History Of Video Game Consoles (sixth Generation)
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history of video games The history of video games began in the 1950s and 1960s as computer scientists began designing simple games and simulations on minicomputers and mainframes. '' Spacewar!'' was developed by MIT student hobbyists in 1962 as one of the first s ...
, the sixth generation era (sometimes called the 128-bit era; see "bits and system power" below) is the era of
computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...
and video games,
video game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...
s, and handheld gaming devices available at the turn of the 21st century, starting on November 27, 1998. '' Platforms'' in the sixth generation include consoles from four companies: the
Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
Dreamcast (DC),
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...
(PS2),
Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...
GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the ...
(GC), and
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...
. This era began on November 27, 1998, with the Japanese release of the Dreamcast, which was joined by the PlayStation 2 on March 4, 2000, and the Xbox and Gamecube on November 15 and 18, 2001, respectively. In April 2001, the Dreamcast was among the first to be discontinued. Xbox in 2006, GameCube in 2007 and PlayStation 2 was the last, in January 2013. Meanwhile, the
seventh generation of consoles The seventh generation of home video game consoles began on November 22, 2005, with the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360 home console. This was followed by the release of Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation 3 on November 17, 2006, and Ninte ...
started on November 22, 2005, with the launch of the
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
. The major innovation of this generation was of full utilization of the
internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...
to allow a fully online gaming experience. While the prior generation had some systems with internet connectivity, such as the Apple Pippin, these had little market penetration and thus had limited success in the area. Services such as Microsoft's
Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox system on November 15, 2002. A ...
became industry standard in this, and future, generations. Another innovation of the Xbox was the first system to utilize an internal
hard disk drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with mag ...
to store game data. This caused many improvements to the gaming experience, including the ability to store program data (rather than just save game data) that allowed for faster load times, as well as the ability to download games directly from the internet rather than to purchase physical media such as a disk or cartridge. Soon after its release other systems, like the Sony PlayStation 2, produced peripheral storage devices to allow similar capabilities, and by the next generation internal storage became industry standard. Bit ratings (i.e. "64-bit" or "32-bit" for the previous generation) for most consoles largely fell by the wayside during this era, with the notable exceptions being promotions for the Dreamcast and PS2 that advertised "128-bit graphics" at the start of the generation. The number of "bits" cited in this way in console names refers to the
CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, a ...
word size In computing, a word is the natural unit of data used by a particular processor design. A word is a fixed-sized datum handled as a unit by the instruction set or the hardware of the processor. The number of bits or digits in a word (the ''word s ...
, and had been used by hardware marketing departments as a "show of power" for many years. However, there is little to be gained from increasing the word size much beyond 32 or 64 bits because, once this level is reached, performance depends on more varied factors, such as processor clock speed, bandwidth, and memory size. The sixth generation of handhelds began with the release of the
Neo Geo Pocket Color The is a 16-bit color handheld video game console manufactured by SNK. It is a successor to SNK's monochrome Neo Geo Pocket handheld which debuted in 1998 in Japan, with the Color being fully backward compatible. The Neo Geo Pocket Color wa ...
by SNK in 1999 and
Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine ...
's
WonderSwan Color The (ワンダースワン) is a handheld game console released in Japan by Bandai. It was developed by Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto Laboratory and Bandai, and was the last piece of hardware Yokoi developed before his death in 1997. Released ...
, launched in Japan in the same year. Nintendo maintained its dominant share of the handheld market with the release in 2001 of the Game Boy Advance, which featured many upgrades and new features over the
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...
. The Game Boy Advance was discontinued around in early 2010. The next generation of handheld consoles began in November 2004, with the North American introduction of the
Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in t ...
. The last official Dreamcast games were released in 2002 (North America and Europe) and 2007 (Japan). The last GameCube games were released in 2006 (Japan) and 2007 (North America and Europe). The last Xbox games were released in 2007 (Japan) and 2008 (Europe and North America). ''
Pro Evolution Soccer 2014 ''Pro Evolution Soccer 2014'' (officially abbreviated as ''PES 2014'', also known in Asia as ''World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2014'' and ''World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2014 - Aoki Samurai no Chousen'' in Japan only) is an association football video ...
'' was the last game for the PlayStation 2 (in Europe), which was released in November 2013. The last PS2 game, '' Final Fantasy XI: Rhapsodies of Vana'diel'', was released in May 2015, marking the end of this generation.


