Consoles and Competition
the history of competition and business models in the video game industry.
- The industry has seen a shift from vertical integration to modularization, with the first video game console being the Magnavox Odyssey.
- Atari's 2600 introduced the concept of self-contained game cartridges, allowing players to use the same system for different games.
- Activision's emergence as a third-party developer marked a major restructuring of the industry, leading to a flood of poor quality games and the video game crash of 1983.
- Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's Famicom/NES implemented strict control over third-party developers, with Sony later pivoting to focus on exclusives.
- Microsoft's acquisition of Activision raises concerns about competition, but it is actually a move to build a new business model based on subscription services, which challenges Sony's exclusive strategy.