Home video game console

A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. Home consoles are generally less powerful and customizable than personal computers, designed to have advanced graphics abilities but limited memory and storage space to keep the units affordable. While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few games fixed into the electronic circuits of the system, most consoles since support the use of swappable game media, either through game cartridges, optical discs, or through digital distribution to internal storage.
There have been numerous home video game consoles since the first commercial unit, the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. Historically these consoles have been grouped into generations lasting each about six years based on common technical specifications. As of , there have been nine console generations, with the current leading manufacturers being Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, colloquially known as the "Big 3." Past console manufacturers have included Atari, Fairchild, Mattel, Coleco, Sega, NEC, 3DO, Fujitsu and SNK.
==Overview==
A home video game console is a predesigned piece of electronic hardware that is meant to be placed at a fixed location at one's home, connected to a display like a television screen or computer monitor, and to an external power source, to play video games on using one or more video game controllers. This differs from a handheld game console which will have a built-in screen, controller buttons/features, and a power supply like a battery or battery pack.
Earlier home consoles were typically built from a selection of standard and highly customized integrated computer chips, packaged onto circuit boards and cases. Over time, home console design has converged to a degree with personal computers, using similar component and system design, including standardization with main computer chip architecture. Consoles remain as fixed systems, lacking the customization options that personal computer components have, and most consoles include customized components to maximize space and reduce power consumption to provide the best performance for game playing, while lowering costs with reduced storage and memory configurations.
Home video game consoles typically can play a multitude of games, offered either as game cartridges (or ROM cartridges), on optical media like CD-ROM or DVD, or obtained by digital distribution. Early consoles, also considered dedicated consoles, had games that were fixed in the electronic circuitry of the hardware. Some facets may be controlled by switching external controls on the console but the games could not be changed themselves.
Most home consoles require a separate game controller, and may support multiple controllers for multiplayer games. Some console games can only be played with special, unconventional game controllers, such as light guns for rail shooters and guitar controllers for music games. Some consoles also possess the ability to connect and interface with a particular handheld game system, which certain games can leverage to provide alternate control schemes, second screen gameplay elements, exclusive unlockable content or the ability to transfer certain game data.
==History==
The first commercial video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey, developed by Ralph H. Baer and first released commercially in 1972. It was shortly followed by the release of the home version of Pong by Atari Inc. in 1975 based on the arcade game. A number of clones of both systems rushed to fill the nascent home console market and the video game industry suffered a small recession in 1977 due to this.
The Fairchild Channel F, released in 1976, was the first console to use game cartridges, which was then used by the Atari VCS and several other consoles of the second generation and led to a second boom in the video game industry in the United States and around the globe. During this time, Atari Inc. had been sold to Warner Communications, and due to a change of leadership, several programmers left the company and founded Activision, becoming the first third-party developer. Activision's success led to a rush of new developers creating games without any publishing controls for these systems. The market became flooded with poor quality games, and combined with the rising popularity of the personal computer and the economic recession of the early 1980s, led to the video game crash of 1983 in the U.S. market. Nintendo, which had released its Famicom console in Japan that year, took several cautionary steps to limit game production to only licensed games, and was able to introduce the Famicom, rebranded as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985 into the U.S. market. The NES helped to revive the console market and gave Nintendo dominance during the late 1980s.
Sega took advantage of the newfound U.S. growth to market its Sega Genesis against the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the early 1990s in the so-called "console wars" and emphasized the notion of "bits" as a major selling point for consumers. The consumer adoption of optical discs with larger storage capacity in the mid-1995 led many console manufactures to move away from cartridges to CD-ROMs and later to DVDs and other formats, with Sony's PlayStation line introducing even more features that gave it an advantage in the market; the PlayStation 2, released in 2000, remains the best-selling console to date with over 155 million units sold. Microsoft, fearing that the PlayStation 2 was threatening the competitive edge of the personal computer, entered the console space with its Xbox line in 2001. Internet connectivity had become commonplace by the mid-2000s, and nearly all home consoles supported digital distribution and online service offerings by the 2010s.
With Sony and Microsoft's dominance in hardware capabilities, most other major manufacturers have since dropped out of the hardware business, but maintain a presence in the game development and licensing space. Nintendo remains the only competitor having taken a blue ocean strategy by offering more original console concepts such as motion sensing in the Wii and the hybrid design of the Nintendo Switch.
Within the home video game console market, the leading consoles have often been grouped into generations, consoles that were major competitors in the marketplace. There have been nine generations of consoles since the 1970s, with a new generation appearing about every five years in accordance with Moore's law.
