Video game console

Video game console
Developer	numerous
Publisher	numerous
Systems	numerous, see computers and consoles
Released	1972-present
Added to Museum	numerous, see computers and consoles

A video game console is a system that is primarily used to play video games by consumers, as opposed to computers and arcade games.

The lines between video game consoles and computers sometimes get blurred, as video game consoles such as the Family Computer had computer-style options such as a keyboard and the BASIC programming language. In addition, computers such as the Commodore 64 were also advertised as video game machines.

Video game consoles owned by WEC Museum

Ball-and-paddle video game consoles (1972-1983)

Home consoles

• Nintendo Color-TV Game Block Breaker (1979)

Post-ball-and-paddle video game consoles (1976-1992)

Home consoles

• Atari Video Computer System (1977)
• Acetronic MPU 2000 (1979)

Handheld consoles

• Tiger Electronics World Games (1988)

8-bit video game consoles (1983 - 2003)

Home consoles

• Nintendo Entertainment System (1985)
• JAMMA SuperGun (1986) (allowed JAMMA arcade video games to be played on a television like a video game console)

Handheld consoles

• Sega Game Gear (1991)

16-bit video game consoles (1987 - 2004)

Home consoles

• Sega CD (1991) (Sega Genesis CD-ROM add-on)

Handheld consoles

• SNK Neo Geo Pocket Color (1999)

32 and 64-bit home video game consoles (1993 - 2006)

Home consoles

• Nintendo 64 (1996)
• iQue Player (2003)

Handheld consoles

• Nintendo Game Boy Advance (2001)

Post-bit video game consoles (1998 - 2013)

Home consoles

• Sega Dreamcast (1998)
• Sony PlayStation 2 (2000)
• Microsoft Xbox (2001)
• Nintendo GameCube (2001)

Handheld consoles

• Nintendo DS

Video game consoles with motion control (2005 - 2017)

Home consoles

• Microsoft Xbox 360 (2005)
• Nintendo Wii (2006)
• Sony PlayStation 3 (2006)
• Nintendo DSi (2009) (handheld)

Video game consoles positioned as home entertainment hubs (2011 - present)

Home consoles

• Nintendo 3DS (2011) (handheld)
• Nintendo Wii U (2012)
• Microsoft Xbox One (2013)
• Sony PlayStation 4 (2013)
• New Nintendo 2DS (2015) (handheld)

Microconsoles

• Apple TV: 4th generation (2015)

Ninth-generation video game consoles (2017 - present)

Home consoles

• Nintendo Switch (2017) (handheld/home console/tablet computer hybrid)

Tenth-generation video game consoles (2025 - present)

Home consoles

• Nintendo Switch 2 (2025) (handheld/home console/tablet computer hybrid)

Retro

• Watercore Dinkie Pet 4-in-1 (1997)
• Legacy Engineering Atari Flashback (2004) (a custom system-on-a-chip runs included Atari games ported to the NES)
• Kobian PlayPal (2006) (handheld) (a custom system-on-a-chip runs included Sega Mega Drive and Game Gear games)
• AtGames Arcade Nano: Columns (2010) (a custom emulator runs included Sega Genesis games)
• AtGames Arcade Nano: Sonic (2010) (a custom emulator runs included Sega Genesis games)
• AtGames Arcade Nano: Virtua Fighter (2010) (a custom emulator runs included Sega Genesis games)
• AtGames Sega Genesis Arcade Motion Dual (2010) (a custom emulator runs included Sega Genesis games)
• AtGames Sega Genesis Arcade Motion Dual (2010) (a custom emulator runs included Sega Genesis games)
• Legacy Engineering Atari Flashback 2+ (2010) (a custom system-on-a-chip runs included games from the Atari 2600)
• Hyperkin RetroN 5 (2014) (accepts cartridges to emulate games from the NES, SNES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, and Sega Genesis)
• Nintendo NES Classic Edition (2016) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Nintendo Entertainment System)
• Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer (2016) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Family Computer)
• Retro-Bit Generations (2016) (open-source emulators runs included games from the Arcade, Famicom, GB, GBA, Genesis, Mega Drive, NES, SNES, and Super Famicom)
• AtGames Atari Flashback Portable Deluxe (2017) (handheld)
• Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Famicom (2017) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Super Famicom)
• Retro-Bit Generations II (2017) (open-source emulators run included games from the Arcade, Famicom, Game Boy, and Super Famicom)
• Retro-Bit Super Retro Cade (2017) (open-source emulators run included games from the Arcade, Genesis, NES, and SNES)
• Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition (2017) (open-source emulator runs included games from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System)
• AtGames Activision Flashback Blast! (2018) (a custom emulator runs included Atari 2600 games)
• AtGames Atari Flashback Blast! vol. 1 (2018) (a custom emulator runs included Atari 2600 games)
• AtGames Atari Flashback Blast! vol. 2 (2018) (a custom emulator runs included Atari 2600 games)
• AtGames Atari Flashback Blast! vol. 3 (2018) (a custom emulator runs included Atari 2600 games)
• AtGames Bandai Namco Flashback Blast! (2018) (a custom emulator runs included arcade games)
• AtGames Legends Flashback Blast! (2018) (a custom emulator runs included arcade games)
• Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer - Weekly Shonen Jump 50th Anniversary Version (2018) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Family Computer)
• Retro Games THEC64 Mini (2018) (open-source emulator runs included games from the Commodore 64)
• Sony PlayStation Classic (2018) (open-source emulator runs included games from the PlayStation)
• AtGames Adventure Flashback Blast! (2019) (a custom emulator runs included Atari 2600 games)
• AtGames Star Flashback Blast! (2019) (a custom emulator runs included arcade games)
• AtGames Legends Flashback (2019) (custom emulators run included games from arcade, ColecoVision, NES, Sega Genesis, SNES)
• Sega Genesis Mini (2019) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Sega Genesis)
• Sega Mega Drive Mini (2019) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Sega Mega Drive)
• PC Engine Mini (2019) (a custom emulator runs included games from the PC Engine, PC Engine Arcade CD-ROM², PC Engine CD-ROM², PC Engine Super CD-ROM², TurboGrafx-16, TurboGrafx-CD, and TurboDuo)
• AtGames Bandai Namco Arcade Blast! (2020) (a custom emulator runs included arcade games)
• Blaze Entertainment Evercade (2020) (handheld) (open-source emulators run games on ROM cartridge from the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Intellivision, Lynx, NES, PlayStation, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, and SNES)
• My Arcade Bases Loaded Pocket Player (2020) (handheld) (a system-on-a-chip runs included NES games)
• My Arcade Don Doko Don Pocket Player (2020) (handheld) (a system-on-a-chip runs included NES games)
• Retro Games THEVIC20 (2020) (open-source emulator runs included games from the VIC-20)
• Retro Games The A500 Mini (2021) (open-source emulator runs included games from the Amiga 500)
• Sega Game Gear Micro (Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, and White models) (2020) (handheld) (a custom emulator runs included Game Gear and Sega Master System games)
• Sega Genesis Mini 2 (2022) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Sega Genesis and Sega CD)
• Sega Mega Drive Mini 2 (2022) (a custom emulator runs included games from the Sega Mega Drive and Mega-CD)
• Arcade1Up Pac-Man Collection (2023) (a custom emulator runs included arcade games)
• McDonalds Tetris Gaming Handheld (2023)