The Dreamcast was the dying gasp of Sega, a company who had started the decade at the tippity-top of the gaming biz, still playfully sparring with Nintendo. Then the Playstation changed everything and the old guard suddenly had to step up their game, or else get out of the business entirely. For Sega it turned out the second option was pretty much mandatory, as their attempt at winning over the new generation of gamers totally flopped. That's despite being technically more powerful than the Playstation or Nintendo 64, having some quality titles, and being the first console to introduce the now-mandatory option of challenging people to multiplayer games online. It wasn't quite as simple through a dial-up connection, but it was still hella prescient for the way we play games today.
7. FarmVille And The Rise Of Social Gaming
The Console Wars may still be raging to a degree, but in a way what we think of as a video game has changed significantly. You can still get your AAA multiplayer console titles, but that isn't your only option when it comes to interactive entertainment. Springing off the back of websites like Neopets and Newgrounds, social networks like Facebook started to introduce the idea of "social gaming", with titles like Mafia and FarmVille reliant on your online friends to help you proceed. Like it or hate it, this is one of the many new directions gaming's headed in the 21st century, and it's the likes of FarmVille that made it so.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
