Video game console

1
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a
video display signal which can be used with a display device (a television, monitor, etc.) to display a video game.
The term "video game console" is used to distinguish a machine designed for people to buy and use primarily for
playing video games on a TV. As of 2007, it is estimated that video game consoles have made up 75% of the world's
gaming market.
[1]
History
First generation
The Magnavox Odyssey was the first video game
console, released in 1972.
Although the first computer games appeared in the 1950s,
[2]
they were
based around vector displays, not analog video. It was not until 1972
that Magnavox released the first home video game console which
could be connected to a TV setthe Magnavox Odyssey, invented by
Ralph H. Baer. The Odyssey was initially only moderately successful,
and it was not until Atari's arcade game Pong popularized video games,
that the public began to take more notice of the emerging industry. By
the autumn of 1975 Magnavox, bowing to the popularity of Pong,
cancelled the Odyssey and released a scaled down version that only
played Pong and hockey, the Odyssey 100. A second, "higher end" console, the Odyssey 200, was released with the
100 and added onscreen scoring, up to four players, and a third gameSmash. Almost simultaneously released with
Atari's own home Pong console through Sears, these consoles jump-started the consumer market. As with the arcade
market, the home market was soon flooded by dedicated consoles that played simple pong and pong-derived games.
Second generation
The Atari 2600 became the most popular game
console of the second generation.
Fairchild released the Fairchild Video Entertainment System (VES) in
1976. While there had been previous game consoles that used
cartridges, either the cartridges had no information and served the same
function as flipping switches (the Odyssey) or the console itself was
empty and the cartridge contained all of the game components. The
VES, however, contained a programmable microprocessor so its
cartridges only needed a single ROM chip to store microprocessor
instructions.
RCA and Atari soon released their own cartridge-based consoles.
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Video game crash of 1977
In 1977, manufacturers of older, obsolete consoles sold their systems at a loss to clear stock, creating a glut in the
market and causing Fairchild and RCA to abandon their game consoles. Only Atari and Magnavox stayed in the
home console market, later dying as game console makers.
Rebirth of the home console market
The VES continued to be sold at a profit after the 1977 crash, and both Bally (with their Home Library Computer in
1977) and Magnavox (with the Odyssey in 1978) brought their own programmable cartridge-based consoles to the
market. However, it was not until Atari released a conversion of the arcade hit Space Invaders in 1980 that the home
console industry was completely revived. Many consumers bought an Atari just for Space Invaders. Space Invaders'
unprecedented success started the trend of console manufacturers trying to get exclusive rights to arcade titles, and
the trend of advertisements for game consoles claiming to bring the arcade experience home.
Throughout the early 1980s, other companies released video game consoles of their own. Many of the video game
systems were technically superior to the Atari 2600, and marketed as improvements over the Atari 2600. However,
Atari dominated the console market in the early 1980s.
Video game crash of 1983
In 1983, the video game business suffered a much more severe crash. A flood of consoles, low quality video games
by smaller companies (especially for the 2600), industry leader Atari hyping games such as E.T. that were poorly
received, and a growing number of home computer users caused consumers and retailers to lose faith and interest in
video game consoles. Most video game companies filed for bankruptcy, or moved into other industries, abandoning
their game consoles. Mattel Electronics sold the rights for its Intellivision system to the INTV Corporation, who
continued to produce Intellivision consoles and develop new games for the Intellivision until 1991. All other North
American game consoles were discontinued by 1984.
Third generation
The NES made video games popular again after
the 1983 crash.
In 1983, Nintendo released the Family Computer (or Famicom) in
Japan. Like the ColecoVision, the Famicom supported high-resolution
sprites and tiled backgrounds, but with more colors. This allowed
Famicom games to be longer and have more detailed graphics.
Nintendo brought their Famicom over to the US in the form of the
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985. In the US, video
games were seen as a fad that had already passed. To distinguish its
product from older video game consoles, Nintendo used a
front-loading cartridge port similar to a VCR on the NES, packaged the
NES with a Super Mario Brothers game and a light gun (the Zapper),
and originally advertised it as a toy. The plastic "robot" (R.O.B.) was
also sold as an individual purchase item and in some cases packaged with the NES system.
Like Space Invaders for the 2600, Nintendo found its breakout hit game in Super Mario Bros. Nintendo's success
revived the video game industry and new consoles were soon introduced in the following years to compete with the
NES.
