Nintendo 64
The Nintendo 64, commonly called the N64, is Nintendo's third home video game console. The N64 was released on June 23, 1996 in Japan, September 29, 1996 in North America and Puerto Rico, 1 March 1997 in Europe/Australia and September 1, 1997 in France. It was released with only two launch games in Japan and North America (Super Mario 64 and PilotWings 64) while Europe had a third launch title in the form of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (which was released earlier in the other markets). The Nintendo 64 cost $199 at launch in the United States. The N64 was first publicly introduced on November 24, 1995 as the Nintendo Ultra 64 at the 7th Annual Shoshinkai Software Exhibition in Japan (though preview pictures from the Nintendo "Project Reality" console had been published in American magazines as early as June, 1993). The first published photos from the event were presented on the web via coverage by Game Zero magazine two days after the event. Official coverage by Nintendo soon followed a few weeks later on the nascent Nintendo Power website, and then in volume #85 of their print magazine.

Nintendo GameCube
The Nintendo GameCube is Nintendo's fourth home video game console, belonging to the Sixth generation era; the same generation as Sega's Dreamcast, Sony's PlayStation 2, and Microsoft's Xbox. The GameCube itself is the most compact and inexpensive of the sixth generation era consoles.The Nintendo GameCube uses a unique storage medium, the GameCube Optical Disc, a proprietary format based on Matsushita's optical-disc technology; the discs are approximately 8 centimeters (3 1/8 inches) in diameter (considerably smaller than the 12cm CDs or DVDs used in competitors' consoles), and the discs have a capacity of approximately 1.5 gigabytes. Contrary to popular belief, GameCube discs are not physically read any differently from a standard DVD disc, but are encrypted and contain a 'barcode' unreadable by most DVD-ROM drives. This move was mainly intended to prevent piracy of GCN titles, but like most anti-piracy technology, it was eventually cracked. By exploiting a flaw in Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II, users were able to connect their GameCubes to their PC's and run homebrew programming on the console. [1]. Later, a special debug mode in the GameCube drive was discovered which allowed the console to read and play from standard mini dvdrs.

Nintendo Revolution
The Nintendo Revolution is the current codename for Nintendo's fifth home video game console and the successor to the Nintendo GameCube.The Nintendo Revolution is the smallest console Nintendo has ever manufactured, described by Nintendo as being "about the thickness of three standard DVD cases and only slightly longer". Nintendo has stated that Revolution will be backward compatible with all GameCube software and most peripherals. The side of the console (or top if stood vertically) is the GameCube docking station, featuring four controller ports and 2 memory card slots compatible with GameCube Memory Cards and the Nintendo GameCube Microphone. The Revolution's self-loading media drive accepts 8cm GameCube discs as well as the standard 12cm discs such as Revolution games and DVDs. This is a first for self-loading media drives, which have previously only been able to accept discs of a single size.The console also has the ability to play NES, SNES, and N64 games through the Virtual Console feature.

Game Boy
The original Game Boy was released on April 20, 1989 in Japan and in August 1989 in the United States. Based around a Z80 processor, it had a black and green reflective LCD screen, an eight-way directional pad, and two action buttons. It played games from ROM-based media contained in small plastic detachable units called cartridges (sometimes abbreviated as carts).

Game Boy Pocket
In 1996, Nintendo released the Game Boy Pocket, a smaller, lighter unit that required fewer batteries. It had space for 2 AAA batteries, which would provide roughly 10 hours of game play. The Game Boy Pocket has a smaller link port, requiring an adapter for linkage with the older Game Boy. The port's design was used on all subsequent Game Boy models, up until the Game Boy micro. The screen was changed to a true black-and-white display, rather than the "pea soup" monochromatic display of the original Game Boy. The first version did not have a LED to show battery levels, but was soon added due to public demand.

Game Boy Color
Released in November 1998, the Game Boy Color (also referred to as GBC) added a color screen to a form factor slightly larger than the Game Boy Pocket. It also has double the processor speed, twice as much memory, and an infrared communications port. A major draw of the Game Boy Color was its backward compatibility (that is, a Game Boy Color is able to read older Game Boy cartridges and even play them in selectable color). This became a major feature of the Game Boy line, since it allowed each new launch to begin with a significantly larger library than any of its competitors. Technologically, it was likened to the NES from the 1980s.

Game Boy Advance
In June 2001, Nintendo released a significant upgrade to the Game Boy line. The Game Boy Advance (also referred to as GBA) featured a 32 bit 16.8 MHz ARM. It included a Z80 processor for backward-compatibility support. It was technically likened to the SNES and showed its power with successful ports of Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island. It has also been accompanied alongside new titles such as Mario Kart Super Circuit and F-Zero: Maximum Velocity.

Game Boy Advance SP
Launched in March 2003, the Game Boy Advance SP resolved several problems with the original model. It features a new smaller clamshell design with a flip-up screen (protecting the screen, an issue with the original), an internal frontlight (the original had no such light), and rechargeable battery, but was otherwise unchanged. The SP stands for Special [1]. In mid September 2005, Nintendo released a new model that featured a new and improved backlit screen. As of this writing, the SP is the last Game Boy handheld to offer backward compatibility with Game Boy/Game Boy Color games.

Game Boy Micro
The Nintendo Game Boy microA second Game Boy Advance redesign (third design), the Game Boy micro is four inches wide, two inches tall, and less than an inch deep and weighs 2.8 ounces, by far the smallest Game Boy created. It is slightly smaller than the SP or GBA screens while maintaining the same resolution (240 × 160 pixels). The Game Boy micro is not backward compatible with Game Boy or Game Boy Color games. It was released on September 19, 2005 in Japan and North America. It was released in Europe on November 4, 2005. The micro's North American launch price of $99.99 was lowered to $89.99 during the 2005 holiday season.