Home systems

The
Sony PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australi ...
achieved sales dominance in this generation, becoming the best-selling console in history, with over 150 million units sold as of February 2011. The Microsoft Xbox had sold over 24 million units as of May 2006, and the Nintendo GameCube had sold 22 million units as of September 2010. The
Sega Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nint ...
, which arrived prior to all of the others and was discontinued in 2001, came in fourth with 9.13 million sold. The sixth generation began to end when the Xbox was succeeded by the
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
in late 2005. GameCube hardware was still being produced when the
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, ...
was released in late 2006, but as of June 2008 had also been ceased. PlayStation 2 sales continued to be strong through to the end of 2010, due to the system's large software library, continuing software support, and affordable price. In February 2008, the PlayStation 2 outsold both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in the United States. Games were still being produced for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube as of 2008, while Dreamcast games were officially discontinued in 2003. There were still a few games being produced for the Dreamcast in 2004, but they are essentially NAOMI arcade ports released only in Japan, with small print runs. The PlayStation 2 was still being produced after the launch of the Wii U in 2012, making the sixth generation the second longest generation of all time.


Dreamcast

Sega's Dreamcast is the first console of the generation and had several features to show an advantage from the competition, including Internet gaming as an optional feature through its built-in modem, and a web browser. The console is credited with restoring Sega's reputation, which had been damaged by the earlier failures of the
Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the su ...
, Sega 32X, Genesis Nomad and
Sega CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan ...
. Despite this, the Dreamcast was discontinued prematurely due to numerous factors. The impending and much-hyped PlayStation 2 slowed Dreamcast sales, mostly due to the fact that the PlayStation 2 had a built-in DVD player and a huge number of PS1 owners looking to upgrade to the new, backwards-compatible console. In addition, Sega's short-lived support/success of its post-Mega Drive products the Mega-CD, 32X and Saturn had left developers and customers skeptical, with some holding out to see whether the Dreamcast or PlayStation 2 would come out on top. Sega's decision to implement a
GD-ROM GD-ROM (an abbreviation of "Gigabyte Disc Read-Only Memory") is a proprietary optical disc format originally used for the Dreamcast video game console, as well as its arcade counterpart, the Sega NAOMI and select Triforce arcade board titles. I ...
(though publicly advertised as a
CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both com ...
) for storage medium did save costs but it did not compare well against the PS2's much-touted DVD capabilities. Sega was either unable or unwilling to spend the advertising money necessary to compete with Sony, who themselves took massive losses on the PlayStation 2 to gain market share. With the announcements of the Xbox and GameCube in late 2000, Sega's console was considered by some to be outdated only two years after its release. The previous losses from the Saturn, 32X, and Sega/Mega-CD, stagnation of sales due to the PlayStation 2, and impending competition from Microsoft and Nintendo caused Sega's revenue to shrink and announce their intention on killing the system in early 2001, dropping the system entirely and leaving the console market in early 2004 in Japan and much earlier in other countries. Sega also announced it would shut down SegaNet, an online gaming community that supported online-capable Dreamcast titles. Due to user outcry over the decision, Sega delayed the service's closure by an additional 6 months. Since the Dreamcast's discontinuation, Sega transitioned to software developing, making games for Nintendo and mobile games.


PlayStation 2

The brand Sony had established with the original
PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a di ...
was a major factor in the PlayStation 2's dominance, both in terms of securing a consumer base and attracting third-party developers, with the gradual increase in one reinforcing the other. The PlayStation 2 was also able to play DVDs and was backwards-compatible with PlayStation games, which many say helped the former's sales. Sony Computer Entertainment secured licensing for key games such as ''
Final Fantasy X is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square as the tenth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Originally released in 2001 for PlayStation 2, the game was re-released as ''Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster'' for PlaySta ...
'', ''
Grand Theft Auto III ''Grand Theft Auto III'' is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 1999's ''Grand Theft Auto 2'', and the fifth instalment o ...
'', and '' Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty'', enabling the PS2 to outperform its competitors' launches. The console ended up becoming the top-selling console of this generation, while its competing consoles, the Xbox and the GameCube, went on to be modestly successful consoles.


GameCube

Nintendo struggled with conflicting brand images, particularly the family-friendly one developed during the 1990s. Its arsenal of franchises and history in the industry, though earning it a loyal fan base, failed to give it an advantage against the Xbox and PlayStation 2 which captured audiences seeking ' Mature' titles of which Nintendo had fewer. Nintendo also made little headway into online gaming (releasing a small handful of online-capable games, the most popular of which was ''
Phantasy Star Online Episode I and II ''Phantasy Star Online'' is an online role-playing game (RPG) developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega in 2000 for the Dreamcast. It was the first online RPG for game consoles; players adventure with up to three others over the internet to ...
'', which was an enhanced port of the Dreamcast game with various new features and content), instead emphasizing Game Boy Advance connectivity. As a result, the Nintendo GameCube failed to match the sales of its predecessor, the
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...
, but the console wasn't a financial failure. Nintendo did however rejuvenate its relationship with many developers, often working in close collaboration with them to produce games based upon its franchises, in contrast to the past where it was frequently seen as bullying developers in the late 1980s, back when the
Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...
was out on the market. As a result, the Nintendo GameCube had more first and second party releases than its competitors, whose most successful titles were mainly products of third-party developers.


