EARLY ADVANCEMENTS IN THE PLAYSTATION - PART 1: HISTORY

    Over the next two blog posts I’ll be talking about Sony’s Playstation, involving the graphical evolution of the early games to maximise the processing power of the console as well as its interesting history.

[1] - CARCERGAMING (????) Playstation [Online Image] Avaliable from: http://koikoikoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/04sony_playstation.jpg [Accessed 13/04/14]

    In 1994, Sony released its first console, the Playstation, after a deal between Sony and Nintendo in 1988 went south. The two companies were working together, developing an add on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The add-on was planned to be produce due rise in usage of Disc based formats, along with the discs memory capabilities far succeeded the traditional cartridge memory format. This would allow games could have far more content within them to tell expansive stories and explore lore filled worlds. This wasn’t the first collaboration between these two companies though as one of Sony’s employees, Ken Kutaragi worked in secret to produce a new sound chip for the SNES[2]. This decision for him came about due to his interest in video games which developed by watching his daughter play the NES. All was going well in the production of the audio chip until the board of directors discovered what he was creating and wanted to put an end to it. Norio Ohga, the CEO of Sony stepped in and allowed Kutaragi to carry on developing the sound chip as long as the company was allowed to present it to Nintendo. The sound chip had the best audio quality of any of the competitors at the time and went on to be used in the SNES. This laid the foundations for the collaboration between the two developers, with Kutargi as the lead for the development project of the Super Disc add on[3].

The SNES featuring the CD addon.
[4] - DAILY TECH's JASON MICK (2014) SNES Disk Drive addon [Online] Avaliable from: http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/SNES_CD_Nintendo_and_Sony_Wide.jpg [Accessed 13/04/2014]

    With this collaboration, Sony was allowed to develop their own branded console which could run both cartridge and disc based SNES games as well as having large amount of control over licensing for the upcoming format. It was rumoured that Nintendo was not happy with the deal and turned to Philips, Sony’s rival, in secret to negotiate a more favourable deal for a CD based add-on. This deal gave Philips the right to use some of Nintendo’s most well known characters in their own games on the Philips CD-I.

Concept of Sony's Brand Console which could run both cartridges and CDs.
[5] - NINTENDO NERDS (2011) Concept of Sony's Prototype Console. Avaliable from: http://www.nintenerds.com.br/2011/01/prototipos-da-nintendo.html [Accessed 13/04/14]

    At the 1991 Summer Consumer Electronics show, the Nintendo Play Station was announced to the public, having a port for the SNES Cartridge, and a disk drive. The day after the announcement it was believed that Nintendo would confirm the collaboration with Sony, they instead announced a partnership with Sony’s rival, Philips. This betrayal of trust and infringement on the Japanese rules of business infuriated Ohga, but Kutaragi stood in and informed Ohga that the project could be savaged and a stand alone console could be produced. Ohga out of spite convinced the board of directors to continue with the project. Nintendo on the other hand did not have the rights to the Sound Chip, so the two companies had to retain friendly relations.
    As autumn 1992 was in full progress, the storm of the previous year between Sony and Nintendo had calmed and the contract between the two reworked[6]. Both companies CD drives would be compatible with one another while most of the licensing royalties was awarded to Nintendo. Either due to the restrictive nature of the contract, or the end of the cartridge era, the collaboration between the two giants came to an end, with Sony releasing the Playstation, and Nintendo following afterwards, two years later with the Nintendo 64. During this time Philips did not produce the desired add on for the SNES, ending the relationship between them and Nintendo.

 Bibliography

[1] - CARCERGAMING (????) Playstation [Online Image] Avaliable from: http://koikoikoi.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/04sony_playstation.jpg [Accessed 13/04/14]
 
[2] - DID YOU KNOW GAMING. (2014) Playstation - Did You Know Gaming? Feat. Caddicarus. Avaliable from: http://normalboots.com/video/playstation-know-gaming-feat-caddicarus/ [Accessed 13/04/2014]

[3] - MARY BELLIS (????) History of Sony Playstation [Online] Avaliable from: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_playstation.htm [Accessed 13/04/2014]

[4] - DAILY TECH's JASON MICK (2014) SNES Disk Drive addon [Online] Avaliable from: http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/SNES_CD_Nintendo_and_Sony_Wide.jpg [Accessed 13/04/2014]

[5] - NINTENDO NERDS (2011) Concept of Sony's Prototype Console. Avaliable from: http://www.nintenerds.com.br/2011/01/prototipos-da-nintendo.html [Accessed 13/04/14]

[6] - IGN STAFF (1998) History of the Playstaion [Online] Avaliable from: http://uk.ign.com/articles/1998/08/28/history-of-the-playstation [Accessed 13/04/2014]

