The Real Smartmarks remembers… Computer Games & Tech: 2000-2009

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

Can you really believe we’ve had a decade of the new millennium already? I can’t, it’s flown past! This decade we’ve seen come and go no less than three generations of consoles, and 10 consoles in total!

1997-2001 – Nintendo N64
1999-2001 – Sega Dreamcast
2000-Now – Sony PS2
2001-2005 – Microsoft Xbox
2001-2005 – Nintendo Gameboy Advanced (All Incarnations)
2001-2006 – Nintendo GameCube
2004-Now – Sony PSP (All Incarnations)
2004-Now – Nintendo DS (All Incarnations)
2005-Now – Microsoft Xbox360
2006-Now – Sony PS3 (All Incarnations)
2006-Now – Nintendo Wii


The start of the decade saw the decline of SEGA as a force in the Console market, as the Dreamcast faded away, and their start in purely development and distribution. Microsoft took over SEGA’s mantle moving from publishing into the world of Console development with the Xbox and Xbox360. Sony allowed their grip on the market slip after a hugely successful PS2 campaign with a lacklustre PS3 and PSP instalment. Whereas the ever steady Nintendo, who had seen a slight dip in form with the GameCube, come back vigorously with the Nintendo Wii and the ever popular Nintendo DS series.

Developer wise we saw Rockstar cement themselves as big names with the GTA series, EPIC burst onto the scene with the Xbox exclusive Gears of War. Activision bought us the Guitar Hero series, and would later team up with the developers of World of Warcraft, Blizzard.
Sadly, we saw Codemasters and Midway face financial difficulties which seemed to reflect in the quality of their games.

PC has been as steady as ever and for every leap the Console market has taken; the PC has leap frogged them and continued on. However the gaming market hasn’t really caught up with the easy access of console games, yet arguably the most successful game of the Decade could be considered to be World of Warcraft on the PC!

We’ve also seen the emergence of the ipod and most recently Blackberrys and iphones, so it has been a very techno heavy decade so far (we still have 3 months left!). As well as DVD becoming the standard format for movie distribution in shops, and the emergence of Blu-Ray and HD Disk fighting for the HD market, with the Sony backed Blu-Ray winning.

So it only seemed right that we started to discuss the last 10 years here at TrSM and nominate a few titles for an end of year vote off. I’m open to categories, but here’s a few I thought would be interest to discuss and the thread is open to discussion over the last 10 years for anything technological I might have overlooked.

I’ll try and come back once a week and do a profile for each console – highs, lows, etc.

 

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

- Post reserved for Nomination Category List -

Computer Games

Consoles
Console of the Decade:
Worst Console:
Biggest Console failure:
Most under-appreciated Console:

Developers
Best Game Developer:
Worst Game Developer:
Most Improved Developer:
Developer in Decline:
Developer sadly missed:

Best Microsoft Exclusive:
Best Sony Exclusive:
Best Nintendo Exclusive:
Best Sega Exclusive:
Best PC Exclusive:
Best 'other' Exclusive: (Best exclusive on any other platform: iphone app, internet browser, etc)

Studios
Best Activision Title:
Best Capcom Title:
Best EA Title:
Best Midway Title:
Best Microsoft Title
Best Nintendo Title:
Best Sony Title:
Best Ubisoft Title:
Best 'Other' Title: (Indy studios or anyone not mentioned above)

Games
Franchise of the Decade:
Sports Game of the Decade:
Platformer of the Decade:
Puzzler of the Decade:
RPG of the Decade:
Shoot 'em Up of the Decade:

Best Movie-Tie In of the Decade:
Best new IP of the Decade:
Cash Cow Over Milking of the Decade:

Greatest Game of the Decade:
Biggest Waste of Money:

Special Awards
Greatest Game Hero of the Decade:
Greatest Comeback of the Decade:
The Greatest 'WTF' Moment of the Decade:

Tech

Most Important Tech Advancement:

Mobile/Cell Phone of the Decade:

Best Web Browser:
Worst Web Browser:
Best ISP:
Worst ISP:

 

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

So lets start it all with a company that faded away, to some extent, this decade.

SEGA

Consoles

Arguably the 90's, for the most part, belonged to SEGA and Nintendo as they battled it out for the emerging home entertainment market, before the arrival of Sony in the late 90's. They had a strong brand character in the Sonic the Hedgehog and previously had two successful consoles in the Master System and Mega Drive (Genesis), before their disappointing Sega Saturn was released.

