Death of a Video Game Console: How Each Generation Said Goodbye

 

Nintendo closes out the end of an era in 2025 with the introduction of the Nintendo Switch 2 and gradual sunsetting of the original Nintendo Switch. This shift in focus to the new console won’t be overnight, of course, and rarely is whenever console publishers transition to a fresh generation. The first Switch generation was an especially prosperous one for Nintendo, with over 150 million units shipped worldwide and counting, making it Nintendo’s best-selling home console of all-time and second only to the PlayStation 2 as the best-selling home console overall.

With a player base that large, Nintendo has to be tactful how it eventually phases out its support for the Switch and maintains continued interest in its overarching brand. That makes us nostalgic too for how previous major home consoles eventually made their respective final bows, wrapping up fondly remembered eras. Here’s a look back on how each major console from the past several decades ended their fan-favorite runs.

Nintendo Entertainment System

The NES not only revived the video game industry in North America after its cataclysmic crash in 1983, but completely dominated it into the early ‘90s. By 1990 the NES—along with its Japanese counterpart, the Famicom—was the best-selling console ever at that time with more American households having the console than PCs. As such, Nintendo’s support for the NES continued long after the launch of the Super Nintendo, with Japan going as far as to continue manufacturing Famicoms for its domestic market until September 2003.

Many of the last games released in the twilight years for the NES were ports of Super Nintendo titles with a significantly less intensive technical presentation. These include NES ports of Mario’s Time Machine, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters, and Wario’s Woods, all released in 1994 and the last of which being the final game released for the console in North America. Over 30 years later, the NES’ tenure remains one of the longest-running and most triumphant generations for any console.

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive

Also known as the Mega Drive outside of the U.S., the Sega Genesis was the console that gave Sega a prominent foothold in the North American market. In trying to gain a technical edge against its competitors, Sega began producing console peripherals for the Genesis, most notably the Sega CD in 1991 and Sega 32X in 1994, each with their own game libraries. Though Sega continued to produce games for the base Genesis, it saw the 32X as a stopgap effort until the Sega Saturn could be launched in 1994 in Japan and ‘95 in the U.S.

Unfortunately for Sega, savvy gamers already knew that the Saturn was coming. So when combined with the high price point for the 32X peripheral, they discreetly avoided it. This meant the library of 32X games released in the Genesis’ final months, which included early 3D Sega games like Virtua Fighter and Star Wars Trilogy Arcade, went largely ignored. The final 32X game was 1996’s The Amazing Spider-Man: Web of Fire while 1997’s NHL 98 closed out the Genesis on a whimper.

Super Nintendo

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System reaffirmed Nintendo’s place atop the worldwide video game industry, even as it faced stiff competition from Sega and Sony. Even as the Nintendo 64’s 1996 launch loomed, Nintendo continued to support the SNES in its final years. Indeed, some of the most beloved SNES games were originally released in 1996 and 1997, giving the console the fond farewell that cemented its vaunted place in gaming history.

Among the memorable games released in the final stretch for the SNES were Super Mario RPG, Donkey Country 3, Harvest Moon, and The Lost Vikings 2. The last licensed game ever released for the SNES was a 1998 port of Frogger, almost as an afterthought for the console. As far as endings go, the Super Nintendo, like the SNES before it, had a great conclusion to its best-selling run.

Sega Saturn

Between the original success of the Genesis and loving reappraisal of the Dreamcast, the Sega Saturn remains something of the overlooked middle child. This is in no small part because of how badly Sega handled the console’s rollout for the North American market, from a surprise announcement that caught developers outside of Japan off-guard, an uncompetitive price point in comparison to the original PlayStation, and Sega of America deciding not to localize hundreds of games created by Japanese developers. With that in mind, the Saturn generation lasted four years, as Sega rushed to replace it with its successor, the Dreamcast.

