PlayStation 3 and the HD console war

December 30, 2006

Sony and Microsoft's new high-definition consoles, along with Nintendo's motion-controlled Wii, turned video games into a medium that competed seriously with cinema for entertainment dollars and storytelling ambition. Gaming budgets passed Hollywood blockbusters; gaming culture moved from basements into the global mainstream, reshaping how a generation spent its evenings. The medium grew up, awkwardly, in public.