Nintendo DS
The Nintendo DS launched on November 20, 2004 in North America and December 4, 2004 in Japan, making it unusual as a Nintendo device to launch in North America before Japan. In fact, its unusual design and touch-screen control completely separated it from the Game Boy line. Instead, Nintendo refers to it as their third pillar; their home consoles (such as the Nintendo GameCube) being the first pillar and their Game Boy line of portables being the second pillar. However, the Nintendo DS can be considered a part of the portable family due to structural similarities to Game Boy and its ability to play Game Boy Advance cartridges (but not Game Boy Color or original Game Boy cartridges). It was technically likened to the Nintendo 64.

Nintendo DS Lite
In January 26, 2006 Nintendo announced that like other systems, DS would receive its own lighter, more compact version, Nintendo DS Lite. It is smaller than the current DS model—133 × 73.9 × 21.5mm against 148.7 × 84.7 × 27.9. It is also lighter, at 218g against 295g. It will sell for 16,800 yen ($145), compared with the current model's price of 15,000 yen ($130).

PSone
The PSone (also PSOne or PS one) is Sony's smaller version of its PlayStation video game console. The PSone is about 1⁄3 smaller than the original PlayStation (38mm × 193mm × 144mm versus 45mm × 260mm × 185mm), was released in September 2000, and went on to outsell all other consoles—including Sony's own brand-new PlayStation 2—throughout the remainder of the year. Sony also released a small LCD screen and a cigarette-lighter adaptor to power the unit for use in cars. The PSone is fully compatabile with all PlayStation software.

PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is Sony's second video game console, the successor to the PlayStation and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3. Its development was announced in March 1999, and it was first released in Japan on March 4, 2000 and in North America and Puerto Rico on October 26, 2000. It was released in Europe on November 24, 2000. The PS2 is part of the sixth generation era, and has become the fastest selling gaming console in history, with over 100 million units shipped by November 2005, beating the previous record holder, the PlayStation, by three years and nine months. When the PlayStation 2 launched in Japan in March 2000, Sony sold 980,000 units over the opening weekend. When the PlayStation 2 launched in America in October 26, 2000, Sony sold 510,000 units within the first 24 hours. With a price of $299.99 per console, Sony made gross sales of roughly $153,000,000. To this day, the PS2 holds the record for the most consoles sold in a single day as well as the record for most consoles sold in launch day in America. PS2's opening day console sales eclipsed the previous record of 225,000 made by the Sega Dreamcast in 1999. The PlayStation 2 holds the record of fastest selling video game console ever, 100 million PlayStation 2 units were shipped in only five years and nine months, shattering the previous record of nine years and six months by the PlayStation.

PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is Sony's Seventh generation era video game console in the market-leading PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 is slated for release this year. Specifically, Sony representatives have informed video game store clerks to expect a North American shipment in the summer of 2006, also quoted as "somewhere between June and September." It is the successor to the PlayStation 2 and will mainly compete against the Nintendo Revolution and Xbox 360. Sony has announced that the PS3 will be backward compatible with earlier PS1 and PS2 games. The PS3 was officially unveiled on May 16, 2005 by Sony during the E3 conference, where the console was first shown to the public. A functional version of the console was not at E3 or the Tokyo Game Show in September 2005, although some demonstrations were held on devkits and videos of soon-to-be released games created to run on systems with the same specs as the PS3 were presented, such as Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 3.

Sony PSX
PSX is the name of a Sony media center, PVR and DVD recorder based on the PlayStation 2 video game console. Since it was designed to be a general-function audiovisual device, it was marketed by the main Sony Corporation (whereas SCEI markets the corporation's specific game-related hardware). It was released in Japan on December 13, 2003. There were plans to release it in other territories in 2004, but as of 2005, these plans appear to be postponed indefinitely. The PSX features either a 160 GB or 250 GB hard drive to record television shows, home movies, digital photos, or to play PlayStation 2 titles compatible with the PlayStation 2 Hard Disk Drive. The PSX can be linked with the portable PSP device to transfer videos and music. There is also the indication that the PSX will be linked with the PlayStation 3, meaning that existing PSX owners will not be left out. This could possibly mean that the base version of the PS3 would connect to the PSX to form the “home server” version of the PS3.

Sony PSP
The PlayStation Portable (officially PSP), a handheld game console, is a product of Sony Computer Entertainment. It is Sony's first entry into handheld systems. The PSP was first announced during E³ 2003 and was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference during E³ 2004. The PSP's major rival, the Nintendo DS, is considered to be in the same market as the PlayStation Portable (though representatives from both companies have stated that each system targets a different audience). It is a tie currently between the Nintendo DS and the PSP. As of Friday October 21, 2005, the PSP had shipped 10 million units worldwide. These are only figures for the number of PSP units shipped to retailers, however. The figures are not for how many PSPs have actually been sold. Sony was expecting a large boost in sales by the end of the year with the creation of the PSP Giga Pack, which debuted at the start of the holiday season. By hitting 10 million units shipped in 10 months it marked the "fastest penetration speed" of any PlayStation platform.The PSP is capable of displaying still image, movie, and audio files stored on the UMD disk format or a memory stick. The system supports MP3 and Sony's ATRAC3 plus formats for audio, MPEG-4 for video on UMD discs, and JPEG images. The PSP also has the capability to decode MPEG-4 Part 2 and MPEG-4 Part 3 from the *.mp4 container, if located on the Memory Stick.

