The milestones that shaped today's video games (part 2)

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Part one of this series of articles can be found here. Now it's time to tackle the final console milestones that have shaped today's video games.

There is no doubt that Apple has had more influence on today's smartphones than any other company. There is also no doubt that Apple was not the first to introduce smartphones. Long before the concept was even invented, there were smart phones, and before Apple launched its mobile phone, I had an HTC TyTn II. It was an absolute best-in-class mobile phone with awesome performance, a real slide-out keyboard, built-in GPS, Windows support, and so on.

But... it was more difficult to use with small, cluttered icons and the screen required the use of a stylus. Don't get me wrong, I really loved my HTC TyTn II, but it wasn't the one that led the way forward; that honour goes to the iPhone. It's not about being first, but about doing it best, and it is with this in mind that I have now written this article, namely to tell about the milestones that have led to today's game consoles. Without these, the gaming world would look completely different today - for better or worse.

First real online service

(Dreamcast, 1999)
We concluded the previous article with Dreamcast and will begin this one in the same manner with a third point. However, this one was not as obvious. After all, online services existed even before Dreamcast, and the most well-known is undoubtedly Xbox Live. But... it cannot be denied that SegaNet actually had most of what Xbox Live would offer, with lobbies, web browsers, MMO games, chat, DLC, account systems and so on. Whatever Microsoft says, much of it was taken directly from what Sega had already created. It's almost a shared victory, but the big win from Game Pass gets its own point a little further down the list.

Built-in hard drive

(Xbox, 2001)
It's easy to forget that Microsoft's entry into the console market was actually quite revolutionary. The built-in hard drive is one example of this, meaning we no longer had to shuffle memory cards around and could repair broken games. This was a huge step forward, and since then, built-in storage has been a given for consoles.

Voice chat

(Xbox Live, 2002)
I deprived Xbox Live of the profit from the introduction of the online service, but it will obviously be a win for voice chat. Previously, communication while gaming was mainly through written text, even on PC. This was changed for good by Microsoft, who made it a standard, and something Nintendo was long criticised for not adopting.

Wireless handheld controller

(Xbox 360, 2005)
The Wave Bird for GameCube was the first well-functioning official wireless controller. However, it required a dongle and manual channel adjustment to prevent signal interference. With Xbox 360, this was a thing of the past. The controller communicated with the console automatically, and the front panel indicated whether you were player one, two, three or four. Since then, everyone has jumped on the bandwagon with wireless controllers and diodes to indicate players.

Achievements

(Xbox 360, 2005)
It's easy to forget that when the PlayStation 3 was released 20 years ago, there were no trophies, and Steam didn't have any achievements either. This concept was instead launched with the Xbox 360 in 2005 and quickly became incredibly popular. It provided a kind of "receipt" for what you had done in your games. All competitors were forced to respond to this and stole the concept outright. And even today, there are exactly the same types of challenges in the other formats that were introduced by Microsoft back then.

Motion control

(Wii, 2007)
Motion-sensitive controllers already existed, such as the Dreamcast fishing rod and the Nokia 5500 mobile phone, and technically speaking, Sony was eight days ahead with Sixaxis. But it was with the Wii that all the pieces fell into place, and it was so revolutionary in design that the console exploded in popularity and halted Nintendo's declining console sales (Super Nintendo sold less than NES, Nintendo 64 sold less than Super Nintendo, GameCube sold less than Nintendo 64). Everyone wanted to play Wii Sports, and one could almost argue that the concept was taken to extremes. But since then, motion-sensitive mobile gaming has become a given for everyone except Microsoft.

Screenshot-shortcut

(PlayStation 4, 2013)
Social media had been a thing for a long time, and people wanted to be able to share pictures from their games. Sony understood this and added a simple option to take pictures, while Microsoft required you to dig through menus and Nintendo didn't bother with it at all (until the Switch, at least). A brilliant and simple feature that has since been adopted by both Microsoft and Nintendo, and is also prioritised for PC services.

Subscription services

(Game Pass, 2017)
It probably started primarily as a need to offer something new, as sales of Xbox One weren't really taking off. Game Pass was launched, and many raised their eyebrows when it was later revealed that new games would also be added. Game Pass became a trendsetter, and today both Nintendo and Sony have their own alternatives.

Backward compatibility

(Xbox Series X, 2020)
Many consoles have offered this in some form over the years, as has almost all portable hardware from Nintendo. However, it was only with the Xbox Series X, which built on the Xbox One, that it really became a thing in video games. Gamers could suddenly play their old games from Xbox to Xbox 360 and Xbox One on their new console, with technical improvements to boot. Today, we know that both Microsoft and Sony have realised that there is no turning back from this, and we often report on patents that will make it possible to play older titles in order to preserve them for the future - and even Nintendo has jumped on board in its own way.

SSD-storage

(PlayStation 5, 2020)
The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X were released almost simultaneously, of course, and both have SSDs. However, I give this victory to Sony. Their solution, with an even faster and, above all, standardised SSD that is relatively easy to replace for less money than Microsoft's equivalent, can be seen as the gold standard for the future.