Sega's Master System was intended to compete with the NES, but never gained any significant market share in the
US and was barely profitable. It fared notably better in PAL territories, especially Brazil.
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Fourth generation
Sega regained market share by releasing its next-generation console, the Mega Drive/Genesis, which was released in
Japan on October 29, 1988, in the U.S. in August 1989 (renamed as the Sega Genesis) and in Europe in 1990, two
years before Nintendo could release the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).
Sega extended the Mega Drive with the Mega CD/Sega CD, to provide increased storage space for multimedia-based
games that were then in vogue among the development community. Later, Sega released the 32X, which added some
of the polygon-processing functionality common in fifth-generation machines. However, the peripheral was a
commercial failure due to lack of software support, with developers more keen to concentrate on more powerful
machines, with a wider user base, such as the Saturn that followed shortly after.
Other consoles included in the fourth generation are NEC's TurboGrafx-16 and SNK Playmore's Neo Geo.
Fifth generation
The Sony PlayStation became the most popular
system of the fifth generation consoles,
eventually selling over 100 million systems.
The first fifth-generation consoles were the Atari Jaguar and the 3DO.
Both of these systems were much more powerful than the Super
Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) or Mega Drive (known as
Genesis in North America); they were better at rendering polygons,
could display more onscreen colors, and the 3DO used discs that
contained far more information than cartridges and were cheaper to
produce. Neither of these consoles were serious threats to Sega or
Nintendo, though. The 3DO cost more than the SNES and Genesis
combined, and the Jaguar was extremely difficult to program for,
leading to a lack of games that used its extra power. Both consoles would be discontinued in 1996. Bandai
introduced an Apple Macintosh based console called the Pippin that was more like a low cost computer than a high
end console, but did poorly in the market.
Nintendo released games like Donkey Kong Country that could display a wide range of tones (something common in
fifth-generation games) by limiting the number of hues onscreen, and games like Star Fox that used an extra chip
inside of the cartridge to display polygon graphics. Sega followed suit, releasing Vectorman and Virtua Racing (the
latter of which used the Sega Virtua Processor).
It was not until Sega's Saturn, Sony's PlayStation, and the Nintendo 64 were released that fifth generation consoles
started to become popular. The Saturn and PlayStation used CDs to store games, while the N64 used cartridges. All
three cost far less than the 3DO, and were easier to program than the Jaguar. The Saturn also had 2D sprite handling
power on par with the Neo-Geo.
Atari's Jaguar was released to combat the dominance that Nintendo and Sega were fighting for. Atari's hope was
that by designing a more powerful console, it would be able to leapfrog all of the released systems of the day and
give gamers a technologically superior system. The Jaguar eventually faded away due to a number of reasons. For
example, it was difficult to program, thus making it too problematic to have good third-party support. Another of
the Jaguar's pitfalls was the dominance of the previously popular systems. In 1995, the releases of the Sega Saturn
and the PlayStation brought the end for the Jaguar. The failure of the Jaguar put Atari into a poor financial
situation and forced it to reverse merge with JTS Inc., a short-lived maker of hard disk drives, to form JTS
Corporation. The merger effectively ended the company, which existed as a small department for minor support
of the Jaguar and the selling off of Atari's intellectual properties.
The 3DO was released in North America in October 1993. Although released to much fanfare, like the Jaguar, it
faded out of the market with little popularity. The system was technically superior to all the consoles released at
the time, but due to the oversaturated market and the hefty US$699.95 price tag, the system did not adopt well
into the market. One unique aspect of the 3DO is that the rights to manufacturing the console itself were licensed
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to different manufacturers by the 3DO company, which only produced the specifications. These companies, in
turn, released their own different styles of the same console.
The Sega Saturn was released in North America on May 11, 1995 as the first independent Sega system to use a
CD-ROM based media standard, besides the Sega CD add-on for Sega Genesis, and used a special dual chip
processor. The difficulty to program for the two chips in parallel was a factor in the console's demise. The Saturn
was a mild success, but was overshadowed by Sony and Nintendo's dominance of the market. The Saturn was
discontinued in 1998 with the release of Sega's last console, the Dreamcast.
Sony's PlayStation was released in Japan on December 3, 1994 and in North America on September 9, 1995. The
PlayStation was the eventual result of a breakdown of a business partnership plan between Sony and Nintendo to
create a CD add-on for the SNES. Nintendo changed the deal and went to Philips; however, with the project
nearing completion, Sony took what it had and marketed it off as a Sony-branded console. The PlayStation
spawned a whole lineup of consoles from generation to generation and has earned Sony great respect as a video
game company, becoming the first video game system to sell over 100 million consoles. Sony released a
redesigned, smaller version of the PlayStation entitled the 'PSone' on July 7, 2000.