Xbox
The Microsoft Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console first released on November 15, 2001 in North America, then released on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and on March 14, 2002 in Europe. It was Microsoft's first independent venture into the console arena, after having developed the operating system and development tools for the MSX, and having collaborated with Sega in porting Windows CE to the Sega Dreamcast console. Notable launch titles for the console include Amped, Dead or Alive 3, Halo: Combat Evolved, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, and Project Gotham Racing.The Xbox was initially developed within Microsoft by a small team which included Seamus Blackley, a game developer and high energy physicist. The rumors of a video game console being developed by Microsoft first emerged at the end of 1999 following interviews of Bill Gates. Gates said that a gaming/multimedia device was essential for multimedia convergence in the new times of digital entertainment. In May 2000 the "X-Box Project" was officially confirmed by Microsoft.Some see the Xbox as a way to capitalize on the growing video game market, noting that the PC market growth was stagnating. Being based upon Windows and standard PC hardware, the Xbox was more familiar to developers and as a result was significantly easier to develop for in contrast to PlayStation 2's proprietary processor and operating system, and the near-endless variety of end-user configurations on the PC.According to the book Smartbomb, by Heather Chaplin and Aaron Ruby, the success of the Sony PlayStation worried Microsoft in late 90's. According to article, "Bill Gates was becoming increasingly frustrated by Sony's success in the videogames market, and tried personally to convince Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei to use a version of Microsoft Windows in Sony’s next-generation console but Gates was flatly rejected". Microsoft did not want to end up as being "just another corporate software maker". The X-Box project, according to this book, was a direct response to this, the PlayStation 2 and PS2 Linux was a threat for Microsoft personal computer dominance.

Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is Microsoft's second video game console, the successor to their original Xbox. The Xbox 360 will compete amongst the upcoming generation of consoles, including the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Revolution, and was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, a week before the E3 trade show.In all countries except Japan the console is sold in two different configurations: the "Xbox 360" and the "Xbox 360 Core System". The Xbox 360 configuration, often referred to as the "Premium Edition", includes ard drive (required for backwards compatibility with original Xbox games), a wireless controller, a headset, an Ethernet cable, an Xbox Live silver subscription, and a component HD AV cable (which can also be used on non-HD TVs).The Xbox 360 has the ability to support up to four wireless controllers. Alternately it can support two wired controllers through the use of its USB ports at the front, the USB port on the back will support a third controller.A detachable SATA 20 GB hard drive is used for the storage of games, music, downloaded trailers, levels, demos, player preferences, and community-created content from Xbox Live Marketplace; it may also be used to transfer such content between Xbox 360 units. Only 13 GB of this hard drive are available to the user; the rest is reserved for the system and games. A hard drive is also required for the user to be able to play backward compatible Xbox games. The individual drives will come pre-loaded with a promotional video about the making of the Xbox 360, the "XBOX 360 Custom Mix" (A collection of music), additional Dashboard skins, songs, additional Xbox Live Gamertag images, and Hexic HD, an Xbox Live Arcade game from Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov. This content will be included on both the bundled hard drive and the stand alone product. This drive will not be included in the Core System bundle at launch, and also will not be sold separately in Japan.

Arcade Game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, typically installed in businesses such as restaurants, pubs, video arcades, and Family Entertainment Centers. Most arcade games are redemption games, video games or pinball machines.Virtually all modern arcade games (other than the very traditional midway-type games at county fairs) make extensive use of solid state electronics and integrated circuits. Coin-operated arcade video games generally use multiple CPUs, additional sound and graphics chips and/or boards, and the latest in computer graphics display technology. The newest arcade video games tend to also have interactivity as part of the game design, making the game player feel like they are more kinesthetically connected to the game itself. One form of interactive technology, virtual reality, has failed to truly become popular in arcade games, but this is due to the technical limitations of truly being able to achieve real virtual reality by any means.Many older arcade games are enjoying a revival among fans, thanks to emulators such as MAME, which can be run on modern computers and a number of other devices.Arcade games often have very short levels, simple, easy to grasp controllers, iconic characters, and rapidly increasing difficulty. They are designed as quick bursts of adrenaline-fueled thrills, as opposed to most console games, which feature more in-depth gameplay, and stronger storylines. This is due to being coin-operated, where you are essentially renting the game for as long as your game avatar can stay alive. Games on consoles or the PC can be refered to as an "arcade game" if it shares these qualities, or if it's a direct port of an arcade title.Arcade racing games have simplified physics and do not require much learning time, in opposition to racing simulators. Cars can turn sharply without losing speed or overdrifting, and AI is programmed so the rivals are always near the player (rubberband effect).

Sega Dreamcast
The Sega Dreamcast (Japanese: code-named "Blackbelt", "Dural" and "Katana" during development) was Sega's last video game console. An attempt to recapture the console market with a next-generation system, it was designed to supersede Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's N64, and although generally considered to be "ahead of its time", it failed to gather enough momentum before the release of the PlayStation 2 a year later. After the Dreamcast was discontinued, Sega withdrew from the console hardware business.When the time came to design the successor to the Sega Saturn, the new President of Sega, Shoichiro Irimajiri, took the unusual step of hiring an outsider. He hired Tatsuo Yamamoto from IBM Austin to head a skunkworks group to develop the next-generation console. However, it soon became apparent that the existing Japanese hardware group led by Hideki Sato did not want to relinquish control of hardware, and so there were two competing designs led by two different groups.Dreamcast used a proprietary format called GD-ROM (Gigabyte Disc Read Only Memory) or "GigaDisc" for storing games in order to discourage software pirates, although it had similar overall technology to the CD-ROM. However, the first run of discs had a high rate of defects; and eventually pirates managed to copy the games anyway (in some cases distributing them before the release of the legitimate versions). The primary reason this was possible was the existence of regular-CD booting code in the Dreamcast BIOS to enable multimedia functions (called Mil-CD) for music CD releases on the Japanese market; this was eventually discovered and exploited by pirates. Mil-CD support was removed from the final Dreamcast revisions toward the end of the console's life, but rampant piracy is often cited, erroneously, as one of the major reasons for the failure of the Dreamcast. (Software sales remained strong throughout the console's lifespan.)