This fast-tracked decision effectively hobbled the Saturn in its final year when news about the Dreamcast’s development leaked while Sega was still nominally supporting the Saturn in public. Console and game sales in North America cratered with only seven Saturn games released in the territory for the entirety of 1998, the last being a localization of Magic Knight Rayearth. Given the Saturn’s greater success in Japan than overseas markets, Sega continued to support the Saturn after the Dreamcast’s November 1998 launch, primarily through third-party titles and boxed sets, with the last game released for the console in Japan being 2000’s Final Fight Revenge by Capcom.

PlayStation

The PlayStation, later rebranded as the PSX and then PS1, marked Sony’s triumphant entry into the home console industry in 1994. Buoyed by its games published on compact discs, as opposed to expensive cartridges, and strong third-party developer support, PS1 became the bestselling console of its generation and the bestselling overall for its time. The PS1 continued to sell well into the subsequent generation, even well into the lifespan of its 2001 successor, the PlayStation 2.

Given the sheer number of its player base and continued flourishing third-party support, the PS1 saw multiplatform sports and licensed titles published for it through 2006, though the last North American title was published for it in 2004. The last major title for the console was arguably 2002’s Final Fantasy Origins, which was just a compiled remaster of the first two mainline games in the series. Sony officially ended support for the PS1 in 2006, the same year it launched the PlayStation 3.

Nintendo 64

Though the Nintendo 64 launched strongly and revolutionized the gaming industry in shifting to 3D games, it also saw Nintendo lose its global top spot in the console wars. Surpassed commercially by PlayStation, Nintendo spent the final years of the N64 focusing on development of the GameCube while extending the life and power of the N64 through its crimson Expansion Pak peripheral. This upgrade in technical performance led to some of the most impressive N64 or console games in its final years on the market.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Perfect Dark, and Banjo-Tooie were all released in 2000, each taking advantage of the Expansion Pak boost in their own way. By 2001 Nintendo completely reprioritized its strategy to support the launch of the Game Boy Advance and GameCube, but still put out bonafide bangers like Mario Party 3 and Conker’s Bad Fur Day. By 2002 Nintendo officially pulled the plug on the N64, releasing a handful of sports titles to close out the generation.

Dreamcast

Sega’s final home console came out the gate swinging with a launch window that included Power Stone, Sonic Adventure, Soulcalibur, The House of the Dead 2, and NFL Blitz 2000. However, the Dreamcast faced continued stiff competition from the original PlayStation along with news about development on the upcoming PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and something Microsoft was calling Xbox. With the incoming generation of home consoles reputedly more powerful than the Dreamcast, support for Sega continued to waver, with a remodeled, cheaper PS1 outselling the Dreamcast during the 2000 holiday season as a final nail in Sega’s console coffin.

Sega ceased releasing new Dreamcast games in North America by February 2002, closing out its support for the market with NHL 2K2 almost as an afterthought. Like the Saturn, the Dreamcast saw longer support in its native Japan, with March 2004’s puzzle party game Puyo Puyo Fever closing out the generation for good. By December 2001, Sega began developing games for its former competitors, signaling a significant shift to focus on software development rather than hardware, releasing both Sonic Advance for the Game Boy Advance and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle for the GameCube that month.

Xbox

Though Microsoft’s first foray into the home console industry was off to a shaky start with a hilariously oversized controller and weak launch library, it eventually outsold the GameCube. That said, the console also stands as the shortest generation to date from Microsoft, with the company rushing out its successor, the Xbox 360, almost exactly four years after the original Xbox’s November 2001 launch. That means games initially intended for the Xbox were reconfigured as 360 titles, sometimes late in development, to bolster the next console’s launch library.

2004 saw the strongest first-party games released for the original Xbox, including Halo 2, Fable, and Ninja Gaiden Black before Microsoft shifted its priorities. The majority of games released for the original Xbox after 2005 were multiplatform sports titles, with only three games released for the console in the entirety of 2007 and only Madden NFL 09 released for it in 2008. The original Xbox was, comparatively, a flash in the pan, with Microsoft quickly looking ahead to the future.

GameCube

The GameCube era was a dark one for Nintendo as the company slid behind Sony and Microsoft in the home console industry in terms of units shipped. This decline, coupled with difficulties in developing games for hardware, meant the console saw dwindling third-party support. As Nintendo readied to launch the motion sensor-oriented Wii in the 2006 holiday season, it repurposed games originally planned for the GameCube for its successor instead.

