The term I chose to research was
Xbox. The first time I found this term to be mentioned was in a New York Times article published on
September 4th, 2000. The whole article is based around Microsoft
trying to compete with Sony and become the new gaming juggernaut. They used
very dated terms when referring to the Xbox such as referring to it as a
“Gaming Computer.” The article also mentions that Microsoft decided to get into
the gaming industry because they think it is more stable than the personal
computer market. It is then brought up how the Xbox will be the fastest gaming
system ever, and how the video game market will be forever changed with a new
competitor. The earliest article I could find mentioning the Xbox was via
ProQuest. It is titled “How the Internet Killed Television” and is found in the
Canadian Business Journal from November 26th 1999. This article
shows its age by mentioning Sega as one of the modern gaming powerhouses. The
article talks about how the rise of both the Internet and gaming systems is
significantly lowering television viewership. When the Xbox is mentioned it is
referred to as the “Worst kept secret in the gaming industry.” This means while
most consumers had not heard of the up and coming console, Microsoft’s
competitors knew what was coming. It is also referred to as a “Super Console.”
These articles both show that at the time it seemed that Microsoft was about change
the gaming world forever, and looking back it looks like they did.
Today the
Xbox is on its 3rd generation, the Xbox One (Confusingly), and is no
longer a simple gaming system. It is now a multiplatform system highly compatible
with the Internet. The Xbox isn’t just a gaming system; it is a complete home
entertainment system.
3 comments:
I find it extremely interesting that Microsoft's competitors knew that xbox was going to dominate the gaming industry but the consumers had no idea. This really makes me wonder why other consoles didn't take the warning and upgrade their systems to try to compete with Microsoft.
I find it interesting that people seemed worried about the television industry getting killed. To use these systems you needed a TV, so this could only help in the sales of TV's. Even if they bought the TV just so they could use the system, I'm sure they would still use the TV to watch some actual television programs because they have it and might as well use it. And, in hindsight, the television industry seems to be doing fine these days.
I feel like the use of game consoles such as xbox as a "complete home entertainment system" may be declining because of the emergence of much cheaper devices such as Google Chromecast and Apple TVs which do everything except the gaming. Game consoles previously had more appeal to people who didn't really play video games but justified the purchase because of everything else they could do. This appeal is much lower now.
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