page_title: 2000s in video games
section_title: Seventh generation consoles 2005-2012
hierarchical_section_title: 2000s in video games / Consoles of the 2000s / Seventh generation consoles 2005-2012
caption_attribution_description: English: The Wii console by Nintendo. Featured with the Wiimote.
context_page_description: The 2000s was the fourth decade in the industry's history. It was a decade that was primarily dominated by Sony, Nintendo, newcomer Microsoft, and their respective systems. Sega, being Nintendo's main rival in the 1980s and 1990s, left the console market in 2002 in favor of returning to third-party development, as they once were. Overall the decade saw the last of the low resolution three-dimensional polygons of the 1990s with the emergence of high definition games, and often focused on developing immersive and interactive environments, implementing realistic physics, and improving artificial intelligence.
context_section_description: The seventh generation of consoles began with the release of the Xbox 360 in 2005. This was followed by the Wii and the PlayStation 3 in 2006. The seventh-generation featured widespread implementation of HD-ready graphics, media centers, and wireless game controllers, as well as online services for all consoles. The PS3 also has Blu-ray Disc compatibility. The Wii implemented an innovative game controller that features full motion sensitivity and is wielded like a remote, with limited button interaction. In response, the PS3 introduced tilt-sensitive functionality with its controllers. The Wii's motion sensitive controls and focus on family-friendly games, while alienating some hardcore gamers, helped the Wii to become the best-selling console of the seventh-generation. The high price of the PS3 had initially caused slow sales, but numerous price cuts and efforts to bring feature-parity between it and Xbox 360 were made in the years following. It was generally successful as the PlayStation 3 steadily increased in popularity, resulting in lifetime sales to be nearly equal to that of the Xbox 360.
  Nintendo continued to dominate the handheld console market with the release of the dual-screen Nintendo DS in 2004. One of the screens is a touchscreen. The PlayStation Portable, released in 2005 by Sony, was the first serious competitor to Nintendo's handheld video game consoles and is by far the best-selling non-Nintendo handheld.
caption: Nintendo Wii (2006).
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