There are many types of games platforms, all with advantages, disadvantages, limitations and unique strengths that give each one a reason to be around, gaming has come a long way, with old competitors dropping out and new blood becoming major console contributors.
PC: What many consider the 'master race' of gaming, PCs offer no additional charges for online play other than the cost of your internet connection, access to thousands of games, easy ways to find games online cheaply with services such as steam and the capacity to be upgraded with increased RAM, graphics cards, memory or any other specifications you may need, allowing one computer to be upgraded to run even the most taxing of games, without needing to buy a whole new console every few years. However powerful PCs are often more expensive than any console and require long installing times for larger games, although once installed a disc is not usually required. Another point in PC gaming's favour is that they can obtain theoretically any game from any system through the use of emulators, such as MAME the arcade emulator that can be used to play any arcade game from any arcade machine for free endlessly.
Consoles: There are two main types of consoles, stand-alone consoles and handhelds. The stand-alone consoles are often powerful and cheaper than PCs, which just require putting in the disc in order to jump straight into a game, however the latest generation of gaming is changing that, with long installation times before each game can be played which, unlike the PC, still requires the disc to be inserted to play the game afterwards. Stand-alone consoles didn't have online play until the generation which introduced the overlooked Sega Dreamcast and the more well known PlayStation 2, which Microsoft also took advantage of with the Xbox, online play was free, but on certain consoles now such as Xbox 360 and Xbox one you have to pay regular fees for the service. Handhelds meanwhile have free online play, portability, quick to access casual games and lower prices than home consoles. Handhelds in recent years however, have been filled with gimmicks which many see as problems, such as the Nintendo 3DS having a 3D feature which currently adds nothing to games. Also due to their small size handhelds have very low processing power in comparison to home consoles, limiting what kind of graphics and game sizes you could have.
Arcade: Arcade machines are often very low tech and rely on people constantly putting money in to play them, they have been around a while and have all sorts of variations, they rarely ever use a traditional controller, instead having setups that are based on real vehicles, point and shoot light guns or even card systems to control the game. In terms of multiplayer, most arcade games will either have the option to connect to another of the same machine if they are driving based games or multiple players will be able to shoot at the screen at once if they are shooting games They are essentially very low tech PCs with just one program installed which is the chosen game. If someone were to buy an arcade machine they would be very expensive and they are limited to a single game, making them a poor choice for frequent gaming. The last problem is that they require money every single time you want to play, making them costly to use often. Due to the limits of having only one game per system each arcade machine is customised by the manufacturers to show and promote the game inside, with fancy artwork on the wooden casing and silk-screened artwork on the bezel of the machine.
Mobile: Often overlooked as a gaming platform, mobiles are the most common gaming platform because they are so common, most of the population of earth own a smartphone or other android device which is capable of running games which can be easily downloaded, often for free, as long as you have an internet connection, there are no charges for online play and the games are quick and easy to start and play casually, however due to being specialised for other functions the games can be hard to control and are limited in what they can achieve due to the limits of the device, which aren't designed for playing large games, not to mention most games require being online to play. Also due to the incredibly diverse range of mobile models and operating systems, there are many games which won't work with all devices.
TV gaming: the least popular and least successful of all the forms of gaming, TV gaming usually involves certain shows or channels having an option to press a certain button on your remote, often the 'red button', to access simple features such as behind the scenes reviews and basic games depending on the situation. Most games are either multiple choice or just quiz games, that are simple because a TV is not designed to run highly powered graphics, just display video files which are smaller and far less taxing. There really isn't a lot to TV gaming and as a result not a lot to say.
Now it is time for a brief history of videogames, not every console will be included because it would take too long, but some of the more notable events and releases will be detailed:
1958: The first videogame is technically tennis for two, a game in which an oscilloscope was modified into a crude 2D tennis game.
1962: The next game is essentially the first arcade machine: spacewar!, it was a game in which two ships would fire at each-over, attempting to destroy the other before their own demise, it was made on a PDP-1 computer.
1967: The next major development was the brown box, by Ralph Baer it was designed to be the first home console for multiple players with multiple games to play. It was only a prototype that was never released commercially.
1972: The company Magnavox became interested in the brown box, and so with licensing and some modifications the first home console was released for the world; the Magnavox odyssey.
1975: Atari entered the console market with a home version of their PONG arcade game.
1977: Nintendo, formerly a playing cards company, released their color tv game series, which was never released outside of Japan.
1983: Sega revealed their contribution to what was becoming a console arms race; the Sega SG-1000. The same year Nintendo blew them away with what is one of the best selling games consoles of all time; the Nintendo NES, which announced to the rest of the world that Nintendo were serious competitors in the console wars.
