Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
products and the discourse they help construct has dramatically changed.
Developing how wordplay helps us understand consoles requires looking at
what we can do with game consoles and what they claim to do for us.
Starting out as a winter toy, Home Pong set the initial terms for what
was to be done with a home video game console. It was a product largely for
the recreation room and was well suited for sports fans looking to engage
in competitive activity in the winter. Arcades came to further defi ne video
games, as they were associated with less than savory elements of society.
Because of the stigma associated with arcade games, console manufacturers
sought to distance themselves from the label of 'video games.' The Video
Computer System emphasized its link with computers in its name, appro-
priating the title of a growing, scientifi c industry that had positive asso-
ciations. Many of the VCS's contemporaries integrated the idea of 'vision'
into their name, like in the Intellivision
and the ColecoVision, which con-
nected them to the well-established televisions on which they worked. Both
approaches anchored the consoles into popular discourses of their time,
seeking to twist words about video games to include more positive con-
notations and fewer negative ones. The issue of naming came up again for
Nintendo, as it sought to enter a market that had recently been burned by
the collapse of Atari. Instead of stressing links to video, computing, games,
or vision, Nintendo opted to stress entertainment in the title of the NES.
In so doing, Nintendo sought to anchor their console in the terminology of
the growing home entertainment industry, allowing the company to take a
position as something that was family friendly and targeted toward middle
and upper middle-class families. Although video games had negative con-
notations, the notion of an entertainment system, particularly one with a
robot that allowed the family to play together, was wholesome and could
be welcomed into homes. Discursive framing is a key part of the develop-
ment and marketing of game consoles and the branding of the PlayStation
helps give insight into how Sony sought to frame what could be done with
their console.
The PlayStation originally set out to be a joint Nintendo-Sony product,
with Nintendo continuing their work with cartridges and Sony providing
CD-ROM support. Sony was hesitant to get into a market dominated by a
dedicated gaming company like Nintendo, especially because they would
have also faced competition from Sega. Through a series of decisions rich
with boardroom intrigue, Nintendo decided to back out of negotiations
with Sony, choosing to work with Philips. This stunned Sony. Sony even-
tually opted to introduce the PlayStation on their own, as they suf ered a
massive loss of face when Nintendo's shocking announcement cut them out
of the video game industry. The ongoing development of the Sony platform,
however, showed the company's desire to shift how people used video game
consoles, redefi ning discussion about video games to make the PlayStation
a literal station for all kinds of play and entertainment, rather than simply
a device on which to play video games.
