Console History

2D Generations - 8-bit to 16-bit:
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Add-ons, CD-ROMS, FMV and early 3D gaming:

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3D Generations - 32-bit to 128-bit:

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     History is written by those with the power of publication. Gamepilgrimage will use the historical record of published games to counter conjecture by those with bias towards companies or individual game consoles.  Gamepilgrimage is bent towards games, not game systems or companies.  The Game Console histories supplied here are meant to be a summary and correction to popular history and journalist histories. 
 
     While popular journalist created history books are valuable for their executive interviews and overview of forces external to video games, they exclusively write from a bias1 towards popular companies and game consoles and top selling game software.  Popular journalistic bent is especially easy to notice in their misuse of qualitative terms such as "good", "fun" or "better."  Typically, they misuse subjective statements as fact to provide support as to why one product outsold another, but they also use these statements to tell their audiences why they should, or should not, buy a certain product.  Journalistic license is understandable, given their utter dependence on advertisers and sponsors.  The information propogated from their industry has skewed our perspective on games, hardware, and the companies behind them. 
 
     Console History will evolve as the historical record of released games is cataloged and compared to published editorials. Please watch the Updates page to see when each section has been updated.  As indicated by the system logos above, all console histories on this site are written specifically for games published in the United States or that were playable on US released game hardware.  While the impact a game console or game had in other regions may be mentioned, a worldwide view of video game history is not in the scope of these pages.
 
     Technical specifications listed in each page are not intended to be exhaustive, though the footnotes should provide more curious readers with significant study materials.  The purpose of the specification sheets is to keep a simple comparison relevant to published software on each system.  Hypothetical capabilities, or capabilities that have not been implemented in production level software, are intentionally not included. If something is incorrect or a better citable source exists please do use the contact page or visit one of the forums to send the correction.
  1. 1. bias 3 a : bent, tendency b : an inclination of temperament or outlook; especially : a personal and sometimes unreasoned judgment.