Editing History of video games (section)

===Transition to optical media===
By end of the 1980s, console games were distributed on ROM cartridges, while PC games shipped on [[floppy disk]]s, formats that had limitations in storage capacity. [[Optical media]], and specifically the [[CD-ROM]], had been first introduced in the mid-1980s for music distribution and by the early 1990s, both the media and CD drives had become inexpensive to be incorporated into consumer computing devices, including for both home consoles and computers.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1992/06/29/76592/index.htm | title = CD-ROM: The Next PC Revolution | first = Mark | last = Alpert | date = June 29, 1992 | access-date = March 11, 2021 | work = [[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]] }}</ref> Besides offering more capacity for gameplay content, optical media made it possible to include long video segments into games, such as [[full motion video]], or animated or pre-rendered [[cutscene]]s, allowing for more narrative elements to be added to games.<ref name="Wolf 2007 chp22"/>

Prior to the 1990s, some arcade games explored the use of [[laserdisc]]s, the most notable being ''[[Dragon's Lair (1983 video game)|Dragon's Lair]]'' in 1983. These games are considered as [[interactive movies]] and used [[full motion video]] from the laserdisc, prompting the player to respond via controls at the right time to continue the game.<ref name="Wolf 2007 chp22">{{cite book |last=Therrien |first=Carl |editor-last=Wolf |editor-first=Mark |date=2007 |title=The Video Game Explosion |location=Westport, CT |publisher=Greenwood Press |pages=121–126 |chapter=Chapter 22: CD-ROM Games|isbn=978-0313338687}}</ref><ref name="Wolf 2007 chp23">{{cite book |last=Perron |first=Bernard |editor-last=Therrien |editor-first=Mark |date=2007 |title=The Video Game Explosion |location=Westport, CT |publisher=Greenwood Press |pages=127–134 |chapter=Chapter 23: Interactive Movies|isbn=978-0313338687}}</ref> While these games were popular in the early 1980s, the prohibitive cost of laserdisc technology at the time limited their success. When optical media technology matured and dropped in price by the 1990s, new laserdisc arcade games emerged, such as ''[[Mad Dog McCree]]'' in 1990.<ref name="Wolf 2007 chp22"/> [[Pioneer Corporation]] released the [[LaserActive]] game console in 1993 that used only laserdiscs, with expansion add-ons to play games from the Sega Genesis and NEC TurboGrafx-16 library, but with a base console price of {{USD|1000|long=no}} and add-ons at {{USD|600|long=no}}, the console did not perform well.<ref>{{cite magazine | url = https://www.wired.com/2009/09/laseractive/ | title = LaserActive, Gaming's Greatest Boondoggle  |first= Chris | last = Kohler | date = September 18, 2009 |access-date= March 15, 2021 | magazine = [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] }}</ref>

