The Subscription Model That Proved Worse Than What It Replaced I’m a forty-something construction foreman who only got into gaming at age 40. I have zero rose tinted glasses about older gaming generations. I repair old NES consoles as a hobby because I like knowing how to fix things and understand the concept of ownership. That cart STILL works from 1985. You OWN it. You can play it whenever you want for the rest of…
Here’s something I teach in my history classes – sometimes a single product creates the conditions for an entire industry shift. Halo 2 is that product for console gaming. It proved that consoles could have robust online infrastructure. It proved that competitive multiplayer could drive hardware sales. It proved that sequels could expand on foundations without losing what made originals special. Halo 2 didn’t just define Xbox Live – it defined what console gaming would…
Here’s something I teach in my history classes – sometimes a single product can pivot an entire industry. Halo: Combat Evolved is that product. Microsoft entered console gaming in 2001 with aggressive marketing and significant third-party support, but they needed a system-seller. Something that would make people buy Xbox instead of PlayStation 2. Bungie delivered exactly that with Halo, and in doing so, proved that first-person shooters didn’t belong exclusively to PC gaming. Before Halo,…
Microsoft showed up to console gaming in 2001 and immediately proved they understood how to compete. The Xbox was aggressively marketed. The online infrastructure was built-in from day one. The third-party support was unprecedented – major studios were developing for Xbox from launch. And most importantly, there was Halo. A game so good that it didn’t just justify the console’s existence – it redefined what console gaming could be. We spent three weeks arguing not…
Man, sometimes I lie awake at night thinking about all the gaming rumors that consumed my teenage brain in the late 90s. You know the ones I’m talking about – those whispered legends about secret Nintendo projects that some kid’s uncle who “totally worked at Nintendo” had definitely seen behind closed doors at E3. The Nintendo DS 64 was probably the biggest one that got me, this mythical dual-screen N64 handheld that felt so real…