Video game console

A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or electronic device that manipulates the video display signal of a display device (a television, monitor, etc.) to display a game. The term video game console is used to distinguish a machine designed for consumers to buy and use solely for playing video games from a personal computer, which has many other functions, or arcade games, which are designed for businesses that buy and then charge others to play.

Use of the term

The "video" in "video game console" traditionally refers to a raster display device^[1]. However, with the popular use of the term "video game" the term now implies all display types and formats. The term "console" is used in the user manuals of several early video game systems. Its use, however, is not synonymous with "video game system" or the same as its modern usage. It refers to a specific part of the video game system. The Atari 2600, NES, and other consoles from those decades were called "video game systems" at the time.^[2][3]

The first company to use the term "console" to officially refer to its video game system was Fairchild with the Video Entertainment System (VES) in 1976.^[4]

History

Further information: History of computer and video games

First generation

Main article: History of video game consoles (first generation)

Although the first computer games appeared in the 50s[2] it was not until 1972 that Magnavox released the first home video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey. The Odyssey was initially only moderately successful, and it was not until Atari's arcade game PONG popularized video games, that the public began to take more notice of the emerging industry. By 1975 Magnavox, bowing to the popularity of PONG, cancelled the Odyssey and released a scaled down console that only played PONG - the Odyssey 100. Almost simultaneously released with Atari's own home PONG console through Sears, these consoles jump started the consumer market. As with the arcade market, the home market was soon flooded by dedicated consoles that played simple pong and pong derived games.

Second generation

Main article: History of video game consoles (second generation)

Fairchild released the Fairchild Video Entertainment System (VES) in 1976. While there had been previous game consoles that used cartridges, either the cartridges had no information and served the same function as flipping switches (the Odyssey) or the console itself was empty and the cartridge contained all of the game components. The VES, however, contained a programmable microprocessor so its cartridges only needed a single ROM chip to store microprocessor instructions.

RCA and Atari soon released their own cartridge-based consoles.

Video game crash of 1977

In 1977, manufacturers of older obsolete consoles sold their systems at a loss to clear stock, creating a glut in the market and causing Fairchild and RCA to abandon their game consoles. Only Atari and Magnavox stayed in the home console market.

Rebirth of the home console market

The VCS continued to be sold at a profit after the 1977 crash, and both Bally (with their Home Library Computer in 1977) and Magnavox (with the Odyssey 2 in 1978) brought their own programmable cartridge-based consoles to the market. However it wasn't until Atari released a conversion of the arcade hit Space Invaders in 1980 that the home console industry was completely revived. Many consumers bought an Atari just for Space Invaders. Space Invaders' unprecedented success started the trend of console manufacturers trying to get exclusive rights to arcade titles, and the trend of advertisements for game consoles claiming to bring the arcade experience home.

Throughout the early 1980s, other companies released video game consoles of their own. Many of the video game systems were technically superior to the Atari 2600, and marketed as improvements over the Atari 2600. However, Atari dominated the console market throughout the early 1980s.

Video game crash of 1983

Main article: Video game crash of 1983

In 1983, the video game business suffered a much more severe crash. A flood of consoles, glut of low quality video games by smaller companies (especially for the 2600), industry leader Atari hyping games such as E.T. that were poorly received, and a growing number of home computer users caused consumers and retailers to lose faith and interest in video game consoles. Most video game companies filed for bankruptcy, or moved into other industries, abandoning their game consoles. Mattel Electronics sold the rights of their Intellivision system to the INTV Corporation, who continued to produce Intellivision consoles and develop new games for the Intellivision until 1991. All other North American game consoles were discontinued by 1984.

Third generation

Main article: History of video game consoles (third generation)

In 1983, Nintendo released the Famicom in Japan. It supported high-resolution, full color, tiled backgrounds, and high-resolution sprites. This allowed Famicom games to be longer and have more detailed graphics. Nintendo brought their Famicom over to the US in the form of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985. In the US, video games were seen as a fad that had already passed. To distinguish its product from older video game consoles, Nintendo used a front-loading cartridge port similar to a VCR on the NES, packaged the NES with a plastic "robot" (R.O.B.) and a light gun (the Zapper), and originally advertised it as a toy.

