Video game console
A
video game console is a dedicated
electronic device designed to play
video games. Often the
output device is a separate
television. Once,
video game consoles were easily distinguishable from
personal
computers: consoles used a standard
television for
display, and did not support standard PC accessories such as keyboards or
modems. However, as consoles have become more powerful, the distinction has
blurred: some consoles can have full
Linux operating systems
running with hard drives and keyboards, and Microsoft's Xbox is basically a
stripped down PC running a version of
Microsoft
Windows.
The console market has steadily developed from simple one-off games (Pong) to fully
featured general purpose games systems.
Older game consoles and their software now live on in emulators as they are no
longer supported by their manufacturers; however, console makers try to prevent
legitimate console and software buyers from playing games on emulators, using a
special mask work copyright and
a special copyright on encrypted media created by the United States' Digital
Millennium Copyright Act and foreign counterparts, especially for the newer
game consoles. The emulation of ancient video game consoles, such as the NES
and SNES
have gradually settled down.
Note that the "bit" names of generations were in large part created by the
console makers' marketing departments and may have little to do with the actual
architecture of the systems.
See Also: Nintendo, SEGA, Sony, Microsoft, Atari
| Table of contents |
1
List of game consoles
1.1
Future systems
1.2
Sixth generation
1.3
Fifth generation
1.4
Fourth generation
1.5 Third "8-bit" generation
1.6 Second "8-bit" generation
1.7 First generation of "8-bit" programmable
systems
1.8
Dedicated (non-programmable) video game consoles
1.9
The First commercial home video game ever
1.10
Consoles that never made it
|
List of game consoles
This includes stand-alone game consoles, see also hand held consoles for
portable devices with integrated displays.
Future systems
- Sony PlayStation 3
(Sony has plans to release such a system around 2005)
- Nintendo GameCube 2 (Nintendo
plans to release such a system around 2005. The official name may or may not
be 'GameCube 2'.)
- Microsoft Xbox 2 (Microsoft has plans to release such a gaming system in
the future. Xbox 2 is not the official name for it; it has been rumored that
the name will be Xbox Next)
Sixth generation
Fifth generation
Fourth generation
Third "8-bit" generation
Second "8-bit" generation
This generation was followed by a collapse in the video game market in North
America (1984).
First generation of "8-bit" programmable systems
Dedicated (non-programmable) video game consoles
Consoles of this era were often inaccurately called "analog" but actually
used discrete logic.
- Several Odyssey consoles
- Several Pong consoles
The First commercial home video game ever
The Odyssey - discrete logic
Consoles that never made it
