Entertainment takes its new type. With the advancement of innovation and its combination to numerous elements of our lives, traditional entertainment such as theatrical plays and cultural programs is replaced by so-called "electronic entertainment". There you have various digital and animated movies that you can watch on movie theater or on your home entertainment system, cable system (CTS), and the video game system, which is popular not simply to young and old gamers alike but likewise to game developers, merely because of the development of innovative technologies that they can utilize to enhance existing video game systems.
The computer game system is intended for playing video games, though there are modern game systems that allows you to have a gain access to over other forms of entertainment utilizing such video game systems (like viewing DVD films, listening to MP3 music files, or game reviews surfing the Web). Thus, it is typically referred to as "interactive home entertainment computer system" to differentiate the game system from a machine that is used for numerous functions (such as desktop computer and arcade games).
The first generation of computer game system began when Magnavox (an electronics business which makes televisions, radios, and gramophones or record players) released its first video game system, which is the Magnavox Odyssey created by Ralph Baer. Odyssey's popularity lasted until the release of Atari's PONG computer game. Magnavox realized that they can not compete with the appeal of PONG video games, therefore in 1975 they developed the Odyssey 100 computer game system that will play Atari-produced PONG video games.
The second generation of computer game system came a year after the release of Odyssey 100. In 1976, Fairchild released the FVES (Fairchild Video Home Entertainment System), which made use of a programmable microprocessor so that a game cartridge can hold a single ROM chip to save microprocessor guidelines. Nevertheless, because of the "computer game crash" in 1977, Fairchild abandoned the computer game system industry. Magnavox and Atari stayed in the computer game market.
The rebirth of the video game system started when Atari released the popular arcade Space Intruders. The industry was unexpectedly revived, with many players made purchase of an Atari computer game system just for Space Intruders. In other words, with the appeal of Space Invaders, Atari controlled the computer game market throughout the 80s.
Computer game system's 3rd generation came into being after the release of Nintendo's Famicon in 1983. It supported complete color, high resolution, and tiled background video gaming system. It was at first introduced in Japan and it was later on given the United States in the form of Nintendo Home entertainment System (NES) in 1985. And similar to Atari's Area Invaders, the release of Nintendo's well-known Super Mario Brothers was a big success, which entirely restored the suffering video game system market in the early months of 1983.
Sega intended to take on Nintendo, but they failed to establish considerable market share. It was until 1988 when Sega launched the Sega Genesis in Japan on October 29 of the very same year and on September 1, 1989 in the United States and Europe areas. Two years later, Nintendo launched the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1990.
Atari returned with their brand-new video game system, which is the Jaguar and 3DO. Both systems might show more onscreen colors and the latter used a CD instead of game cartridges, making it more powerful compared to Genesis and SNES. Nintendo, on the other hand, decided to launch new video games such as Donkey Kong Nation instead of producing new computer game systems. Sega's Vectorman and Virtua Racing did the same. A number of years later, Sony, Sega, and Nintendo released the 5th generation of computer game systems (PlayStation, Saturn, and N64, respectively).
The 6th generation of game systems followed, including Sega (Dreamcast, which was their last computer game system and the first Internet-ready video game system), Sony (PlayStation 2), Nintendo (Game Cube which is their very first system to utilize video game CDs), and the beginner Microsoft (Xbox).
The latest generation of video game systems is now slowly going into the video game market. These are as follows:
- Microsoft's Xbox, which was released on November 22, 2005;
- Sony's PlayStation 3, which is schedule to be released on November 11, 2006 (Japan), November 17 of the exact same year (The United States and Canada), and March 2007 (Europe); and
- Nintendo's Wii, which is scheduled to be launched on November 19, 2006 (North America), December 2 of the exact same year (Japan), December 7 (Australia), and December 8 (Europe).
The advancement of computer game system does not end here. There will be future generations of game system being established as of this minute, which will defy the method we define "home entertainment".