The Museum of Console History

Hasan Baalbaki

I think history is the most boring subject known to man. Having to see and read the past events makes me sleepy by just trying to describe it. I will be first to admit that I am also the biggest gaming nerd who ever lived. It does not matter what company is being discussed. Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation. You name it, I have played it. With that being said, as I was walking down the street, I saw a sign that a new section at the museum of natural history opened up. The history of game consoles. My eyes opened in surprise, and my head rushed with thoughts of what I might see. I suddenly had a change of heart with the museum. I thought that they contained nothing but old and boring historical crap, but once it had a gaming history section, then it had my full attention

Immediately after entering the exhibit, the first console that greets my eyes was the N.E.S (Nintendo Entertainment System), released all the way back in 1985. Apparently, it was called the Famicom Disk System in Japan. Seeing one of the oldest gaming consoles brings me back to memories of going to my friends house, and we would take turns to see who could shoot the most ducks with “Duck Hunt”. The console was in a glass container. Next to it were cartridges of “Super Mario Bros.”, “The Legend of Zelda”, and “Punch-Out!!”. Seems like a smart idea to keep them in a glass container, cause you never know who could be crazy enough to try and steal it. Someone like me. The cabinet had a little metal plate on it , specifying its specs of the console. 5 sound channels, 64 KB of sound memory, 25 maximum colors on screen, and a CPU consisting of a Ricoh 2A03 8-bit processor. To most people, what the metal plate just said would make no sense. Just a bunch of random mixing of numbers and letters. However, to me, not only did I understand what it said, but I found it more than just interesting. A bunch of pixels on a screen that move together, creating a bigger, entertaining, and interactive picture. However, the N.E.S was not the only thing that caught my eye in the exhibit. What I saw next made my eyes open wide like a small kid on Christmas morning.

My gaze was fixated towards the PlayStation 2, released in 2000. I spent many all nighters playing with this baby. A huge graphics jump from pixel characters to 3D modules. From cartridges to disks. So many games, “Shadow of the Colossus”, “God of War”, and “Jak and Daxter”. One of the best consoles needed some of the best specs. 8MB memory card storage, and an Emotion Engine CPU running at 300 MHz. For some reason, I never had a PS2 memory card, so I would start a game all over again when I shut the power. I was so young, and my attention span was horrible, so I did not really see a problem starting over again.

Although, the PS2 does not hold a candle to the last console I saw. The original Xbox from 2001. I never understood why Microsoft never numbered their Xbox consoles. With that being said, what the original Xbox lacked in labeling, it made up for in amazing game titles. “The Simpsons: Hit & Run”, “Halo: Combat Evolved”, and “Grand Theft Auto III”. I never got into the hype of Halo. But, I can see why it’s loved by so many people. Not just for the story, or the multiplayer mode, but for the graphics, thanks to the Xbox’s specs. 8MB Memory Card, 8 GB internal HDD, Intel Pentium 3 CPU, and nVidia NV2A GPU. This thing was built to be a powerhouse in the graphics department

I had a long history of gaming expertise. Coming to this new exhibit at the Museum of Natural History gave me a burst of nostalgia. From the early years of gaming with the N.E.S, to the early 3D beginnings of the Playstation 2, leading to the early 2000’s powerhouse of the original Xbox, currently landing in the next generation era of the Xbox Series X, and the PlayStation 5. Seeing how games evolved from one graphics era, to the next, and to the next, it just makes me wonder, how much farther will gaming evolution go? Is there ever gonna be a peak? Honestly, I hope not.