2000's

The time when console and PC gaming has become equal.

When looking at how PC gaming has changed since the first text – based games like Adventure or Planetfall improving to standards of current MMO's like Planetside 2 or Titanfall or the complexity of open world games like GTA V or Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, I cannot help but to be amazed at how far the gaming industry has moved forward and how prominent gaming has become. Over the years new genres have been slowly developing since the 2000's like MMORPG or MMOFPS and nowadays, unlike in the 90's or earlier, whatever genre of game you desire to play, there most likely is a game to suit your needs. Also, it has to be mentioned that during the last decade and a half, indie developers have become more and more popular hence such variety and amount of games, which arguably, might lead to another video game crash just like the one in '83, after all, the history seems to be repeating itself, a load of games on the market, most of them are of mediocre quality, a lot of clones around and the market is getting flooded with games that are sometimes of unacceptable quality but I guess, only time will tell.

After a big success of PS1, Sony has decided to release their second console in the year 2000 which was THE PlayStation 2 which turned out to be arguably the best console of in all of console gaming history, mainly because PlayStation 2 was the first one to dominate the market and establish a loyal fan base before Microsoft had the chance to have a go. When PS2 has started to grow in popularity to the extent where everyone wanted one, Microsoft tried to keep up with Sony by releasing their counterpart Xbox. Mainly where the PlayStation had the upper hand was the amount and quality of games offered, most popular examples being Final Fantasy X or Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, however it has to be noted that while original Xbox could not keep up with the demands of fans and seemed unattractive compared to its rival, it did spawn Halo series which then later on would become the icon of Xbox gaming. When PlayStation 2 has started to become outdated, a time for new generation of console’s has come, bringing us PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

In 2006 it was the time to release new generation of consoles and this time Microsoft learned their lesson and decided to release their new console at the same time as Sony did. Debatably PS3 was a more attractive option, in general offering features that were missing on the old X-Box such as Blu-Ray , no fee for online gaming as well as giving the option of browsing the internet. In my opinion this was the time when Microsoft was noticed by the customers and this was the time when both of the consoles started to be compared as equals and the console fan base started to become divided between three current (last) gen consoles: Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii (sold very poorly and didn't have much success outside of Japan). After eight years of successful prosperity, earlier this year new generation consoles were released – Xbox One and PS4, but how and if they will change gaming in the future we will see in the years to come.

When it comes to portable gaming, aside from the Gameboy series from Nintendo, no company really had any luck in developing good handheld consoles that fans would accept. That is until DS and PSP were released, and what made them so prominent is their complete contrast in both hardware and software. Finally, the two systems were not mere copies of each other, instead they both focused on different target audiences, PSP appealing to the more hardcore gamer with action and adventure games like Tekken or God Of War, whereas the DS appealed more to the casual gamer or a person with limited time with quick, logic or puzzle games like Professor Layton series or Phoenix Wright series. The next gen portable consoles (3DS and PS Vita) follow the same strategy so apart from few new additions to the hardware not much has changed in terms of portable gaming.