Editing Video game console (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of video game consoles|Home video game console generations}}
The first video game consoles were produced in the early 1970s. [[Ralph H. Baer]] devised the concept of playing simple, spot-based games on a television screen in 1966, which later became the basis of the [[Magnavox Odyssey]] in 1972. Inspired by the table tennis game on the Odyssey, [[Nolan Bushnell]], [[Ted Dabney]], and [[Allan Alcorn]] at [[Atari, Inc.]] developed the first successful [[arcade game]], ''[[Pong]]'', and looked to develop that into a home version, which was released in 1975. The first consoles were capable of playing only a very limited number of games built into the hardware. Programmable consoles using swappable [[ROM cartridge]]s were introduced with the [[Fairchild Channel F]] in 1976, though popularized with the [[Atari Video Computer System|Atari 2600]] released in 1977.

Handheld consoles emerged from technology improvements in [[handheld electronic game]]s as these shifted from mechanical to electronic/digital logic, and away from [[light-emitting diode]] (LED) indicators to [[liquid-crystal display]]s (LCD) that resembled video screens more closely. Early examples include the [[Microvision]] in 1979 and [[Game & Watch]] in 1980, and the concept was fully realized by the [[Game Boy]] in 1989.

Both home and handheld consoles have become more advanced following global changes in technology. These technological shifts include improved electronic and computer chip manufacturing to increase computational power at lower costs and size, the introduction of 3D graphics and hardware-based graphic processors for real-time rendering, digital communications such as the Internet, wireless networking and Bluetooth, and larger and denser media formats as well as digital distribution.

Following the same type of [[Moore's law]] progression, home consoles are grouped into generations; each lasting approximately five years. Consoles within each generation share similar specifications and features, such as [[Word (computer architecture)|processor word size]]. While no one grouping of consoles by generation is universally accepted,<ref name="winner take some">{{cite report | url = https://www.pitt.edu/~ckemerer/Video%20Game%20Reexamination%2020170216-submitted.pdf | title = Winners-Take-Some Dynamics in Digital Platform Markets: A Reexamination of the Video Game Console Wars | first1 = Chris F. | last1 = Kemerer | first2 = Brian Kimball | last2 = Dunn | first3 = Shadi | last3 = Janansefat | date = February 2017 | access-date = July 23, 2020 | publisher = [[University of Pittsburgh]] | archive-date = July 8, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210708164333/https://www.pitt.edu/~ckemerer/Video%20Game%20Reexamination%2020170216-submitted.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> one breakdown of generations, showing representative consoles, of each is shown below.

{{#section:Home video game console generations|generations graph}}