The world is changing rapidly. A few centuries ago, the focus was on nations, economies, and science. With the beginning of the cyber world, games share a platform along with important events in the world today. The year 2006 for avid gamers was filled with anticipation and excitement. According to statistics, the US totaled more than $10.5 billion in sales of hardware, software, and accessories, setting a new record. Sony PSP and Nintendo DS took handheld gaming to new heights and many predictions turned out to be wrong in 2006.
The year 2006 brought excitement and excitement:
1. Three game consoles vied with each other for supremacy and the Xbox360; sony psp; and Nintendo Wii get the pulse racing with games that reach new heights with the latest technology.
2. Game designers and companies like Vivendi Games, Activision, Rockstar, and Electronic Arts brought new games, revitalized games, and futuristic technology to gaming. God of War won praise at DICE, where game developers unveiled big plans for 2006.
3. The E3 or Electronic Entertainment Expo held in the second quarter of 2006 featured press conferences from gaming giants, as well as launches of new games like Assassin’s Creed, Haze, Command and Conquer 3, and Wii Resident Evil, among many others. Gaming gurus studied and reviewed the event and submitted expert opinions on the delights of gaming.
4. Game Watchers NPD kept up with gaming and stated that gaming is here to stay with numbers up 29% from July 2005, 17% in August and 38% in September.
5. The leaders in the third quarter were Madden NFL 07 and Lego Star Wars II: The Original Triology, which passed the million unit sales hurdle. Console gaming hit new delights with the announcements that Half-Life 2 was rejuvenated, Street Fighter II’ Hyper Fighting and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion were coming to Xbox360, PS# and PSP.
6. The fourth quarter reached new heights with the launches of next generation game consoles like Wii and PSP3. Each one had their fans and the game was all a riot with expectations, some joys and some disappointments. Blizzard drew a lot of attention with its massive multiplayer role-playing game World of Warcraft masterpiece.
7. NDP’s industry monitoring revealed that the fourth quarter reached new heights with PS3 selling 197,000 systems, while Wii sold 476,000 systems. According to trackers, 400,000 copies of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess were sold at retail.
8. Technological advances in the gaming world reached new heights. High-level graphics, speed, clarity, and multiplayer games took gamers to new adventures. The gaming industry went to great lengths to bring gaming into the future with designers and hardware manufacturers redefining gaming.
9. Change is inevitable and the Entertainment Software Association will have a new director as Douglas Lowenstein, the founding president of the ESA, has decided to move on.
10. The year laid the foundation for futuristic gaming hardware that set the trend for designers to focus on better software and better games. 2007 will feature cross-platform games like Grand Theft Auto IV, Army of Two, BioShock and more.
The gaming industry is set to reach new heights in the coming year with games gaining popularity across the globe. The World Wide Web, the popularity of the Internet, and tech-savvy game consoles have captured and held the interest of gamers young and old. Gaming has expanded its base and become multiplayer with players from all over the world competing their skills against opponents from across the gaming universe.