That's more or less my thinking, Bill. Instead of a "crash," I see it more as a temporary shift away from dedicated game consoles and a switch to low-end computers (C-64 being the leader). No doubt this was caused by people thinking how miserable the Atari 2600's graphics were compared to what was available on these computers. Once low-cost PC compatibles dominated that were great for productivity but miserable for games, again there was a hole, and Nintendo was able to satisfy that with low-cost consoles that were better for gaming (arguably) than the C-64's. I think that's the era where people began thinking that computers and videogames were an either/or, and PC gaming has steadily moved to the margins as more people relied on PC for work and internet and consoles for fun.
I'm curious why the dedicated internet boxes never went anywhere. My cousin had one and really enjoyed it.
That's more or less my thinking, Bill. Instead of a "crash," I see it more as a temporary shift away from dedicated game consoles and a switch to low-end computers (C-64 being the leader). No doubt this was caused by people thinking how miserable the Atari 2600's graphics were compared to what was available on these computers. Once low-cost PC compatibles dominated that were great for productivity but miserable for games, again there was a hole, and Nintendo was able to satisfy that with low-cost consoles that were better for gaming (arguably) than the C-64's. I think that's the era where people began thinking that computers and videogames were an either/or, and PC gaming has steadily moved to the margins as more people relied on PC for work and internet and consoles for fun.
I'm curious why the dedicated internet boxes never went anywhere. My cousin had one and really enjoyed it.
Matt Barton, Managing Editor
Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA
Email: matt@armchairarcade.com