One highlight in the GameCube’s closing window was Resident Evil 4, released at the beginning of 2005 as a GameCube-exclusive before Capcom decided to port it to the PlayStation 2 by the year’s end. A handful of movie tie-in games, like Ratatouille and TMNT, along with the usual multiplatform sports games, filled the gap. As the Wii quickly gained momentum following its breathtakingly successful launch, Nintendo quietly pulled the plug on the GameCube by 2007. However, one major highlight was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a fan favorite developed as GameCube’s swan song in 2006… before being delayed so it could simultaneously release as a launch title on the Wii.

PlayStation 2

Still the best-selling home console of all time, the PlayStation 2 significantly outsold its immediate competition and helped push Sega out of the hardware console industry for good. This success was also in small part due to the console featuring a built-in DVD drive and being priced competitively compared to other DVD players on the market at the time. Like its predecessor, the PS2 had an especially long lifespan, one that endured through the eventual launch of the PlayStation 4.

Leading up to the PS3 launch in late 2006, the PS2 saw the release of some of its most acclaimed games, including its port of Resident Evil 4, Shadow of the Colossus, Gran Turismo 4, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Guitar Hero, Ōkami, Devil May Cry 3, and Final Fantasy XII. The last game ever released for the PS2 was Pro Evolution Soccer 2014, released in 2013. Sony ended post-release support for the PS2 in Japan in 2018, closing out its most successful era to date.

Wii

After losing industry dominance in its previous two generations, Nintendo catapulted itself back on top with the Wii, which replaced the GameCube as its main home console in late 2006. With its intuitive motion controls and a robust library of games, many of the most acclaimed being console exclusives, the Wii became Nintendo’s bestselling console at the time. By 2013, one year after the launch of the Wii U, Nintendo began ceasing production on new Wii consoles and cutting back online services, with the last major services discontinued in 2019.

The Wii’s last real banner year was 2011, which saw the release of Kirby’s Return to Dream Land and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, the latter of which being the last major console exclusive. That said, Nintendo was really focused on launching its last handheld console, the Nintendo 3DS, that year and preparing for the Wii U. Amusingly, the Wii kept receiving third-party support and new installments of Just Dance from Ubisoft until 2019.

Xbox 360

The most successful Xbox console to date is Microsoft’s sophomore effort, the Xbox 360, which launched a full year ahead of its generational counterparts in 2005. Though outsold by the Wii, the 360 closed the gap between Microsoft and Sony—even as it was also ultimately outsold by the PS3. What the 360 revolutionized was a digital marketplace for games, allowing players to purchase and download titles straight to their consoles, a feature that became an industry standard.

In the years and months leading up to the launch of the Xbox One, the 360 saw its firmware updated to match Microsoft’s other user interfaces while the console began incorporating its own motion sensor gameplay. Branded the Kinect, the peripheral was launched in 2010 to lukewarm response for many of its titles. Though Microsoft continued to support the 360’s online capabilities until 2024, the last two major games for the console were 2012’s Halo 4 and 2013’s Gears of War: Judgment.

PlayStation 3

The PlayStation 3 stumbled at its 2006 launch with its significantly higher price point than the competition and complex hardware architecture, making development for the console particularly difficult. Though price cuts and cheaper models of the PS3 improved its standing, it never got close to catching up with Nintendo’s highly successful Wii. As a result, Sony ended its support for the PS3 faster than it had the PS2 or PS1, shifting its focus to the PlayStation 4.

Despite Sony quickly reprioritizing itself for the PS4’s 2013 launch, the PS3 saw some of its most iconic titles released in its final years. The Last of Us, Journey, and multiplatform titles like Mass Effect 3 and Grand Theft Auto V closed out the PS3 era. By 2017 Sony ceased hardware production on the PS3 and, while planning to close the PlayStation Store for the platform in 2021, fan outcry led Sony to reverse this decision, leaving online support running.