Nintendo also built a lockout chip into the NES. This kept third parties from producing their own cartridges and forced all developers to go through Nintendo to get NES games published. This allowed Nintendo to do things like prevent developers from releasing low-quality games and limit developers to five titles a year.

Like Space Invaders for the 2600, Nintendo found its breakout hit game in Super Mario Brothers. Nintendo's success revived the video game industry and new consoles were soon introduced in the following years to compete with the NES.

Fourth generation

Main article: History of video game consoles (fourth generation)

Sega's Master System was intended to compete with the NES, but never gained any significant market share in the US and was barely profitable. It fared notably better in PAL territories, especially Brazil. Sega regained market share by releasing their next-generation console, the Sega Mega Drive, which was released in Japan on October 29, 1988, in the US in August 1989 (renamed as the Sega Genesis) and in Europe in 1990, two years before Nintendo could release the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).

Fifth generation

Main article: History of video game consoles (fifth generation)

The first fifth generation consoles were the Atari Jaguar and the 3DO. Both of these systems were much more powerful than the SNES or Genesis (known as Mega Drive outside the U.S.); they were better at rendering polygons, could display more onscreen colors, and the 3DO used CDs that contained far more information than cartridges and were cheaper to produce. Neither of these consoles were serious threats to Sega or Nintendo, though. The 3DO cost more than the SNES and Genesis combined, and the Jaguar was extremely difficult to program for, leading to a lack of games that used its extra power. The 3DO was eventually discontinued.

Nintendo released games like Donkey Kong Country that could display a wide range of tones (something common in fifth generation games) by limiting the number of hues onscreen, and games like Star Fox that used an extra chip inside of the cartridge to display polygon graphics. Sega followed suit, releasing Vectorman and Virtua Racing (the latter of which used the Sega Virtua Processor.)

It was not until Sony's PlayStation, Sega's Saturn, and the Nintendo 64 were released that fifth generation consoles started to become popular. The Saturn and PlayStation used CDs to store games, while the N64 still used cartridges. All three cost far less than the 3DO, and were easier to program than the Jaguar. The Saturn also had 2D sprite handling power on par with the Neo-Geo.

The consoles of the Fifth generation

• Atari's 64-bit Jaguar was released to combat the dominance that Nintendo and Sega were fighting for. Atari's hope was that by designing a more powerful console, they would be able to leapfrog all of the released systems of the day and give gamers a technologically superior system. The Jaguar eventually faded away due to a number of reasons. For example, it was difficult to program for the Jaguar, thus making it too problematic to have good third party support. Another of the Jaguar's pitfalls was the dominance of the previously popular systems. In 1995, the releases of the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Saturn brought the end for the Jaguar. The failure of the Jaguar put Atari into a poor financial situation and forced it to reverse merge with JTS Inc., a short-lived maker of hard disk drives, to form JTS Corporation. The merger effectively ended the company, which existed as a small department for minor support of the Jaguar and the selling off of Atari's intellectual properties.
• The 3DO was released in North America in October 1993. It was released to much fanfare, but like the Jaguar, faded out of the market with little popularity. The system was technically superior to all the consoles released at the time, but due to the oversaturated market and the hefty US$699.95 price tag, the system did not adopt well into the market. One unique aspect of the 3DO is that the rights to manufacturing the console itself were licensed to different manufacturers by the 3DO company, which only produced the specifications. These companies, in turn, released their own different styles of the same console.
• Sony's PlayStation was released in Japan on December 3, 1994. The PlayStation was the eventual result of a breakdown of a business partnership plan between Sony and Nintendo to create a CD add-on for the SNES. Nintendo changed the deal and went to Philips. However, with the project nearing completion, Sony took what they had and marketed it off as a Sony-branded console. The PlayStation spawned a whole lineup of consoles from generation to generation and has earned Sony great respect as a video game company, becoming the first video game system to sell over 100 million consoles. Sony released a redesigned, smaller version of the PlayStation entitled the 'PSone' released July 7, 2000.
• The Sega Saturn was the first independent Sega system to use a CD-ROM based media standard and used a special dual chip processor. The difficulty to program for the two chips in parallel was a factor in the console's demise. The Saturn was a mild success, but was overshadowed by Sony's dominance of the market. The Saturn was discontinued in 1998 with the release of Sega's last console, the Sega Dreamcast.
• The Nintendo 64 was Nintendo's answer to the growing dominance of the PlayStation. It was a 64-bit console, the only one generally (wrongly, see Atari Jaguar) recognized in that class. Unlike the other companies' consoles of the generation, the N64 had continued to use ROM cartridges, which many saw as a hindrance to gameplay, as cartridges have much less memory space and are also more expensive than optical media. However, Nintendo's answer to this was that unlike CDs, cartridges cannot be damaged by a simple scratch to the surface, nor are load times much of an issue. However, it is also possible that Nintendo did this for fear of then growing software piracy issues facing other consoles, such as the PlayStation.