==List of home video game consoles==
There are more than 1000 home video game consoles known to exist, the vast majority of which were released during the first generation: only home video game consoles were released between the second and current generation, were canceled. This list is divided into console generations which are named based on the dominant console type of the era, though not all consoles of those eras are of the same type. Some eras are referred to based on how many bits a major console could process. The "128-bit era" (sixth generation) was the final era in which this practice was widespread.
This list only counts the first iteration of each console's hardware, because several systems have had slim, enhanced or other hardware revisions, but they are not individually listed here. The list also includes unreleased systems. If a series of home video game consoles begins in a generation and lasts to another generation, it is listed in the generation the series began. This list does not claim to be complete.
This list does not include other types of video game consoles such as handheld game consoles, which are usually of lower computational power than home consoles due to their smaller size, microconsoles, which are usually low-cost Android-based devices that rely on downloading, retro style consoles, or dedicated consoles past the first generation, which have games built in and do not use any form of physical media. Consoles have been redesigned from time to time to improve their market appeal. Redesigned models are not listed on their own.
The list omits the more than 900 home video game consoles known to have been released in the first generation of video game consoles, those that were generally game consoles for a single dedicated game, such as home Pong consoles. Documented consoles of this generation can be found at list of first generation home video game consoles.
=== Released systems ===
Name 	Release date 	Discontinued 	Manufacturer 	Units sold 	"Bits" 	Gen
Fairchild Channel F 	 	 	Fairchild (U.S.) 	 	8-bit (CPU) 	
RCA Studio II 	 	 	RCA (U.S.) 	 	8-bit (CPU) 	
Bally Astrocade 	 	 	Midway (U.S.) 	? 	8-bit (CPU) 	
Atari 2600 	 	 	Atari Inc. (U.S.) 	 	8-bit (CPU) 	
APF-MP1000 	 	 	APF (U.S.) 	 	8-bit (CPU) 	
Champion 2711 	 	 	Unisonic (U.S.) 	? 	16-bit (CPU) 	
Interton VC 4000 	 	 	Interton (Germany) 	? 	8-bit (CPU) 	
Palladium Tele-Cassetten Game 	 	 	Palladium (Germany) 	? 	 	
1292 Advanced Programmable Video System 	 	 	Audiosonic 	? 	8-bit (CPU) 	
Magnavox Odyssey 2 	 	 	Magnavox (U.S.) / Philips (Netherlands) 	? 	8-bit (CPU) 	
APF Imagination Machine 	 	 	APF (U.S.) 	? 	8-bit (CPU) 	
Bandai Super Vision 8000 	 	 	Bandai (Japan) 	? 	8-bit (CPU) 	
Intellivision 	 	 	Mattel Electronics (U.S.) 	 	16-bit (CPU) 	
VTech CreatiVision 	 	 	VTech (Hong Kong) 	? 	8-bit (CPU) 	
Epoch Cassette Vision 	 	 	Epoch (Japan) 	 	? 	
Arcadia 2001 and its variants and clones	(Arcadia 2001) 	 	Emerson Radio (U.S.) 	? 	8-bit (CPU) 	
SHG Black Point 	1982 	 	Süddeutsche Elektro-Hausgeräte GmbH & Co. KG (Germany) 	? 	? 	
ColecoVision 	 	 	Coleco (U.S.) 	 	8-bit (CPU) 	
Atari 5200 	 	 	Atari Inc. (U.S.) 	 	8-bit (CPU) 	
Vectrex 	 	 	GCE/Milton Bradley Company (U.S.) 	? 	8-bit/16-bit (CPU) 	
Compact Vision TV Boy 	 	 	Gakken (Japan) 	? 	8-bit (CPU) 	
Videopac+ G7400 	 	 	Philips (Netherlands) 	? 	8-bit 	
My Vision 	 	 	Nichibutsu (Japan) 	? 	? 	
Pyuuta Jr. 	 	 	Tomy (Japan) 	? 	16-bit 	
Sega SG-1000 	 	 	Sega (Japan) 	 	8-bit 	
NES/Family Computer (Famicom) 	 	 	Nintendo (Japan) 	 	8-bit 	
PV-1000 	 	 	Casio (Japan) 	? 	8-bit 	
Epoch Super Cassette Vision 	 	 	Epoch (Japan) 	 	8-bit (CPU) 	
Bridge Companion 	 	 	BBC/Heber (UK) 	? 	8-bit 	
Video Art 	 	 	LJN (U.S.) 	? 	? 	
Zemmix 	 	 	Daewoo Electronics (South Korea) 	? 	8-bit 	
Sega Mark III/Master System 	 	 	Sega (Japan), Tec Toy (Brazil) 	 	8-bit 	
Family Computer Disk System 	 	 	Nintendo (Japan) 	 	8-bit 	
Videosmarts 	 	 	Connor Electronics (U.S.) (1986–1988), VTech (Hong Kong) (1989–1990) 	? 	? 	