Sega Saturn
The Sega Saturn is a video game console of the 32-bit era. It was released on November 22, 1994 in Japan, and May 1995 in North America. Approximately 170,000 machines were sold the first day of the Japanese launch.At one time, the Sega Saturn had obtained second place in the console wars, placing it above Nintendo's Super Famicom in Japan and Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in North America and Europe, but the Saturn was losing power because of some newcomers: Sony's PlayStation and, outside Japan, the cartridge-based Nintendo 64.The Japanese Saturn was rushed to the market, just a few weeks ahead of its rival, Sony's PlayStation, which led to very few games being available when the Saturn launched.Sega's Away Team worked for an entire two years exclusively to make certain that the Sega Saturn was launched with some of the world's best hardware and software. The 27-member Away Team comprises Sega employees from every aspect of hardware engineering, product development, and marketing. Their sole mission was to ensure that Sega Saturn's hardware and design met the precise needs of both the U.S. and Japanese markets.In May 1995, Sega launched the Saturn in the USA, a full four months ahead of schedule. This was announced at that year's E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) where Sega representatives were engaged in a public relations battle with Sony. This surprise move resulted in very few sales, however. This was due largely to the $399 USD price of the system and the lack of available software at time of launch. Also, Sega chose to ship Saturn units only to four select retailers. This caused a great deal of animosity toward Sega from unselected companies, including Wal-Mart and K.B. Toys. Additionally, summer may have been a poor time to launch a console, as most consoles in the U.S. traditionally had been released near the beginning of fall, to coincide with the upcoming Christmas shopping season.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, and Australia. In Japan it is known as the Super Famicom. In South Korea, it is known as the Super Comboy. That console was licensed and distributed by Hyundai Electronics.The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was Nintendo's second home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System (often abbreviated to NES, released as the Famicom in Japan). Whereas the earlier system had struggled in Europe and large parts of Asia the SNES proved to be a global success, albeit one that could not match its predecessor's popularity in South East Asia and North America—due in part to increased competition from Sega's Mega Drive console (released in North America as the Genesis). Despite its relatively late start, the SNES became the best selling console of the 16-bit era but only after its competitor Sega had pulled out of the 16-bit market to focus on its 32-bit next generation console.

Sega Master System
The Sega Master System (SMS for short), is an 8-bit cartridge-based gaming console that was manufactured by Sega. Its original Japanese incarnation was the SG-1000 Mark III. This console launched SEGA onto the same competitive level as Nintendo, at least in the Japanese market. The Master System was released as a direct competitor to the NES/Famicom. The system ultimately failed to oust its competitor, but has enjoyed over a decade of life in secondary markets, especially Brazil.The SG-1000 Mark III came after the SG-1000 Mark I and SG-1000 Mark II. It was released in Japan on October 20, 1985. The mascot of the system was Alex Kidd.The system was redesigned and was sold in the United States under the name Sega Master System in June 1986, one year after the Nintendo Entertainment System was released. The console sold for $200. The Master System was then released in other places, including a second release in Japan in 1987 under its new name.Though the Master System was more technically advanced in some ways than the NES, it did not attain the same level of popularity among consumers in the United States. Its lack of success in the U.S. has been attributed to various causes, among them the difference in game titles available for each platform and the slightly later release date of the Master System. The licensing agreement that Nintendo had with its third-party game developers may have had an impact as well; the agreement stated, in effect, that developers would exclusively produce games for the NES. The Master System sold 125,000 consoles in the first four months. In the same period, the NES would net 2,000,000.

3DO Interactive Multiplayer
3DO Interactive Multiplayer is the name of a number of video game consoles released in 1993 and 1994 by Panasonic, Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company which were originally designed at the New Technology Group (which later became part of the 3DO Company) by Dave Needle and RJ Mical. After leaving EA Games, Trip Hawkins originally came up with the idea of the 3DO Multiplayer system.The consoles had very advanced hardware features at the time: an ARM60 32-bit RISC CPU, two custom video co-processors, a custom 16-bit DSP and a custom math coprocessor. They also featured 2 megabytes of DRAM, 1 megabyte of VRAM, and a double speed CD-ROM drive for main storage, Up to 8 controllers could be daisy-chained on the system at once. In addition to special 3DO software, the system was able to play audio CDs (including support for CD+G), view Photo CDs, and Video CDs with an add-on MPEG video card (released in Japan only). However, few titles utilized the console's full potential, which, along with its high price (699.95 USD at release) and the inability of the console market to sustain multiple platforms, put it in an early grave. The final nail in the coffin was the scuttling of the project after the expensive development of the successor console, the M2.A noteable feature of the console is that it is one of few CD-based consoles that feature neither regional lockout nor copy protection, scoring it points amongst import gamers and software pirates alike, though reports have suggested that the Goldstar model isn't particularly durable when used for either of those purposes.It can be said that the 3DO software library exhibits some of the worst aspects of home video games at the time, even if there are a few gems. This was the dawn of CD-ROM gaming, so cutscenes of pixelated video footage dominated many titles at the expense of good gameplay. The best titles were usually ports of games from other systems--including Alone in the Dark, Myst, Out of This World, and Star Control II. Other notable titles include Need For Speed, Cannon Fodder, Slayer, Killing Time, and the first console port of Super Street Fighter II Turbo, which exceeded the original with its CD-quality audio. Game series that started on 3DO by Electronic Arts, Studio 3DO and Crystal Dynamics established themselves on other 32-bit consoles.In addition to the consoles, a 3DO Blaster ISA peripheral card for PCs which offered all the features of the home console was manufactured by Creative Technology.The 3DO Company also designed a next-generation console called the M2, which was to use a PowerPC 602 processor, but the company abandoned the console business and sold the technology to Matsushita who never brought the system to the market.

