From Vintage Video Game Consoles To Today 1970s Video Game Consoles | 1980s Video Game Consoles | 1990s Video Game Consoles | 2000 and Beyond Top 10 Game Consoles of All Time | 10 Game Consoles That Didn't Catch On | Game Console Clones Top Brands:Magnavox | Atari | Coleco | Mattel | Nintendo | Sega | Sony | Microsoft Play Original Console Games

Vintage Video Game Consoles 2001 to Today

Nintendo Game Cube Screenshots

Nintendo Game Cube Released November 2001 Unveiled during Spaceworld 2000, the Nintendo GameCube was widely anticipated by many who were shocked by Nintendo's decision to design the Nintendo 64 as a cartridge-based system. Physically shaped similar to a geometric cube, the outside casing of the Nintendo GameCube comes in a variety of colors, such as indigo, platinum, and black (also a limited edition Resident Evil 4 platinum and black game console). 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. The disc is also read from the outer-most edge going inward, the opposite of a standard DVD. This move was mainly intended to prevent piracy of GCN titles, but like most anti-piracy technology, it was eventually cracked. View All Nintendo Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Microsoft X-Box Screenshots

Microsoft X-Box Released November 2001 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 later on March 14, 2002 in Europe. The Xbox was Microsoft's first independent venture into the video game 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. In November 2002 Microsoft released the Xbox Live on-line gaming service, allowing subscribers to play on-line Xbox games with (or against) other subscribers all around the world and download new content for their games to the hard drive. This on-line service works exclusively with broadband. 250,000 subscribers had signed on in 2 months since Live was launched. In July 2004, Microsoft announced that Xbox Live reached 1 million subscribers, and announced in July 2005 that Live had reached 2 million. View All Microsoft Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

SSD XaviXPORT Screenshots

SSD XaviXPORT Released August 2004 In January at the Consumer Electronics Show 2004 (CES), SSD COMPANY LIMITED debuts their XaviX® technology to the American public. The XaviXPort console was officially released in the US in August of 2004. XaviXPort is a unique and innovative console that uses peripherals to interact with on screen games. The console contains image recognition and infrared sensors that can detect player movements. These movements are calculated by a proprietary multiprocessor that measures both velocity and angle. The multiprocessor then translates the actions into on screen movement. Getting players to immerse themselves into games with body movements is not something new. However, this is the first time a console has been dedicated to providing this "Get your butt off the couch" interactive gaming experience. What makes XaviXPort even more unique is that the console’s multiprocessor is not installed inside the system itself. The multiprocessor can be found in each game cartridge. View All SSD Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Sony PlayStation 2 (SCPH-70000) Screenshots

Sony PlayStation 2 (SCPH-70000) Released September 2004 In September of 2004, in time for the launch of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (the best-selling game during the 2004 Holiday season), Sony revealed a new, smaller PS2. In preparation for the launch of a new, slimmer PlayStation 2 model (SCPH-70000), Sony had stopped making the older PS2 model (SCPH-5000x) sometime during the summer of 2004 to let the distribution channel empty out stock of the units. After an apparent manufacturing issue caused some initial slowdown in producing the new unit, Sony reportedly underestimated demand, caused in part by shortages between the time the old units were cleared out and the new units were ready. This led to further shortages, and the issue was compounded in Britain when a Russian oil tanker became stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking a ship from China carrying PS2s bound for the UK. During one week in November, sales in the entire country of Britain totalled 6,000 units — compared to 70,000 a few weeks prior. Shortages in North America were also extremely severe; one retail chain in the U.S., GameStop, had just 186 PS2 and Xbox units on hand across more than 1700 stores on the day before Christmas. View All Sony Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Atari Flashback Screenshots

Atari Flashback Released October 2004 The Atari Flashback was released in 2004. The console resembled an Atari 7800 in appearance, and came with a pair of controllers which resembled those of the Atari 5200 but were slightly smaller. The system had twenty games built-in, all originally developed by Warner Communication's Atari Inc. and Atari Corp. for the 2600 and 7800 game systems. The games which originally required analog paddle controllers were made to work with the included joysticks. It was designed by Atari veteran Curt Vendel, whose company Legacy Engineering Group designs other home video game and video arcade products. Atari Inc. gave Legacy Engineering ten weeks to design the product, produce its games, and ready it for the 2004 Winter holiday season. The Atari Flashback was based on "NES-on-a-chip" hardware, not resembling either of the Atari systems which the Flashback was supposed to represent. As a result, the games it contained were ports and differed in varying degrees from the original games, and therefore the Flashback was unpopular with some purists. View All Atari Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Yobo FC Twin Screenshots

