Video game console

A collection of video game consoles.

A video game console is an electronic device designed primarily to play video games. Video game consoles for consumer use have been sold since 1972 and many early home computers were essentially video game consoles as well. So many video game consoles have been produced that they are now described by their generations.

Video game consoles were initially designed to bring the arcade experience to the home user, however, because the consoles were designed with affordable and generic rather than dedicated hardware, the games were considerably inferior. Also, since arcade games are designed to amass a steady stream of quarters, they didn't fare as well in the home environment where the player had unlimited attempts at the game. So, even though game developers were creating titles specifically for the home market in the late 1970s, they were still designing games with an arcade philosophy well into the 1980s. Although a few games standout in the early 1980s, most games were still using discrete stages and expecting the player to try for a high score. In the mid-to-late 1980s there was a noticeable shift toward making games longer and more involved.

Personal

My family's first video game console was a used Atari 2600 which my parents got at a garage sale around 1985. It came with a bunch of games that my brother and I, and, to a lesser extent, my sister wore out. In 1988, my brother and I pooled our money together to buy a Nintendo Entertainment System. In 1992, I received a Super Nintendo Entertainment System as a Christmas present. That was the last system I bought while they were still being sold. Since then, I've acquired several other consoles used, but I almost never use them and prefer to game on my computer using emulators.