Video game console

Video game console
Developer	numerous
Publisher	numerous
Systems	numerous, see computers and consoles
Released	1972-present
Added to Museum	numerous, see computers and consoles

A video game console is a system that is primarily used to play video games by consumers, as opposed to computers and arcade games.

The lines between video game consoles and computers sometimes get blurred, as video game consoles such as the Family Computer had computer-style options such as a keyboard and the BASIC programming language. In addition, computers such as the Commodore 64 were also advertised as video game machines.

Video game consoles owned by WEC Museum

First-generation video game consoles (1972-1983)

These were the first consoles to be produced. They used either mechanisms, transistors, diodes, and integrated circuits, or a combination thereof.

Home consoles

• Nintendo Beam Gun: Duck Hunt (1976) (mechanical)
• Nintendo Color-TV Game Block Breaker (1979)

Second-generation video game consoles (1976-1992)

Second-generation video game consoles allowed for video game experiences that weren't possible with limited components of the previous generation.

Home consoles

• Atari Video Computer System ("heavy sixer") (1977)
• Sears Tele-Games Video Arcade ("heavy sixer") (Sears version of the Video Computer System) (1977)
• Atari Video Computer System ("light sixer") (1978) (Atari reworked the Video Computer System to be lighter)
• Atari Video Computer System ("four-switch") (1980) (Atari reworked the Video Computer System to have four front-facing switches rather than six)
• Atari 2600 Video Computer System ("Vader") (1982) (A black four-switch Video Computer System that was the first to bear the Atari 2600 name)
• Acetronic MPU 2000 (1979) (Acetronic version of the 1392 Advanced Programmable Video System)

Handheld consoles

• Tiger Electronics World Games (1988)

Third-generation video game consoles (1983-2001)

Third-generation video game consoles were the first to follow the North American video game crash of 1983. They were marketed as 8-bit consoles due to the use of 8-bit central processing units.

Home consoles

• Nintendo Entertainment System (1985)
• Control box (1986) (allowed JAMMA arcade video games to be played on a television like a video game console)

Handheld consoles

• Sega Game Gear (1991)
• Sega Visual Memory Unit (1998)
• Watercore Dinkie Pet 4-in-1 (1997)

Fourth-generation video game consoles (1987-1996)

Fourth-generation video game consoles were marketed as 16-bit consoles due to the use of 16-bit central processing units, or in the case of the PC Engine, 16-bit graphics processors.

Home consoles

• Sega CD (1991) (Sega Genesis CD-ROM add-on)

Handheld consoles

• SNK Neo Geo Pocket Color (1999)

Fifth-generation video game consoles (1993-2006)

Fifth-generation video game consoles were marketed as 32-bit and 64-bit consoles due to the use of 32-bit and 64-bit central processing units, or in the case of the Atari Jaguar, 64-bit graphics processors.

Home consoles

• Nintendo 64 (1996)
• iQue Player (2003)

Handheld consoles

• Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2001)

Retro consoles

• Bandai Gamepad (1997)

Sixth-generation video game consoless (1998-2013)

Sixth-generation video game consoles were the last to be marketed by bits. The Sega Dreamcast and Sony PlayStation 2 were marketed as 128-bit due to the use of 128-bit vector units.

Home consoles

• Sega Dreamcast (1998)
• Sony PlayStation 2 (2000)
• Microsoft Xbox (2001)
• Nintendo GameCube (2001)

Handheld consoles

• GamePark GP32 (2001)
• Nintendo DS (2004)

Retro consoles

• Legacy Engineering Atari Flashback (2004) (a custom system-on-a-chip runs included Atari games ported to the NES)
• Kobian PlayPal (2006) (handheld) (a custom system-on-a-chip runs included Sega Mega Drive and Game Gear games)

Seventh-generation video game consoles (2005-2020)

Seventh-generation video game consoles were notable for the use of motion controls. With the success of the motion controllers of the Nintendo Wii, Sony released motion controllers known as the PlayStation Move for the PlayStation 3 and Microsoft released the Kinect motion detecting camera for the Xbox 360.

Home consoles

• Microsoft Xbox 360 (2005)
• Nintendo Wii (2006)
• Sony PlayStation 3 (2006)

Handheld consoles

• Nintendo DSi (2009)

Retro consoles

• AtGames Arcade Nano: Columns (2010) (a custom emulator runs included Sega Genesis games)
• AtGames Arcade Nano: Sonic (2010) (a custom emulator runs included Sega Genesis games)
• AtGames Arcade Nano: Virtua Fighter (2010) (a custom emulator runs included Sega Genesis games)
• AtGames Sega Genesis Arcade Motion Dual (2010) (a custom emulator runs included Sega Genesis games)
• Legacy Engineering Atari Flashback 2+ (2010) (a custom system-on-a-chip runs included games from the Atari 2600)

Eighth-generation video game consoles (2012-present)

Eighth-generation video game consoles were marketed as all-in-one entertainment systems that could be used as a home entertainment center for video games, music, television series and films.