Yobo FC Twin Released March 2005 The FC Twin (also known as FC X2) is a Famiclone that can play Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) games. The system has been well received due to the increasing scarcity of original hardware. The FC Twin console uses SNES compatible controllers and devices such as the Super Scope and Konami Justifier light guns, but cannot use NES compatible controllers and devices such as the NES Zapper peripheral for Duck Hunt. Yobo has its own version of the NES Zapper which is compatible with games that require use of the NES Zapper. The Super Nintendo controller buttons otherwise map to the NES controller inputs (B maps to Y, A maps to B. A maps to turbo B, X maps to turbo A; L and R serve no function). When using any controllers besides the actual FC Twin ones, the A and X buttons do nothing during 1-player or 2-player NES play. View All Yobo Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Atari Flashback 2 Screenshots

Atari Flashback 2 Released April 2005 The Atari Flashback 2, the successor to the original Atari Flashback console, was released in 2005. It has forty Atari 2600 games built-in. A few of the included games are homebrews which were created by enthusiasts in recent years, and two of the games (Pitfall! and River Raid) were originally published by Activision. The appearance of the Atari Flashback 2 is reminiscent of the original Atari 2600 console from 1977. It is roughly two-thirds the size of the original, and much lighter in weight. The Flashback 2 console has five buttons (power, reset, left and right difficulty toggles, and select); on the back it has a color/black-and-white slider switch and two ports for the included joysticks. The joysticks bear very close similarity to the original Atari 2600 joysticks from 1977, and are compatible and interchangeable with them. The Flashback 2 does not come with paddle controllers, but original paddle controllers can be connected to it and used with its paddle-based games. The console also includes two hidden titles which require the use of paddle controllers. The Flashback 2 does not come with paddle controllers, so these games cannot be played unless the user has an original set of Atari 2600 paddle controllers. To access the hidden paddle game menu, the user must press up on the joystick 1 time, pull down 9 times, push up 7 times, and pull down 2 times (this represents the year 1972, in which Pong first appeared). The code must be entered steadily and without pauses (enter it too quickly and it won't work). View All Atari Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Messiah Entertainment Generation NEX Screenshots

Messiah Entertainment Generation NEX Released September 05, 2005 for $59.99 Generation NEX is a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) hardware clone released in 2005. It is developed by a company called Messiah Entertainment, Inc. with the name being a portmanteau of Generation X and Nintendo Entertainment System. The machine is designed to play most games released for the Nintendo Famicom and its American/European equivalent, the Nintendo Entertainment System. The console takes both the Japanese Famicom 60-pin and North American/European NES 72-pin cartridges used by Nintendo. Messiah Entertainment, Inc.'s official compatibility list states that the system is compatible with 97.25% of NES games released in the US. Twenty-one NES games are listed as not compatible, including Castlevania III. The compatibility, with regards to games that Messiah's compatibility chart lists as working, is disputed; while there are claims from some that the NEX is faithful to the original Nintendo Entertainment System, others claim that the color and sound reproductions are inaccurate and some games have additional glitches when played on the NEX. View All Messiah Entertainment Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

ZAPiT Game Wave Screenshots

ZAPiT Game Wave Released November 2005 The idea of a gaming enhanced DVD player was nothing new when the ZAPiT Games Game Wave was released. The NUON had already tried to meld the two technologies with limited success. However, the Game Wave was not released to appeal to gamers and was rather released primarily as a family game system. As such, the Game Wave doesn't feature any games from the mainstream genres, such as FPS or adventure, so most gamers won't be interested in it. What it does bring to the table are a number of solid games that are easy to approach for families and non gamers alike. Designed by Nytric for ZAPiT, the console itself is little more than a standard, progressive scan DVD player with an embedded Mediamatics 8611 CPU for generating game graphics and reading commercial DVD content. The DVD drive control for the games is achieved by using an Altera Max II CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device). Half of the console (and part of what makes up the "wave") is nothing more than a covered storage unit for the controllers. The overall quality of the console seems a bit cheap, but it is functional. It has better graphical capabilities than most standard DVD players, but it won't impress anybody with what it can render. View All ZAPiT Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Microsoft X-Box 360 Screenshots