Nintendo Wii

Nintendo 64
The Nintendo 64, commonly called the N64, is Nintendo's third home video game console. The N64 was released on June 23, 1996 in Japan, September 29, 1996 in North America and Puerto Rico, 1 March 1997 in Europe/Australia and September 1, 1997 in France. It was released with only two launch games in Japan and North America (Super Mario 64 and PilotWings 64) while Europe had a third launch title in the form of Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (which was released earlier in the other markets). The Nintendo 64 cost $199 at launch in the United States. The N64 was first publicly introduced on November 24, 1995 as the Nintendo Ultra 64 at the 7th Annual Shoshinkai Software Exhibition in Japan (though preview pictures from the Nintendo "Project Reality" console had been published in American magazines as early as June, 1993). The first published photos from the event were presented on the web via coverage by Game Zero magazine two days after the event. Official coverage by Nintendo soon followed a few weeks later on the nascent Nintendo Power website, and then in volume #85 of their print magazine.

Nintendo GameCube
The Nintendo GameCube is Nintendo's fourth home video game console, belonging to the Sixth generation era; the same generation as Sega's Dreamcast, Sony's PlayStation 2, and Microsoft's Xbox. The GameCube itself is the most compact and inexpensive of the sixth generation era consoles.The Nintendo GameCube uses a unique storage medium, the GameCube Optical Disc, a proprietary format based on Matsushita's optical-disc technology; the discs are approximately 8 centimeters (3 1/8 inches) in diameter (considerably smaller than the 12cm CDs or DVDs used in competitors' consoles), and the discs have a capacity of approximately 1.5 gigabytes. Contrary to popular belief, GameCube discs are not physically read any differently from a standard DVD disc, but are encrypted and contain a 'barcode' unreadable by most DVD-ROM drives. This move was mainly intended to prevent piracy of GCN titles, but like most anti-piracy technology, it was eventually cracked. By exploiting a flaw in Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II, users were able to connect their GameCubes to their PC's and run homebrew programming on the console. [1]. Later, a special debug mode in the GameCube drive was discovered which allowed the console to read and play from standard mini dvdrs.

Nintendo Revolution
The Nintendo Revolution is the current codename for Nintendo's fifth home video game console and the successor to the Nintendo GameCube.The Nintendo Revolution is the smallest console Nintendo has ever manufactured, described by Nintendo as being "about the thickness of three standard DVD cases and only slightly longer". Nintendo has stated that Revolution will be backward compatible with all GameCube software and most peripherals. The side of the console (or top if stood vertically) is the GameCube docking station, featuring four controller ports and 2 memory card slots compatible with GameCube Memory Cards and the Nintendo GameCube Microphone. The Revolution's self-loading media drive accepts 8cm GameCube discs as well as the standard 12cm discs such as Revolution games and DVDs. This is a first for self-loading media drives, which have previously only been able to accept discs of a single size.The console also has the ability to play NES, SNES, and N64 games through the Virtual Console feature.

Game Boy
The original Game Boy was released on April 20, 1989 in Japan and in August 1989 in the United States. Based around a Z80 processor, it had a black and green reflective LCD screen, an eight-way directional pad, and two action buttons. It played games from ROM-based media contained in small plastic detachable units called cartridges (sometimes abbreviated as carts).

Game Boy Pocket
In 1996, Nintendo released the Game Boy Pocket, a smaller, lighter unit that required fewer batteries. It had space for 2 AAA batteries, which would provide roughly 10 hours of game play. The Game Boy Pocket has a smaller link port, requiring an adapter for linkage with the older Game Boy. The port's design was used on all subsequent Game Boy models, up until the Game Boy micro. The screen was changed to a true black-and-white display, rather than the "pea soup" monochromatic display of the original Game Boy. The first version did not have a LED to show battery levels, but was soon added due to public demand.

Game Boy Color
Released in November 1998, the Game Boy Color (also referred to as GBC) added a color screen to a form factor slightly larger than the Game Boy Pocket. It also has double the processor speed, twice as much memory, and an infrared communications port. A major draw of the Game Boy Color was its backward compatibility (that is, a Game Boy Color is able to read older Game Boy cartridges and even play them in selectable color). This became a major feature of the Game Boy line, since it allowed each new launch to begin with a significantly larger library than any of its competitors. Technologically, it was likened to the NES from the 1980s.

Game Boy Advance
In June 2001, Nintendo released a significant upgrade to the Game Boy line. The Game Boy Advance (also referred to as GBA) featured a 32 bit 16.8 MHz ARM. It included a Z80 processor for backward-compatibility support. It was technically likened to the SNES and showed its power with successful ports of Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island. It has also been accompanied alongside new titles such as Mario Kart Super Circuit and F-Zero: Maximum Velocity.

Game Boy Advance SP
Launched in March 2003, the Game Boy Advance SP resolved several problems with the original model. It features a new smaller clamshell design with a flip-up screen (protecting the screen, an issue with the original), an internal frontlight (the original had no such light), and rechargeable battery, but was otherwise unchanged. The SP stands for Special [1]. In mid September 2005, Nintendo released a new model that featured a new and improved backlit screen. As of this writing, the SP is the last Game Boy handheld to offer backward compatibility with Game Boy/Game Boy Color games.

Game Boy Micro
The Nintendo Game Boy microA second Game Boy Advance redesign (third design), the Game Boy micro is four inches wide, two inches tall, and less than an inch deep and weighs 2.8 ounces, by far the smallest Game Boy created. It is slightly smaller than the SP or GBA screens while maintaining the same resolution (240 × 160 pixels). The Game Boy micro is not backward compatible with Game Boy or Game Boy Color games. It was released on September 19, 2005 in Japan and North America. It was released in Europe on November 4, 2005. The micro's North American launch price of $99.99 was lowered to $89.99 during the 2005 holiday season.