Home consoles

• Nintendo Wii U (2012)
• Microsoft Xbox One (2013)
• Sony PlayStation 4 (2013)

Handheld consoles

• Nintendo 3DS (2011)
• New Nintendo 2DS (2015)

Microconsoles

• Apple TV (4th generation) (2015)
• PlayStation TV (home console version of the PlayStation Vita) (2015)

Retro consoles

• Hyperkin RetroN 5 (2014) (accepts cartridges to emulate games from the NES, SNES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Sega Genesis)
• Nintendo NES Classic Edition (2016) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Nintendo Entertainment System)
• Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer (2016) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Family Computer)
• Retro-Bit Generations (2016) (open-source emulators runs included games from the Arcade, Famicom, Game Boy, GBA, Genesis, Mega Drive, NES, SNES, and Super Famicom)

Ninth-generation video game consoles (2017-present)

Home consoles

• Nintendo Switch (2017) (handheld/home console/tablet computer hybrid)

Handheld consoles

• Nintendo Switch Lite (2019) (handheld-only Nintendo Switch)

Cloud gaming platforms

• Google Stadia (2019) (server disconnected on January 18, 2023)
• Amazon Luna (2022)

Retro consoles

• AtGames Atari Flashback Portable Deluxe (2017) (handheld)
• Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Famicom (2017) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Super Famicom)
• Retro-Bit Generations II (2017) (open-source emulators run included games from the Arcade, Famicom, Game Boy, and Super Famicom)
• Retro-Bit Super Retro Cade (2017) (open-source emulators run included games from the Arcade, Genesis, NES, and SNES)
• Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition (2017) (open-source emulator runs included games from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System)
• AtGames Activision Flashback Blast! (2018) (a custom emulator runs included Atari 2600 games)
• AtGames Atari Flashback Blast! vol. 1 (2018) (a custom emulator runs included Atari 2600 games)
• AtGames Atari Flashback Blast! vol. 2 (2018) (a custom emulator runs included Atari 2600 games)
• AtGames Atari Flashback Blast! vol. 3 (2018) (a custom emulator runs included Atari 2600 games)
• AtGames Bandai Namco Flashback Blast! (2018) (a custom emulator runs included arcade games)
• AtGames Legends Flashback Blast! (2018) (a custom emulator runs included arcade games)
• Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer - Weekly Shonen Jump 50th Anniversary Version (2018) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Family Computer)
• Retro Games THEC64 Mini (2018) (open-source emulator runs included games from the Commodore 64)
• Sony PlayStation Classic (2018) (open-source emulator runs included games from the PlayStation)
• AtGames Adventure Flashback Blast! (2019) (a custom emulator runs included Atari 2600 games)
• AtGames Star Flashback Blast! (2019) (a custom emulator runs included arcade games)
• AtGames Legends Flashback (2019) (custom emulators run included games from arcade, ColecoVision, NES, Sega Genesis, SNES)
• Sega Genesis Mini (2019) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Sega Genesis)
• Sega Mega Drive Mini (2019) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Sega Mega Drive)
• PC Engine Mini (2019) (a custom emulator runs included games from Arcade CD-ROM², CD-ROM², PC Engine, Super CD-ROM², TurboDuo, TurboGrafx-16, and TurboGrafx-CD)
• AtGames Bandai Namco Arcade Blast! (2020) (a custom emulator runs included arcade games)
• Blaze Entertainment Evercade (2020) (handheld) (open-source emulators run games on ROM cartridge from 2600, 7800, GB, GBA, Genesis, Intellivision, Lynx, NES, PS1, SMS, and SNES)
• My Arcade Bases Loaded Pocket Player (2020) (handheld) (a system-on-a-chip runs included NES games)
• My Arcade Don Doko Don Pocket Player (2020) (handheld) (a system-on-a-chip runs included NES games)
• Retro Games THEVIC20 (2020) (open-source emulator runs included games from the VIC-20)
• Retro Games The A500 Mini (2021) (open-source emulator runs included games from the Amiga 500)
• Sega Game Gear Micro (Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, and White models) (2020) (handheld) (a custom emulator runs included Game Gear and Sega Master System games)
• Sega Genesis Mini 2 (2022) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Sega Genesis and Sega CD)
• Sega Mega Drive Mini 2 (2022) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Sega Mega Drive and Mega-CD)
• Arcade1Up Pac-Man Collection (2023) (a custom emulator runs included arcade games)
• McDonalds Tetris Gaming Handheld (2023)

Tenth-generation video game consoles (2025-present)

Home consoles

• Nintendo Switch 2 (2025) (handheld/home console/tablet computer hybrid)