Xbox – Fading Empire or Returning Dynasty?

From prehistoric paintings made from burned bones and animal fat to arguing about who gets to use the 4k TV in the living room on Sunday night, it’s clear humans have always had an embedded desire for art and entertainment. A desire so great it was worth shouting about before humans were capable of saying “Achievement Unlocked” in any language.

While standing around admiring mankind’s earliest work is well and dandy, for many over the past decade or two the new pinnacle of art and entertainment is shredding the flesh of your digital nemesis with a chainsaw attached to a gun, or watching the relationship between an iconic space marine and blue-skinned artificial intelligence evolve. Although the first forms of art and the first Xbox may have been separated by who knows how many centuries, they share one thing. Any form of art is best enjoyed when in the company of friends or even strangers, so they admire or trash talks their companion’s tastes or try to impress others with all sorts of expert lingo. For most old-school gamers, cooperating or competing with each other also meant that those companions had to be within earshot, or in my case, close enough that I could throw something at them when they weren’t paying attention, or reach over and frantically push buttons on their controller when they were wiping the floor with me. Those pastimes are probably still just as alive as ever but are no longer the sole means of cooperative gameplay. But with 90s ending and 2000s approaching, something was coming to change all of that, and bring online play to the masses like never before.