The Legend of Famicom: The Nintendo Entertainment System

    I’ve never had any first hand experience with the Nintendo Famicom, so I’m definitely not the best to talk about the console, but I feel I have felt its influence on gaming. The way the stories were presented, the graphics and the gameplay with its two buttons and D-pad controller, has made it something I admire. And I admit it did have its far share of awful games like any console has. The games from this machine are used on Youtube by many different gaming channels, for retrospects and reviews, either praising them, or condemning them. The Angry Video Game Nerd, Egoraptor, Spoony and Jontron to mention a few, often go back to the times of the SNES and NES to create their content. Often, they grew up with the console, playing many of its games, becoming collectors of the cartridges to preserve them. I want to discover if the games themselves, will still be enjoyable in the years to come, if they really are as timeless as I’ve heard them to be. This console would become the origin console for some of the longest running game franchises of our time, franchises such as; Castlevania, Mario, Legend of Zelda and Megaman, with many gamers having played these games and experienced its adventures. And this is what I’d like to talk about the most in this post, even though the console itself had a pretty interesting history as well.

    The Nintendo Family Computer, often shortened to the Nintendo Famicom or just Famicom, was first released in 1983 on the 15th of July in Japan. It was marketed as a family console, while also in competition to SEGA. By the end of 1984 it became the best selling console within the country.
    The Famicom came with two fixed controllers, with the second one having an inbuilt microphone. The front of the console was designed to connect accessories to enhance the gameplay of a few games, such as the Gun for Duck Hunt. The Famicon also had a large red knob on the top, used to slide game out of the cartridge slot, minimising the cartridge or the console itself being damaged.
    The Famicom had its fair share of issues though. The cables that connected the controller to the console were quite short, meaning players had to sit fairly closer to the TV. Another issue which came with the earlier release of the console was it’s buttons, made out of rubber, the A and B button would wear down easily. The cartridges often glitches or stopped working as dirt would build up on the contacts. Nintendo did encourage users to clean them but the cartridges were often difficult to open.
    The console’s appearance in the American market featured a rebrand to the whole console. Renamed ‘Nintendo Entertainment System’, the NES’ whole rebranding was based on the resorting consumer confidence in the video game market which occured via the Video Game Crash. To combat this, they didn’t exaggerate features on the box, and tried to make it look anything else but a games system. The console specification also was not exaggerated in anyway. Another part of the rebranding was that the NES was branded as a children’s console, instead of the family orientated console. With all these in safety nets in place, Nintendo eventuality went on to own the monopoly of the video game market for a long time.

    As I spoke about at the beginning, I wanted to know why some NES games have stood the test of time. Games such as the Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Super Mario Bros. 3 and Castlevania, which are still held in high regard to this day. Playing some of games and watching Lets Plays, I believe it is all down to the story aspect and the gameplay. The story, on the surface, was simple, giving you enough reason to play, but gradually opening up throughout the game. But, taking the time to explore, you’ll be greeted with vague hints of exposition, such as in the Legend of Zelda. The land of Hyrule is almost completely devolved of humanity, as the land ravaged by monsters. The only form of human life you come across is in temple ruins, where you encounter an elderly man who will help you on your quest to restore the land. While searching the caves in the overworld will sometimes reveal merchants, or other elderly men and women willing to help. From this, the different players end up drawing similar, and at times, the same conclusion to you. For me, Hyrule was ravaged by a great evil, which you set out to destroy. The only existence of human life is the elderly, which would imply that they are the last remaining citizens of Hyrule, who have resorted to cave dwelling to escape Ganon.
    Another game I particularly enjoyed playing was Castlevania, a linear side scroller which involved traversing Dracula’s Castle, in order to confront and defeat him. The game is known for being relentless; patterned enemies which deal heavy damage, having to find health by breaking certain walls, and having to start from the beginning of the level if you lost all of your lives in the three stages. But still, this game was fun, it was a challenge, it pushed you to try to get further and further into the game, overcoming all obstacles and monsters it could throw at you. The colours, and the intensiness of the gameplay, all produced a scary, unnerving feel. The bright, vivid colours, contrasted the dark subject matter in both the decaying environment, and tense atmosphere.

    The cynic in me makes me think, there might be an overarching reason why the games had to be good, which leads back to the time of the Video Game Market Crash. As the market at the time was oversaturated with consoles, and pirated games, as well subpar ones. Consumer confidence was at an all time low. Nintendo succeeded in recovering this in their product. Having said that, that other part of me likes to think that its success was down to the fact that they perfected their craft.

Sources for this post:
http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/15/nintendo-famicom-30th-anniversary-nes/
http://famicomworld.com/system/
http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/12380/features/history-of-nintendo-famicom-nes/
http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/15/nintendo-famicom-30th-anniversary-nes/
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2011/09/21/ten-facts-about-the-great-video-game-crash-of-83