12-30-2013, 04:11 PM
As for whether Nintendo revived the console industry, well... It was really only the case in the US after Atari somehow had some bad business decisions and lack of quality control in terms of games (there were some good 2600 games but plently of rubbish). When the crash happened, some people moved to home computers such as the Commodore 64 and others moved away. Sort of in a way, like the Wii right now. Was really popular but now people have moved on. The arcades didn't have as much interesting games until the mid-80s. Nintendo took a couple of years to get going (it wasn't 1985, blam instant success) but when it did gaming became popular again and was marketed like crazy to the point where for some people the NES (and the SNES) was their first console while eating their Mario and Zelda cereal and watching the various Nintendo cartoons that were around then. Strangely enough it took a few years before American developers even considered the console and back then, they weren't the best or even any good with a few exceptions.
In Japan, the Famicom pretty much started the console industry even though they had their home computers as well, plus the MSX being an alternative (the SG-1000 and the Master System weren't as known). In Europe it is a bit funny, there were consoles but they weren't as popular so much of the gaming industry and home computers were when games were played the most like the Spectrum in the UK and Spain (Russia too?), the C64 in Germany (and later in the UK too), France had their own systems and the CPC was I think more popular there. When it came to consoles, it is also harder to judge since it came later (1986-1987). Some countries the NES was more popular, some the Master System was more popular, France was about even between the two. I'm not sure about this but in Austrailia and New Zealand, the SG-1000/SC-3000 was one of the earliest consoles there even though it was probably more closer to the UK market.
Many publishers and developers started on the home computers. EA - Home computers before they started console games on the Genesis. Rare, started off making Spectrum games as Ultimate: Play the Game before going to Nintendo consoles (with a tiny bit of Genesis and arcade games). Ocean, Spectrum games before going with Nintendo consoles until Infogrames bought them. Infogrames themselves were also on home computers. Codemasters - Spectrum, before going unlicensed on the NES and partly licensed on the Mega Drive. Ubisoft - Home computers before making Rayman. Core Design - Home computers and even did a few arcade ports too, then did console games. Psygnosis were heavy on the home computers, dabbled a bit on the consoles before teaming up with Sony. Even Enix started off as a home computer publisher before heading towards the Famicom.
Even if the home computers did contribute towards gaming more than it seems, Nintendo helped (then hindered some when alternatives happened) gaming developers. Say if Nintendo didn't exist, some companies wouldn't exist and some would drop out of the gaming industry. There might not even be a gaming industry from the mid-90s (since Sony were influenced by both Sega and Nintendo).
In terms of the current gaming scene, I don't really want to know and feel like stop buying games in the future (as soon as the 3DS, Vita and Wii U get discontinued).
In Japan, the Famicom pretty much started the console industry even though they had their home computers as well, plus the MSX being an alternative (the SG-1000 and the Master System weren't as known). In Europe it is a bit funny, there were consoles but they weren't as popular so much of the gaming industry and home computers were when games were played the most like the Spectrum in the UK and Spain (Russia too?), the C64 in Germany (and later in the UK too), France had their own systems and the CPC was I think more popular there. When it came to consoles, it is also harder to judge since it came later (1986-1987). Some countries the NES was more popular, some the Master System was more popular, France was about even between the two. I'm not sure about this but in Austrailia and New Zealand, the SG-1000/SC-3000 was one of the earliest consoles there even though it was probably more closer to the UK market.
Many publishers and developers started on the home computers. EA - Home computers before they started console games on the Genesis. Rare, started off making Spectrum games as Ultimate: Play the Game before going to Nintendo consoles (with a tiny bit of Genesis and arcade games). Ocean, Spectrum games before going with Nintendo consoles until Infogrames bought them. Infogrames themselves were also on home computers. Codemasters - Spectrum, before going unlicensed on the NES and partly licensed on the Mega Drive. Ubisoft - Home computers before making Rayman. Core Design - Home computers and even did a few arcade ports too, then did console games. Psygnosis were heavy on the home computers, dabbled a bit on the consoles before teaming up with Sony. Even Enix started off as a home computer publisher before heading towards the Famicom.
Even if the home computers did contribute towards gaming more than it seems, Nintendo helped (then hindered some when alternatives happened) gaming developers. Say if Nintendo didn't exist, some companies wouldn't exist and some would drop out of the gaming industry. There might not even be a gaming industry from the mid-90s (since Sony were influenced by both Sega and Nintendo).
In terms of the current gaming scene, I don't really want to know and feel like stop buying games in the future (as soon as the 3DS, Vita and Wii U get discontinued).