Microsoft X-Box 360 Released November 2005 The Xbox 360 is Microsoft's newest video game console, the successor to their original Xbox. It was released on November 22, 2005 in North America, December 2 in Europe, and December 10 in Japan. It will be released on February 2, 2006 in Mexico, February 24 in South Korea, and March 2, 2006 in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. The Xbox 360 will compete against 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. Except in 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 a hard 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). View All Microsoft Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Yobo FC 3 Plus Screenshots

Yobo FC 3 Plus Released January 2006 The Yobo FC 3 Plus Game System has separate circuitry and card slots for 8-Bit NES, 16-Bit SNES, and 16-Bit Sega Genesis game cartridges, allowing you to play the original NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis games all on one single gaming system. You can easily switch between the NES/SNES/Genesis games with the system selector switch. There is also an LED indicator that tells you the game system mode that has been selected. The Yobo FC3 Plus game console comes with two eight-button controllers, providing control for NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis games. A NES zapper gun is also included for NES compatible games such as Duck Hunt. View All Yobo Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Mattel HyperScan Screenshots

Mattel HyperScan Released July 01, 2006 for $69.99 HyperScan is a video game console from Mattel. It uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology along with traditional video game technology. It was marketed toward boys between the ages of five to nine who were not ready for high-end video games in terms of maturity or expense, though ironically the included game was rated T by the ESRB. The console used UDF format CD-ROMs. The HyperScan has two controller ports, as well as a 13.56 MHz RFID scanner that reads and writes to the "cards" which, in turn, activate features in and save data from the game. Players are able to enhance the abilities of their characters by scanning cards. Games retailed for $19.99 and the console itself for $69.99 at launch, but at the end of its very short lifespan, prices of the system were down to $9.99, the games $1.99, and booster packs $0.99. The system was discontinued in 2007, shortly after its release, and is featured as one of the ten worst systems ever by PC World magazine. View All Mattel Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Envizions EVO Smart Console Screenshots

Envizions EVO Smart Console Released October 20, 2006 for $399.00 The EVO Smart Console (codenamed Evo: Phase One) is a Media PC and game console marketed in the seventh generation era. The EVO Smart Console comes loaded with Fedora 8, with an option to convert to Linux-based Mirrors Evolution (a modified version of Fedora 8) or to install Virtual Windows for an additional $100. This console offers gaming, Internet, VoIP support and HD Video playback. EVO offers cloud computing based applications, Amiga-based games and Akimbo-based Video on Demand service with a catalogue of over 10,000 titles. EVO also offers additional features such as remote access, virtualization, voice-recognition, Digital Video Recording, support for Internet Television, social networking, streaming content, and automatic backup and storage, and finally -- the unit acts as virtual online cloud storage. Only 3000 units were ever sold, and the console seems to have disappeared from existence as the website Evo-SmartConsole.com is gone and the company (Envizions) does not display the console nor does it mention it anywhere on the company website. In 2009, all EVO Smart Consoles were sold out. View All Envizions Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Sony PlayStation 3 Screenshots

Sony PlayStation 3 Released November 2006 The PlayStation 3 was released in North America on November 17, 2006. During its first week of release in the United States, PlayStation 3s were being sold on eBay for more than $2300 USD. Reports of violence surrounding the release of the PS3 include a customer shot, campers robbed at gunpoint, customers shot in a drive-by shooting with BB guns, and 60 campers fighting over 10 systems. Two GameStop employees fabricated a robbery to cover up their own theft of several PlayStation 3 and four Xbox 360 consoles. Sony stated every PlayStation and PlayStation 2 game that observes its respective system's TRC (Technical Requirements Checklist) will be playable on PS3 at launch. SCE president Ken Kutaragi asked developers to adhere to the TRC to facilitate compatibility with future PlayStations, stating that the company was having some difficulty getting backward compatibility with games that had not followed the TRCs. It has been confirmed (image) that initial PS3 units include the CPU/rasterizer combination chip used in slim PS2 (EE+GS) to achieve backward compatibility. View All Sony Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Nintendo Wii Screenshots