Atari 7800 	 	 	Atari Corporation (U.S.) 	? 	8-bit 	
Atari XEGS 	 	 	Atari Corporation (U.S.) 	 	8-bit 	
Video Challenger 	 	 	Tomy/Bandai (Japan) 	? 	? 	
Action Max 	 	 	Worlds of Wonder (U.S.) 	? 	8-bit 	
View-Master Interactive Vision 	 	 	View-Master Ideal Group, Inc. (U.S.) 	? 	8-bit 	
Terebikko 	 	 	Bandai (Japan) 	? 	? 	
VTech Socrates 	 	 	VTech (Hong Kong) 	? 	8-bit (CPU) 	
Video Driver 	 	 	Sega (Japan) 	? 	? 	
Amstrad GX4000 	 	 	Amstrad (UK) 	 	8-bit 	
Commodore 64 Games System 	 	 	Commodore (Canada) 	 	8-bit 	
PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 	 	 	NEC/Hudson Soft (Japan) 	 	16-bit (8-bit CPU, 16-bit graphics) 	
Sega Genesis/Mega Drive 	 	 	Sega (Japan) 	 	16-bit (16/32 bit processor, 16 bit graphics) 	
TurboGrafx-CD/CD-ROM² 	 	 	NEC (Japan) 	 	16-bit (8-bit processor, 16-bit graphics) 	
PC Engine2/SuperGrafx 	 	 	NEC (Japan) 	 	16-bit (8-bit CPU, 16-bit graphics) 	
Neo-Geo AES 	 	 	SNK (Japan) 	 	24-bit (16/32 bit processor, 24 bit graphics) 	
Super NES/Super Famicom 	 	 	Nintendo (Japan) 	 	16-bit 	
Commodore CDTV 	 	 	Commodore (Canada) 	 	16-bit 	
CD-i 	 	 	Various 	 	16-bit (could be upgraded to 32-bit) 	
Sega CD/Mega CD 	 	 	Sega (Japan) 	 	16-bit (16/32 bit processor, 16 bit graphics) 	
Sega Pico 	 	 	Sega/Majesco Entertainment (Japan) 	 	16-bit 	
Neo-Geo CD 	 	 	SNK (Japan) 	 	16-bit 	
Satellaview 	 	 	Nintendo (Japan) 	 	16-bit 	
Amiga CD32 	 	 	Commodore (Canada) 	 	32-bit 	
3DO Interactive Multiplayer 	 	 	Panasonic/Sanyo (Japan) GoldStar (South Korea) The 3DO Company (United States)	 	32-bit 	
Atari Jaguar 	 	 	Atari Corporation (U.S.) 	 	64-bit (64-bit graphics, 32-bit processor) 	
Sega 32X 	 	 	Sega (Japan) 	 	32-bit 	
Sega Saturn 	 	 	Sega (Japan) 	 	32-bit 	
Sony PlayStation 	 	 	Sony (Japan) 	 	32-bit 	
Apple Bandai Pippin 	 	 	Bandai (Japan)/Apple Inc. (U.S.) 	 	32-bit 	
Atari Jaguar CD 	 	 	Atari Corporation (U.S.) 	? 	64-bit (uses Jaguar processors) 	
Nintendo 64 	 	 	Nintendo (Japan) 	 	64-bit 	
Nintendo 64DD 	 	 	Nintendo (Japan) 	 	32-bit co-processor (uses 64-bit N64 processor as main processor)	
Dreamcast 	 	 	Sega (Japan) 	 	128-bit (32-bit processor, 128-bit graphics) 	6th
PlayStation 2 	4 March 2000 	4 January 2013 	Sony (Japan) 	155.0 million 	128-bit (SIMD) 	6th
GameCube 	September 14, 2001	June 15, 2009 	Nintendo (Japan) 	21.74 million 	32-bit (CPU)
128-bit (SIMD) 	6th
Xbox 	November 15, 2001 	March 2, 2009 	Microsoft (U.S.) 	24 million 	32-bit (CPU)
128-bit (SIMD) 	6th
Xbox 360 	November 22, 2005 	April 20, 2016 	Microsoft (U.S.) 	84 million 	64-bit CPU
128-bit extensions 	7th
HyperScan 	October 23, 2006 	October 10, 2007 	Mattel (U.S.) 	10,000 	32-bit 	7th
PlayStation 3 	November 11, 2006 	May 29, 2017 	Sony (Japan) 	87.4 million 	64-bit CPU with set of 128-bit registers 	7th
Wii 	November 19, 2006 	October 21, 2013 	Nintendo (Japan) 	101.63 million	32-bit (CPU) 	7th
Wii U 	November 18, 2012 	January 31, 2017 	Nintendo (Japan) 	13.56 million 	32-bit (CPU) 	8th
PlayStation 4 	November 15, 2013 	January 1, 2025 	Sony (Japan) 	117.2 million 	64-bit (CPU) 	8th
Xbox One 	November 22, 2013 	January 13, 2022 	Microsoft (U.S.) 	41 million 	64-bit (CPU) 	8th
Nintendo Switch 	March 3, 2017 	December 31, 2028	Nintendo (Japan) 	190.8 million 	64-bit (CPU) 	9th