The Saturn was possibly the start of SEGA's decline in the Console market, as hardware and software sales didn't meet expectations. In part due to poor marketing, and Sony's quick and steep increase of market share with their Sony Playstation. It just wasn't cool to have a Sega anymore.

The Sega Dreamcast was launched to change all that. OK, so it was released in September 99, slightly before the turn of this decade, but it does overlap into it, and as such plays an important part of SEGA's history over the last 10 years.

Having seemingly learned for their mistakes with the Saturn, SEGA launched a marketing campaign for the Dreamcast. Notably in the UK, they had Sponsorship with Arsenal FC, appearing as their Shirt sponsor for the 99-00 season. It also heavily emphasized that this was the cheapest next gen console around at only £199 in the UK - a first in the gaming industry.

It also had some decent in house support with the release of Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibure (Exclusive on the Dreamcast) and Power Stone all available on release day. It had an inbuilt modem and was the first console to bring online gaming into the home of none PC gamers, with Phantasy Star Online playing a huge part in that. In the UK Chu-Chu Rocket was gave away for free, to promote the online aspect, if you bought the console on release day and registered with SEGA.

Yet, it lacked support from EA, a major loss in the European and, especially, the North American markets where the regular installments of Fifa, Madden, NHL, etc where a miss. On top of that the much hyped and anticipated release of Shenmue, that had cost a huge amount of money ($70 million) to develop (more so then other games) didn't sell very well, despite decent reviews.

Possibly the final nail in the coffin for SEGA's hardware run was the release of Sony's Playstation2, which promoted itself as an edgier console for 'older gamers'. In 2001 SEGA announced it was withdrawing from the Hardware market and would concentrate on developing and publishing games for other consoles.

What are your memories of the SEGA Dreamcast?
Does it still hold a place in your heart?
Do you still play Power Stone?
Was Chu-Chu Rocket the greatest free game to ever be posted through your letterbox?
Are SEGA this decades greatest disappointment?
Or has their turn to Software development saved them?

Sega Software discussion to come...

 

[Matt Young]

I have no answers yet. I just wanted to say that (A) I'm really enjoying this concept and (B) thje "Ultimate Megadrive Collection" icon in your gamercard looks way cooler than the one for Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection.

 

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

Haha yeah, I'm still not sure why its labeled as Sonic over there and not over here! Glad you're enjoying the concept, Matt, hopefully more people will add their thoughts to the discussion as the year comes to a close.

 

[luke-o]

I absolutly love the Dreamcast. I really do. Out of all the consoles I own, this one gets the most play out of me. Wether it's a quick 20 mins on Sega Bass Fishing or a marathon on Shenmue. Power Stone is a great fighting game and the Street Fighter Alpha 3 port is excellent.

Chu Chu Rocket is a very addictive game, but I felt ripped off having to pay 99p for it from Gamestation. What a rip off!

I may be in the minority, but I really didn't (and still don't) like the Sonic Adventure games. Apart from the killer soundtracks of course.

 

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

Haha I'm currently writing up something for SEGA's software releases this decade and I'm currently writing about Sonic's decline! Shame Andrew isn't around much anymore, he'd be great to have around for this bit. Talking of Gamestation and Dreamcast games, I saw them selling Shenmue a year ago for £60 pre-owned... £60!

 

[luke-o]

Shouldn't have been that expensive. Speaking as someone who worked there 3 years ago, the first game was only worth £4.99 (part of the buy one get one free deal) and the 2nd one was £25ish quid. Paper Mario on thr 64 was around 60ish quid.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

What are your memories of the SEGA Dreamcast?

This thing is probably my second favorite system of all time, right after the Playstation. The ultimate party system, and used a lot of ideas that were way ahead of their time (online play on a console (yes, I know it wasn't the FIRST console to do this), for one). Plenty of coin-op ports, and multiplayer titles.

Does it still hold a place in your heart?

I own one that is built from the standard gray and black sports systems. Pretty sweet-looking. I still play it.

Do you still play Power Stone?

If I owned it, I would play the hell out of this. I had it way back, but traded it for something I can't even remember.

Was Chu-Chu Rocket the greatest free game to ever be posted through your letterbox?

