[[Image:S11 Video GameCube kl.PNG|thumb|The Nintendo GameCube is an example of a 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 or a computer monitor. 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 alphanumeric keyboards or modems. However, as consoles have become more enhanced, the distinction has blurred: some consoles can have full Linux operating systems running with hard drives and keyboards (like the Sega Dreamcast or Nintendo Gamecube) (one university has even created a Beowulf cluster of PlayStation 2 consoles), 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 their games from being played on emulators using copyright-like exclusive rights in mask works and a protection of encrypted media created by the United States' Digital Millennium Copyright Act and foreign counterparts. Note that the "bitness" of current generations (32-bit, 64-bit and 128-bit) were in large part created by the console makers' marketing departments and may have little to do with the actual architecture of the systems. Video game consoles have created a whole self supporting market for thousands of different video game accessory manufacturers who would otherwise not be able to produce their own video game consoles. These manufacturers have expanded upon the original uses for the game consoles and have even created entirely new ways to both play and use some of our most favorite video game systems. == Timeline == Note: This is an abridged timeline of North American video game consoles.
DateFormat=mm/dd/yyyy
ImageSize= width:600 height:400
Period = from:01/01/1975 till:12/31/2008
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:01/01/1986 color:2ndgen text:"Atari 2600"
bar:Atari from:01/01/1993 till:06/30/1996 color:64bit text:"Atari 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:8bit text:"Colecovision"
bar:Nintendo2 from:08/01/1991 till:01/01/1999 color:16bit text:"SNES"
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:10/10/1992 till:01/01/1995 color:16bit text: "TurboDuo"
bar:Nintendo1 from:09/29/1996 till:01/01/2001 color:64bit text:"N64"
bar:Nintendo2 from:01/01/2001 till:05/01/2005 color:6thgen text:"Gamecube" shift:(-20,0)
bar:Nintendo2 from:05/01/2005 till:12/31/2006 color:projection text:"(proj.)"
bar:Nintendo1 from:07/01/2006 till:12/31/2007 color:projection text:"Nintendo Revolution (projection)"
bar:SEGA1 from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1991 color:8bit text:"SEGA Master System"
bar:SEGA2 from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1997 color:16bit text:"SEGA Genesis"
bar:SEGA1 from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1998 color:32bit text:"SEGA Saturn"
bar:SEGA2 from:11/28/1998 till:03/01/2002 color:6thgen text:"SEGA Dreamcast"
bar:Sony1 from:09/09/1995 till:01/05/2005 color:32bit text:"PlayStation"
bar:Sony1 from:01/05/2005 till:12/31/2006 color:projection text:"(proj.)"
bar:Sony2 from:10/26/2000 till:01/05/2005 color:6thgen text:"PlayStation 2"
bar:Sony2 from:01/05/2005 till:12/31/2006 color:projection text:"(proj.)"
bar:Sony3 from:04/01/2006 till:12/31/2007 color:projection text:"PlayStation 3 (proj.)"
bar:MS from:11/15/2001 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:12/31/2005 till:12/31/2007 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
==See also==
* Console manufacturer
* History of computer and video games
* List of video game consoles
==Books==
[http://www.game-machines.co.uk/gameplan_01.5_UK/]
==External links==
* [http://www.mobygames.com MobyGames], an Internet database of video games, including console games
* [http://www.ps3portal.com/?page=history Video Game and Console Timeline], a Brief Video Game and Console Timeline
* [http://www.linkcableoftime.com/ The Link Cable of Time] articles and histories of video game consoles and their makers
Video game consoles
Computer and video game terminology
==Consoles== From Consoles A console can be an electronic device used for entering information (''input'') into a computer system or similar elecronic processor. One type, a ''game console'', is a unit designed to play games; it is usually plugged into a television, which serves as the video device. Popular game consoles include the Playstation, Nintendo and Dreamcast. Another type is a Human-Machine Interface station used in a manufacturing facility that acts as an operator interface. See Distributed Control System. ---- ==List of video game consoles== Much of the information in this article's "List of game consoles" is duplicated in the List of video game consoles. I suggest we merge data from this articles list to it, then just link to it. The seperate list could really benefit from the extra information. —User:Frecklefoot 16:30, May 7, 2004 (UTC) :Done. User:Paranoid 15:38, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC) == About the timeline.... == The timeline is nice but the dates in it are a mishmash of Japanese and U.S. launch/retirement dates. For instance the Dreamcast uses the Japanese launch date, while the PS2 uses the U.S. launch date. Furtheremore "retirement dates" are somewhat sketchy, especially for the Japanese market, as over there the software market continues long after the hardware is no longer manufactured. For instance, there are still Dreamcast titles being produced and released in Japan to this day. (As of March 2005) To clarify this timeline, I suggest using the earliest launch date for each console (typically the date launched in the country of the console's origin) and the retirement date should