The Nintendo 64 was released in North America on September 29, 1996 as Nintendo's answer to the growing
dominance of the PlayStation. It was a 64-bit console, the only one generally recognized in that class despite the
64-bit Atari Jaguar, which had actually been released earlier. Unlike the other companies' consoles of the
generation, the N64 had continued to use ROM cartridges, which many saw as a hindrance to gameplay, as
cartridges have much less memory space and are also more expensive than optical media; however, Nintendo's
answer to this was that unlike CDs, cartridges cannot be damaged by a simple scratch to the surface, load times
are not much of an issue, and save data can be stored on the cartridge rather than on a memory card. Nevertheless,
some believe that Nintendo did this for fear of then growing software piracy issues facing other consoles, such as
the PlayStation.
Sixth generation
This generation saw a move towards PC-like architectures in gaming consoles, as well as a shift towards using
DVDs for game media. This brought games that were both longer and more visually appealing. Furthermore, this
generation also saw experimentation with online console gaming and implementing both flash and hard drive storage
for game data.
Sega's Dreamcast released in North America on September 9, 1999 was the company's last video game console,
and was the first of the generation's consoles to be discontinued. Sega implemented a special type of optical
media called the GD-ROM. These discs were created in order to prevent software piracy, which had been more
easily done with consoles of the previous generation; however, this format was soon cracked as well. The
Dreamcast was discontinued in March 2001, and Sega transitioned to software developing/publishing only. It also
sported a 33.6Kb or 56k modem which could be used to access the internet or play some of the games, like
Phantasy Star Online, online.
Sony's PlayStation 2 was released in North America on October 26, 2000 as the follow-up to its highly successful
PlayStation, and was also the first home game console to be able to play DVDs. As was done with the original
PlayStation in 2000, Sony redesigned the console in 2004 into a smaller version. As of July 2008, 140 million
PlayStation 2 units have been sold.
[3][4]
This makes it the best selling console of all time to date.
Microsoft's Xbox, released on November 15, 2001 in North America, was the company's first video game
console. The first console to employ a hard drive right out of the box to save games, and had similar hardware
specifications to a low-end desktop computer at the time of its release. Though criticized for its bulky size, which
was easily twice that of the competition, as well as for the awkwardness of the original controller that shipped
with it, it eventually gained popularity due in part to the success of the Halo franchise. The Xbox was the first
console to include an Ethernet port and offered high speed online gaming through the Xbox LIVE service.
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The Nintendo GameCube, released November 18, 2001 in North America, was Nintendo's fourth home video
game console and the first console by the company to use optical media instead of cartridges. The Nintendo
GameCube did not play standard 12cm DVDs, instead employing smaller 8cm optical discs.
Seventh generation
The release of the Xbox 360 began
the seventh generation.
The features introduced in this generation include the support of new disc
formats: Blu-ray Disc, utilized by the PlayStation 3, and HD DVD supported by
the Xbox 360 via an optional $200 external accessory addition, that was later
discontinued as the format war closed. Another new technology is the use of
motion as input, and IR tracking (as implemented on the Wii). Also, all seventh
generation consoles support wireless controllers.
Microsoft kicked off the seventh generation with the release of the Xbox 360
released on November 22, 2005 in the United States. It featured processing
power never before seen until Sony rivaled back with its Playstation 3 one
year later. All Xbox 360s come with a hard drive (except for the 4GB SSD
version) and additionally play DVD games as well as DVD movies out of the
box. You can have up to four controllers connected to the console wirelessly
on the standard 2.4GHz spectrum. There are 3 discontinued versions of the
Xbox 360: the "Arcade," the "Arcade Pro," and the "Elite." The two current
shipping versions of the Xbox 360 are: a "slim" 4GB SSD version and a
"slim" 250 GB HDD version. The motion gaming capabilities of this console is named "Kinect."