Sixth generation

Main article: History of video game consoles (sixth generation)

This generation saw a move towards PC-like architectures in gaming consoles, as well as a shift towards using DVDs for game media. This brought games that were both longer and more visually appealing. Furthermore, this generation also saw experimentation with online console gaming and implementing both flash and hard drive storage for game data.

• Sega's Dreamcast was Sega's last video game console, and was the first of the generation's consoles to be discontinued. Sega implemented a special type of optical media called the GD-ROM. These discs were created in order to prevent software piracy such as what had been more easily done with consoles of the previous generation; however, this format has now been cracked as well. The Dreamcast was discontinued in 2001, and Sega transitioned to software development only.
• Sony's PlayStation 2 was the follow-up to their highly successful PlayStation, and was also the first home game console to be able to play DVDs. As was done with the original PlayStation in 2000, Sony redesigned the console in 2004 into a smaller version. To date, the PlayStation 2 has sold over 100 million consoles.
• Nintendo's GameCube was Nintendo's fourth home video game console and the first Nintendo console to use optical media instead of cartridges. The Gamecube could not play standard 12 cm DVDs, instead employing smaller 8 cm optical discs.
• Microsoft's Xbox was the company's first video game console. The first console to employ a hard drive right out of the box to save games, the Xbox blurred the line between PC and console gaming, as it had similar hardware specifications to a low-end desktop computer at the time of its release. Though criticized for its bulky size, which was easily twice that of the competition, as well as for the awkwardness of the original controller that shipped with it, it eventually gained popularity due in part to the success of the Halo franchise.

Seventh generation

Main article: History of video game consoles (seventh generation)

This generation is currently being introduced to the home market. It has marked the first generation of systems to use Blu-Ray discs as a gaming and movie playback standard. Nintendo, preferring not to utilize more expensive hardware and unproven formats, relies on DVD-9 format discs, a noticeable grade below the formats the PlayStation 3 uses.

• Microsoft's Xbox 360 was released on November 22, 2005. An HD-DVD drive is available as an accessory. The Xbox 360 was the first console with the ability to use wireless controllers out of the box. The Xbox Live service is the hallmark of the system, and the console can connect to the service via the Internet through a built-in ethernet port or a wireless accessory.
• Sony's PlayStation 3 was released in Japan November 11, 2006, in North America on November 17, 2006 and in Europe on March 23, 2007. All PlayStation 3s come with a hard drive (either 20GB for $499 or 60GB for $599) and are ready to play Blu-Ray video discs and games out of the box. Controllers connect to the console through Bluetooth (up to 7) and have tilt-sensing capabilities, but unlike previous PlayStation family consoles, have no rumble features.
• Nintendo's Wii was released in North America on November 19, 2006, and in Japan on December 2, 2006, Australia on December 7, 2006, and in Europe on December 8, 2006. It is bundled with Wii Sports in all regions except for Japan. Unlike the other two systems of the seventh generation, which prices range from $300 (Xbox 360 Core) to $500 (PS3 20GB), the Wii retails for approximately $250. Along with its low price point, the Wii is also renowned for some of the following aspects:
  • Features a completely redesigned controller which resembles a TV remote, which also adds both motion and tilt sensors to its design
  • Can play GameCube games as well as its own software through a slot-loading disc drive. To this end, it features ports for GameCube controllers and memory cards for backward compatibility.
  • The first Nintendo console to be fully backwards compatible with all previous Nintendo consoles (as well as select others). This is achieved by downloading individual titles from the Wii Shop Channel to the Wii's internal flash memory, another first for Nintendo. (For more on this, please see Virtual Console).