Xbox

Although the
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...
had the formidable financial backing of
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...
, it was unable to significantly threaten the dominance of the PlayStation 2 as market leader. However, the Xbox attracted a large fanbase and strong third-party support in the United States and Europe and became a recognizable brand amongst the mainstream. The
Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox system on November 15, 2002. A ...
online service with its centralized model proved particularly successful, prompting Sony to boost the online capabilities of the PlayStation 2. Xbox Live also gave the Xbox an edge over the GameCube, which had a near-total lack of online games. The flagship of Xbox Live was the game '' Halo 2'', which was the best selling Xbox game with over 8 million copies sold worldwide. However, the Xbox failed to gain a following in Japan, with reasons cited including lack of brand recognition, lack of commitment to the console from Japanese publishers and developers, failure of Microsoft staff to fully understand important cultural differences, and ethnocentric preferences of the Japanese public for native products.


Comparison


Worldwide sales standings


Other consoles

These consoles were created for the mass market, like the 4 consoles listed above. These, however, are less often noted, never saw a worldwide release, and/or have sold fewer units overall, and are therefore listed as 'Other'. File:Nuon-N2000-wController-L.jpg, link=File:Nuon-N2000-wController-L.jpg, The Nuon was a hybrid DVD player/gaming system released in 2000, that had a very small game library. File:Panasonic-Q-Console-Set.jpg, Panasonic Q, a DVD player hybrid version of the GameCube. Released by
Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...
in 2001. File:Console_psx.jpg, PSX, a PlayStation compatible digital video recorder. Released by
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
in 2003. File:AtariFlashback.jpg, The Atari Flashback, the "plug and play" version of the
Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocesso ...
and 7800 Released in 2004. File:V-Smile_Top.JPG, The
V.Smile The V.Smile (stylized as V.SMILE TV LEARNING SYSTEM) is a Sixth generation of video game consoles, sixth-generation Educational technology, educational home video game console manufactured and released by VTech. Titles are available on ROM cartr ...
was a gaming system for education, created by VTech. Released in 2004 File:XaviX-XaviXPORT-Console-FL.jpg, The
XaviX The XaviXPORT, sold as the Domyos Interactive System in Europe in Decathlon stores, is a fitness-based home video game console developed by Japanese company SSD Company Limited and released in the United States in 2004 during the sixth generati ...
is the video gaming base console for the XaviX Interactive System, released by SSD COMPANY LIMITED in 2004.
The
Panasonic M2 The Panasonic M2 is a video game console platform developed by 3DO and then sold to Matsushita, a company known outside Japan by the brand Panasonic. Initially announced as a peripheral chip for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, it was later un ...
was a sixth generation console developed by
The 3DO Company The 3DO Company (formerly THDO on the NASDAQ stock exchange), also known as 3DO, was an American video game company. It was founded in 1991 by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, in a partnership with seven other companies. After 3DO's flagsh ...
and sold to Panasonic, which then decided to not release the console in 1997.