Trump Slams Big Pharma Over $1,300 'Fat Shot': Says Americans Are Getting Ripped Off

 

President Donald Trump exposed another example of how Americans are being ripped off by Big Pharma, recalling how a wealthy, "neurotic" friend received a discounted weight-loss injection—what he called a “fat shot”—while traveling overseas. According to Trump, the incident pushed a top drug company executive into admitting that Americans are being outrageously overcharged for medications that cost far less abroad.

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On Monday, Trump recounted a story from an unnamed friend who received a weight-loss injection while abroad for just $88—a sharp contrast to the $1,300 price tag the same shot would carry in the United States.

“A friend of mine who’s a businessman, very, very, very top guy, most of you would have heard of him, a highly neurotic, brilliant businessman, seriously overweight, and he takes the fat shot,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

“And he called me up … he’s a rough guy, smart guy, very successful, very rich … ‘Mr. President, could I ask you a question? I’m in London, and I just paid for this damn fat drug I take,’” Trump continued. 

Trump jokingly told his friend, “It’s not working,” before pointing out that pharmaceutical companies have been exploiting American consumers.

“He said, ‘I just paid $88, and in New York, I pay $1,300. What the hell is going on?’ He said, ‘So I checked, and it’s the same box made in the same plant by the same company. It’s the identical pill that I buy in New York. And here I’m paying $88 in London, and New York, I’m paying $1,300,” Trump said. 

The president said that during a discussion with a drug company representative, the two debated the high cost of medications in the U.S. compared to abroad. After only about 30 minutes, the representative admitted they couldn't justify the price difference and conceded the point. 

“[Pharmaceutical companies] been justifying this crap for years,” the president added. 

Trump said that drug companies claimed high prices were due to research and development costs, but he argued that other countries should share those costs too, since they benefit from the medications as well.

This comes as Trump announced an Executive Order on Monday that will require federal programs such as Medicare and Medicaid to pay the same rates as other developed countries.

Why Did China Ignore Previous Trade Obligations? Bessent Reveals What the Chinese Delegation Told Him.

 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that near the end of President Trump’s first term, there was an “excellent” trade agreement in place with China but once President Biden took office, Beijing simply ignored it.

“In January 2020, President Trump produced a template—we had an excellent trade agreement with China—and the Biden administration chose not to enforce it," Bessent said during a news conference. "The Chinese delegation basically told us that once President Biden came into office, they just ignored their obligation, so we already have a large framework."

On Jan. 15, 2020, the U.S. and China signed an enforceable Phase One trade deal that required “structural reforms and other changes to China’s economic and trade regime.”

"Today, we take a momentous step — one that has never been taken before with China — toward a future of fair and reciprocal trade, as we sign phase one of the historic trade deal between the United States and China," Trump said at the time. "Together, we are righting the wrongs of the past and delivering a future of economic justice and security for American workers, farmers, and families."

On Monday, the U.S. and China reached an agreement to significantly roll back tariffs for an initial 90-day period. 

Following a weekend of marathon trade negotiations in Switzerland, the U.S. agreed to slash its overall tariffs on Chinese goods to 30 percent while Beijing lowered its tariffs on American imports to 10 percent. 

“We concluded that we have a shared interest,” Bessent said. “The consensus from both delegations is that neither side wanted a decoupling.”

 

Trump Deserves Nobel Prize As World's Champion Peacemaker

 

Four Presidents of the United States were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, most recently Barack Obama in 2009. He won for “his efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation.”

Incredibly, Barack Obama was nominated for the award just a few days after his inauguration and before he attained any significant achievements. He was given the award for promising what he would achieve as President.

Unfortunately, Obama did not fulfill the lofty expectations of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. When he left office in 2017, the world was more dangerous than at the start of his presidency.

During Obama’s tenure, the war in Afghanistan continued, ISIS terrorists became empowered, and Libya transformed into a violent hellhole, as demonstrated by the Benghazi attack.

The promise of the “Arab Spring” culminated in more bloodshed and tyrannical regimes taking power. During Obama’s second term, Russia invaded Crimea, and North Korea became the biggest threat to humanity.

