|
A video game console is a dedicated electronic device designed to play video games. Often the output device is a separate television or a computer monitor. There was a time when video game consoles were easily distinguishable from personal computers: consoles used a standard television for display, and did not support standard PC accessories such as keyboards or modems. However, as consoles have become more enhanced, the distinction has blurred: some consoles can have full Linux operating systems running with hard drives and keyboards (like the Sega Dreamcast or Nintendo GameCube) One university has even created a Beowulf cluster of PlayStation 2 consoles.
The console market has steadily developed from simple one-off games, such as Pong), to fully featured general purpose games systems.
Older game consoles and their software now live on in emulators as they are no longer supported by their manufacturers. However, console makers try to prevent their games from being played on emulators using copyright-like exclusive rights in mask works and a protection of encrypted media created by the United States' Digital Millennium Copyright Act and foreign counterparts.
Note that the advertised bits of current generation (32-bit, 64-bit and 128-bit) consoles were in large part created by the console makers' marketing departments and may have little to do with the actual architecture of the systems.
Video game consoles have created a whole self-supporting market for thousands of different video game accessory manufacturers who would otherwise not be able to produce their own video game consoles. These manufacturers have expanded upon the original uses for the game consoles and have even created entirely new ways to both play and use some of the most popular video game systems.
Timeline
Note: This is an abridged timeline of North American video game consoles. 
See also
Books
Forster, Winnie (2005). The Encyclopedia of Game Machines - Consoles, handheld & home computers 1972-2005. GAMEplan. ISBN 3-00-015359-4. [1]
External links
| 