Bits and system power

Bit ratings for consoles largely fell by the wayside after the fifth generation (32/64-bit) era. The number of "bits" cited in console names referred to the
CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, a ...
word A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no conse ...
size, but there was little to be gained from increasing the word size much beyond 32 bits; performance depended on other factors, such as
central processing unit A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, a ...
speed,
graphics processing unit A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, m ...
speed, channel capacity,
data storage Data storage is the recording (storing) of information (data) in a storage medium. Handwriting, phonographic recording, magnetic tape, and optical discs are all examples of storage media. Biological molecules such as RNA and DNA are consi ...
size, and memory speed, latency, and size. The importance of the number of bits in the modern console gaming market has thus decreased due to the use of components that process data in varying word sizes. Previously, console manufacturers advertised the "''n''-bit talk" to overemphasize the hardware capabilities of their system. The Dreamcast and the PlayStation 2 were the last systems to use the term "128-bit" in their marketing to describe their capability. It is not easy to compare the relative "power" of the different systems. Having a larger CPU word size does not necessarily make one console more powerful than another. Likewise, the operating frequency (clock rate, measured in terms of
Hertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that o ...
) of a system's CPU is not an accurate measure of performance either, except between systems of the same or similar architecture. The Microsoft
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...
uses a 32-bit (general purpose) CISC x86 architecture CPU, with an instruction set equal to that of the Coppermine core Mobile
Celeron Celeron is Intel's brand name for low-end IA-32 and x86-64 computer microprocessor models targeted at low-cost personal computers. Celeron processors are compatible with IA-32 software. They typically offer less performance per clock speed co ...
, though it has less cache (128 kB) than the PC equivalent. It has 64 MB RAM (shared) and runs at 733 MHz. Because the Pentium 3 introduced SSE, the Xbox also had 128-bit SIMD capabilities. Its ''NV2A'' GPU, which is very similar to the GeForce 3 Series of desktop GPUs, makes it the only console in its time with traditional vertex and pixel
shader In computer graphics, a shader is a computer program that calculates the appropriate levels of light, darkness, and color during the rendering of a 3D scene - a process known as ''shading''. Shaders have evolved to perform a variety of speci ...
s. The Nintendo GameCube's IBM
Gekko ''Gekko'' is a genus of Southeast Asian geckos, commonly known as true geckos or calling geckos, in the family Gekkonidae. Although species such as '' Gekko gecko'' (tokay gecko) are very widespread and common, some species in the same genus h ...
PowerPC PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple– IBM– ...
CPU runs at 485 MHz, while its "Flipper" graphics processor is comparable to the original
ATI Ati or ATI may refer to: * Ati people, a Negrito ethnic group in the Philippines **Ati language (Philippines), the language spoken by this people group ** Ati-Atihan festival, an annual celebration held in the Philippines *Ati language (China), a ...
Radeon Radeon () is a brand of computer products, including graphics processing units, random-access memory, RAM disk software, and solid-state drives, produced by Radeon Technologies Group, a division of AMD. The brand was launched in 2000 by ATI Tech ...
, and it has 43 MB of non-unified memory (24 MB of 1T-SRAM, 3 MB embedded 1T-SRAM, and 16 MB DRAM). The GameCube supports
Dolby Pro Logic Dolby Pro Logic is a surround sound processing technology developed by Dolby Laboratories, designed to decode soundtracks encoded with Dolby Surround. Dolby Stereo (also known as ''Dolby MP'' or ''Dolby SVA'') was developed by Dolby in 1976 ...
II. The
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...
's CPU (known as the "128-bit Emotion Engine") has a 64-bit core with a 32-bit FPU coupled to two 128 bit Vector Units, The hybrid R5900 CPU is based on
MIPS architecture MIPS (Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipelined Stages) is a family of reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architectures (ISA)Price, Charles (September 1995). ''MIPS IV Instruction Set'' (Revision 3.2), MIPS Technologies, ...
. The PS2 also has an internal 10 Channel DMA Bus which is fully 128 bits wide. Paths between the Emotion Engine, RAM and the Graphics Synthesizer (GS) are also 128 bits wide. The PS2's unique hardware arrangement with no less than 10 processing units were difficult to come to grips with. Many developers struggled initially with programming the hardware. The PS2's Graphics Synthesizer (GS) has fast dedicated video memory, though it is limited in the amount of data it can hold. The 10 Channel 128 bit wide DMA bus could pump data to GS Memory as fast as the screen could update. Consequently, with the main memory being limited to 32MB, many of the PS2's games have reduced textures compared with versions for other consoles. It also does not have a hardware dedicated
transform and lighting Transform, clipping, and lighting (T&L or TCL) is a term used in computer graphics. Overview Transformation is the task of producing a two-dimensional view of a three-dimensional scene. Clipping means only drawing the parts of the scene that ...
unit like the ones found in the Xbox and GameCube GPUs. However the PS2's design allows a remarkable degree of flexibility and choice. For example, program control and general arithmetic could be handled by the CPU, while the Vector Units 0 and 1, could provide parallel processing of physics, clipping and transform and lighting to the scene. The Vector units were noted to be so versatile that ''
Shadow of The Colossus ''Shadow of the Colossus'' is a 2005 action-adventure game developed by Japan Studio and Team Ico, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It takes place in a fantasy setting and follows Wander, a young man who ent ...
'' used one of the vector units to do full Pixel shading for the fur of the Collossi. The Dreamcast has a
64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit CPUs and ALUs are those that are based on processor registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. A ...
double-precision Double-precision floating-point format (sometimes called FP64 or float64) is a floating-point number format, usually occupying 64 bits in computer memory; it represents a wide dynamic range of numeric values by using a floating radix point. F ...
superscalar A superscalar processor is a CPU that implements a form of parallelism called instruction-level parallelism within a single processor. In contrast to a scalar processor, which can execute at most one single instruction per clock cycle, a sup ...
SuperH-4
RISC In computer engineering, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) is a computer designed to simplify the individual instructions given to the computer to accomplish tasks. Compared to the instructions given to a complex instruction set comp ...
Central processing unit A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, a ...
core with a
32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in 32- bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform large calculati ...
integer An integer is the number zero (), a positive natural number (, , , etc.) or a negative integer with a minus sign ( −1, −2, −3, etc.). The negative numbers are the additive inverses of the corresponding positive numbers. In the languag ...
unit using
16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...
fixed-length instructions, a 64-bit data bus allowing a variable width of either 8, 16, 32 or 64-bits, and a 128-bit floating-point bus. The
PowerVR PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL accel ...
2DC CLX2 chipset uses a unique method of rendering a 3D scene called
Tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or ...
Based Deferred Rendering (TBDR): while storing polygons in triangle strip format in memory, the display is split into tiles associated with a list of visibly overlapping triangles onto which, using a process similar to ray tracing, rays are cast and a pixel is rendered from the triangle closest to the camera. After calculating the depths associated with each polygon for one tile row in 1 cycle, the whole tile is flushed to video memory before passing on to render the next tile. Once all information has been collated for the current frame, the tiles are rendered in turn to produce the final image.


