'Halo'... A classic video game that has proven to be a, 'flagship game' for Microsoft's, 'XBox' video game consoles![/caption]Over the decades now there have been quite a few video game systems and a slowly growing number of companies that are producing these systems that have such relevance in the pop culture of that time... But what is it that holds their sustainability as well as it does? What keeps throngs of people of most ages coming back for more? Well I am going to have to say that it is the flagship game that is keeping these systems and the companies that build them afloat...
What is a flagship game you ask?
Well simply put, in the Navy a flagship is a ship that distinguishes itself from the rest, (you know, bigger, faster, stronger, or whatever,) and a.'Flagship Video Game' does that for the system it represents, and is so popular that it helps cement the company that makes it for life!
A great example of this is, 'Super Mario Bros.' (1983), this game was so popular that it extremely out paced the competition (including the original, 'Donkey Kong' game, a game which was the first to ever to feature a, 'Mario Bro.')
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Super Mario Bros. (1983), a game which helped make the, 'Nintendo' video game consoles the consoles they are today![/caption]Since the release of, 'Super Mario Bros.', Nintendo has been a force not to be messed with, both in Japan, and North America, having outlasted all of the Video Game companies that have come before it, and maintaining itself in the current world of Video Gaming between, 'Sony' (with the, 'Playstation') and, 'Microsoft' (with the XBox)!
And as long as, 'Mario' &, 'Luigi' and the rest of the, 'Koopa Troopa' maintain their popularity amongst fans of almost any age at this point, Nintendo will remain a force not to be messed with for ever!
That was an aged veteran of a Flagship game, I thought that I would mention a newer one that I thought that you guys might find to be interesting, and that is of, 'Master Chief' from the, 'Halo' series, and what that series has done for really the world of gaming in the whole!
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Master Chief as he is about to kick as in the, 'Halo' video game series, A, 'Flagship video game' for Microsoft's, 'XBox' video game consoles![/caption]You see, at the time that the, 'XBox' was first released it had some very stiff competition... What I mean by that is that this gaming system was released in 2001, during a time in which, 'Playstation' had already proved itself, having just released its second generation system, and had to go up against 2 seasoned vets like, 'Nintendo' and, 'Sega' (both of whom had by this point, several generations of Video Game systems that had been out for decades, and in which Nintendo was currently marketing their, 'Nintendo Game Cube' and Sega, (which unfortunately would end up being on their final video game system,) would be marketing the, 'Sega Dreamcast'...)
Well, the Xbox ended up doing so well, and with their flagship game like, 'Halo' it was no wonder that they were able to survive, and not only did they survive well, but I would personally say that the, 'Xbox' and, 'Halo' are probably the best of their kind to have been released in the millennium!
Unfortunately though, this would knock Sega out of making consoles (which is a shame seeing as their video consoles and the games that went with them were so much fun!) But for many years though, their video game consoles with the help of their Flagship video game, 'Sonic The Hedgehog', were so popular that I would say that they were barely out matched by, 'Super Mario Bros.' and the various Nintendo video game systems that beat them!
If you were born in the 1980s or before, you might remember the good old days, when you used to sit and run all over that Island as, 'Sonic' as you tried to capture the, 'Chaos Emeralds' from the evil, 'Dr. Robotnik' and his goons that were trying to destroy his world on the, 'Sega Genesis' int he video game, 'Sonic The Hedgehog', and some of the successor games and systems in Sega's repertoire of Video game consoles and games of the time!
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Sonic The Hedgehog is such a popular character and game that even after, 'Sega' stopped making video game consoles, 'Sonic' has still continued on strong![/caption]As a matter of fact, their Flagship Video game was so popular, that after Sega stopped making video game consoles and switched over to making Video Games for other companies, 'Sonic The Hedgehog' has continued to be an extremely popular character and video game!
So in the end the question is... Does the Video Game Console make gaming fun, or is it the Video Game that makes gaming fun... Well I will say that obviously that the system does help, but in the end I think it is the video game that makes the experience worth it!
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