Bits

Each new generation of console hardware made use of the rapid development of processing technology, Newer machines could output a greater range of colors, more sprites, and introduced graphical technologies such as scaling, and vector graphics. One way this increase in processing power was conveyed to consumers was through the measurement of "bits". The TurboGrafx 16, Sega Genesis, and SNES were among the first consoles to advertise the fact that they contained 16-bit processors. This fourth generation of console hardware was often referred to as the 16-bit era, and the previous generation as the 8-bit.

The bit-value of a console referred to the word length of a console's processor (although the value was sometimes misused, for example the TurboGrafx 16 had only an 8-bit CPU, and the Genesis/Mega Drive had a 32-bit CPU, but both had a 16-bit dedicated graphics processor). As the graphical performance of console hardware is dependent on many factors, using bits was a crude way to gauge a console's overall ability, but served better to distinguish between generations.

Timeline

Note: This is an abridged timeline of video game consoles in North America.

<timeline> DateFormat=mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize= width:600 height:400 Period = from:01/01/1975 till:12/31/2011 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = justify PlotArea = width:90% height:90% left:0 bottom:30

Colors =

    id:console       value:rgb(0.9,0.3,0.3)
    id:consolealt    value:rgb(0.3,0.9,0.9)
    id:2ndgen        value:tan1
    id:8bit          value:coral
    id:16bit         value:skyblue
    id:32bit         value:drabgreen
    id:64bit         value:drabgreen
    id:6thgen        value:lightorange
    id:7thgen        value:lavender
    id:line          value:black
    id:liteline      value:rgb(0.3,0.3,0.3)
    id:bg            value:white
    id:projection    value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9)

PlotData=

    width:23 textcolor:black align:center
 bar:Atari from:01/01/1977      till:01/01/1990 color:2ndgen text:"Atari 2600"
 bar:Atari from:01/01/1993      till:06/30/1996 color:64bit text:"Jaguar"
 bar:Atari2 from:01/01/1982 till:01/01/1984 color:2ndgen text:"Atari 5200"
 bar:Atari2 from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1992 color:8bit text:"Atari 7800"
 bar:Nintendo1  from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1995 color:8bit text:"NES"
 bar:Nintendo2 from:08/01/1982 till:03/01/1984 color:2ndgen text:"Colecovision"
 bar:Nintendo2 from:08/01/1991 till:01/01/1999 color:16bit text:"Super NES"
 bar:NEC1 from:01/01/1978 till:01/01/1984 color:2ndgen text:"Magnavox Odyssey 2"
 bar:NEC1 from:08/01/1989  till:08/01/1992 color:16bit text: "TurboGrafx-16"
 bar:NEC2 from:01/01/1980  till:01/01/1991 color:2ndgen text:"Intellivision"
 bar:NEC2 from:10/10/1992  till:01/01/1995 color:16bit text: "TurboDuo"
 bar:Nintendo1 from:09/29/1996 till:08/01/2001 color:64bit text:"N64"
 bar:Nintendo2  from:10/18/2001 till:02/22/2007 color:6thgen text:"GameCube"
 bar:Nintendo1  from:11/23/2006 till:12/31/2010 color:projection text:"Wii (projection)"
 bar:SEGA1 from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1992 color:8bit text:"Master System"
 bar:SEGA2  from:01/09/1989 till:12/31/1995 color:16bit text:"Genesis"
 bar:SEGA1  from:05/01/1995 till:03/01/1998 color:32bit text:"Saturn"
 bar:SEGA2  from:09/09/1999 till:01/01/2001 color:6thgen text:"Dreamcast"
 bar:Sony1  from:09/09/1995 till:01/01/2002 color:32bit text:"PlayStation"
 bar:Sony2  from:10/26/2000 till:12/22/2006 color:6thgen text:"PS2"
 bar:Sony2  from:01/01/2006 till:07/01/2007 color:projection text:"(proj.)"
 bar:Sony3  from:11/17/2006 till:12/31/2010 color:projection text:"PS3 (proj.)"
 bar:MS  from:11/15/2001 till:01/01/2006 color:6thgen text:"Xbox"
 bar:MS  from:01/01/2005 till:03/01/2006 color:projection text:"(proj.)"
 bar:MS2  from:11/22/2005 till:12/31/2010 color:projection text:"Xbox 360 (proj.)"

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:4 start:01/01/1976 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:liteline unit:year increment:2 start:01/01/1978 </timeline>

Note: This is an abridged timeline of video game consoles in Japan.

