Home video game console

A home video game console is a video game console that is designed to be connected to a display device, such as a television, and an external power source as to play video games. Home consoles are generally less powerful and customizable than personal computers, designed to have advanced graphics abilities but limited memory and storage space to keep the units affordable. While initial consoles were dedicated units with only a few games fixed into the electronic circuits of the system, most consoles since support the use of swappable game media, either through game cartridges, optical discs, or through digital distribution to internal storage.

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History of video games
Early history Early history of video games Early mainframe games
Consoles History of video game consoles Console war 1st generation (1972–1980) 2nd generation (1976–1992) Video game crash of 1983 3rd generation (1983–2003) 4th generation (1987–2004) 5th generation (1993–2005) 6th generation (1998–2015) 7th generation (2005–2017) 8th generation (2012–present) 9th generation (2020–present)
Arcade video games History of arcade video games Golden age of arcade video games Timeline of arcade video game history
Personal computer History of personal computer games
Mobile games History of mobile games
Virtual reality History of virtual reality games
Cloud gaming History of cloud gaming
Other platforms Browser game Emulation
Genres List of genres History of East Asian role-playing video games History of Western role-playing video games History of online games History of real-time strategy games History of tactical role-playing games History of single-player video games History of multiplayer video games History of massively multiplayer online games
Lists List of video games in development
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There have been numerous home video game consoles since the first commercial unit, the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. Historically these consoles have been grouped into generations lasting each about six years based on common technical specifications. As of 2021, there have been nine console generations, with the current leading manufactures being Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo; past console manufacturers have included Atari, Fairchild, Mattel, Coleco, Sega, NEC, 3DO, and SNK.