Nintendo Wii Released November 2006 The console was known by the codename of "Revolution" until April 27, 2006, when it was renamed Wii, spelled with two "i"s to imply an image of players gathering together, as well as to represent the console's controllers. It is said Wii sounds like 'we', which emphasizes that the console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii" The Wii Remote is a one-handed controller that uses a combination of accelerometers and infrared detection to sense its position in 3D space. This allows users to control the game using physical gestures as well as traditional button presses. The controller connects to the console using Bluetooth, and features force feedback, 4KB non-volatile memory and an internal speaker. Perhaps the most important of these devices is the Nunchuk unit, which features an accelerometer and a traditional analog stick with two trigger buttons. In addition, an attachable wrist strap can be used to prevent the player from unintentionally dropping or throwing the device. View All Nintendo Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Retro-Bit Retro Duo Screenshots

Retro-Bit Retro Duo Released January 2007 The Retro Duo is a video game console developed by Retro-Bit and distributed by Innex, Inc. The Retro Duo is an 8-bit and 16-bit video game console. It was designed to fit the needs of 8-bit and 16-bit console gamers and plays game cartridges for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES. There have been quite a few clone systems made in recent years, but the difference with this one is that it plays American, European, and Japanese games and has the highest compatibility over any other clone system. Another notable difference is that S-video is now compatible when playing SNES games and it makes the games look noticeably better. The console is not licensed by Nintendo and is not fully compatible with every game released for the two game systems; however, the majority of games will function properly. Reviews of the Retro Duo have praised its compatibility for games many other clone consoles struggle with (due to hardware issues) such as Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse on the NES, Star Fox on the SNES, and the Game Genie cheat cartridge. The Retro Duo is also compatible with the Super Game Boy device. The Retro Duo was released in four different color schemes: white/blue, silver/black, black/red, and a red/gold limited edition version. View All Retro-Bit Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Eittek MiWi Screenshots

Eittek MiWi Released April 2007 If this looks and sounds familiar, that’s because the MiWi tries its best to look and feel like the Nintendo Wii. The MiWi claims to play WiiSports-esque games including boxing, ping pong, tennis, golf, baseball, soccer and bowling. The controllers are very similar to the Nintendo Wii controllers, and the controller add on pieces are very similar as well. The MiWi is a 16 bit system with several games developed specifically for it. The games are a far cry from today’s Wii. Nice try guys. View All Eittek Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Hyperkin RetroN Screenshots

Hyperkin RetroN Released August 01, 2009 for $49.99 Replay your classic NES games with the Retron 1 NES system. The Retron 1 utilizes the top loading mechanism; it lets you easily change out game cartridges with ease. Its NES controller ports are full compatible with original Nintendo controllers and zapper guns. View All Hyperkin Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Sony PlayStation 3 Slim Screenshots

Sony PlayStation 3 Slim Released September 2009 Following speculation that a 'slim' model was in the pipeline Sony officially announced the PS3 CECH-2000 model on August 18, 2009 at the Sony Gamescom press conference. Among its features are a slimmer form factor and quieter noise when powered on. It was released in major territories by September 2009. As part of the release for the slim model, the logo was changed from the "Spider-Man font" and capitalized PLAYSTATION 3 to a more traditional PlayStation and PlayStation 2 like 'PlayStation 3' logo with "PS3" imprinted on the console. Along with the console and logo redesign, the boot screen of all consoles changed from "Sony Computer Entertainment" to "PS3 PlayStation 3", with a new chime and the game start splashscreen being dropped. The cover art and packaging of games has also been changed to reflect the redesign. The PS3 slim was officially released on September 1, 2009 in North America and Europe and on September 3, 2009 in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. However, some retailers such as Amazon.com, Best Buy and GameStop started to sell the PS3 slim on August 25, 2009. The PS3 Slim sold in excess of a million units in its first 3 weeks on sale. The redesigned, slimmer version of the PlayStation 3 features an upgradeable 120 GB, 160 GB, 250 GB or 320 GB hard drive and is 33% smaller, 36% lighter and consumes 34% (CECH-20xx) or 45% (CECH-21xx) less power than the previous model. View All Sony Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Sega FireCore Screenshots