Actually never played this.

Are SEGA this decades greatest disappointment?

Yes, but for all the right reasons. The Dreamcast had a fucking buttload of potential, and some kick ass titles, but it was abandoned WAY too soon.

Or has their turn to Software development saved them?

They've supported a handful of good games, but they need to get back in the system race.

 

[ericmm]

Are we supposed to answer the questions in the 2nd post yet, or just talk about the dreamcast?

for me the dreamcast was a Skies of Arcadia and NFL2k1 machine. Theoretically I had things like Grandia 2 and Soul Calibur, but it was all about Skies.

Oh and I certainly enjoyed Powerstone 2, but I'd give the edge to Smash Brothers these days, in terms of multiplayer mayhem.

Sega is disappointing because of how they've never, ever managed to make a great Sonic game. I still really enjoy many of their Arcades, House of the Dead can be really fun, if hard.

 

[Smues]

As I mentioned in another thread I love Sonic Adventure 1 and 2. They both have their flaws (Big the Cat I'm looking at YOU) but are solid overall and easily the best 3d Sonic games ever made.

Other games that got a lot of play on my Dreamcast were Crazy Taxi and Soul Caliber. Other games I owned included WWF: Royal Rumble, Jet Grind Radio, and NFL2K, but I didn't play any of them all that much. So really the games I loved on the Dreamcast I really loved, but there just weren't that many.

Fake edit: Oh and Resident Evil: Code Veronica. I prefer the PS2 single disc version, but until that came out I played the hell out of this on the Dreamcast. A highly under-rated Resident Evil game.

 

[Haws Bah Gawd]

Fake edit: Oh and Resident Evil: Code Veronica. I prefer the PS2 single disc version, but until that came out I played the hell out of this on the Dreamcast. A highly under-rated Resident Evil game.

My main, and only real complaint with RE: CV is the insane, even by Resident Evil standards, amount of backtracking that you have to do. Especially early in the game. I remember playing this for the first time, and I didn't know the game had a moving camera, rather than the stationary camera of the past games. Pretty crazy at the time.

 

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

Are we supposed to answer the questions in the 2nd post yet, or just talk about the dreamcast?

Those are nomination categories for an 'End of Decade' vote, you don't have to fill them in, but I thought it'd be interesting to do so.

EDIT: Would a huge Sonic revival also spur a Sega revival?

 

[ericmm]

Computer Games

Consoles
Console of the Decade: PS2, no question
Worst Console: Phantom~~! OR maybe Gamecube, if they have to be real.
Biggest Console failure: Dreamcast.
Most under-appreciated Console: Dreamcast.

Developers
Best Game Developer: Team ICO
Worst Game Developer: EA
Most Improved Developer: EA
Developer in Decline: Atari
Developer sadly missed: SquareSoft

Best Microsoft Exclusive: Knights Of The Old Republic
Best Sony Exclusive: Shadows of the Colossus
Best Nintendo Exclusive: Super Smash Brothers
Best Sega Exclusive: Jet Grind Radio (did it ever get a port?)
Best PC Exclusive: World of Warcraft
Best 'other' Exclusive: what.

Best Activision Title: I never played 'em, but prolly CoD
Best Capcom Title: Resident Evil 4
Best EA Title: Rock Band 2. SSX is the best they developed.
Best Midway Title: Seriously? I guess Guantlet Dark Legacy
Best Ubisoft Title: Beyond Good And Evil
Best 'Other' Title: what.

Games
Franchise of the Decade: Despite my hateration, it has to be Halo
Sports Game of the Decade: Wii Sports
Platformer of the Decade: I don't really know.
Puzzler of the Decade: Katamari Damacy
RPG of the Decade: Persona 4
Shoot 'em Up of the Decade: Team Fortress 2

Best Movie-Tie In of the Decade: I heard that Riddick game was great.
Best new IP of the Decade: either Halo or God of War
Cash Cow Over Milking of the Decade: NFL games

Greatest Game of the Decade: Metal Gear Solid 4
Biggest Waste of Money: My Wii

Special Awards
Greatest Game Hero of the Decade: Balthier
Greatest Comeback of the Decade: EA
The Greatest 'WTF' Moment of the Decade: Blu-Ray in PS3, $600

Tech

Most Important Tech Advancement: widespread high-speed internet, DLC, multiplayer, etc.