Handheld systems

During the sixth generation era, the
handheld game console A handheld game console, or simply handheld console, is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain the co ...
market expanded with the introduction of new devices from many different manufacturers. Nintendo maintained its dominant share of the handheld market with the release in 2001 of the Game Boy Advance, which featured many upgrades and new features over the
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...
. Two redesigns of this system followed, the Game Boy Advance SP in 2003 and the Game Boy Micro in 2005. Also introduced were the
Neo Geo Pocket Color The is a 16-bit color handheld video game console manufactured by SNK. It is a successor to SNK's monochrome Neo Geo Pocket handheld which debuted in 1998 in Japan, with the Color being fully backward compatible. The Neo Geo Pocket Color wa ...
by SNK in 1998 and
Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine ...
's
WonderSwan Color The (ワンダースワン) is a handheld game console released in Japan by Bandai. It was developed by Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto Laboratory and Bandai, and was the last piece of hardware Yokoi developed before his death in 1997. Released ...
, launched in Japan in 1999. South Korean company Game Park introduced its GP32 handheld in 2001, and with it came the dawn of
open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized so ...
handheld consoles. The Game Boy Advance line of handhelds has sold 81.51 million units worldwide as of September 30, 2010. A major new addition to the market was the trend for corporations to include a large number of "non-gaming" features into their handheld consoles, including cell phones, MP3 players, portable movie players, and
PDA PDA may refer to: Science and technology * Patron-driven acquisition, a mechanism for libraries to purchase books *Personal digital assistant, a mobile device * Photodiode array, a type of detector * Polydiacetylenes, a family of conducting po ...
-like features. The handheld that started this trend was
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
's N-Gage, which was released in 2003 and doubled primarily as a mobile phone. It went through a redesign in 2004 and was renamed the N-Gage QD. A second handheld, the
Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. The pa ...
from Tapwave, was released in 2004; based on the Palm OS, it offered specialized gaming-oriented video and sound capabilities, but it had an unwieldy development kit due to the underlying Palm OS foundation. A fairly uncommon handheld of the 6th generation was the vtech V.SMILE Pocket. A handheld version of their V.SMILE home console. With more and more PDAs arriving during the previous generation, the difference between consumer electronics and traditional computing began to blur and cheap console technology grew as a result. It was said of PDAs that they were "the computers of handheld gaming" because of their multi-purpose capabilities and the increasingly powerful computer hardware that resided within them. This capability existed to move gaming beyond the last generation's 16-bit limitations; however, PDAs were still geared towards the typical businessman, and lacked new, affordable software franchises to compete with dedicated handheld gaming consoles.


Handheld comparison

Note: First year of release is the first year of the system's worldwide availability.


Other handhelds

File:Sega-Dreamcast-VMU.jpg, VMU (1998) Created by
Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
as a memory card for the Dreamcast File:Pokémon mini system.jpg, Pokémon Mini (2001) File:Gp32.jpg, GP32
Released in 2001, discontinued around 2005 – South Korea only File:LeapFrog_Leapster-0593.jpg, Leapster Learning Game System (2003)


Sales


Trends


Market convergence

Major publishers, such as Activision,
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...
, and
Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', '' Far Cry'', ...
adopted a cross-platform strategy, releasing versions of their games for PC, all major consoles, and in some cases, handhelds as well. The sixth generation was the first to help console and computer software grow closer together as well as outperform the arcade market in features, graphics and business. The Dreamcast, which had an official Windows CE Development Kit to help porting games from PCs to Dreamcast, and the Xbox, which was made from off-the-shelf PC parts and hosted many PC ports, factored into this also.