Upon taking office, Obama warned newly elected President Donald Trump about the dangers North Korea presented to the world. Unlike Obama, who refused to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, Trump met with “Little Rocket Man” three times. These summits helped lessen tensions and improve relations between the two countries.

In this first term as President, Trump also brokered the historic Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic relations between Israel and four Arab nations:  the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. He also negotiated a historic economic agreement between Serbia and Kosovo, two countries on the verge of war.

In Trump’s first term in office, the United States did not begin wars. He destroyed ISIS and ended their caliphate dreams. Trump placed economic sanctions on Iran, the world’s primary terrorist benefactor. Consequently, terror organizations like Hamas were prevented from launching significant strikes due to limited funding.

In addition, Trump began removing all American military forces from Afghanistan. He would have completed the withdrawal with dignity and honor, but instead, President Joe Biden directed a disastrous operation that resulted in the death of thirteen American military service members. At the end of the chaotic departure of our forces from Afghanistan, the Taliban, radical jihadists, controlled our massive Bagram Airfield and billions of dollars in our military equipment.

Despite Trump’s impressive achievements and several nominations, he did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Sadly, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has a strong leftwing bias. For example, President Ronald Reagan was not given the award despite his historic accomplishments.

Reagan secured massive arms control deals with the Soviet Union, reducing real fears of nuclear war. Eventually, his massive investments in our military forces bankrupted the Soviet Union, which was unable to compete economically and eventually collapsed.

Thus, “without firing a shot,” Reagan ended the “Evil Empire” and freed millions of people in Eastern Europe from the clutches of communism. It was Reagan’s policies that brought down the “Iron Curtain” and the Berlin Wall, fulfilling the famous demand he made in his 1987 speech at the Brandenburg Gate.

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Instead of honoring Reagan for advancing world peace, the Norwegian Nobel Committee gave the prize to the final communist dictator of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev.

Gorbachev is not the only communist to be given the award, as North Vietnam’s Le Duc Tho, a “revolutionist” and member of the party’s politburo, was also honored. In 1994, in one of the committee’s most controversial decisions, Palestinian terrorist Yasser Arafat was given the Nobel Peace Prize.

The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureates will be announced on October 10. This year, 338 nominations have been received. Surely, one of the nominees is President Trump, once more. If Trump is overlooked again, it will be another outrage that will only diminish the prestige of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Upon taking office on January 20, 2025, President Trump inherited a world with multiple wars raging. The war in Ukraine started during the last administration, but President Trump is trying to end it with a serious diplomatic effort involving both the Ukrainian and Russian governments. Before President Trump, there was no serious diplomatic attempt to end the war in Ukraine. He deserves credit for at least starting the negotiations. 

During the last administration, Hamas invaded Israel, starting the war in Gaza. Trump’s serious diplomatic efforts have included both sides and have resulted in the release of hostages and the hope that all held in captivity will be home soon. 

The Trump administration has also held hopeful talks with Iranian government officials. Due to President Trump’s strong military response, the Houthi rebels in Yemen have pledged to end their missile strikes on shipping. In response, President Trump has committed to ending our military campaign in Yemen.

The President’s latest achievement occurred on Saturday morning when he announced, “India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE.” Thereafter, he promised to “increase trade, substantially” with both countries.

The announcement followed intense diplomacy involving leaders from both countries, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance. Rubio posted on X.com that both India and Pakistan agreed to “start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site.”

The latest episode in this longstanding conflict started on April 22 when twenty-six civilians were killed in the Indian regions of Jammu and Kashmir. India claimed that Hindus were targeted by Pakistan, which denied involvement. Afterwards, “small arms fire” attacks were launched by both sides across the border, and India struck nine “terrorist” sites that Pakistan claimed “hit civilian areas and killed numerous children.” 

If this ceasefire holds, it will be a monumental triumph for a President tirelessly working to end multiple wars simultaneously. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appreciates Trump’s efforts. He posted on X.com, “We thank President Trump for his leadership and proactive role for peace in the region.”

