Talk:List of video game consoles

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[edit] Restructuring the Generation listing

This list is INSANE! For one, the generation listing is off. Check out the web on many retro-gaming sites and you will see nobody argue that the Atari 2600 is a "early 2nd generation" console. It is certainly a first generation console. All the pong games are not usually referred to as consoles as well as handhelds, and CELL PHONES. Those need to go. I'm sorry I am opinionated on this issue, but a console is a console and a gameboy has no place on the list as a XBox 360 has no place on a list of handheld game machines. Handheld...console...computer...telephone It usually isn't hard to determine the difference between them, is it? I will try to clean up the article and remove references to "pre-crash" systems which is an insult to the industry. The Intellivision survived until 1987 with new releases. There certainly was a video game crash of 1983, but it has no place in describing what generation consoles are what. This should be a definitive list of consoles arranged by the criteria set (dominant console) and then look at what their direct competition was. I think we can clean this up to appear excellent and provide much better information. All these systems have detailed FAQs on the internet giving all kinds of information regarding release dates as well as I've noticed some are off a year or so. I don't blame anyone, it is confusing as some announced machines a year earlier or shipped a year late. Some test marketed and had a national release at a later time.

Yes it is sometimes hard to tell a handheld from a phone (see N-Gage). And Odyssey2 had the tagline "The excitement of a game. The mind of a computer." --Damian Yerrick (☎) 01:58, 1 September 2006 (UTC)
All consoles have the mind of a computer if they have a CPU. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 198.150.115.83 (talk • contribs) .

[edit] No info on Wikipedia about Casio Loopy

I just read a site with some vague info/photos on this machine yesterday and came to Wikipedia hoping to learn more, only to find it completely absent. Please add it to this list and create an article! I do not know when it was released, except it seemed to be from the early 1990s and only sold in Japan.

Some info on the Tomy Kiss-Site (I believe it was released in 2000) combination karaoke machine/game console would be great as well. Alcy

[edit] The C64 a console?

the Commodore 64 shouldn't be on this list should it? ᚣᚷᚷᛞᚱᚫᛋᛁᛚ 22:18, 18 Jun 2004 (UTC)

In my opinion, no. It was a home computer, just like the PC is today. It may be on the list because it had a slot that could accept game cartridges, but this alone is not enough reason to include it on the list. Personally, I think it should be taken off. — Frecklefoot | Talk 13:58, Jun 21, 2004 (UTC)
The C64GS was the C64's console cousin - basically a C64 without a keyboard. It did pretty badly given that it was priced the same as a normal C64, and the C64 could play the cartridges. Mind you, I'm sceptical about whether this belongs in the "16-bit era" as such, as the C64GS was really only 8-bit. Jamyskis 11:34, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I do think that the commodore should be put on the list as it was a popular console even if it was a computer. there is no denying it's impact ~ Philip Laurence 10:32, August 31, 2005 (UTC)
For the record, what is Wikipedia's official definition of what is and is not a console? --Damian Yerrick (☎) 18:20, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
There is no Wikipedia definition. The definition that is most common should be used here. C64 is a home computer and should not be in that list. C64GS is a game console and should be in that list. It's as simple as that. It's also a good compromise between the two different opinions. --Lasttan 15:55, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
So what "definition that is most common" are we citing in this article? --Damian Yerrick (☎) 00:05, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
Somehow I don't see the problem. C64 was sold as computer, C64GS was sold as console. C64 is mostly called computer or home computer and C64GS is mostly called console. (try Google) So what exactly is the question here? --Lasttan 00:26, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
Q: "What's a console?" A: "Whatever the maker says is a console." Thank you. Opening paragraph is clarified. --Damian Yerrick (☎) 14:33, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
Well, "Whatever the maker says" is in most cases here that what it is and therefore a good starting point. But if most people who understand something about that topic outside Wikipedia (e.g. specialist publications) don't agree with that, then "Whatever the maker says" is not determining a categorization. But it is not the job of Wikipedia to figure out if "Whatever the maker says" is true or not (Wikipedia is no original research). It is rather the job of other publications and Wikipedia can reflect their evaluation. But I don't know an example where a categorization as console was in question in the press. --Lasttan 15:50, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
I seem to remember Electronic Gaming Monthly issues where the editors felt frustration in categorizing Atari XE and CD32. --Damian Yerrick (☎) 17:36, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
The main purpose of Atari XE and CD32 seems gaming to me, therefore I would categorize them as consoles. (like "the maker says") But if a majority of publications (not only one magazine) would not agree with that, (and perhaps it also reasonably justify), then I would change the category. --Lasttan 18:02, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
Isn't the FM Towns Marty in the same boat? Heck, the Philips CD-i is only partially a game console for that matter...and most modern consoles also double as CD players, some as DVD...

