic cartridges for games on the N64 included “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina “Super Smash Bros.”

“Mario Kart was a big thing in college. I wasn’t the best at the game so I would just try to mess with other people. My go-to character is always Bowser. My friends still have a Nintendo 64 sometimes when we are hanging out, it will get pulled out.”

Nintendo DS (2004)

Released in 2004, the Nintendo DS was popular for its dual touchscreen fea tures. With wireless connectivity, built-in microphones and speakers, and interactive features, the Nintendo DS reached approximately one million sales by December 2004. Some of its most popular games included “Super Mario 64,” “Ridge Racer,” “The Urbz: Sims in the City,” and “Sprung.”

“When I was 6 or 7, I would play Xbox with my brother and cousin at my uncle’s house. We played ‘Godzilla,’ the original ‘Battle Front,’ and lots of ‘Star Wars’

“My Nintendo DS was one of my favorite gaming devices when I was 8-10 years old. I had a lot of games, such as ‘Cooking Mama’ and ‘Animal Crossing,’ but my favorite was ‘Mario Kart.’”

Nintendo Switch (2017)

The Nintendo Switch was the first system that could be used both at home and on the go, which allowed Nintendo to tap into both markets and achieve impressive sales, becoming the third-best selling console of all time. Some of its most popular games include

“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” “Hollow Knight,” and

“I would play ‘Just Dance,’ ‘WipeOut,’ and ‘Mario Kart’ with my brother and sister on the Wii. I remember this one time when we were playing ‘Just Dance’ and I let go of the remote and threw it into the wall, but no one was hurt.”

“My sister and I play ‘Nintendo Sports’ on the Switch ; we like playing badminton and get really competitive with it. We also like playing ‘Chambara,’ which is super similar to Swordplay in ‘Wii Sports Resort,’ and volleyball, which I haven’t seen in any other sports collection games.”