Sony's PlayStation 3 was released in Japan on November 11, 2006, in North America on November 17, 2006 and
in Europe on March 23, 2007. All PlayStation 3s come with a hard drive and are able to play Blu-ray Disc games
and Blu-ray Disc movies out of the box. The PlayStation 3 was the first video game console to support HDMI
output out of the box, utilizing full 1080p resolution. Up to seven controllers can connect to the console using
Bluetooth. There are 6 discontinued versions of the PS3: a 20 GB HDD version (discontinued in North America
and Japan, and was never released in PAL territories), a 40 GB HDD version (discontinued), a 60 GB HDD
version (discontinued in North America, Japan and PAL territories), 80 GB HDD version (only in some NTSC
territories and PAL territories), a "slim" 120GB HDD version (discontinued), and a "slim" 250 GB version
(discontinued). The two current shipping versions of the PlayStation 3 are: a "slim" 160 GB HDD version and a
"slim" 320 GB HDD version. The hard drive can be replaced with any standard 2.5" Serial ATA drive and the
system has support for removable media storage, such as Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Duo,
Memory Stick PRO Duo, USB, SD, MiniSD, and CompactFlash (CF) digital media, but only the PlayStation
versions up to 80 GB support this. The slim PlayStation 3 consoles (120 GB and up) had removable storage
discontinued.
[5]
The motion capabilities of this console is named the "PlayStation Move." One would hold the
main controller with the dominant hand and an optional second controller in the recessive hand. The "PlayStation
Move's" controllers are always accurately being tracked by a camera. With recent software updates, the
PlayStation 3 can play 3D Blu-ray movies and 3D games.
The Nintendo Wii was released in North America on November 19, 2006, in Japan on December 2, 2006, in
Australia on December 7, 2006, and in Europe on December 8, 2006. It is bundled with Wii Sports and Wii
Sports Resort in all regions except for Japan. Unlike the other systems of the seventh generation, the Wii does not
support an internal hard drive, but instead uses 512 MB of internal Flash memory and includes support for
removable SD card storage. It also has a maximum resolution output of 480p, making it the only seventh
generation console not able to output high-definition graphics. Along with its lower price, the Wii is notable for
its unique controller, the Wii Remote, which resembles a TV remote. The system utilizes a "sensor bar" that emits
infrared light that is detected by an infrared camera in the Wii Remote to determine orientation relative to the
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source of the light. Like Nintendo's hand-held systems, it is also backwards compatible with previous Nintendo
consoles, as it is capable of playing Nintendo GameCube games and supports up to four Nintendo GameCube
controllers and two memory cards. It also includes Virtual Console, which allows the purchase and downloading
of games from older systems, including those of former competitors. The latest addition to the Wii is the 'Wii
Motion Plus', which uses the same technology as the console previously used, but with enhanced motion tracking
and sensing to improve gameplay quality. The Wii has four colors: white, blue, black, and red. Current models
include Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, and Wii Motion Plus.
Eighth generation
Nintendo's next home console, the Wii U has been officially announced, on June 7, 2011.
[6]
The Wii U is Nintendo's
first console to support high definition graphics up to 1080p and will be the first console to use a controller with a
built-in touchscreen. The Wii U will also be backwards compatible with all of the original Wii controllers and input
devices.
Bits
Each new generation of console hardware made use of the rapid development of processing technology. Newer
machines could output a greater range of colors, more sprites, and introduced graphical technologies such as scaling,
and vector graphics. One way this increase in processing power was conveyed to consumers was through the
measurement of "bits". The TurboGrafx-16, Sega Genesis, and SNES were among the first consoles to advertise the
fact that they contained 16-bit processors. This fourth generation of console hardware was often referred to as the
16-bit era, and the previous generation as the 8-bit.
The bit-value of a console referred to the word length of a console's processor (although the value was sometimes
misused, for example the TurboGrafx 16 had only an 8-bit CPU, and the Genesis/Mega Drive had the 16/32-bit
Motorola 68000, but both had a 16-bit dedicated graphics processor). As the graphical performance of console
hardware is dependent on many factors, using bits was a crude way to gauge a console's overall ability, but served
better to distinguish between generations.
Media
Cartridges
Standard game cartridges for several popular consoles.
From front to back: Game Boy Color, Sega Genesis,
and Atari 2600.
Game cartridges consist of a printed circuit board housed inside of
a plastic casing, with a connector allowing the device to interface
with the console. The circuit board can contain a wide variety of
components. All cartridge games contain at the minimum, read
only memory with the software written on it. Many cartridges also
carry components that increase the original console's power, such
as extra RAM or a coprocessor. Components can also be added to
extend the original hardware's functionality
[7]
(such as gyroscopes,
rumble packs, tilt-sensors, light sensors, etc.); this is more
common on handheld consoles where the user does not interact
with the game through a separate video game controller.