be either the official hardware retirement date in the last territory it was available in, or the date of the last recorded official software release for the console (that is, software produced through the manufacturer's distribution channels -- homebrew software like current Jaguar releases don't count. ) Any suggestions? --User:ForgottenHope 09:14, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC) :I think this is probably the easiest way to handle things. When I originally created the timeline, I used U.S. dates just for convenience, since they were present in nearly all the Wikipedia articles on consoles (I believe a few didn't have Japanese/European release dates). I briefly thought over different ways to incorporate the dates of different markets, but couldn't come up with anything graceful. Using the first known release date sidesteps the issue. - User:RedWordSmith 18:39, Mar 3, 2005 (UTC) ::Also could you clarify what the colors mean.--User:Cvaneg 20:51, 29 Mar 2005 (UTC) And why are TurboGrafx-16 and TurboDuo on separate lines when the Sega CD doesn't get its own line? --User:Damian Yerrick 03:28, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) :An anonymous user added that. While TG16 should be listed TurboDuo should not. Only main consoles. Addons and so forth shouldn't be mentioned in the actual timeline graph IMO. User:K1Bond007 04:04, Apr 19, 2005 (UTC) I just wanted to say that, despite the necessary quibbles, I think this timeline is an excellent visualization of what would otherwise be a boring three paragraph section. Congratulations to whoever created it on an excellent idea. We need more of this sort of thing. User:Dcoetzee 23:41, 5 May 2005 (UTC) The timeline is an excellent visual, but its portrayal of the first generation of video game consoles is sorely lacking - there should be entries for the Odyssey 2 (the most significant contemporary of the Atari 2600), the Intellivision (its first significant rival), and the ColecoVision and Atari 5200/7800 (the first migration to a "next generation" of consoles). User:Invalidname 23 May 2005 Is the PS1 still being manufactured and actively supported by developers? Its timeline bar looks a little long. --User:24.114.252.183 16:43, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC) ==Possible article merge== This article seems like it could be merged with Console game, or at least some trade of material could go on to define the two articles better. User:SockatumeUser talk: Sockatume 22:38, 14 May 2005 (UTC) :I don't really see why to be honest. This article needs to be expanded beyond what it is right now. I think they should remain seperate, but thats just my 2cents. User:K1Bond007 00:03, May 15, 2005 (UTC) ::The amount of overlap sort of bothers me. Both articles seem to cover the games console itself, but in different ways. User:SockatumeUser talk: Sockatume 00:14, 15 May 2005 (UTC) :::Ah. Point taken. Alrighty I understand. Probably should merge here after perhaps more discussion on it to see if anyone objects for whatever reason. User:K1Bond007 00:19, May 15, 2005 (UTC) == Changes?? == "...some consoles can have full Linux operating systems running with hard drives and keyboards (like the Sega Dreamcast or Nintendo Gamecube) (one university has even created a Beowulf cluster of PlayStation 2 consoles), and Microsoft's Xbox is basically a stripped down PC running a version of Microsoft Windows." Neither the Dreamcast nor GameCube have hard drives. Only the Xbox and modified original PlayStation 2 have hard drives. Neither of them have "full Linux operating systems" either - in fact the Dreamcast is (according to its very own shell) 'compatible with Windows CE'. Also, I am unsure that the Xbox is running "a version of... Windows". It's clearly running some sort of OS, but not a Windows-based one. ~Skye~
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Video_game_console:
Video_game_console
Video_game_console
Video_game_consoles
Video_game_consoles
Video game console
[[Image:S11 Video GameCube kl.PNG|thumb|The Nintendo GameCube is an example of a 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 or a computer monitor. 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 alphanumeric keyboards or modems. However, as consoles have become more enhanced, the distinction has blurred: some consoles can have full Linux operating systems running with hard drives and keyboards (like the Sega Dreamcast or Nintendo Gamecube) (one university has even created a Beowulf cluster of PlayStation 2 consoles), 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 their games from being played on emulators using copyright-like exclusive rights in mask works and a protection of encrypted media created by the United States' Digital Millennium Copyright Act and foreign counterparts. Note that the "bitness" of current generations (32-bit, 64-bit and 128-bit) were in large part created by the console makers' marketing departments and may have little to do with the actual architecture of the systems. Video game consoles have created a whole self supporting market for thousands of different video game accessory manufacturers who would otherwise not be able to produce their own video game consoles. These manufacturers have expanded upon the original uses for the game consoles and have even created entirely new ways to both play and use some of our most favorite video game systems. == Timeline == Note: This is an abridged timeline of North American video game consoles.