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Clearly, there is one champion peacemaker in the world, Donald Trump—it's time for the Norwegian Nobel Committee to acknowledge reality.

The Trump-Iran Deal, Explained

 

Just recently, the Houthis, that is the terrorist organization that controls half of Yemen and has been hit hard by the United States for its interruption of maritime commerce in the Red Sea and its serial attacks on Israel, has been—I guess you would say—neutered.

Its port facilities, its airport, a lot of its missile depots, its command and control have all been neutralized. But yet, here they are with a vestigial force. They just sent a missile, not just into Israel, but into Israel’s international Ben Gurion Airport. It almost hit one of the terminals. Didn’t kill anybody. But it made a huge crater right on the periphery of the airport grounds. And for some reason it was not intercepted by Israel’s tripartite missile defense system.

Let me add another incident. Just recently, almost at the same time, four more terrorists were arrested in the United Kingdom for organizing Iranian-inspired terror against citizens of Britain. And of course, we remember that Iran was involved in an effort to assassinate President Donald Trump.

What am I getting at is, we’re right in the middle of negotiations with Iran. Donald Trump feels that they are historically vulnerable. The Assad regime, their lifeline to the Arab world, is gone. Kaput. Vanished. They can’t use the Damascus airport to airlift weapons for Hezbollah. Hezbollah has been reduced dramatically in its effectiveness. Hamas is—I don’t know what you’d call Hamas. It’s living underground among the rubble of Gaza. And then, of course, the Houthis, as I mentioned, have been attacked.

Israel has demonstrated that it can penetrate, at will, the supposedly formidable air defenses of Iran. The United States, in addition, is building up its strategic bombing force—in Diego Garcia and in areas that can reach Iran—with the capability of dropping these 20,000 to 30,000-pound bunker busters. We have two carriers that will soon be assembled near there.

What am I getting at again? The pressure is all on Iran. Militarily. Diplomatically. Economically. Socially. Culturally. What do I mean by that? Culturally, there is about 30% to 40% of the country are non-Farsi Persian speakers. And they’re very restive, angry. Power outages. The regime is unpopular. It’s diverted billions of dollars to these terrorist appendages that now didn’t pay off, that they’re defunct.

And so, Donald Trump thinks that he, with this maximum pressure, putting this crushing oil embargo—which by the way, former President Joe Biden lifted—that he can bring them to negotiations one last time. Personally, I don’t think he can. Nothing that that regime has ever said is accurate. Nobody in the MAGA movement wants an optional war in the Middle East. But they will have nuclear weapons, perhaps in a year.

So, what is the likely scenario? The likely scenario is they will lose face if they negotiate away their nuclear weapons. That is the only lever they have over Western powers now that their terrorist children are all gone. So, I don’t think they’re gonna make a deal. They’re gonna delay, delay, delay; lie, lie, lie; use the Houthis.

And they are playing with fire because once Donald Trump gives them an opportunity for a peaceful way out of their dilemma—that is they can negotiate an end to their nuclear program. They don’t need nuclear power. They have the fourth-largest fossil fuel reserves in the world. They have enough energy for themselves and for export for an endless amount of time. And yet they still are working on this nuclear project, not for peaceful energy generation, but to have a nuclear deterrent.

And so, what we should look for in the next few months is that an exasperated Trump administration will finally throw up its hands and say, “You can’t deal with these people, but they’re not gonna get a nuclear weapon.”

At that point, one of two things will happen—I should say one of three things. Israel will hit back because of the Houthis’ attack on its airport. And that could come sooner or later. Or the United States will intervene. I don’t think it’ll intervene on its own. Or there’ll be a joint Israeli-American operation.

But by the end of the year, I don’t think Iran will have a nuclear deterrent. And then we’re gonna be watching a mystery unfold.

If it should be hit, and if it should lose its nuclear potential, what will be the reaction of the Iranian people? Will they be angry that their national sovereignty has been attacked? Or will they be delighted that this 50-year hated regime is now gone and they don’t have to spend money on these Arab terrorist groups that have brought them no profit?

That’ll be something to see. And I think we’ll see it at the end of the year.