<timeline> DateFormat=mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize= width:600 height:400 Period = from:01/01/1975 till:12/31/2011 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = justify PlotArea = width:90% height:90% left:0 bottom:30

Colors =

    id:console       value:rgb(0.9,0.3,0.3)
    id:consolealt    value:rgb(0.3,0.9,0.9)
    id:2ndgen        value:tan1
    id:8bit          value:coral
    id:16bit         value:skyblue
    id:32bit         value:drabgreen
    id:64bit         value:drabgreen
    id:6thgen        value:lightorange
    id:7thgen        value:lavender
    id:line          value:black
    id:liteline      value:rgb(0.3,0.3,0.3)
    id:bg            value:white
    id:projection    value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9)

PlotData=

    width:23 textcolor:black align:center
 bar:Nintendo1  from:07/15/1983 till:01/01/2003 color:8bit text:"Famicom(NES)"
 bar:Nintendo2 from:11/21/1990 till:09/01/2003 color:16bit text:"Super Famicom(Super NES)"
 bar:NEC1 from:10/30/1987  till:01/01/1999 color:16bit text: "PC Engine(TurboGrafx-16)"
 bar:NEC2 from:01/01/1994  till:01/01/1998 color:16bit text: "PC FX"
 bar:Nintendo3 from:07/01/1983 till:01/01/1985 color:2ndgen text: "SG-1000"
 bar:Nintendo3 from:06/23/1996 till:01/01/2002 color:64bit text:"N64"
 bar:Nintendo4  from:09/14/2001 till:02/22/2007 color:6thgen text:"GameCube"
 bar:Nintendo1  from:11/23/2006 till:12/31/2010 color:projection text:"Wii (projection)"
 bar:SEGA1 from:10/20/1985 till:02/04/1989 color:8bit text:"SG-1000_Mark_III(Master System)"
 bar:SEGA2  from:10/29/1988 till:12/31/1995 color:16bit text:"Mega Drive (Genesis)"
 bar:SEGA1  from:11/22/1994 till:01/01/1999 color:32bit text:"Saturn"
 bar:SEGA2  from:11/27/1998 till:03/07/2007 color:6thgen text:"Dreamcast"
 bar:Sony1  from:12/03/1994 till:01/01/2002 color:32bit text:"PlayStation"
 bar:Sony2  from:03/04/2000 till:01/05/2005 color:6thgen text:"PS2"
 bar:Sony2  from:01/05/2005 till:12/31/2006 color:projection text:"(proj.)"
 bar:Sony3  from:11/11/2006 till:12/31/2010 color:projection text:"PS3 (proj.)"
 bar:MS  from:02/22/2002 till:01/05/2005 color:6thgen text:"Xbox"
 bar:MS  from:01/05/2005 till:12/31/2006 color:projection text:"(proj.)"
 bar:MS2  from:11/22/2005 till:12/31/2010 color:projection text:"Xbox 360 (proj.)"

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:4 start:01/01/1976 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:liteline unit:year increment:2 start:01/01/1978 </timeline>

Note: This is an abridged timeline of video game consoles in Europe.

<timeline> DateFormat=mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize= width:600 height:400 Period = from:01/01/1975 till:12/31/2011 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal AlignBars = justify PlotArea = width:90% height:90% left:0 bottom:30

Colors =

    id:console       value:rgb(0.9,0.3,0.3)
    id:consolealt    value:rgb(0.3,0.9,0.9)
    id:2ndgen        value:tan1
    id:8bit          value:coral
    id:16bit         value:skyblue
    id:32bit         value:drabgreen
    id:64bit         value:drabgreen
    id:6thgen        value:lightorange
    id:7thgen        value:lavender
    id:line          value:black
    id:liteline      value:rgb(0.3,0.3,0.3)
    id:bg            value:white
    id:projection    value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9)