Video game console
==Consoles== From Consoles A console can be an electronic device used for entering information (''input'') into a computer system or similar elecronic processor. One type, a ''game console'', is a unit designed to play games; it is usually plugged into a television, which serves as the video device. Popular game consoles include the Playstation, Nintendo and Dreamcast. Another type is a Human-Machine Interface station used in a manufacturing facility that acts as an operator interface. See Distributed Control System. ---- ==List of video game consoles== Much of the information in this article's "List of game consoles" is duplicated in the List of video game consoles. I suggest we merge data from this articles list to it, then just link to it. The seperate list could really benefit from the extra information. —User:Frecklefoot 16:30, May 7, 2004 (UTC) :Done. User:Paranoid 15:38, 12 Jun 2004 (UTC) == About the timeline.... == The timeline is nice but the dates in it are a mishmash of Japanese and U.S. launch/retirement dates. For instance the Dreamcast uses the Japanese launch date, while the PS2 uses the U.S. launch date. Furtheremore "retirement dates" are somewhat sketchy, especially for the Japanese market, as over there the software market continues long after the hardware is no longer manufactured. For instance, there are still Dreamcast titles being produced and released in Japan to this day. (As of March 2005) To clarify this timeline, I suggest using the earliest launch date for each console (typically the date launched in the country of the console's origin) and the retirement date should be either the official hardware retirement date in the last territory it was available in, or the date of the last recorded official software release for the console (that is, software produced through the manufacturer's distribution channels -- homebrew software like current Jaguar releases don't count. ) Any suggestions? --User:ForgottenHope 09:14, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC) :I think this is probably the easiest way to handle things. When I originally created the timeline, I used U.S. dates just for convenience, since they were present in nearly all the Wikipedia articles on consoles (I believe a few didn't have Japanese/European release dates). I briefly thought over different ways to incorporate the dates of different markets, but couldn't come up with anything graceful. Using the first known release date sidesteps the issue. - User:RedWordSmith 18:39, Mar 3, 2005 (UTC) ::Also could you clarify what the colors mean.--User:Cvaneg 20:51, 29 Mar 2005 (UTC) And why are TurboGrafx-16 and TurboDuo on separate lines when the Sega CD doesn't get its own line? --User:Damian Yerrick 03:28, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC) :An anonymous user added that. While TG16 should be listed TurboDuo should not. Only main consoles. Addons and so forth shouldn't be mentioned in the actual timeline graph IMO. User:K1Bond007 04:04, Apr 19, 2005 (UTC) I just wanted to say that, despite the necessary quibbles, I think this timeline is an excellent visualization of what would otherwise be a boring three paragraph section. Congratulations to whoever created it on an excellent idea. We need more of this sort of thing. User:Dcoetzee 23:41, 5 May 2005 (UTC) The timeline is an excellent visual, but its portrayal of the first generation of video game consoles is sorely lacking - there should be entries for the Odyssey 2 (the most significant contemporary of the Atari 2600), the Intellivision (its first significant rival), and the ColecoVision and Atari 5200/7800 (the first migration to a "next generation" of consoles). User:Invalidname 23 May 2005 Is the PS1 still being manufactured and actively supported by developers? Its timeline bar looks a little long. --User:24.114.252.183 16:43, 11 Jun 2005 (UTC) ==Possible article merge== This article seems like it could be merged with Console game, or at least some trade of material could go on to define the two articles better. User:SockatumeUser talk: Sockatume 22:38, 14 May 2005 (UTC) :I don't really see why to be honest. This article needs to be expanded beyond what it is right now. I think they should remain seperate, but thats just my 2cents. User:K1Bond007 00:03, May 15, 2005 (UTC) ::The amount of overlap sort of bothers me. Both articles seem to cover the games console itself, but in different ways. User:SockatumeUser talk: Sockatume 00:14, 15 May 2005 (UTC) :::Ah. Point taken. Alrighty I understand. Probably should merge here after perhaps more discussion on it to see if anyone objects for whatever reason. User:K1Bond007 00:19, May 15, 2005 (UTC) == Changes?? == "...some consoles can have full Linux operating systems running with hard drives and keyboards (like the Sega Dreamcast or Nintendo Gamecube) (one university has even created a Beowulf cluster of PlayStation 2 consoles), and Microsoft's Xbox is basically a stripped down PC running a version of Microsoft Windows." Neither the Dreamcast nor GameCube have hard drives. Only the Xbox and modified original PlayStation 2 have hard drives. Neither of them have "full Linux operating systems" either - in fact the Dreamcast is (according to its very own shell) 'compatible with Windows CE'. Also, I am unsure that the Xbox is running "a version of... Windows". It's clearly running some sort of OS, but not a Windows-based one. ~Skye~
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
V
Words begining with Video_game_console:
Video_game_console
Video_game_console
Video_game_consoles
Video_game_consoles
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YouTube.com videos better site than Turbo Tax 2007