[8]
Cartridges were the first external media to be used with home consoles and remained the most common until 1995
continued improvements in capacity (Nintendo 64 being the last mainstream game console to use cartridges).
[9]
Nevertheless, the relatively high manufacturing costs saw them completely replaced by optical media for home
consoles by the early 21st century, although they are still in use in some handheld video game consoles.
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Due to the aforementioned capabilities of cartridges such as more memory and coprocessors, those factors make it
harder to reverse engineer consoles to be used on emulators.
Cards
Further information: Smart Card
Several consoles such as the Sega Master System and the TurboGrafx-16 have used different types of smart cards as
an external medium. These cards function similar to simple cartridges. Information is stored on a chip that is housed
in plastic. Cards are more compact and simpler than cartridges, though. This makes them cheaper to produce and
smaller, but limits what can be done with them. Cards cannot hold extra components, and common cartridge
techniques like bank switching (a technique used to create very large games) were impossible to miniaturize into a
card in the late 1980s.
[10][11]
Compact Discs reduced much of the need for cards. Optical Discs can hold more information than cards, and are
cheaper to produce. The Nintendo GameCube and the PlayStation 2 use memory cards for storage, but the Nintendo
DS is currently the only modern system to use cards for game distribution. Nintendo has long used cartridges with
their Game Boy line of hand held consoles because of their durability, small size, stability (not shaking and vibrating
the handheld when it is in use), and low battery consumption. Nintendo switched to cards for the DS, because
advances in memory technology made putting extra memory on the cartridge unnecessary.
[12]
The PlayStation Vita
uses Sony's own proprietary flash-memory Vita cards as one method of game distribution.
[13]
Magnetic media
Two common forms of magnetic media. From front to
back: Cassette and 3-inch floppy disk.
Home computers have long used magnetic storage devices. Both
tape drives and floppy disk drives were common on early
microcomputers. Their popularity is in large part because a tape
drive or disk drive can write to any material it can read. However,
magnetic media is volatile and can be more easily damaged than
game cartridges or optical discs.
[14]
Among the first consoles to use magnetic media were the Bally
Astrocade and APF-M1000, both of which could use cassette tapes
through expansions. In Bally's case, this allowed the console to see
new game development even after Bally dropped support for it.
While magnetic media remained limited in use as a primary form of distribution, two popular subsequent consoles
also had expansions available to allow them to use this format. The Starpath Supercharger can load Atari 2600
games from audio cassettes; Starpath used it to cheaply distribute their own games from 1982 to 1984 and today it is
used by many programmers to test, distribute, and play homebrew software. The Family Computer Disk System was
released by Nintendo in 1985 for the Japanese market. Nintendo sold the disks cheaply and sold vending machines
where customers could have new games written to their disks up to 500 times.
[15]
Video game console
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Optical media
The most widely used forms of optical media are
DVDs and compact discs. Shown is a CD-ROM (left)
and a game in Nintendo's proprietary optical disc
format similar to a MiniDVD.
In the mid-1990s, various manufacturers shifted to optical media,
specifically CD-ROM, for games. Although they were slower at
loading game data than the cartridges available at that time, they
were significantly cheaper to manufacture and had a larger
capacity than the existing cartridge technology. Commodore
released the first CD-disc based Amiga CD32 in September 1993,
which was also the first 32-bit game console. By the early 21st
century, all of the major home consoles used optical media,
usually DVD-ROM or similar disks, which are widely replacing
CD-ROM for data storage. The PlayStation 3 system uses even
higher-capacity Blu-ray optical discs for games and movies while
the Xbox 360 formerly used HD DVDs in the form of an external
USB player add-on for movies, before it was discontinued.
However, Microsoft still supports those who bought the accessory.
Internet distribution
All three seventh generation consoles (the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360) offer some kind of Internet games
distribution service, allowing users to download games for a fee onto some form of non-volatile storage, typically a
hard disk or flash memory. Recently, the console manufacturers have been taking advantage of internet distribution
with games, video streaming services like Netflix, Hulu Plus and film trailers being available.
Microsoft's Xbox Live service includes the Xbox Live Arcade and Xbox Live Marketplace, featuring digital
distribution of classic and original titles. These include arcade classics, original titles, and games originally
released on other consoles. The Xbox Live Marketplace also includes many different hit movies and trailers in
high definition, and is accessible with a Xbox Live Free Membership. There is also an "Indie Games" section
where small time developers can buy a license and release their own games onto the marketplace. Such is their
volume, these games are not viewed by Microsoft as standard and are instead rated by the public.