Controversial games

While the sixth generation was not the first to have its share of controversial games, this generation was noted to have extensive criticism by public figures of "objectionable" content in gaming such as sex, crime, violence, profanity, drug use, and social propaganda as well as topics of debate such as religion, politics and economics. The sixth generation was also notable because it saw the continuation of lawmakers taking actions against the video game industry. The most famous were Rockstar Games' ''Manhunt'' and ''Grand Theft Auto'' games (''
Grand Theft Auto III ''Grand Theft Auto III'' is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 1999's ''Grand Theft Auto 2'', and the fifth instalment o ...
'' and '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'') facing lawsuits over alleged racial slurs and influencing minors to commit crimes, while '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' was briefly given an adult rating and removed from most stores over the availability of an abandoned sex mini-game using the Hot Coffee mod. The sixth generation also coincided with the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
in New York City and
the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...
, which had a huge impact on the
entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousan ...
, including the
video game industry The video game industry encompasses the development, marketing, and monetization of video games. The industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs worldwide. The video game industry has grown from niches to mainstrea ...
; in the subsequent market climate, multiple games were edited in response to the sensitivity surrounding the event. Prior to its release, '' Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty'' depicted Arsenal Gear, a submersible mobile fortress hijacked by terrorists destroying a good portion of Manhattan in view of the twin towers (this can be found in the "Document of Metal Gear Solid 2" making-of feature). Similarly, several undisclosed modifications were made in ''Grand Theft Auto III'', such as a change to the police cars' color scheme (the old scheme resembled that of New York City Police Department, NYPD's older blue and white design) and altered cover art (the European release featured the original artwork); Rockstar Games estimates that the changes amounted to 1% in changed content. The Dreamcast game ''Propeller Arena'' was never officially released, possibly due to a certain level which was visually very similar to the September 11 attacks.


Emulation and retro gaming

Because of the increased computing power of video game consoles and the widespread usage of emulators, the sixth generation saw the rise of console emulation and retro gaming on a vast scale. Many games for older systems were updated with superior graphics or sound and re-released for current consoles. Commonly emulated games included those released for the
Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...
, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the Mega Drive, Mega Drive/Genesis, the PlayStation (console), PlayStation (the PS2 can play PS1 games natively), and the
Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...
. Also during this generation, the computing power of handheld consoles became capable of supporting games made for some of the earliest gaming consoles and several companies released remakes of classic games for the handhelds. Nintendo introduced a line of NES and SNES games for its Game Boy Advance handheld, including remakes such as ''Final Fantasy I and II (compilations), Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls'' and Nintendo's ''Metroid: Zero Mission''. Also, an increasing number of Types of Video-Game Development Parties, third-party developers, including Midway Games, Capcom, Namco, Atari, and
Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
, released anthology collections of some of their old games. Additionally, many video games and video game series that were originally confined to Japan were released in North America and Europe for the first time.


Rise of online gaming

Online game, Online gaming, which in previous generations had been almost an exclusive domain of PC games, became more prominent in video game consoles during this generation. The Dreamcast initiated this change with its built in modem, internet browsing software, and ability to play certain games online. The
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...
,
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...
and Nintendo GameCube, GameCube also offered online gaming, though their approaches and commitment to it varied greatly. The Xbox offered an integrated service called
Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox system on November 15, 2002. A ...
that cost $50 per year and was only compatible with a Broadband, broadband internet connection. Its ability to connect gamers for online multi-player matches was a considerable factor in allowing the Xbox to gain a foothold in the western market, especially in the first-person shooter genre. The PlayStation 2 left its online gaming service up to each individual game publisher, and though it was free to use, it was not always an ideal experience, especially with games published by small developers. The ''SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs, SOCOM'' series was one of the most popular online competitive games for the PS2. The GameCube did not offer online play for any of its first-party titles, with only Sega's ''Phantasy Star Online'' series and ''Homeland (video game), Homeland'' making official use of the console's online capabilities. In addition, online capability was not out-of-the-box; an adapter was needed to hook the GameCube to the internet.