Mobile of the Decade: DS

Best Web Browser: Firefox
Worst Web Browser: Internet Explorer, I guess
Best ISP: Who knows.
Worst ISP: COMCAST

 

[DCH]

Console of the Decade has to be PS2, released in 2000 and there are still new titles for it in 2009.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

I was kind of hoping this would be about that guy that wanted to sell computers for ten dollars, and would have a foodman come by.

 

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

So lets have a look at what SEGA have developed this year (I won't look at what they've distributed as they have their name on a lot of stuff). January 31, 2001, Sega of America officially announced they were becoming a third-party software publisher, developing games for the PC, Playstation, Gamecube and Xbox, later on they'd also develop a lot of games with and for Nintendo.

So imagine everyones excitement over the news, SEGA could be teaming up with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to bring a whole host of cross over games, spreading their once loved Franchises into everyone's household! Indeed, they would, though strangely you had to wait almost 8 years for it to happen, and its only really happened on the Nintendo Wii since then, one time rivals of SEGA, in the form of 'Super Smash Brothers Brawl' (where Sonic appeared as a playable character alongside Nintendo favourites) and the 'Sonic & Mario at the...' series. So to some extent it showed that SEGA was still looking after its 'Stars' and wouldn't whore them out without good reason or cause.

Well... perhaps.

If you think of SEGA you think of Sonic the Hedgehog. How has he held up this decade without his own platform to stand on? Sadly, with the demise of the Dreamcast came the demise of Sonic. Sonic Adventure 2 wasn't all it lived up to be, and it would only go on to be worse for the little blue Hedgehog as the decade rolled on.
It’s not only Sonic the Hedgehog though; Sega’s ‘Sega Rally’ reinvention in 2007 was very basic and pretty poor. It hadn’t seemed to have advanced since its Saturn days, but it didn’t seem as good either.

For a company that stop developing Hardware to concentrate on Software development it doesn’t look too promising so far this decade. It seems to lack any new ideas, in a decade where every developer (hardware and software) seems to be keen to be the first to introduce something groundbreaking in the computer games market. It hasn’t protected its key assets, with Sonic the Hedgehog whored out on average every 18 months with each game being less impressive then the other.

The only redeeming quality for SEGA at the moment is its good working partnership with Nintendo, which could perhaps by a very good definition of the word ‘Irony’ for those who are not sure when to use it. Is that Sega’s last hope - To sell its IPs and copyrights out to other developers to develop? More Nintendo/Sega crossovers?

Do Sega need to reinvent its studios? Leave behind the Eastern development teams and embrace a Western market? There’s a fear at the moment that if they were to release a Streets of Rage game that no one would understand it with it being too retro. If they did release it, it would only tarnish the memory of the game (Sonic, Sega Rally are examples) and another key Sega franchise will have passed without much fanfare.

So what noticeable titles have they released over the last 10 years?

2001 - Sonic Shuffle (DC) (Co-Developed with Hudson Soft)
2001 - Sonic Adventure 2 (DC) (Later ported to the GC as 'Sonic Adventure 2 Battle')
2001 - Shenmue (DC)
2001 - Chu Chu Rocket (GBA)
2003 - Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (GC & PC)
2004 - Sonic Heroes (Xbox, GC, PS2, PC)
2006 – Sonic the Hedgehog (360, PS3)
2007 – Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii)
2008 – Sonic Unleashed (360, PS3, Wii, PS2)
2009 – Sonic and the Black Knight (Wii)

Have Sega released the best games over the last 10 years?
Are they your favourite developer?
Have they milked their cash cows too much?
Is Sonic just a pale memory of what it used to be in the 90's?
Have Sega done enough to reinvent themselves, or are they in danger of becoming relics of their past?
Streets of Rage – Sega’s last remaining hope for software success?

Next week: Sony/Sony Playstation 2

 

[luke-o]

If I could, I'd link Yahtzee's Zero Punctuation review for Sonic Unleashed which pretty much sums up my views on Sonic as a franchise.

 

[Obi Chris Kenobi]

bumping this.

I've been busy job hunting and hammering the xbox in my spare time to actually bother doing an article each week like I said I would, however, the nominations for a big end of decade vote are still open. I think it'd be cool to see what we think of the last decade technology wise.

