It seems hard to believe now, but when Microsoft first announced their intention to get into the video game market most commentators and fans alike assumed it was destined to failure. Making computers and making consoles were like chalk and cheese what worked in one field wouldn't necessarily translate to another. And now the two major players in the console market are Sony's Playstation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One. Who knew? You can't really blame people for expecting the worst, however. The Silicon Valley elite have a track record for screwing the pooch when trying to diversify in the nerd arena. Like, say, Apple's magnificent failure of a games console. You probably never heard of the Pippin, created in collaboration with Japanese toy manufacturer Bandai, and with good reason. With a $600 price point, Bandai being the only publisher providing games and the Playstation and Nintendo 64 as competition, they shifted only 42,000 units.
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/