Sony's online game distribution is known as the PlayStation Network (PSN). It offers free online gaming,
downloadable content such as classic PlayStation games, high definition games and movie trailers, and original
games such as flOw and Everyday Shooter as well as some games that also release on Blu-ray Disc such as
Warhawk and Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. A networking service, dubbed PlayStation Home, was released in
December 2008. Sony also announced a video/movie service and music service for some time in 2008.
Nintendo's Virtual Console service emulates games from previous-generation consoles and is available for both
Wii and Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo also has original content available for download through its online stores, the
Wii Shop Channel (WiiWare), Nintendo DSi Shop (DSiWare) and Nintendo eShop. They also offer information
and videos of upcoming software through the Nintendo Channel, which also allows users to download demos to
the Nintendo DS through wireless connection. Other free services include the Forecast Channel, where people can
access a weather forecast for cities around the world, News Channel, which provides users with the current world
news in different categories such as International or Technology, and also the Internet Channel that allows users
to browse the web and watch videos in sites like Youtube. The Wii Message Board also allows Nintendo to
communicate with Wii owners with letters that include update information or contests on the Check Mii Out
Channel, Everybody Votes Channel and games like Mario Kart Wii.
Video game console
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References
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martinhilbert.net/WorldInfoCapacity.html
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2008-07-21. . Retrieved 2008-07-21.
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Further reading
Forster, Winnie (2005). The Encyclopedia of Game Machines - Consoles, handheld & home computers
19722005 (http:/ / www. gameplan. de/ gameplan_01. 5_UK/ index. php). Gameplan. ISBN3-00-015359-4.
External links
Console platforms (http:/ / www. dmoz. org/ Games/ Video_Games/ Console_Platforms/ ) at the Open Directory
Project
Videogame Systems Overview and Guides (http:/ / gamesystemsdirect. com/ Overviews-complete-list)
Videogame Alternatives and Better Options (http:/ / consolespremium. com/ category/ video-games/ )
Article Sources and Contributors
10
Article Sources and Contributors
Video game console Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=484248929 Contributors: 041744, 07Aaron07, 16@r, 1779Days, 24.218.142.xxx, A Man In Black, A520, A5b,
AJCham, AKismet, Aaron Brenneman, Abdullais4u, Academic Challenger, Addshore, Aeon1006, Agathoclea, Alansohn, Aldaron, Alexwcovington, Alias Flood, Aljullu, Altarbo, AmiDaniel,
Amren, Anclation, Andrevan, Andrew.eanes, Andy120, AngelHedgie, Animum, Anym, ApolloBoy, Appraiser, Aranea Mortem, Arunsingh16, Asapilu, Ashdavis, Ashley-hepton, Asparagus,
Asterion, Atayguitar, AwkwardSocks, Ba'Gamnan, Bahameenballin2, BakuDan13, Bannedboy, Barek, Bazer2k9, Bbatsell, BcRIPster, Beefnut, Beegee7730, Benanna, Bender235, Bentendo24,
Bernstein2291, Bhadani, BiT, Big Bird, Bits of history, Bkell, Bladez, Bluemoose, Blueshade, Boffy b, Bongwarrior, Bookandcoffee, BorgQueen, Bradwart, Brandon, Brandonbovy, Bridies,
Brightgalrs, Bumm13, Burto88, Butler123333, C. Foultz, C0nanPayne, CBM, Cabe6403, Calabe1992, Call me Bubba, Call7832, CalusReyma, Camalaio, Cambrant, Can't sleep, clown will eat
