Let me tell you about Atari.

[VT2]

Once upon a time, there existed a machine of epic proportions.
The atari 2600.

This epic beast was the first of the first, and laid the foundation for all other consoles.
Cartridges, detachable controllers, 'arcade sticks,' actual color graphics, sound, multiplayer, games with multiple screens - the 2600 pretty much invented all these things, and more.

The population looked at the 2600, and it was good. Life was easy, and things were just as easy. You played atari, or you didn't play at all.
However, competition arrived, and many new machines entered the market. Some were good, most were bad, and so the atari, despite now being 10 years old, survived the onslaught.
Sure, the userbase gradually shrank, but the 2600 remained. It was a monolith.

A couple more years passed.
The atari was now extremely outdated, and ownership of atari itself had changed hands. Because the new owners had absolutely no idea how to design machines, how to sell games, or even how to run a corporation in general, it was decided that the 2600 must be inofficially discontinued, and a much improved version was to be released.

This new machine was called the atari 5200, and it was an epic disaster.
The new atari had a couple crippling issues - first and foremost of them all being that it just didn't work.

Components used were simply not up to par. The controllers, while very innovative, and a great step forward in technology, broke constantly, and those controllers that were delivered in a working, functional state, quickly became known far and wide for having faulty joysticks, and buttons that stopped responding.
Games released for the 5200 were of notoriously poor quality, few were being released, and atari's response to any and all criticism was to remain silent, for they were the owners of the great and awesome imperium of games, with no credible competition to be found anywhere.

Then the entire market crashed, Nintendo, SEGA, SNK, and NEC all moved in, while atari was dying slowly by its own, incompetent hands.

Sometime during the late 80's, people came to realize that there was a choice, even when there seemed to not be any.
You didn't have to play bad games, or not play games at all. There were plenty of good machines out there, all available at an equal - or lower - price than the bad games.

[VT2]

Fact of the matter is, whether you play Pitfall on the 2600, Sonic on the gamegear, or Mario on the N64, you'll be getting pretty much the same experience.
The name is less important than the experience.

Graphically, they all differ, but when we get to the core of it, they're very similiar, but in a good way.
Maybe you're more into Mario than Sonic, and maybe your grandfather can't stand either of them, because he likes pitfall Harry, but you can both relate to things, and understand the appeal of all three.

[Anri]

i had both commodore, atari and amiga until 8bit nintendo arrived. Before the nintendo i had some 4-bit machine with pacman and games a like.
Pure gamer since i took my first baby steps =).

Are you saying omac is dying VT2? LOL

[VT2]

I'm saying Nintendo, SEGA, and SNK successfully dethroned Atari because Atari became complacent, pretended they were the only company in the world, and stopped respecting their customers.

While the atari 2600 and 5200 both died, pitfall Harry lived on, and gave rise to his sons Sonic and Mario.
A good game will exist even if the parent company folds.

This is why Sonic is now on the Wii.
Coincidentally, do you know what Nintendo's codename during development was for the Wii?

[Anri]

No clue!

[VT2]

They called it Revolution.

[Shade]

That sounds like a great name for an up and coming gaming experience, if only there was a utopian version of such a concept.

It'd be THAT good that it'd link through facebook and all sorts.

If only...

[Anri]

They called it Revolution.

hahaha Expletive deleted

The one starting with a B and ending with ishop sent me a warning. I am not allowed to talk about any revolution any longer ;-).
It can get me banned. Luckily we are talking about nintendo wii and star wars when we refer to revolution and clones.

Potty mouth = Bad.

[VT2]

The battlefields that saw SEGA consumed by the declining Nintendo gave rise to Sony and Microsoft as consolemakers.

[Anri]

Don't you know
They're talkin' about a revolution
It sounds like whisper
Don't you know
They're talkin' about a revolution
It sounds like whisper

While they're standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in the unemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion

Poor people gonna rise up
And get their share
Poor people gonna rise up
And take what's theirs

Don't you know
You better run...
Oh I said you better
Run
run
run...

[Shade]

hahaha ****ing great!

The one starting with a B and ending with ishop sent me a warning. I am not allowed to talk about any revolution any longer ;-).
It can get me banned. Luckily we are talking about nintendo wii and star wars when we refer to revolution and clones.

Yes, careless talk costs lives don't you know?

But as an aside I was searching through google the other day and I found this link, shame it doesn't work though...

http://www.utopia-devolution.com/

Do you think this was a previous attempt by someone trying to establish utopia as it's own state, with it's own seperate laws from the rest of the internet, hence the 'devolution' part of the link?

[Thunder TA]

damn i need to hook up my 2600 again and make sure it works still. its in a box with my sega. Sega also had a Sega CD that didnt last long .quality wasnt to good as the games scratched way to easy

[Shade]

Wake up boys, there's a light at the window,
I can hear someone knocking on the door,
There are voices in the street,
And the sound of running feet,
And they whisper the word --
"Revolution!"

There are men coming down from the valleys,
There are tall ships lying off the coast,
And they carry the light,
In the dark of the night,
Like a whisper in the wind --
"Revolution!"

Bring my gun and a handful of silver,
By the sea we will gather for the fight,
It's been so many years,
So many tears,
We have lost once before,
Now we'll settle the score,
When our cannons will roar --
"Revolution!"

Watch and Wait get ready for the sign
There are many here among us now who have not seen the light
We must send the word to all in the land
Go To Every hill and county cos the
time is now at hand and

Light Your Fire
Light Your Fire

You'll See Tonight!!

Isn't Chris De Burgh great? One of my favourite artists.

[VT2]

2600's are indestructible, thanks to almost no moving parts, and an extremely high level of craftsmanship.
Unlike the original NES, the 2600 does have actual gold connectors, so it's going to work flawlessly for thousands of years.

[Magmalava]

Once upon a time there was Apple. Apple thought it was invincible. Then it became obsolete and almost died. It had 1 heart beat left, and years later, market value exceeded Microsoft.
Moral of the story: it ain't over until the fat lady sings