[edit] 3DO and Jaguar part of the 32-bit era? Nintendo era?

Even if the Jaguar and 3DO were 32 or 64-bit, they were competing with the Genesis, CD-i, Super Nintendo, etc., not with the Playstation or N64. As far as "Nintendo" era...well, c'mon, we might as well call the late 1990s the Sony era. ~ FriedMilk 02:15, 2004 Aug 31 (UTC)

[edit] iQue

The iQue is a 64 bit console that isn't due out until later this year. I placed it under the top section because of the time of its release (being the present) but I wondered if this was appropiate seeing as it is 64 bit... thoughts?

LOL u can't have 2 generations spanning the same time!!! n))bs

I think what the guy above me is trying to say is that there is conflict with the dating of game periods. like with the 16 and 32 bit years. perhaps to counter this problem we refer to the eras as generations. for example ps1 games continued to be produced well after the ps2 was launched making them of the same era but of different generations. another argument in favor of the term generation is that new systems are refered to as "nextgen"~ Philip Laurence 10:43, August 31, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] seventh generation

the 7th generation began in 2005 with the release of the PSP and DS. the DS was released late in 2004 making it dubious to include all of 2004 as the start. ~ Philip Laurence 10:35, August 31, 2005 (UTC)


--- Handhelds are generally not counted with CONSOLE releases.

I have an issue with the FC Twin and Generation NEX being included in the 7th Gen. They are essentially clones of machines from earlier generations. Jr78 23:14, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Gameboy in 16-bit era?

Maybe it's just an inaccurate "era" title, but the GB was definitely 8-bit, and was released far ahead of the super nintendo.

  • sigh*. people always forget this. it doesn't matter how much bits a system had, it depends in what year it was released in. the eras are based on the dominant bits the majority of the home consoles used --152.163.100.6 22:51, 19 September 2005 (UTC)

What does "dominant bits" even mean? Instruction width of the primary CPU? Number of lines on the address bus? Color depth of the video generator? Sum of the "bits" of every component in the console? It's a meaningless metric; "n-bit" is marketing terminology, not technical terminology, and unless there's a consistent and demonstrable convention for its usage, it should not be included at all. 69.86.87.109 (talk) 06:04, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Tapwave Zodiac

The Tapwave Zodiac should be added to one of the two most recent generations, probably the newest... unless it's not counted as a console?

I don't think this counts as a console, just a gaming PDA.User:cschock 12:02, 23 September 2005

But if it's marketed primarily for gaming, isn't it a console? Do Nintendo DS Browser, Touch Dictionary, and DSOrganize make the Nintendo DS a gaming PDA? Are there even enough gaming PDAs to make "gaming PDA" a category? --Damian Yerrick (☎) 14:36, 27 August 2006 (UTC)
I agree. The Tapwave Zodiac should count as handheld game console. The hardware shouldn't matter. Xbox is based on commodity PC hardware, Evo: Phase One is commodity PC hardware, but both are consoles not gaming PCs. But I don't know why handhelds in generally are in this list here. There is already a list of Handheld game consoles. So why double? --Lasttan 17:20, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Kebyoarded Amigas(/Ataris)

It seems odd that these machines should not be part of console history. For a lot of people they're primary function was in playing games and for a long time they did compete with similarly specced consoles (at least in Europe). For the record it's possible to buy a keyboard for the PS2 and probably other past consoles.