me, Canjth, CapPixel, Capricorn42, Carewser, Casper10, CatMan, Catagris, Catamorphism, Chaseeversole, Chealer, Cheesemeister, ChinChillables, Chipi chipi, Cholmes75, Chowbok, Chris the
speller, ChrisGualtieri, ChristianH, Chuunen Baka, Ckatz, Clarenceville Trojan, Clement Cherlin, Coffee, ColecoVisionist, Colonthree, Commander1234, Conversion script, Coolbeans7,
Cornflake pirate, Corpx, Courcelles, Cptmurdok, Cristalal, CyberSkull, Cyrus XIII, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, DVdm, Dabomb87, Damian Yerrick, Dan Mazurowski, Danbur90, DanielDPeterson,
Danikolt, DarkRuler34, Dawnseeker2000, DeadEyeArrow, DeadlyAssassin, Decltype, DerHexer, DevinCook, Diceman, Dicklyon, Diego Moya, Digitalme, Discospinster, Dispenser, Djnogg,
DocWatson42, Dogman15, DopefishJustin, Dragonxzr67z, Drat, Dreadstar, DurotarLord, Dvjnwsdoverwjnv, Dwayne, ELF, ERW1980, Edward, El C, Eliz81, EmersonLowry, Endroit,
Enigmaman, Epbr123, Epruss, Erebus555, Erianna, Evan-Amos, Everyking, Excirial, FCYTravis, FH33333248, FLETCH-1992, Falcon8765, Feedmecereal, Ffgamera, Fireaxe888,
Flightsoffancy, FluffyWyld2, FlyingToaster, Fortdj33, Freakofnurture, Frecklefoot, Fredrik, FriedMilk, FromanylanD, FullMetal Falcon, F, GCFreak2, GEBStgo, GRAHAMUK, GSL-Nathan,
Gaius Cornelius, Gannon 13, Gayachan, Geniac, Get It, Ghmyrtle, Gillette.ben, Giqi, GlassCobra, Gogo Dodo, GoingBatty, Goodm08, Goodvac, Graham87, Gscshoyru, Gtrmp, Guinea pig
warrior, Gyroid, Harry, Harryboyles, Hellknowz, Herbatz54, Heron, Hikaricore, Hitamaru, Holek, Hooperbloob, Hu12, Hydrogen Iodide, IAMTrust, INkubusse, IW.HG, Ianxyz, Impfac,
InShaneee, Indon, Iron15, IronGargoyle, Ishc17, Izret101, J. Nguyen, J.delanoy, J36miles, JForget, Jagged 85, Jake Wartenberg, Jalen279, JamesBWatson, Jan eissfeldt, JanSderback, Jaranda,
Jauerback, Jbanes, Jeff Silvers, Jhsounds, Jimius, Jipcy, Joecuellar96, Johandomonji, Johnuniq, Jonny2x4, Jorunn, Jovianknight, Jsvoyager, Jt 200075, Jusdafax, Jzcool, K1Bond007, KPH2293,
Kaeptn1, Kafziel, Kaleb.G, Kan-os, Karn, Keilana, Kelly Martin, Kelvinc, Kenneth Alan, Kev585, Kibz26, KieferSkunk, Kingjoey52a, Kingpotts, Kirstachub, Klemen Kocjancic, Kms, Kociak,
Koffieyahoo, Koopa turtle, Kowens2, Krich, Krisskross559, Kubigula, Kuru, Kyorosuke, Ladne3, Larry Doolittle, Launchpad 72, Leafyplant, Leal Nightrunner, LeaveSleaves, LedgendGamer,
Lee d, Lerdthenerd, Lewisandkevinstudios, LiDaobing, Liftarn, Lightdarkness, Lightmouse, LikeLakers2, LilHelpa, Linioaxerist, LittleOldMe, Logiphile, Lph, Lue3378, Luke3310, Lupo, Lysy,
M8gen, MAREN MC, MER-C, MK8, Maelnuneb, Maester mensch, Magog the Ogre, Mahjongg, Mandarax, Marcus Qwertyus, Marek69, Markintellect, Martarius, Marxman126, Master Bigode,
Materialscientist, Matt Deres, McDoobAU93, Meaghan, Meegs, Micahr07, Michael Schulze, Michealgrant667, Milad Mosapoor, Mild Bill Hiccup, MissAlyx, Misza13, Mitaphane, Mithrandir2,
Mjohnnyg, Mlpearc, Moonriddengirl, Mr Chuckles, MrBubbles, MrDolomite, MrMan, Mrtinytadpoletim, Msc44, Mushroom, Mutt252, Myscrnnm, NP Chilla, Nagy, Nakon, Nandesuka, Neier,
NellieBly, Neoforma, NewEnglandYankee, NiGHTS into Dreams..., Niceangle, Nifboy, Nigerian Doctor, Nihiltres, Nikthestoned, Ninjelephants333, Nintendude, Nixeagle, Nommonomanac,
ONEder Boy, Oberonfoxie, Ohnoitsjamie, Oknazevad, Oliver202, Ollyollyster, Omega21, Onesimos, Optakeover, Optichan, Optiguy54, Oscara, Oscarthecat, Ost316, Oussama2002, Outlyer,
Oxymoron83, PROBLEM2390, Paranoid, Parapedia, Parth24, Pasd, Patiwat, PerfectStorm, Petiatil, PhilipO, Pianoman11, Pie4all88, PimpUigi, Pinkadelica, Pit, Pixel8, PlayStation 69,
