Video game wars. What makes them so interesting to read about? Is it the fact that video game industries struggle to get your approval of games? Or is it the fact that how the games are received by the people that matters? The "Big Dogs" right now in gaming are PS3, Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii, but to understand about the whole "War" concept, let's step backwards in time to the 5th generation of gaming platforms. I'm talking about the Sony Playstation, the struggling Sega Saturn, and the Nintendo 64.

"This era began in 1993 and ended in 2002. Demographics in console sales varied overall, but these consoles defined the system wars of this era.The 32-bit / 64-bit era also saw the rise of emulation. It was during this time that not only were commonly available PCs powerful enough to emulate the 8 and 16bit systems of the previous 5 or more years, but the internet made it possible to store and download tape and ROM images of older games, eventually leading 7th generation consoles (such as Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable) to make such older games available for purchase or download."

"One of the failed platforms was the 3DO Multiplayer Interactive.Despite massive third party support and an unprecedented amount of hype for a first-time entrant into the industry, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer's $700.00 price tag prevented it from reaching the demographic of more casual gamers who chose instead to purchase one of the 3DO's more affordable contemporaries."

One of the most interesting aspects of that time was the sales figures of the gaming platforms.

"In 1996-97, when all three consoles were fully available, Sony managed a 51% market share of the worldwide market, following by Nintendo with 40%, while Sega lagged with 9%. Production of the Sega Saturn was prematurely discontinued in 1998, with its demise being accelerated by rumours that work on its successor was underway, which hurt sales in late 1997. The N64 was produced until 2001 when it was succeeded by the GameCube; however, PlayStation production had not ceased as it was redesigned as the PSOne, further extending the life of the console around the release of the follow-up PlayStation 2."