Mergers

Many game publishing companies with a long established history merged with their competitors:
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washi ...
bought second-party developer Rare (company), Rare in 2002; Square (video game company), Square merged with Enix to form Square Enix in 2003 and then later bought Taito Corporation, Taito;
Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
merged with Sammy to form Sega Sammy Holdings in 2004; Konami bought a majority share of Hudson Soft; Namco merged with
Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered in Irvine ...
to form Bandai Namco Holdings in 2006.


Software


Milestone titles

* ''
Final Fantasy X is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square as the tenth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. Originally released in 2001 for PlayStation 2, the game was re-released as ''Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster'' for PlaySta ...
'' (PS2) by Square (video game company), Square (now Square Enix) refined many elements found in its predecessors, adding a completely different battle system. Within four days of its release in Japan the game had sold over 1.4 million copies in pre-orders, setting the record for the fastest-selling console RPG. * ''Forza Motorsport (video game), Forza Motorsport'' (Xbox) by Turn 10 Studios and Microsoft Studios received universal critical acclaim and is considered to have set a new standard for the racing genre. This game received universal acclaim according to the Review aggregator, review aggregation website Metacritic. * ''God of War (2005 video game), God of War'' and ''God of War II'' (PS2) by Santa Monica Studio and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) were both released to universal acclaim from critics for their gameplay, graphics and story. * ''
Grand Theft Auto III ''Grand Theft Auto III'' is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 1999's ''Grand Theft Auto 2'', and the fifth instalment o ...
'', ''Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Vice City'', and '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' (PS2, Xbox, PC) by Rockstar Games, Rockstar popularized "sandbox" style gameplay in an urban crime setting, which has since been widely imitated. In addition, it brought violence and other potentially objectionable content in video games back into the mainstream spotlight, thus reviving the video game controversy. * ''Half-Life 2'' (PC, Xbox) by Valve Corporation, Valve was praised for its advanced physics, animation, sound, AI, graphics, gameplay, and narrative, and was named Game of the Decade at the Spike Video Game Awards. * ''Halo: Combat Evolved'' (Xbox, PC) by Bungie and Microsoft Studios was by far the most successful launch title for the
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...
. '' Halo 2'' set records as the fastest grossing release in entertainment history and was still very successful on the
Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox system on November 15, 2002. A ...
online gaming service until support was dropped in April 2010. * ''Jet Set Radio'' (DC) by Smilebit and
Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
received universal acclaim for its arcade-style gameplay, up-tempo music and Cel shading, cel-shaded visuals. It popularized the use of cel-shaded visuals in video games. * ''The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker'' (GC) by Nintendo EAD and Nintendo remains one of the most critically acclaimed games of the generation. Critics praised the vivid artistry and timeless gameplay. It has a score of 96% on Metacritic, and is the fourth game to obtain a perfect score from video game reviewer Famitsu. Likewise, ''The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess'' (GC) proved to be another important title in the series released this generation. The title is perhaps best remembered for the excitement caused by its announcement trailer at E3 2004. It was released to widespread critical acclaim with an average of 96% on Metacritic. The game drew much praise for its scale and cinematic style with many reviewers declaring it the best game in the series. Likewise, it was seen as a transitional title being released on both the Gamecube and Wii – which resulted in it being the best selling title in the series since ''Ocarina of Time''. * '' Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty'' (PS2, Xbox, PC) and ''Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater'' (PS2) by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and Konami improved upon the stealth genre by adding many new abilities, and for the first time in its respective genre made the surroundings nearly completely interactive. Both games achieved widespread critical acclaim, as they improved many elements from their Metal Gear Solid, predecessor. * ''Metroid Prime'' (GC) by Retro Studios and Nintendo is one of the generation's highest-rated titles, with a score of 96.3 on GameRankings and a 97 on Metacritic. The game garnered critical praise and commercial success, selling more than a million units in North America alone. It was also the eighth best-selling GameCube game in Australia, and more than 78,000 copies were sold in Japan. It won a number of Game of the Year awards, and it is considered by many critics and gamers to be List of video games considered the best, one of the greatest video games ever made, remaining one of the highest-rated games on Metacritic. * ''NFL 2K1'' (DC) by Visual Concepts and
Sega is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, respectively. Its division ...