 

[Sabre]

Computer Games

Consoles
Console of the Decade: PS2 without a shadow of a doubt.. but part of me wants to say the wii.
Worst Console: Im gonna say the Xbox 360 based solely on the ability of microsoft to sell a product that overheats, breaks and then denies all knowledge of it until 2 yrs ago.
Biggest Console failure: Dreamcast
Most under-appreciated Console: Gamecube

Developers
Best Game Developer: Team Ico
Worst Game Developer:EA
Most Improved Developer:2k games
Developer in Decline:Atari
Developer sadly missed: Midway?

Best Microsoft Exclusive: Knights of the Old Republic
Best Sony Exclusive:
Best Nintendo Exclusive: Super Mario Galaxy
Best Sega Exclusive: Ratchet and Clank series
Best PC Exclusive: WoW
Best 'other' Exclusive: Iphone Apps

Studios
Best Activision Title: Guitar Hero
Best Capcom Title: Resident Evil 4
Best EA Title: Fifa 10
Best Midway Title: MK vs DC
Best Microsoft Title: Fable
Best Nintendo Title: Wii Sports
Best Sony Title: Metal Gear Solid 4
Best Ubisoft Title:Assassins Creed 2
Best 'Other' Title: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Games
Franchise of the Decade: Smackdown/Smackdown vs Raw
Sports Game of the Decade: Wii sports
Platformer of the Decade: Super Mario Galaxy
Puzzler of the Decade:Big Brain Accademy (ds)
RPG of the Decade: Dragon Age, Skies of Arcadia, or KOTOR
Shoot 'em Up of the Decade: BioShock or Portal

Best Movie-Tie In of the Decade: Riddick is probably the best off the top of my head.. (GOLDENEYE FTW)
Best new IP of the Decade: Halo
Cash Cow Over Milking of the Decade: Guitar Hero

Greatest Game of the Decade: For me, its Zelda: Twilight Princess
Biggest Waste of Money: PSP

Special Awards
Greatest Game Hero of the Decade: Solid Snake
Greatest Comeback of the Decade: Nintendo.. After the poorly developed GC and N64, they are back on form
The Greatest 'WTF' Moment of the Decade: Sonys epic journey from announcing the PS3 to its current state.

Tech

Most Important Tech Advancement: Wifi/Broadband/Online Gaming

Mobile/Cell Phone of the Decade: Iphone

Best Web Browser: Firefox
Worst Web Browser: I.E
Best ISP: Ive been with one my whole life with zero problems. Aol
Worst ISP:BT from what i hear.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I don't consider Knights of the Old Republic to be Microsoft exclusive. Even if you ignore the PC version, there was a version released for Mac OSX as well.

 

[BruiserBrody]

===

Holy Hell. I feel washed. IIRC my school didn't have any CPU in the classroom until I was in 3rd or 4th grade. (90-91ish maybe?) We could sign up to skip recess outside and play a handful of floppy disc games.
The only one I recall from that era is Odell Lake:

5th grade we finally got a "CPU Lab" where they tossed "Marvis Beacon Teaches Typing" at us.

In middle school the CPU games were on the smaller, hard disks by then. We could skip study hall and go to the CPU lab and fuck around for an hour with Carmen Santiago, Concentration, Oregon Trail, etc.

Shit, Number Munchers and Word Munchers fit somewhere in here. I loved that shit so much I bought the PC game for myself in the early 2000s.

I believe in the late stages of middle school or early high school the Amazon Trail was unleashed on us. There was some point and click searching game we played the hell out of too, but I can't recall what it would have been.

In High school we had some tech class where we played Circus Ants (??), some other puzzle game where you had to use items to get through puzzles or something like that and a Flight simulator, which I think blew my mind a little bit.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Middle school was all about Number Munchers/Word Munchers and I remember a Hot Dog Stand game (maybe actually just called Hot Dog Stand?). In terms of home console, I remember SkiFree solely for the Yeti monster inevitably chasing you down along with playing the Dr. Brain series of PC games. I also remember picking up the Are You Afraid of the Dark: The Tale of Orpheo's Curse PC game in 1994/1995.

In terms of 2000-2009, I remember PS2 and PS3 being very big for me but especially the PS2. XBox was massive because it was Windows moving into the videogame space, which blew my teen mind at the time.