Nintendo DS
The Nintendo DS launched on November 20, 2004 in North America and December 4, 2004 in Japan, making it unusual as a Nintendo device to launch in North America before Japan. In fact, its unusual design and touch-screen control completely separated it from the Game Boy line. Instead, Nintendo refers to it as their third pillar; their home consoles (such as the Nintendo GameCube) being the first pillar and their Game Boy line of portables being the second pillar. However, the Nintendo DS can be considered a part of the portable family due to structural similarities to Game Boy and its ability to play Game Boy Advance cartridges (but not Game Boy Color or original Game Boy cartridges). It was technically likened to the Nintendo 64.

Nintendo DS Lite
In January 26, 2006 Nintendo announced that like other systems, DS would receive its own lighter, more compact version, Nintendo DS Lite. It is smaller than the current DS model—133 × 73.9 × 21.5mm against 148.7 × 84.7 × 27.9. It is also lighter, at 218g against 295g. It will sell for 16,800 yen ($145), compared with the current model's price of 15,000 yen ($130).

PSone
The PSone (also PSOne or PS one) is Sony's smaller version of its PlayStation video game console. The PSone is about 1⁄3 smaller than the original PlayStation (38mm × 193mm × 144mm versus 45mm × 260mm × 185mm), was released in September 2000, and went on to outsell all other consoles—including Sony's own brand-new PlayStation 2—throughout the remainder of the year. Sony also released a small LCD screen and a cigarette-lighter adaptor to power the unit for use in cars. The PSone is fully compatabile with all PlayStation software.

PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is Sony's second video game console, the successor to the PlayStation and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3. Its development was announced in March 1999, and it was first released in Japan on March 4, 2000 and in North America and Puerto Rico on October 26, 2000. It was released in Europe on November 24, 2000. The PS2 is part of the sixth generation era, and has become the fastest selling gaming console in history, with over 100 million units shipped by November 2005, beating the previous record holder, the PlayStation, by three years and nine months. When the PlayStation 2 launched in Japan in March 2000, Sony sold 980,000 units over the opening weekend. When the PlayStation 2 launched in America in October 26, 2000, Sony sold 510,000 units within the first 24 hours. With a price of $299.99 per console, Sony made gross sales of roughly $153,000,000. To this day, the PS2 holds the record for the most consoles sold in a single day as well as the record for most consoles sold in launch day in America. PS2's opening day console sales eclipsed the previous record of 225,000 made by the Sega Dreamcast in 1999. The PlayStation 2 holds the record of fastest selling video game console ever, 100 million PlayStation 2 units were shipped in only five years and nine months, shattering the previous record of nine years and six months by the PlayStation.

PlayStation 3
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is Sony's Seventh generation era video game console in the market-leading PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 is slated for release this year. Specifically, Sony representatives have informed video game store clerks to expect a North American shipment in the summer of 2006, also quoted as "somewhere between June and September." It is the successor to the PlayStation 2 and will mainly compete against the Nintendo Revolution and Xbox 360. Sony has announced that the PS3 will be backward compatible with earlier PS1 and PS2 games. The PS3 was officially unveiled on May 16, 2005 by Sony during the E3 conference, where the console was first shown to the public. A functional version of the console was not at E3 or the Tokyo Game Show in September 2005, although some demonstrations were held on devkits and videos of soon-to-be released games created to run on systems with the same specs as the PS3 were presented, such as Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 3.

Sony PSX
PSX is the name of a Sony media center, PVR and DVD recorder based on the PlayStation 2 video game console. Since it was designed to be a general-function audiovisual device, it was marketed by the main Sony Corporation (whereas SCEI markets the corporation's specific game-related hardware). It was released in Japan on December 13, 2003. There were plans to release it in other territories in 2004, but as of 2005, these plans appear to be postponed indefinitely. The PSX features either a 160 GB or 250 GB hard drive to record television shows, home movies, digital photos, or to play PlayStation 2 titles compatible with the PlayStation 2 Hard Disk Drive. The PSX can be linked with the portable PSP device to transfer videos and music. There is also the indication that the PSX will be linked with the PlayStation 3, meaning that existing PSX owners will not be left out. This could possibly mean that the base version of the PS3 would connect to the PSX to form the “home server” version of the PS3.

Sony PSP
The PlayStation Portable (officially PSP), a handheld game console, is a product of Sony Computer Entertainment. It is Sony's first entry into handheld systems. The PSP was first announced during E³ 2003 and was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference during E³ 2004. The PSP's major rival, the Nintendo DS, is considered to be in the same market as the PlayStation Portable (though representatives from both companies have stated that each system targets a different audience). It is a tie currently between the Nintendo DS and the PSP. As of Friday October 21, 2005, the PSP had shipped 10 million units worldwide. These are only figures for the number of PSP units shipped to retailers, however. The figures are not for how many PSPs have actually been sold. Sony was expecting a large boost in sales by the end of the year with the creation of the PSP Giga Pack, which debuted at the start of the holiday season. By hitting 10 million units shipped in 10 months it marked the "fastest penetration speed" of any PlayStation platform.The PSP is capable of displaying still image, movie, and audio files stored on the UMD disk format or a memory stick. The system supports MP3 and Sony's ATRAC3 plus formats for audio, MPEG-4 for video on UMD discs, and JPEG images. The PSP also has the capability to decode MPEG-4 Part 2 and MPEG-4 Part 3 from the *.mp4 container, if located on the Memory Stick.