Xbox Series X/S 	November 10, 2020 	June 4, 2026 	Microsoft (U.S.) 	23 million 	64-bit (CPU) 	9th
PlayStation 5 	November 12, 2020 	August 18, 2028 	Sony (Japan) 	63 million 	64-bit (CPU) 	9th
Atari VCS 	June 10, 2021 	January 1, 2025 	Atari, Inc. (U.S.) 	258,000 	64-bit (CPU) 	9th
Polymega 	September 12, 2021	July 14, 2022 	Playmaji, Inc (U.S.) 	10,000 	64-bit (CPU) 	9th
Evercade VS 	December 1, 2021 	December 31, 2021	Blaze Entertainment (UK) 	3,000 	32-bit (CPU) 	9th
Nintendo Switch Ultra 	March 3, 2024 	December 31, 2028	Nintendo (Japan) 	22 million 	64-bit (CPU) 	9th
Xbox Omega 	January 3, 2025 	January 5, 2026 	Microsoft (U.S.) 	5 million 	64-bit (CPU) 	10th
Xbox 720 	January 10, 2026 	December 31, 2029	Microsoft (U.S.) 	48 million 	128-bit (CPU) 	10th
PlayStation 6 	December 11, 2026 	November 22, 2032	Sony (Japan) 	88 million 	128-bit (CPU) 	10th
Nintendo Neo 	March 4, 2027 	January 5, 2033 	Nintendo (Japan) 	58 million 	128-bit (CPU) 	10th
Nintendo PlayStation 	July 13, 2033 	October 4, 2041 	Nintendo (Japan), Sony (Japan) 	382 million 	128-bit (CPU) 	11th
Nintendo Arcadia 	December 15, 2041 	July 13, 2048 	Nintendo (Japan) 	43 million 	64-bit (CPU) 	12th
Steam Trailblazer 	June 1, 2045 	June 1, 2050 	Valve (U.S.) 	102.3 million 	128-bit (CPU) 	13th
Nintendo Wellpring 	December 1, 2045 	November 8, 2051 	Nintendo (Japan) 	101.8 million 	128-bit (CPU) 	13th
=== Unreleased systems ===
Name 	Release date	Manufacturer 	"Bits"
Intellivision Amico	TBA 	Intellivision Entertainment	x86 (64/32-bit)
=== Canceled systems ===
Name 	Release date 	Manufacturer 	"Bits"
Atari Game Brain 	cancelled (supposed to be released in June 1978) 	Atari (U.S.) 	?
Atari 2700 	cancelled (supposed to be released in 1981) 	Atari, Inc. (U.S.) 	8-bit (CPU)
Video Arcade System	cancelled (supposed to be released in 1983) 	Ultravision (U.S.) 	?
RDI Halcyon 	cancelled (supposed to be released in January 1985) 	RDI Video Systems (U.S.) 	8-bit (CPU)
Control-Vision 	cancelled (supposed to be released in 1989) 	Digital Pictures & Hasbro (U.S.)	?
Krokha 	cancelled 	(Russia) 	?
Konix Multisystem 	cancelled (supposed to be released in August 1989) 	Konix (UK) 	16-bit (CPU)
Atari Panther 	cancelled (supposed to be released in 1991) 	Atari Corporation (U.S.) 	32-bit
WOWOW 	cancelled (supposed to be released in 1992) 	Taito (Japan) 	16-bit / 32-bit (CPU)
SNES-CD 	cancelled (development stopped in 1993) 	Nintendo (Japan) 	16-bit
Sega Neptune 	cancelled (supposed to be released in Fall 1995) 	Sega (Japan) 	32-bit
L600 	cancelled (development stopped in April 2001) 	Indrema (U.S.) 	32-bit
Panasonic M2 	cancelled (supposed to be released in 1997) 	Panasonic (Japan) 	64-bit (dual 32-bit)
Phantom 	cancelled (supposed to be released in September 2005)	Phantom (U.S.) 	?
Chameleon 	cancelled (supposed to be released in 2016) 	Coleco Holdings Retro 	?
== See also ==
* List of best-selling game consoles
* List of game controllers
* List of video game console emulators
* Lists of video game consoles
** List of dedicated video game consoles
** List of handheld game consoles
** List of microconsoles
** List of retro style video game consoles
** Lists of video games
==Notes==
== References ==
Addendum