10 Ways Gaming Was Infinitely Better In The '90s
1. Consoles Were For Gaming And Only Gaming
Three elements made up gaming in the 1990s: A controller, the system and the games. That was pretty much it. They were for gaming, pure and simple.
CD-ROM brought change. Music CDs were playable; video content emerged. Consoles became multimedia centres. It wasn't just about the games any more. You had DVD players, remote controls, ethernet ports and hard drives. Downloads were the next big thing. Online gaming meant companies cut out splitscreen multiplayer left, right and centre.
The 2000s became less about the games and more about the "multimedia" functions stuffed in. You want to watch TV through your PlayStation? Great! Here's an accessory. How about a glorified webcam? You know if makes sense!
PC aside (plus N64 RandNet in Japan), the 90s had no online gaming so there was no need for subscription fees. No hard drive meant no upgrading - sometimes at tremendous cost. Remember the white Xbox 360? It's 120GB hard drive once sold for $179!
Nintendo Switch is a throwback to this simpler time. No support to play multimedia files from microSD, video streaming services haven't launched and there's no way to access the internet without circumventing software.
Sometimes simplicity is what gamers want. Maybe that's why the Switch sold 15 million+ in its first year.