Xbox
The Microsoft Xbox is a sixth generation era video game console first released on November 15, 2001 in North America, then released on February 22, 2002 in Japan, and on March 14, 2002 in Europe. It was Microsoft's first independent venture into the console arena, after having developed the operating system and development tools for the MSX, and having collaborated with Sega in porting Windows CE to the Sega Dreamcast console. Notable launch titles for the console include Amped, Dead or Alive 3, Halo: Combat Evolved, Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, and Project Gotham Racing.The Xbox was initially developed within Microsoft by a small team which included Seamus Blackley, a game developer and high energy physicist. The rumors of a video game console being developed by Microsoft first emerged at the end of 1999 following interviews of Bill Gates. Gates said that a gaming/multimedia device was essential for multimedia convergence in the new times of digital entertainment. In May 2000 the "X-Box Project" was officially confirmed by Microsoft.Some see the Xbox as a way to capitalize on the growing video game market, noting that the PC market growth was stagnating. Being based upon Windows and standard PC hardware, the Xbox was more familiar to developers and as a result was significantly easier to develop for in contrast to PlayStation 2's proprietary processor and operating system, and the near-endless variety of end-user configurations on the PC.According to the book Smartbomb, by Heather Chaplin and Aaron Ruby, the success of the Sony PlayStation worried Microsoft in late 90's. According to article, "Bill Gates was becoming increasingly frustrated by Sony's success in the videogames market, and tried personally to convince Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei to use a version of Microsoft Windows in Sony’s next-generation console but Gates was flatly rejected". Microsoft did not want to end up as being "just another corporate software maker". The X-Box project, according to this book, was a direct response to this, the PlayStation 2 and PS2 Linux was a threat for Microsoft personal computer dominance.

Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is Microsoft's second video game console, the successor to their original Xbox. The Xbox 360 will compete amongst the upcoming generation of consoles, including the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Revolution, and was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, a week before the E3 trade show.In all countries except Japan the console is sold in two different configurations: the "Xbox 360" and the "Xbox 360 Core System". The Xbox 360 configuration, often referred to as the "Premium Edition", includes ard drive (required for backwards compatibility with original Xbox games), a wireless controller, a headset, an Ethernet cable, an Xbox Live silver subscription, and a component HD AV cable (which can also be used on non-HD TVs).The Xbox 360 has the ability to support up to four wireless controllers. Alternately it can support two wired controllers through the use of its USB ports at the front, the USB port on the back will support a third controller.A detachable SATA 20 GB hard drive is used for the storage of games, music, downloaded trailers, levels, demos, player preferences, and community-created content from Xbox Live Marketplace; it may also be used to transfer such content between Xbox 360 units. Only 13 GB of this hard drive are available to the user; the rest is reserved for the system and games. A hard drive is also required for the user to be able to play backward compatible Xbox games. The individual drives will come pre-loaded with a promotional video about the making of the Xbox 360, the "XBOX 360 Custom Mix" (A collection of music), additional Dashboard skins, songs, additional Xbox Live Gamertag images, and Hexic HD, an Xbox Live Arcade game from Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov. This content will be included on both the bundled hard drive and the stand alone product. This drive will not be included in the Core System bundle at launch, and also will not be sold separately in Japan.

Arcade Game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, typically installed in businesses such as restaurants, pubs, video arcades, and Family Entertainment Centers. Most arcade games are redemption games, video games or pinball machines.Virtually all modern arcade games (other than the very traditional midway-type games at county fairs) make extensive use of solid state electronics and integrated circuits. Coin-operated arcade video games generally use multiple CPUs, additional sound and graphics chips and/or boards, and the latest in computer graphics display technology. The newest arcade video games tend to also have interactivity as part of the game design, making the game player feel like they are more kinesthetically connected to the game itself. One form of interactive technology, virtual reality, has failed to truly become popular in arcade games, but this is due to the technical limitations of truly being able to achieve real virtual reality by any means.Many older arcade games are enjoying a revival among fans, thanks to emulators such as MAME, which can be run on modern computers and a number of other devices.Arcade games often have very short levels, simple, easy to grasp controllers, iconic characters, and rapidly increasing difficulty. They are designed as quick bursts of adrenaline-fueled thrills, as opposed to most console games, which feature more in-depth gameplay, and stronger storylines. This is due to being coin-operated, where you are essentially renting the game for as long as your game avatar can stay alive. Games on consoles or the PC can be refered to as an "arcade game" if it shares these qualities, or if it's a direct port of an arcade title.Arcade racing games have simplified physics and do not require much learning time, in opposition to racing simulators. Cars can turn sharply without losing speed or overdrifting, and AI is programmed so the rivals are always near the player (rubberband effect).

Sega Dreamcast
The Sega Dreamcast (Japanese: code-named "Blackbelt", "Dural" and "Katana" during development) was Sega's last video game console. An attempt to recapture the console market with a next-generation system, it was designed to supersede Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's N64, and although generally considered to be "ahead of its time", it failed to gather enough momentum before the release of the PlayStation 2 a year later. After the Dreamcast was discontinued, Sega withdrew from the console hardware business.When the time came to design the successor to the Sega Saturn, the new President of Sega, Shoichiro Irimajiri, took the unusual step of hiring an outsider. He hired Tatsuo Yamamoto from IBM Austin to head a skunkworks group to develop the next-generation console. However, it soon became apparent that the existing Japanese hardware group led by Hideki Sato did not want to relinquish control of hardware, and so there were two competing designs led by two different groups.Dreamcast used a proprietary format called GD-ROM (Gigabyte Disc Read Only Memory) or "GigaDisc" for storing games in order to discourage software pirates, although it had similar overall technology to the CD-ROM. However, the first run of discs had a high rate of defects; and eventually pirates managed to copy the games anyway (in some cases distributing them before the release of the legitimate versions). The primary reason this was possible was the existence of regular-CD booting code in the Dreamcast BIOS to enable multimedia functions (called Mil-CD) for music CD releases on the Japanese market; this was eventually discovered and exploited by pirates. Mil-CD support was removed from the final Dreamcast revisions toward the end of the console's life, but rampant piracy is often cited, erroneously, as one of the major reasons for the failure of the Dreamcast. (Software sales remained strong throughout the console's lifespan.)