Playstation cain, Plutor, Pomte, Porqin, Poxmarc, Ppgj-nzng, Prattmic, Propound, Ps3 rocks, Ptcult, RK, RT100, Randall00, RazorICE, Realoser, RedWordSmith, Rennos77, Retodon8, Revlob,
ReyBrujo, Rholton, Ringbang, Rjanag, Rjwilmsi, Ro2316, Robertvan1, RockMFR, Rosenbaumj0425, Rosenknospe, Russoc4, Ryan Roos, RyanParis, SBPBYABYXWAGDMKMID, SD5,
SEGADREAMCAST, SMC, Sade, Salsa Shark, Samhitchmough, Samurai Sam, Sanchom, Saxbryn, SchfiftyThree, Schneelocke, SchuminWeb, Scientizzle, Scimitar, Scipius, Scott Illini,
Sd31415, Seanor3, Seaphoto, Serpent's Choice, Sesu Prime, Shadowjams, Shanes, SharkD, Sheogorath, Sigruhn, Silver Edge, Silvestre Zabala, Sirex98, Sirkha, Sitearm, Sjakkalle, SkerHawx,
SkyWalker, Slady, Slash2k01, Slo-mo, Slon02, SluggoOne, Smash, Smilesfozwood, SoCalSuperEagle, Sockatume, Some jerk on the Internet, Somebody500, Sonicwolf, Sorna Doon, Sox207,
SpaceFlight89, Spleblem, Squater, SquidSK, Squids and Chips, Ssolbergj, Stabby Joe, Starionwolf, Stay, SteveSims, Stormie, Stormwatch, Subcelestial, SuperGerbil, Superbeecat, Supreme
Deliciousness, Svetovid, Svick, Syvanen, T Omidi, TJ Spyke, TKD, TMC1982, TTE, Tabletop, Tad Lincoln, Taemyr, Tamiera, Tapir Terrific, Teancum, Technoguy123, Techpwner, Tedius
Zanarukando, Tehw1k1, Teknomusik, Tempshill, Texshooter, Th1rt3en, Thaek, That Guy, From That Show!, The Rambling Man, The Thing That Should Not Be, TheDJ, Thebestofall007,
Thephotoman, Therbert, Thewikipedian, Thorpe, Thumperward, Thunderbrand, ThundertamerS, Tide rolls, Tnxman307, Tobias Hoevekamp, Tobz1000, Togepi 987, Tohd8BohaithuGh1,
Tommy2010, Toupee, Toussaint, Tphi, Trainra, Truedat323, Trunks ishida, Tyrdium, Tzhourdeka, UlitmateLoserNo1, Uncle Milty, UncleverOnion, Unknownwarrior33, Unused0022, Useight,
Vader99, VampyreDark, Vendettax, Vezii, Video Game Expert, Viznut, Vrenator, VxOsx, W guice, Wanted, Wapcaplet, Wernher, West.andrew.g, Wgungfu, WhisperToMe, Wiifinder1, Wik,
Wikipelli, WillMcC, Willdude123, Wimt, Wmahan, Wnorris, WolfenSilva, Woohookitty, WookieInHeat, WordyGirl90, Www-dot-maplesea-dot-com, Xizer, Xxdeetsxx, Y2kcrazyjoker4,
Yahia.barie, Yiwen017, Youre dreaming eh?, Ysangkok, ZakuSage, Zealotgi, Zntrip, Zollerriia, Zomic13, , 1478 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:Magnavox-Odyssey-Console-Set.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Magnavox-Odyssey-Console-Set.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Evan-Amos
File:Atari-2600-Wood-4Sw-Set.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Atari-2600-Wood-4Sw-Set.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Evan-Amos
File:NES-Console-Set.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:NES-Console-Set.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Evan-Amos
File:PSX-Console-wController.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:PSX-Console-wController.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Evan-Amos
File:Xbox-360-arcade.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Xbox-360-arcade.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Evan-amos
Image:Cartridgegames.JPG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cartridgegames.JPG License: Public Domain Contributors: Altarbo
Image:Magneticgames.JPG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Magneticgames.JPG License: Public Domain Contributors: Altarbo
Image:Opticalgames.JPG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Opticalgames.JPG License: Public Domain Contributors: Altarbo
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
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