Sega FireCore Released October 2009 Announced in 2008 as the "Firebox" and "Sega Genesis 4" and released in 2009 as the "Firecore", a remodeled "Sega Genesis" console that featured built-in games. The Genesis Firecore was manufactured by ATGames. The system doesn't have an expansion port, which makes the Firecore incompatible with the Sega CD, and is also incompatible with Sega 32X, Power Base Converter and Virtua Racing. It's been reported unable to properly emulate the in-game music when playing from the original game cartridges of titles such as Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. View All Sega Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Hyperkin RetroN 3 Screenshots

Hyperkin RetroN 3 Released May 01, 2010 for $69.95 Hyperkin is no stranger to creating low cost videogame consoles and portables. Their RetroN 3 Video Gaming System claims compatibility with Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Super Nintendo (SNES), and Sega Genesis cartridges via its three cartridge ports and wireless Sega 6-button controller clone. This unit also has three sets of controller ports to match the respective original systems. The RetroN 3 was released in two colors, metallic red and dark grey. View All Hyperkin Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Microsoft X-Box 360 Slim Screenshots

Microsoft X-Box 360 Slim Released June 14, 2010 for $299.00 Xbox 360 S consoles feature redesigned internal architecture with the Valhalla motherboard, which allows for around 30% more space than previous motherboards, and the XCGPU, an integrated CPU/GPU/eDRAM chip using a 45 nm fabrication process. This allows them to be both smaller and quieter than the previous versions of the Xbox 360. They also feature 5 standard USB 2.0 ports (2 more than previous models) and an additional custom USB port for use with peripherals such as the Kinect sensor. Unlike older models, 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and a TOSLINK S/PDIF optical audio connector are also built-in, allowing for digital audio and wireless networking without the need for external adapters. The Memory Unit slots found on previous consoles have been removed in favor of the USB flash drive solution added in a previous system software update (released on April 6, 2010) and the power and DVD drive eject 'buttons' are touch sensitive rather than the physical buttons found on previous models. The external hard disk drive connector has also been swapped for an internal bay for use with a proprietary hard drive. The hard drive bay is designed such that a specially formatted laptop hard drive may be loaded in. It has been noted that users can also open up the casing of the original model's hard drive and simply load it into the drive bay instead of purchasing a hard drive branded for use with the new model. View All Microsoft Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Microsoft Kinect for X-box 360 Screenshots

Microsoft Kinect for X-box 360 Released November 04, 2010 for $150.00 Kinect for Xbox 360, or simply Kinect (originally known by the code name Project Natal), is a motion sensing input device by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game console. Based around a webcam-style add-on peripheral for the Xbox 360 console, it enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller, through a natural user interface using gestures and spoken commands. The project is aimed at broadening the Xbox 360's audience beyond its typical gamer base. Microsoft had an advertising budget of US$500 million for the launch of Kinect, a larger sum than the investment at launch of the Xbox console. The marketing campaign You Are the Controller, aiming to reach new audiences, included advertisements on Kellogg's cereal boxes and Pepsi bottles, commercials during shows such as Dancing with the Stars and Glee as well as print ads in various magazines such as People and InStyle. 10 million units of the Kinect sensor have been shipped as of March 9, 2011. Having sold 8 million units in its first 60 days on the market, Kinect has claimed the Guinness World Record of being the "fastest selling consumer electronics device". According to Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, Kinect bundles accounted for about half of all Xbox 360 console sales in December 2010 and for more than two-thirds in February 2011. View All Microsoft Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

Atari Flashback 3 Screenshots

Atari Flashback 3 Released September 01, 2011 for $39.99 In 2011 Atari licensed out Legacy Engineering's Flashback concept and name to AtGames for the "Flashback 3". The Flashback 3 includes 60 built-in Atari 2600 games, 2 joysticks, and a case design that is similar to the Flashback 2/2+ design, except for front-based joystick ports, no B/W switch, and a different curvature. Internally the Flashback 3 system uses emulation running on an ARM-based processor instead of Legacy's "2600-on-a-chip" and is not hackable to add a cartridge port for reading original Atari 2600 cartridges. Original 2600 joysticks and paddles will also work on this system however. View All Atari Video Game Consoles Post a Comment

1970s Video Game Consoles | 1980s Video Game Consoles | 1990s Video Game Consoles | 2000 and Beyond

Top 10 Game Consoles of All Time | 10 Game Consoles That Didn't Catch On | Game Console Clones

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