Sega Saturn
The Sega Saturn is a video game console of the 32-bit era. It was released on November 22, 1994 in Japan, and May 1995 in North America. Approximately 170,000 machines were sold the first day of the Japanese launch.At one time, the Sega Saturn had obtained second place in the console wars, placing it above Nintendo's Super Famicom in Japan and Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in North America and Europe, but the Saturn was losing power because of some newcomers: Sony's PlayStation and, outside Japan, the cartridge-based Nintendo 64.The Japanese Saturn was rushed to the market, just a few weeks ahead of its rival, Sony's PlayStation, which led to very few games being available when the Saturn launched.Sega's Away Team worked for an entire two years exclusively to make certain that the Sega Saturn was launched with some of the world's best hardware and software. The 27-member Away Team comprises Sega employees from every aspect of hardware engineering, product development, and marketing. Their sole mission was to ensure that Sega Saturn's hardware and design met the precise needs of both the U.S. and Japanese markets.In May 1995, Sega launched the Saturn in the USA, a full four months ahead of schedule. This was announced at that year's E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) where Sega representatives were engaged in a public relations battle with Sony. This surprise move resulted in very few sales, however. This was due largely to the $399 USD price of the system and the lack of available software at time of launch. Also, Sega chose to ship Saturn units only to four select retailers. This caused a great deal of animosity toward Sega from unselected companies, including Wal-Mart and K.B. Toys. Additionally, summer may have been a poor time to launch a console, as most consoles in the U.S. traditionally had been released near the beginning of fall, to coincide with the upcoming Christmas shopping season.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, and Australia. In Japan it is known as the Super Famicom. In South Korea, it is known as the Super Comboy. That console was licensed and distributed by Hyundai Electronics.The Super Nintendo Entertainment System was Nintendo's second home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System (often abbreviated to NES, released as the Famicom in Japan). Whereas the earlier system had struggled in Europe and large parts of Asia the SNES proved to be a global success, albeit one that could not match its predecessor's popularity in South East Asia and North America—due in part to increased competition from Sega's Mega Drive console (released in North America as the Genesis). Despite its relatively late start, the SNES became the best selling console of the 16-bit era but only after its competitor Sega had pulled out of the 16-bit market to focus on its 32-bit next generation console.

Sega Master System
The Sega Master System (SMS for short), is an 8-bit cartridge-based gaming console that was manufactured by Sega. Its original Japanese incarnation was the SG-1000 Mark III. This console launched SEGA onto the same competitive level as Nintendo, at least in the Japanese market. The Master System was released as a direct competitor to the NES/Famicom. The system ultimately failed to oust its competitor, but has enjoyed over a decade of life in secondary markets, especially Brazil.The SG-1000 Mark III came after the SG-1000 Mark I and SG-1000 Mark II. It was released in Japan on October 20, 1985. The mascot of the system was Alex Kidd.The system was redesigned and was sold in the United States under the name Sega Master System in June 1986, one year after the Nintendo Entertainment System was released. The console sold for $200. The Master System was then released in other places, including a second release in Japan in 1987 under its new name.Though the Master System was more technically advanced in some ways than the NES, it did not attain the same level of popularity among consumers in the United States. Its lack of success in the U.S. has been attributed to various causes, among them the difference in game titles available for each platform and the slightly later release date of the Master System. The licensing agreement that Nintendo had with its third-party game developers may have had an impact as well; the agreement stated, in effect, that developers would exclusively produce games for the NES. The Master System sold 125,000 consoles in the first four months. In the same period, the NES would net 2,000,000.

3DO Interactive Multiplayer
3DO Interactive Multiplayer is the name of a number of video game consoles released in 1993 and 1994 by Panasonic, Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company which were originally designed at the New Technology Group (which later became part of the 3DO Company) by Dave Needle and RJ Mical. After leaving EA Games, Trip Hawkins originally came up with the idea of the 3DO Multiplayer system.The consoles had very advanced hardware features at the time: an ARM60 32-bit RISC CPU, two custom video co-processors, a custom 16-bit DSP and a custom math coprocessor. They also featured 2 megabytes of DRAM, 1 megabyte of VRAM, and a double speed CD-ROM drive for main storage, Up to 8 controllers could be daisy-chained on the system at once. In addition to special 3DO software, the system was able to play audio CDs (including support for CD+G), view Photo CDs, and Video CDs with an add-on MPEG video card (released in Japan only). However, few titles utilized the console's full potential, which, along with its high price (699.95 USD at release) and the inability of the console market to sustain multiple platforms, put it in an early grave. The final nail in the coffin was the scuttling of the project after the expensive development of the successor console, the M2.A noteable feature of the console is that it is one of few CD-based consoles that feature neither regional lockout nor copy protection, scoring it points amongst import gamers and software pirates alike, though reports have suggested that the Goldstar model isn't particularly durable when used for either of those purposes.It can be said that the 3DO software library exhibits some of the worst aspects of home video games at the time, even if there are a few gems. This was the dawn of CD-ROM gaming, so cutscenes of pixelated video footage dominated many titles at the expense of good gameplay. The best titles were usually ports of games from other systems--including Alone in the Dark, Myst, Out of This World, and Star Control II. Other notable titles include Need For Speed, Cannon Fodder, Slayer, Killing Time, and the first console port of Super Street Fighter II Turbo, which exceeded the original with its CD-quality audio. Game series that started on 3DO by Electronic Arts, Studio 3DO and Crystal Dynamics established themselves on other 32-bit consoles.In addition to the consoles, a 3DO Blaster ISA peripheral card for PCs which offered all the features of the home console was manufactured by Creative Technology.The 3DO Company also designed a next-generation console called the M2, which was to use a PowerPC 602 processor, but the company abandoned the console business and sold the technology to Matsushita who never brought the system to the market.

Nintendo Wii