No, I'm not trying to rustle your jimmies but hear me out. I own an Xbox and have nothing against the system personally, so you may be asking yourself where this sudden inflammatory comment is coming from. But if you allow me to explain myself, you'll understand where I'm coming from and perhaps you'll see the my point of view.
Think back to the last generation of gaming, a little bit before the arrival of the Xbox at the start of the new era. At that time video games were ruled by platformers and quirky adventure games and new developers were rising up and becoming popular through experimentation. Developers were trying new ideas in an environment where anyone could be successful because the industry wasn't the juggernaut it is today. While games weren't making a huge impact or billions of dollars, they were still profitable and entertaining.
The Xbox came out a year after the PS2 and completely flipped the game industry upside down. Gamers started flocking to Microsoft's new console with the promise of a new gaming experience with revolutionary multiplayer experience unlike anything seen before. This was the system's main selling point, and while the PS2 had multiplayer it was not anything like the Xbox, who's system was years ahead of it's time. Naturally all the kids wanted to buy the system because it was cool and new, and all the adults wanted it because it offered a new hardcore experience. This is where gaming changed for the worse.
The release of Halo was the catalyst for what was to become the new gaming norm, a new industry over saturated with first person shooters. It was a million dollar blockbuster video game and it was something never seen before, the gaming industry practically changed overnight as publishers were jumping on the opportunity to produce the next great hit. The days of platformers were numbered. With a new rival, Sony and Nintendo had to evolve or die, something they did with ad campaigns and games that try to emulate the success of Halo such as Killzone. Nintendo was not really affected because it had an established fan base, something Sony did not have the luxury of acquiring at this stage in it's development. Of course now we know what the outcome of that was, most games did not have the success that Halo accumulated but a little game titled Call of Duty would learn from Halo's success and become the unstoppable force in the industry it is today.
Of course, if it weren't for the Xbox, video games would probably not be as popular as they are now, but is that what gamers really wanted? The original Xbox attracted a new fanbase which would embrace the FPS craze that was to come, a fanbase that would soon surpass the platformer/adventure obsessed fans of Sony or Nintendo. When the Xbox 360 was announced with another promise of revolution thanks to the new and improved LIVE, the fans flocked to the system like birds to a new shiny object.
The Xbox 360 continued being a trendsetter like it's predecessor, except that with a much larger fanbase that advertised itself with Xbox Live and 24/7 connectivity, it had no real competition. First person shooters found a natural home on the console, where even the worse shooter performed well thanks to the marketing potential of Xbox Live. Customers paid for the service and they were the ones with the power, after all isn't the customer always right? Xbox Live brought in revenue thanks to the paying customers as well as the advertisement that made gaming more mainstream. The producers now had more power than ever before because of this, instead of the customers like in the previous generation. Developers were no longer allowed to experiment because they understood that Xbox gamers would buy any FPS game as long as it had multiplayer. Games started tacking on multiplayer and before anyone knew what was happening every game had multiplayer for the sake of simply having it. Now the market was over crowded with First person shooters, multiplayer in games that didn't use it effectively, and soon DLC would become popular because of Live. Xbox popularized DLC as an acceptable form of extending a game, though at first this was rare and actually improved the game, more developers started exploiting DLC to make a quick buck. This is where we are today.
The game industry today is going downhill because of the lack of variety and media beasts exchanging quality for easy profit. Where might we be if the Xbox was never released? We'll never know. Would CoD be as successful without Xbox? Would there be more platformers and adventure games? Would gaming be nearly as popular? What do you think? Again, this article is not flamebait, it's my analysis on Microsoft's effect on the game industry. I own an Xbox because almost nobody I know has a PS3 or Wii, even though I play most games on those systems, I enjoy playing games with my friends too. Ask any Xbox owner and 90% of the time they'll tell you they got an Xbox because of Xbox Live. If you think I'm wrong, explain in the comments, this is just my opinion.
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Forgive my possible ignorance, but I have no idea what you're on about. There's no details in that blog that explain in what fashion(s) did the Xbox console "ruin" gaming.
Furthermore, there is way too much inaccurate information for me to take this seriously. Microsoft, upon releasing the original Xbox console never said anything about the console promising "a new gaming experience." I know a lot about consoles and just to be on the safe side, after reading your rant, I looked it up and I couldn't find any piece of textual evidence whatsoever that quotes the company promising such.
Next was your claim that "all the kids wanted to buy the system because it was cool and new" does not apply to the Xbox console only, but any new console ever released, and should not be acted as if it were.
Third, claiming that Halo was the harbinger for a future of oversaturated first person shooters is repugnant. First person shooters have been around since the Nintendo 64 era, if not earlier. Over time, there has been an increasing interest in them, as statistics show, and if you could be bothered to do your homework, any simple Google search would produce the evidence to back up that statement.
Lastly, saying that with a new competitor, Sony and Nintendo would have to "evolve or die" is just rubbish. Any and every company has to do that regardless, and should the Xbox have never come onto the scene, Sony and Nintendo would have been going head to head, and anyone with half a brain would have said the same thing about either company when one produced something more innovative and appealing.
With all due respect, and if I may be brutally honest, your opinion on the Xbox console ruining gaming is laughable, at best. There is absolutely no denying the fact that Microsoft was able to smash through the brick wall and into the gaming industry with something fresh, innovative, and different and their doing so caused Sony to up their game as well as Nintendo (even though Nintendo took on a more family oriented route and let the Playstation and Xbox have their own personal vendettas), and there's nothing wrong with that.
The Xbox console didn't ruin gaming, it changed it. Keep in mind, if Microsoft hadn't done it, someone else might've and you'd be saying the same thing about them.
Valenka: "There is absolutely no denying the fact that Microsoft was able to smash through the brick wall and into the gaming industry with something fresh, innovative, and different"
Jio: "I will continue to believe that the Xbox contributed to the state of gaming today more than any other console. "
WTH, you're both saying the same thing!
OT: This blog is pointless.
This blog is a fountain of misinformation. Sony has never not been popular or had to fight an uphill battle until 360 hit the scene. 360 plays all genres of games trust me I have upwords of 80 games. Only a few are FPS.This guy is just a hater.
"Of course, if it weren't for the Xbox, video games would probably not be as popular as they are now"
???
If the PS1 hadn't sold 100 million, MS probably never would have gotten into consoles. Nevermind that Xbox1 sold around 20m, where the PS2 again broke 100m. That currently the industry is generally considered to be in a state of decline.
I was enjoying shooters and online multiplayer long before the DC dragged itself online on a screeching 56k modem. The weird thing is, and this might throw you for a loop...I enjoyed my N64 and Playstation at the same time, I know seems impossible. Warcraft 2 and Mario? Heresy.
Just curious, what was your experience like of the launch of the Xbox? Mine certainly included Halo, but also included things like Oddworld, PGR. Within a few months I had added, Blinx and Toe Jam and Earl, two platformers as well as Gunvalkyrie, Bloodwake and one of my favourites Wreckless: Yakuza Missions.
Where were all the shooters? I certainly don't remember spending oodles of time on XBL playing a FPS until H2 came out and even then it was always a toss up between H2 and SOCOM...on the PS2. So...is it the PS2's fault now?
Shooters have existed and have always been easy to come by, things didn't just change after November 2001.