The Games News

Once upon a time, Nintendo was the king of the console and their only competition was lowly Sega. Then, two newcomers came into the picture: one an underdog with a long shot to succeed and the other a monopolizing company trying to grab yet another corner of the technological market. These two companies literally tore apart Sega and left Nintendo at the starting line trying to figure out why they had been knocked off of the right track.

Five years since Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft brought their next-generation systems onto the market, Nintendo is getting ready to release what just might be their ticket back into the VIP room of video games. The Nintendo Wii plans to not just launch Nintendo back into the spotlight, but to leave Microsoft and Sony in their dust. The key to Nintendo’s domination will be the success of the motion-controlled Wiimote and Nunchuck. If gamers enjoy these enough, all Nintendo will have to is sit back and watch the cash roll in.

Oklahoma, Louisiana, and now Minnesota seem to be great places to raise your children, especially if you are raising video game playing teenagers. Due to recent signings of the “Inappropriate Games” bill, minors who purchase M-rated (Mature) and/or AO-rated (Adult Only) video games will levy a fine of $25 dollars, instead of fining the retailer who sold the game to the minor. This poses a paradox of sorts: Why fine the minor who bought it when it was the retailer who failed to ask for ID that sold it?

Minnesota Representative Barb Gordon, however, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill so that retailers would get fined as well. “It’s the retailers that buy the games or rent the games that know what they’ve got there. If they choose to rent those to children then they ought to pay the fine,” said Gordon. That’s one statement, if you’re a state government that is trying to pass a bill of this sort, which you need to heed to. If you are going to punish one, then you should punish all. Fine the minor who bought it, the retailer who sold it, and the company who made it. There should be no fine line anywhere in this equation. If you’re going to punish someone, don’t be biased.

In the year 2006, handheld system owners are used to playing games that may include great graphics, excellent audio & video capabilities, and sometimes even the touch-screen feature. However, 15 years ago, the mainstay of handheld video games came with the release of the Game Gear from, then a video game powerhouse, Sega. I, for one, was a proud owner of the Sega Game Gear, a system that drained the life of hundreds of dollars of AA batteries, a system. Its horizontal approach made most gamers feel less “cramped” and allowed them to have longer, more extended periods of play.

When it was released in 1991, games started flying onto shelves from developers that were trying to get some small cut of the profit. With the usual Sega games, such as Golden Axe, all of the Sonic series, Road Rash, Shinobi, Mortal Kombat, and many more. The Game Gear later added add-ons for the system, which included the famous “TV Tuner.” For most handheld owners at the time, the Game Gear was a shining example of Sega’s bright future. Now, though, as we look back, we see that the Game Gear was maybe a dying attempt by Sega’s to try to slowly get back into the console market. Only a brief decade later, Sega would end their console production and try to solely focus on software manufacturing.