PlotData=

    width:23 textcolor:black align:center
 bar:Nintendo1 from:03/01/1997 till:11/16/2001 color:64bit text:"N64"
 bar:Nintendo1  from:11/23/2006 till:12/31/2010 color:projection text:"Wii (projection)"
 bar:Nintendo2 from:04/01/1992 till:01/01/1999 color:16bit text:"Super NES"
 bar:Nintendo2  from:05/03/2002 till:02/22/2007 color:6thgen text:"GameCube"
 bar:SEGA2  from:11/30/1990 till:12/31/1995 color:16bit text:"Genesis"
 bar:SEGA2  from:10/14/1999 till:01/01/2001 color:6thgen text:"Dreamcast"
 bar:Sony1  from:09/29/1995 till:01/01/2001 color:32bit text:"PlayStation"
 bar:Sony2  from:11/24/2000 till:12/22/2006 color:6thgen text:"PS2"
 bar:Sony2  from:01/05/2005 till:07/01/2007 color:projection text:"(proj.)"
 bar:Sony3  from:11/17/2006 till:12/31/2010 color:projection text:"PS3 (proj.)"
 bar:MS  from:04/26/2002 till:01/05/2005 color:6thgen text:"Xbox"
 bar:MS  from:01/05/2005 till:12/31/2006 color:projection text:"(proj.)"
 bar:MS2  from:11/22/2005 till:12/31/2010 color:projection text:"Xbox 360 (proj.)"

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:4 start:01/01/1976 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:liteline unit:year increment:2 start:01/01/1978 </timeline>

Note some consoles are omitted from the timelines due to a lack of known dates; see the list of video game consoles.

Media

Cartridges

Game cartridges consist of a printed circuit board housed inside of a plastic casing with a connector allowing the device to interface with the console. This board carries ROM chips storing the software in question. Some cartridges carried components that boosted the original console's power, such as extra RAM or a coprocessor. Cartridges were the first external media to be used with home consoles and remained the most common until the mid nineties due to continued improvements in capacity. Nevertheless, the relatively high manufacturing costs saw them completely replaced by optical media for home consoles by the early 21st century. They are still in use in some handheld video game consoles. Due to the aforementioned capabilities of cartridges such as more memory and coprocessors, those factors make it harder to reverse engineer consoles to be used on emulators.

Cards

The Sega Master System and the TurboGrafx-16 could play games stored on smaller cards. The cards were cheaper to produce, but held less information than cartridges. Due to advances in memory technology in the early 21st century, the Nintendo DS system uses "game cards" which are of a larger capacity than mid-1990s cartridges, and are significantly cheaper to make.

Magnetic media

Magnetic tapes were popular on early computer systems, but seldom used on consoles. At the time they could hold more information than cartridges, particularly if games were stored on multiple tapes, the media could be written to, and could be manufactured more cheaply than cartridges. These were rendered obsolete by magnetic disks in the same applications, which behaved similarly while having a larger capacity, faster reading speed, and greater robustness. These in turn were rendered obsolete by optical media.

Optical media

In the mid-1990s, various manufacturers shifted to optical media, specifically CD-ROM, for games. Although slower than the cartridges available at that time, they were significantly cheaper to manufacture and had a larger capacity than the existing cartridge technology. By the early 21st century, all of the major home consoles used optical media, usually DVD-ROM or similar disks, which are widely replacing CD-ROM for data storage. The PlayStation 3 system uses even higher-capacity Blu-ray optical discs.

Internet distribution

All three seventh generation, or "next-gen" consoles (the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360) offer some kind of Internet games distribution service, allowing users to download games for a fee onto some form of non-volatile storage, typically a hard disk or flash memory. Recently the console manufacturers have been taking full advantage of internet distribution with arcade games, television shows and film trailers being available.

• Sony recently announced that two high profile titles Gran Turismo HD and Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection are scheduled only to be released via the Internet distribution service. They have also announced a video service for the near future.
• Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, NES/Famicom, TurboGrafx 16, and SNES/Super Famicom games are currently being emulated on the Nintendo Wii console through Nintendo's Virtual Console service. Nintendo also plans to have original content available for download in the future.
• Microsoft's Xbox Live service still includes the Xbox Live Arcade, featuring digital distribution of classic and original titles. These include arcade classics, original titles, and games originally released on other consoles.

References

See also

• List of video game consoles
• Console manufacturer
• History of computer and video games
• Handheld game consoles
• Dedicated console
• Unlockable games

Books

• Forster, Winnie (2005). The Encyclopedia of Game Machines - Consoles, handheld & home computers 1972-2005. Gameplan. ISBN 3-00-015359-4. 

Wikipedia information about Video game console This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Video game console". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.