But it is correct that way. It doesn't matter how people used it. It is more important how they were sold and how they are commonly defined. It is not the job of Wikipedia to redefine things (Wikipedia is not original research). However, there is already a similar list for computers [[1]]

There is no need to put Amigas and Ataris in both lists and they are better in the computer list. --Lasttan 17:43, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] NEOGEO

NEO GEO CD and NEOGEO Console arent in, NEOGEO COnsole was essentially the arcade hardware modified to use at home.

I dont know much more than that. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by HappyDragon (talk • contribs) .

[edit] Correction

Hi there, somebody could please correct this later! I've noticed no mention regarding the zx spectrum and other similiar computers from that time 1981 to 1985! Specially in europe those computers were regarded more of a gaming console than computer! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.90.152.144 (talk • contribs) .

[edit] Timeline

Do youthink its possible to make a timeline to make it easier for people to see when Consoles wereput on the market and discontinued going from page to page makes it difficult. I was hoping wed have one simular to theipod page —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.107.202.16 (talk • contribs) .

[edit] Chase

The link for Chase(1967) points to a sort of disambiguation page, which doesnt contain any reference to the game. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.3.170.64 (talk • contribs) .

[edit] Wireless Era?

What's wrong? What happened to Seventh Generation game consoles? Hope no one minds me changing it back. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Vader99 (talk • contribs).

I haven't seen any evidence that ordinal numbers of console generations match across publications. For instance, a publication that began in the NES era may use "1st generation" to refer to NES and "5th generation" to refer to Wii. Therefore, I'll guess that labeling each generation with an adjective may be more reliable. The generation labeled "wireless", including Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3, and Wii, is characterized by the fact that the "full" configuration of each of those three machines comes with a wireless controller. Damian Yerrick (☎) 22:49, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Atari Flashback

Why is this listed as a console? Isn't it just a plug-and-play device with built-in games and no cartridge slot? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.193.190.225 (talk • contribs).

You can rework the hardware of the Flashback v2 to accept cartridges, but you are correct that "out of the box" both v1 and v2 do not accept cartridges and rely on inbuilt games. D. Brodale 05:42, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bottom entries

I think the bottom 5 entries (Computer Space, Galaxy Game, Spacewar!, Tennis for Two, OXO) should be removed from the list. As the title says, it is supposed to be a list of home video games, and these hardly fall into that category... --62.167.25.30 21:25, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Micro Genius

I didn't see Micro Genius being listed here. Is it by mistake or intentional?
In its main article it says it's a Nintendo (NES?) clone. Though I had no idea about it and always were asking myself why I never had a NES myself. Anyway, it's still being sold here in Iran along with PlayStation 3 which surprised me (Just for you information).
As a good gamer, I guess NES and SNES were never sold here as a regular item in stores. So maybe adding it here would be good for those like me who never saw Nintendo but its clone. Andy Knight 11:10, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Started work on major update

I saw that this article was of Top Priority in WikiProject Videogames. I was horrified to see how badly this article was formatted though. I also saw that references were non-existent.

So, I've started work on a major update to the article. The work in progress can be found here. I'd appreciate it if no one edited it until I finised it and updated the actual article.

My goals:

  • Make the lists into sortable tables
  • Get more precise release dates
  • Add references

--Psychless 18:13, 28 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Atari 5200 Jr.

If I am correct, there is no 5200 Jr., but there is a 5200. The-Guardian-Of-Blah (talk) 16:18, 30 April 2008 (UTC)