Welcome back to part 3 of EGM and the Launch Games, our exclusive look at two decades' worth of console launches shown through the eyes of Electronic Gaming Monthly. When we last checked in, we were finishing off the Genesis add-ons and working our way through the 32- and 64-bit era. Between 1989 and 1998, we've seen consoles come and go, major companies fumble the ball and new players steal the spotlight, all while the Game Boy quietly sticks around for a full decade.
With the rise of gaming out of the way, it's finally time to start talking about the industry going mainstream. This was the exact moment when everybody started to realize that gaming wasn't some niche hobby, but rather a multi-billion-dollar business that rivaled movies, music and television. And with the internet powering online gaming, nobody knew how big this thing could get. As a result, you started to see companies like Sony, Microsoft and even Nintendo take each launch a lot more seriously. Gone are the days of four or five launch games, because the Dreamcast, Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube all launched with between 15 and 30 games each. We've definitely entered a new level for gaming.
0:00 - Introduction
2:47 - Sega Dreamcast
12:55 - Sony PlayStation 2
24:18 - Nintendo Game Boy Advance
32:46 - Microsoft Xbox
42:21 - Nintendo GameCube
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