1988: The Sega Genesis/Mega drive, Sega's most famous and successful console, was released as the first 16-bit console.
1989: The Nintendo Gameboy, the first handheld console which could support multiple games, unlike the game and watch series which had one game built into each, was released, offering portable gaming and in game communications through the link cable. It lacked colour, but this would be fixed a few years later.
1993: What is called the first 32-bit console, the Commodore Amiga CD32 was released, a bit obscure despite this title however. Atari revealed what would become their final console; the Atari jaguar, which was received by many as a terrible system, the jaguar seemed to seal Atari's fate to lose the war. Although it was the first 64-bit console, it was still pretty inferior to older consoles despite the supposed technological advantage, which just goes to show that having more bits wasn't enough.
1994: Sony became a household name with the release of the PlayStation, which was the first major console to use discs instead of cartridges to store games, allowing larger games at the cost of longer load times.
1997: The Sega genesis 3 was released, this would be the last console ever to use cartridges.
R.I.P game cartridges: 1967-1997
1998: Sega's final console was the Sega Dreamcast, which although not hugely popular, was actually considered revolutionary by those who appreciate it, with features such as online play. It was the first 128-bit console and although it shut down production in 2001, dropping Sega from the hardware business and becoming a third party developer, games are still being produced by fans even now in 2013! For what is considered a failure, this 15-year old console seems to still be kicking. The first console of the Sixth generation of consoles.
2000: The PlayStation 2 came into the world, which popularised online gameplay and is considered to be the best console of all time or at least having the best library of games of any console, with famous exclusives such as Shadow of the Colossus due to it's massive third party support. The PlayStation 2 has sold more units than any other console in history, selling over 150million in total worldwide, PS2 systems would continue to be manufactured for up to 12 years after it's initial release! It also had a feature called backwards compatibility which allowed it to play PlayStation 1 games.
2001: Microsoft decided that they wanted a piece of the action, unleashing the Xbox, a massively well known console, it followed in the footsteps of the PS2, with online play and the infamous Halo franchise, however the PS2 is considered more successful, due to it's head start and larger variety of games. Nintendo released the GameCube, the last Nintendo console to designed to try and be the most powerful, and as an assumed result best, console.
2004: The Nintendo ds, the best selling hand-held console to date and second best selling console of all time (beaten only by the PS2) is released worldwide. The ds features backwards compatibility with Gameboy advance games, online play, a built in microphone and a touch screen. The PlayStation portable (PSP) is released in Japan. The PSP is the first hand-held to use disc based games rather than cartridges and features the first console network, the PlayStation network, which allows features such as internet access. The seventh console generation had begun.
2005: The rest of the world receives PSP releases and the Xbox360 is released just 4 years after it's predecessor. The Xbox360 has features such as an online games market and general internet access but now requires users to set their account up for a service called Xbox live and then pay monthly fees to play online.
2006: The PlayStation 3 is released, it has many of the features of the Xbox360 but while you do still have to make a PlayStation network account to play online there are no additional fees required, instead there is 'PlayStation plus' which provides discounts and access to certain games for free for as long as you pay for the service. The PlayStation 3, depending on which version you got also had backwards compatibility, original PS3 systems were compatible with PS2 games and newer ones had PS1 compatibility. Also released was the Nintendo Wii, a staggeringly underpowered console considering the PS3 and Xbox360, barely passing the GameCube, it's primary feature was it's motion controls which didn't really work very well, however it was relatively cheap and seemingly aimed at young children and families, although this was not actually the case, as a result it still sold well despite how much it is mocked by many gamers.
2012: The first console of the eighth generation of consoles is released worldwide, the PlayStation vita, it has a touch screen, two control sticks as opposed to one and access to the PlayStation network included, with an online games store. Nintendo releases two consoles, first is the hand-held Nintendo 3DS, an upgraded ds without the microphone and a unique built in 3D feature, which slightly backfired in that it could cause medical problems with younger viewers. The second console is the Wii U, which is a more powerful version of it's predecessor, with a new controller pad that has a built in touch screen and looks like a bloated PS vita and Wii remote hybrid, it still has the standard remotes available however.
2013:
The last entries for the eighth generation of consoles are upon us, the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One, both have online play which requires fees to use, PlayStation plus now being mandatory for online games, both consoles have similar internal components, although PS4 is cheaper, Xbox comes packed with a new Kinect sensor as standard, neither have backwards compatibility and they can connect together, however the PS4 runs in 1080p resolution while Xbox One uses 720p, the PS4 controller also features a built in touch pad. Also the networks, PlayStation network and Xbox live are the same as on the previous generation consoles, so you will not need to make a new account to go from Xbox360 to Xbox One or PS3 to PS4.