was the first football game to feature online play. * ''Phantasy Star Online'' (DC, GC, Xbox, PC) by Sonic Team and Sega, the first console MMORPG, has been cited as one of the most groundbreaking and influential games of the generation. It received "generally favorable" reviews per ratings aggregator Metacritic. * Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, ''Pokémon Ruby'' and ''Sapphire'' (GBA) Despite the fact that the games received some backlash due to connectivity issues with the older games, which was resolved with the release of future games, these games still received positive reception from critics and a loyal fanbase for adding much more innovation to the Pokémon series. They eventually became the best selling games for the Game Boy Advance, selling roughly over 16.22 million copies worldwide as of October 2013. * ''Resident Evil 4'' (GC, PS2, PC) by Capcom Production Studio 4 and Capcom revamped the franchise in a new, more action-oriented direction. It remains one of the highest rated games of the generation. * ''Rez (video game), Rez'' (DC, PS2) by United Game Artists and Sega received significant critical acclaim. Originally published in ''Edge'' issue 105, Christmas 2001. The game, about a computer virus named Swayzak invading the mainframe of a computer, has been cited as one of the greatest videogames ever made and a significant example of videogames as art. * ''Shadow of the Colossus'' (PS2) by Team Ico and SCE has been frequently cited as an example of video games as art. Many reviewers consider the game's soundtrack to be one of its greatest aspects. In addition to ''Roar of the Earth'' won the award for "Soundtrack of the Year" in the US-based video game magazine ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'', GameSpot commented that the musical score conveyed, and often intensified, the mood of any given situation, while it was described as "one of the finest game soundtracks ever" by a reviewer from Eurogamer. * ''Shenmue'' (DC) by Sega AM2 and Sega is regarded as a major step forward for 3D Open world, open-world gameplay,Brendan Main
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''The Escapist (magazine), The Escapist''
Shenmue: Creator Yu Suzuki Speaks Out
, ''GamesTM''
introduced the quick time event mechanic in its modern form, and has been widely cited as one of the best and most influential games ever made. * ''Sonic Adventure'' (DC, GC, PC) by Sonic Team was the first main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' game to feature 3D gameplay. It received a perfect score from ''Computer and Video Games'', who called it one of the greatest video games of all time, and ''GamesRadar'' wrote it "changed the gaming world forever". * ''SoulCalibur'' (Arcade, DC) by Project Soul and Namco is the first fighting game on any platform to have ever received a perfect 10.0 rating from IGN and GameSpot and also a perfect 40/40 (second of only fifteen games) from Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu. ''Soul Calibur II'' was a bestseller on all three consoles it was released, and was notable for featuring exclusive characters for every version released. * ''Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (video game), Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'' (PC, Xbox) by BioWare and LucasArts has been cited as one of the best games of the generation and greatest games of all time. Its sequel, ''Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords'', also garnered critical acclaim. * ''Super Mario Sunshine'' (GC) by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development (Nintendo EAD) and Nintendo is the highest-rated 3D platformer of the generation with a Metacritic score of 92/100. This game was the first 3D ''Super Mario'' game which included the ability to ride Yoshi. This feature reappeared in ''Super Mario Galaxy 2'' where the Twisty Trials Galaxy in World S is another recurring theme from Super Mario Sunshine, based on one of the mission
"The Secret of Ricco Tower"
* ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' (GC) by Hal Laboratory and Nintendo went on to become one of the most popular and most played games on the GameCube console which is a widely played competitive video game and has been featured in several high-profile tournaments. Many consider it to be the most competitively viable game in the series. * ''Tekken Tag Tournament'' (PS2) was a launch title for the PlayStation 2, and is regarded as one of the best PS2 titles ever, and is also considered one of if not the most significant entry to the ''Tekken'' series. Throughout the sixth generation, ''Tekken Tag'' was the fighting game of choice for many tournaments. The game was also praised for its graphical leap from the arcade on to the then, new generation of consoles, on the PlayStation 2. * ''Virtua Fighter 4'' (Arcade, PS2) by Sega AM2 and Sega received universal critical acclaim, with a Metacritic score of 94/100, and is considered to have set a new standard for 3D fighting games. In Japan, the PlayStation 2 version sold 356,897 during its first week on sale in early 2002. Worldwide sales of the PS2 port exceeded 1.5 million by June 2002. On release, ''Famitsu'' magazine scored the PlayStation 2 version of the game a 37 out of 40.


See also

* Seventh generation of video game consoles * Fifth generation of video game consoles


Notes

* The Game Boy Player, released in 2003, adds Game Boy Advance functionality to a GameCube. It is also backwards compatible with
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...
and Game Boy Color games. A few titles are not supported. The Game Boy Player was sold separately upon its launch, but it was later included with select GameCube bundles.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Video Game Consoles (Sixth Generation) Sixth-generation video game consoles, History of video games, History of video game consoles 06 Video game consoles by generation, 06 1990s in video gaming, .Consoles06 2000s in video gaming, .Consoles06 2010s in video gaming, .Consoles06 1990s video games 2000s video games 2010s video games 1990s toys, Video game consoles06 2000s toys, Video game consoles06 2010s toys, Video game consoles06