History of video game consoles (sixth generation)

The sixth generation of video game consoles began on November 27, 1998. Also known as the last non-motion control gaming era, the sixth generation is also called the 128-bit generation. The sixth generation began with the release of the Dreamcast in Japan. This generation included the game consoles of the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Microsoft Xbox. The Dreamcast was discontinued in 2001, but sold games until 2007. The GameCube was discontinued in 2007. The Xbox sold its last games in 2008, but didn't get discontinued until 2009. The PlayStation 2 was discontinued in 2013, which ended the sixth generation.

 Game systems 
Comparison
 Name Dreamcast PlayStation 2 GameCube Xbox Logo x55px|center|Dreamcast logo as used in North America x50px|center|PlayStation 2 logo   Manufacturer Sega Sony Computer Entertainment Nintendo MicrosoftImage(s)200px|An NTSC Sega Dreamcast Console and controller with VMU.190px|Slimline (right) and Original (left) PS2 consoles200px|Indigo GameCube and controller200px|Xbox console with "Controller S"An NTSC Dreamcast console, controller and VMU. The logo on PAL consoles was blue instead of orange.Left: An original model PlayStation 2Right: A slimline PlayStation 2 with DualShock 2 controller and memory card.An indigo GameCube and controllerAn Xbox console and "Type-S" controllerLaunch pricesUS$199.99GB£199.99US$299.99GB£299.99US$199.99GB£129.99€199.99US$299.99GB£299.99€214.99Best-selling gameSonic Adventure, 2.5 million (as of June 2006)Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, 19 million shipped (as of April 30, 2008)Super Smash Bros. Melee, 7.09 million (as of March 10, 2008)Halo 2, 8 million (as of May 9, 2006)Release dateDiscontinuedMarch 30, 2001BBC News | BUSINESS | Sega scraps the DreamcastJP: December 28, 2012
WW: January 4, 20132007Accessories (retail)VMU
Dreamcast mouse and keyboard
Fishing Rod
Microphone
Light gun
Dreameye camera
Samba de Amigo Maracas (controller)
More...PlayStation 2 HDDInternal hard drive supported by PlayStation 2 Expansion Bay (models 30000 and 50000 only)
Network adapterBuilt-in on slimline models (PSTwo, model 70000 onwards)
EyeToy
PlayStation 2 DVD remote control
Guitar controllers
More...WaveBird
GameCube-GBA cable
Nintendo GameCube Broadband Adapter and Modem Adapter
Game Boy Player
DK Bongos
Dance pad
Nintendo GameCube Microphone
More...Xbox Live Starter Kit
Xbox Media Center Extender
DVD Playback Kit
Xbox Music Mixer
Memory Unit (8 MB)
Logitech Wireless Controller (2.4 GHz)
More...CPU200 MHz SuperH SH-4294 MHz MIPS "Emotion Engine"485 MHz PowerPC "Gekko"733 MHz x86 Intel Celeron/PIII Custom HybridGPU100 MHz NEC/VideoLogic PowerVR CLX2147 MHz "Graphics Synthesizer"162 MHz ATI "Flipper"233 MHz Custom Nvidia NV2ARAMMain RAM 16 MB SDRAMVideo RAM 8 MBSound RAM 2 MBMain RAM 32 MB RDRAMVideo RAM 4 MBSound RAM 2 MBMain RAM 24 MB 1T-SRAM, 16 MB DRAMVideo RAM 3 MB embedded 1T-SRAM64 MB unified DDR SDRAMOptical media CD, 1.2 GB GD-ROM DVD, CD GameCube game disc DVD, CDVideo outputs VGA (RGBHV), SCART (RGBS), s-video, composite Component/d-terminal (YPBPR), VGA (RGBS; progressive scan games/PS2 Linux only), SCART (RGBS), s-video, composite Component/d-terminal (YPBPR), SCART (RGBS; PAL consoles only), s-video (NTSC consoles only), compositecomponent (YPBPR), SCART (RGBS), S-Video, compositeOnline serviceSega Net (2000–2002), Dreamarena (2000-2003) (can still be played using various private servers)Non-unified service (2002–present), XLink Kai (2003-present)Non-unified service (2003-2009) (can still be played using various private servers), XLink Kai (2003-present)Xbox Live (2002–now) XLink Kai (2003-present)Backward compatibilityPlayStationGame Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance (with Game Boy Player)System softwareSegaOS, Windows CE, KallistiOSProprietary OS, PS2 LinuxProprietary OS, Gamecube LinuxXbox Music MixerDVD Playback Kit, Xbox LinuxConsumer programmabilityHomebrew possible via KallistiOS, Windows CE, Katana (the latter two are illegal in the homebrew community)Yabasic software and limited Linux OS. Homebrew also possible via both modchips and softmods.Homebrew possible via SD card adapters and SD media launchersVia Softmods and/or modchips; Modified Windows CE 2.x, Linux