For consoles, optical media were cheaper to produce than ROM cartridges, and batches of CD-ROMs could be produced in a week while cartridges could take two to three months to assemble, in addition to the larger capacity.<ref name="rp japanese industry">{{cite journal | title = Hardware gimmick or cultural innovation? Technological, cultural, and social foundations of the Japanese video game industry | first1 = Yuko | last1 = Aoyama | first2= Hiro  |last2= Izushi | journal = [[Research Policy]] | volume = 32 | issue =3 | date = 2003 | pages = 423–444 |  doi = 10.1016/S0048-7333(02)00016-1 }}</ref> Add-ons were made for the 16-bit consoles to use CD media, including the PC Engine and the Mega Drive. Other manufacturers made consoles with dual-media, such as NEC's [[TurboDuo]]. [[Philips]] launched the [[CD-i]] in 1990, a console using only optical media, but the unit had limited gaming capabilities and had a limited game library.<ref>{{cite web|author=Cowan, Danny|date=April 25, 2006|title=CDi: The Ugly Duckling|url=http://www.1up.com/features/15-years-cd-i?pager.offset=1|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104035709/http://www.1up.com/features/15-years-cd-i?pager.offset=1|archive-date=November 4, 2012|access-date=March 8, 2012|work=[[1UP.com]]}}</ref> Nintendo had similarly worked with Sony to develop a CD-based [[SNES]], known as the [[Super NES CD-ROM]], but this deal fell through just prior to its public announcement, and as a result, Sony went on to develop to the PlayStation console released in 1994, that exclusively used optical media.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-02-13-ultra-rare-nintendo-playstation-prototype-up-for-auction | title = Ultra-rare Nintendo PlayStation prototype up for auction | first=  Tom | last =Philips | date = February 13, 2020 | access-date = February 13, 2020 | work = [[Eurogamer]] }}</ref> Sony was able to capitalize on how the Japanese market handled game sales in Japan for the PlayStation, by producing only limited numbers of any new CD-ROM game with the ability to rapidly produce new copies of a game should it prove successful, a factor that could not easily be realized with ROM cartridges where due to how fast consumers' tastes changed, required nearly all cartridges expected to sell to be produced upfront. This helped Sony overtake Nintendo and Sega in the 1990s.<ref>{{cite conference | last1 = Tomaselli | first1 = Fernando Claro | first2= Luiz Carlos | last2= Di Serio | first3 = Luciel Henrique | last3= de Oliveira | title = Value chain management and competitive strategy in the home video game industry | conference= 19th Annual Conference POMS | date= 2008 }}</ref> A key PlayStation game that adapted to the CD format was ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'', released in 1997; Square's developers wanted to transition the series from the series' 2D presentation to using 3D models, and though the series had been exclusive to Nintendo consoles previously, Square determined it would be impractical to use cartridges for distribution while the PlayStation's CD-ROM gave them the space for all the desired content including pre-rendered cutscenes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.polygon.com/a/final-fantasy-7 |title=Final Fantasy 7: An oral history |last=Leone |first=Matt |work=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]] |publisher=[[Vox Media]] |date=January 9, 2017 |access-date=January 11, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109201832/http://www.polygon.com/a/final-fantasy-7 |archive-date=January 9, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''Final Fantasy VII'' became a key game, as it expanded the idea of console role-playing games to console game consumers.<ref name="Wolf 2007 chp22"/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2006-08-29-dirge-of-cerberus_x.htm |title='Dirge of Cerberus' defies expectations, for better and worse |first=Alex |last=Kraus |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=August 30, 2006 |access-date=August 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629090116/http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2006-08-29-dirge-of-cerberus_x.htm |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Since the PlayStation, all home gaming consoles have relied on optical media for physical game distribution, outside the Nintendo 64 and Switch.<ref name="rp japanese industry"/>

On the PC side, CD drives were initially available as peripherals for computers before becoming standard components within PCs. CD-ROM technology had been available as early as 1989, with [[Cyan Worlds]]' ''[[The Manhole]]'' being one of the first games distributed on the medium.<ref name="Wolf 2007 chp22"/> While CD-ROMs served as a better means to distribute larger games, the medium caught on with the 1993 releases of Cyan's ''[[Myst]]'' and [[Trilobyte (company)|Trilobyte]]'s ''[[The 7th Guest]]'', adventure games that incorporated full motion video segments among fixed pre-rendered scenes, incorporating the CD-ROM medium into the game itself. Both games were considered killer apps to help standardize the CD-ROM format for PCs.<ref>{{cite web|author=Parrish, Jeremy |url=http://www.1up.com/features/essential-50-myst |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604014208/http://www.1up.com/features/essential-50-myst |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |title=When SCUMM Ruled the Earth |website=[[1UP.com]] |access-date=May 2, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=August 1, 2000|url=http://pc.ign.com/articles/082/082913p1.html|title=PC Retroview: Myst|website=IGN|access-date=April 21, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120054557/http://pc.ign.com/articles/082/082913p1.html|archive-date=January 20, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>