Console Wars
A study on consumer capitalism in the video game industry
The research focused on various generations of video game console industry. Through these eight generations, 1972 to present, there have been more than 70 different console manufacturers. The cutthroat competition has led to an age where only three among these manufacturers (Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo) survive to this date(October 2019). Identifying the circumstances, technological aspects, social and economic conditions which were associated with the evolution of consoles have been the overarching context which formed the narrative. The study has been largely focused around the US region which has been a major contributor in terms of sales and usage of home video game consoles.
When tracing the history of technology behind the current day console, the study uncovered how the supporting technologies and behaviour of buying products influenced the market. The crash of the video game era in 1983 was closely looked at to analyse Japanese domination in the video game industry.
The project can be looked at as a road-map stitching various narratives aimed to showcase monopoly in the video gaming market. ‘Console Wars’ depicts the idea of pursuit between major game hardware manufacturers. The history recording meritocracy among the game companies in terms of technology innovation has been another aspect addressed through the research. The concept of the project serves as a reference for an ever-changing form of a technological artefact to study the formation of a culture which has been through five decades till date.