Worldwide sales
 Console  Units sold PlayStation 2 153.6 million (as of November 21, 2011) Xbox  24 million (as of May 10, 2006) GameCube  21.74 million (as of September 30, 2010)V.Smile11 million Dreamcast  10.6 million (as of September 6, 2002)

Handheld game consoles
 Name Game Boy Advance / Advance SP / Micro N-Gage / QDLogos200px Manufacturer Nintendo NokiaImages120px 120px 120px150px 150pxPictured left to right: Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP, Game Boy MicroPictured left to right: N-Gage, N-Gage QDManufacturer Nintendo NokiaRelease dates Game Boy Advance: Game Boy Advance SP: Game Boy Micro:  N-Gage: October 7, 2003N-Gage QD: May 26, 2004Discontinued Game Boy Advance:  N-Gage: 2006Launch prices GBA:
 Japan: ¥9,800
 North America: US$99.99
 Europe: €?

GBA SP:
 Japan:  ¥12,500
 North America:  US$99.99 / C$149,99
 Europe: €129,99
 Australia: A$199,99

GB Micro:
 Japan:  ¥?
 North America:  US$99.99 / C$?
 Europe: €?N-Gage:

 North America: US$299.99
 Europe: €289,99 / £229,99

N-Gage QD:

 North America: US$179.99
 Europe: €229,99Media Game Boy Advance cartridge MultiMediaCard (MMC)Best-selling game Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire,  13 million combined (as of November 25, 2004) ?Accessories(retail) Wireless Adapter
 Infra-Red Adapter
 GameCube Game Boy Advance Cable:
 Play-Yan
 e-Reader
 Video
 Cleaning Cartridge
 Mobile Adapter
 More...OSSymbian S60CPU 16.8 MHz, 32-bit, ARM7TDMI with embedded memory 104 MHz, 32-bit, RISC based on ARM9 seriesMemory 32 kilobyte + 96 kilobyte VRAM (internal to the CPU), 256 kilobyte WRAM (outside the CPU) 16 megabyte RAM, 16 megabyte ROM (3.4 MB accessible for storage)Interface D-pad
 Four face buttons
 Two shoulder buttons D-pad
 Numbered keypad
 Music player, Radio and Menu hotkeys
 Dial and hang up buttons
 Four other face buttons
 MicrophoneDimensions GBA: 144.5 × 24.5 × 82 mm (5.69 × 0.96 × 3.2 inches)GBA SP: 84 × 82 × 24.4 mm (3.3 × 3.23 × 0.96 inches)GB Micro: 50 × 10 × 17.2 mm (2 × 4 × 0.7 inches) N-Gage QD:  (h)  (w)  (d)N-Gage QD:  (w)  (h)  (d)Weight GBA: GBA SP:  GB Micro:  N-Gage:   N-Gage QD Online service N-Gage ArenaBackward compatibility Game Boy, Game Boy Color N/AResolutions 240 × 160 176 × 208Storage 3.4 MB internal storage, MMCBattery life GBA: 15 hoursGBA SP: 10 hours continuous play with light on, 18 hours with light offGB Micro: 5 hours with top brightness and sound, 8 hours with both features on default N-Gage: 2 hours continuous playN-Gage QD: 4 hours continuous playUnits sold (all models combined) Worldwide: 81.51 million (as of September 30, 2010)
Japan: 16.96 million
Americas: 41.64 million 
Other: 22.91 million  Worldwide: 3 million (as of July 30, 2007)

Note: First year of release is the first year of the system's worldwide availability.

Other handhelds

Tapwave Zodiac(2003)
Neo Geo Pocket Color(1999)

Sales
 Console Units sold Game Boy Advance (figure includes GBA SP and Game Boy Micro)81.51 millionLeapster4 millionWonderSwan/WonderSwan Color/SwanCrystal3.5 million N-Gage 3 millionCybiko500,000 units Tapwave Zodiac less than 200,000 units GP32 30,000

Popular games
Final Fantasy X
Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo 2'Halo 2' clears record $125 million in first day | CNET News.com 
Kingdom Hearts
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Metroid Prime
Resident Evil 4 
Shenmue
SoulCaliburIGN: Soulcalibur ReviewSoul Calibur for Dreamcast Review – Dreamcast Soul Calibur ReviewGamespot "SSBB gets perfect score from Famitsu" includes list of perfect score recipients in order

 References 

Category:History of video game consoles