Gaming: a Virtual Tour of the Industry

Welcome to this interactive tour of companies that paved the way for what video gaming is today. From the early revival of video games by Nintendo, to the game changing projects from Microsoft and Valve, this interactive guide will show you where these companies do their business, and what they are known for most.

A true pioneer of the gaming industry, Valve is famous for redefining the way we play games on PCs, not only by creating ground breaking and creative games, but by launching the largest digital distributor of PC games, Steam, with millions of active users, and countless amounts of games in its library. While their own personal library of games has dwindled in quality over time, Valve is still the leader in PC distribution, and shows no sign of stopping any time soon.

A well respected name in video games, Nintendo is the company that, without which, gaming today would not have been the same. Having saved the industry following a long video game crash in the late 90s, Nintendo has since gone on to create critically acclaimed games, such as Mario, the Legend of Zelda, Pokemon, Kirby, and Metroid, as well as both commercially successful and ground breaking consoles, such as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the Super NES, the Nintendo 64, Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo Wii, and the more recent Nintendo Switch.

While they may appear to be a standard video game development company, ID software is held on a high pedestal for playing a stronge role in the creation of the First Person Shooter genre, with games like Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake getting critical acclaim and starting a trend of "clone" games that would soon become the FPS genre of today.

What started as a distributor and developer of audio and video appliances has since become one of the three leading console developers of the industry, ironically enough because of a tarnished deal with Nintendo. When they were developing the Super NES, Nintendo sought out Sony for help in developing compatible audio cards, and it was thanks to their hard work that Nintendo then asked for help in making a CD-based console to keep up with the demand for them. Unfortunately, what would've been the Nintendo Play Station was tarnished after they had a falling out with Sony, who would go on to create the PlayStation line of consoles. Had this falling out never occured, gaming today would likely be a lot different.

Whatever the case, Sony has become one of the main trio of console developers in the gaming industry, developing the Playstation consoles that still remain popular to this day. Much like Nintendo, Sony is also the owner to a massive library of succesful IPs, such as Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, The Last of Us, Uncharted, God of War, and more!

The youngest of the console developing trio of today, but also the birthplace of PC development, Microsoft is a key producer of computer operating systems and software, along with developing the Xbox line of consoles. While their exclusive library isn't quite as vast, only truly sporting Halo as an Xbox exclusive franchise, they make up for it with innovation on cross-platform play, allowing players to play together regardless of their console

Ubisoft is a French game developer that is praised for their open-world approach to game design, so much so that their formula has been adapted to several other succesful games as well. While not as big as the top three of the industry- Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo- Ubisoft is still a well known developer, with several popular IPs under their name, including Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Tom Clancy, and Watch Dogs.

Bethesda is a praised developer in the genre of open world RPGs (Role-playing Games), with titles like the Elder Scrolls series, and the 3D Fallout titles. These games have held the test of time, with Skyrim, released in 2011, still having additional releases on newer consoles today, as well as continued modding support, with over 28,000 mods available on the Steam Workshop alone. Bethesda also has a good publishing track record, responsible for releasing the Evil Within games, the Dishonored series, the modern Wolfenstein games, and having publishing rights to all of ID Software's games