Seventh generation of video game consoles

The seventh generation era is a video game era in the history of computer and video games that began towards the end of 2005, but is not set to really take off until late 2006 with the release of new video game consoles from Nintendo and Sony.

Video game systems

Video game consoles

The seventh generation of video game consoles began with the Xbox 360, which was released November 22, 2005. The PS3 is scheduled to be released in Japan on November 11, 2006 and worldwide on November 17, 2006. No specific release date has been announced for Wii, with Nintendo committing only to a release in the fourth quarter of 2006 in North America and Japan, but Nintendo president Satoru Iwata had previously claimed that the console would be released before Thanksgiving (November 23) in North America.

Xbox 360 (Microsoft)
2005–Present
Wii (Nintendo)
Fourth Quarter 2006
PlayStation 3 (Sony)
November 2006

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

Comparison of consoles

	Xbox 360	Wii	PlayStation 3
Processor	3.2 GHz IBM PowerPC tri-core codenamed "Xenon" 115 GFLOPS 9.1 billion dot products per second	"Broadway" (IBM) (made with a 90 nm SOI CMOS process)	Cell (POWER-based PPE with seven 3.2 GHz SPEs) 218 GFLOPS 18 billion dot products per second
Memory	512 MB GDDR3 @ 700 MHz shared between CPU & GPU 10 MB Embedded eDRAM	1T-SRAM by MoSys	256 MB XDR @ 3.2 GHz 256 MB GDDR3 @ 700 MHz
GPU	500 MHz codenamed "Xenos" (ATI custom design) 1 TFLOPS (system theoretical) 48 billion shader operations per second 9.6 billion dot products per second Unified Shaders, SM3.0+ 10 MB eDRAM (internal bandwidth of 256GB/s)	Hollywood (ATI)	550 MHz RSX (based on NVIDIA G70 architecture) 1.8 TFLOPS (theoretical) 74.8 billion shader operations per second (100 billion with CPU) 28.6 billion dot products per second Distinct Pixel & Vertex Shaders, SM3.0
Display	HDTV-capable (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i)	EDTV-capable (480i, 480p)	HDTV-capable (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p)
Network	100BASE-TX (100 Mbit/s) Ethernet Optional 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi	Optional Ethernet via USB 2.0 Adapter Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g	1000BASE-T Ethernet Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g (60 GB model built-in, 20 GB model via optional adapter)
Audio	5.1 Dolby Digital	Pro Logic II, Built-in speaker on controller.	5.1 Dolby Digital
I/O	custom 2.4 GHz radio Three USB 2.0 ports One Ethernet port	Bluetooth Two USB 2.0 ports Four GameCube Controller ports Two GameCube Memory Card slots 1 SD Card slot [1]	Bluetooth 2.0 Four USB 2.0 ports One Ethernet port
Media	12× (8.2–16.5 MB/s or 65.6–132 Mbit/s) DVD CD-ROM Announced HD-DVD Addon Optional Detachable HDD USB mass storage [2]	Proprietary CAV 12 cm Wii optical disk DVD (with additional purchase) 8 cm GameCube Optical Disc SD/MMC card USB mass storage	2× (9 MB/s or 72 Mbit/s [3]) Blu-ray Disc [4] 8× DVD 24× CD 2× SACD Built-in HDD Memory Stick (60 GB model only) SD (60 GB model only) CompactFlash (Type I, II) (60 GB model only) USB mass storage
Storage	Detachable SATA 20 GB hard drive (13 GB available to user) (Premium model only; can be purchased separately)	512MB built-in flash memory	Upgradable 2.5" SATA 20 GB or 60 GB [5] hard drive
Online Service	Xbox Live, includes Live! Arcade	Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, WiiConnect24, Virtual Console	PlayStation Network Platform
Controller Input	Xbox 360 Controller (up to 4, wireless or wired) (USB hub required for four wired controllers)	Wii Remote (up to 4 via Bluetooth) GameCube Controller (up to 4) Nintendo DS via Wi-Fi	PS3 Controller (via Bluetooth) PSP via Wi-Fi
Video Output	VGA, Component, S-Video, Composite, RF,SCART	Component, S-Video, Composite [6]	Component, S-Video, Composite,PSP HDMI (60 GB model only)
Dimensions (horizontal position) (h × w × d)	8.3 cm × 30.9 cm × 25.8 cm (3.27 in. × 12.15 in. × 10.15 in.)	4 cm × 14 cm × 19 cm (approx.) (2 in. × 5 in. × 8 in.) (approx.) (unofficial estimate based on size comparison to 3 standard DVD cases stacked on top of each other)	9.8 cm × 32.5 cm × 27.4 cm (approx.)[7] (3.9 in. × 12.8 in. × 10.8 in.) (approx.)
Backward compatibility	Supports some Xbox games, but Microsoft has announced that it will try to support ALL older games eventually (list of games)	Supports GameCube software NES, SNES, N64, Genesis and TurboGrafx games playable through online Virtual Console service	Supports most PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games
Price (USD)	US$299.99 (Core) US$399.99 (Premium)	US$250 or less [8]	US$499.99 (20 GB model) US$599.99 (60 GB model)
Release Date	November 22 2005 (North America) (launch dates)	Q4 2006 [9]	November 11, 2006 in Japan November 17, 2006 in North America, Europe and Australia
Operating systems supported	Xbox 360 Dashboard	Unknown	Cross Media Bar Linux [10][11]
Consumer programmability	No	None announced	Yes [12][13]

Handheld game systems

For video game handhelds, the seventh generation began roughly with the release of Nintendo's Nintendo DS. This system was based on a design fundamentally different from the Game Boy and other video game systems. The Nintendo DS offered new modes of input over previous generations: A touch screen and a microphone. It was released in late 2004. Around the same time, Sony released their first handheld, the PlayStation Portable, in Japan. Although released around the same time, the PlayStation Portable was marketed to a different audience than the Nintendo DS. Also in 2005 was the release of the Gizmondo from Tiger Telematics.

2005 and 2006, respectively, saw the release of the GP2X from Gamepark Holdings and the formal announcement of the XGP from GamePark. Both handhelds follow a completely different market strategy than either the DS or the PlayStation Portable. They utilize a Linux-based operating system on an open-source architecture for emphasis on portable software emulation and homebrew games. The GP2X was a 2D handheld that focused on stored media content such as user-uploaded music and videos. The XGP will be a 3D handheld similar to the PlayStation Portable, designed for commercial games. It promises the same open-source Linux architecture, while also supporting Windows CE. The XGP will be a much more advanced handheld than the GP2X, offering the same stored-content features while integrating advanced live-content features such as T-DMB mobile television and WiFi. The release of the XGP may spark renewed controversy over the two GamePark companies that split from the one mother company, GamePark, over disagreements about the successor to the GP32 handheld (which eventually became the two handhelds mentioned). The two handhelds mark Korea's official entry into the seventh generation handheld market.