POWER, PowerPC, and Power ISA architectures |
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NXP (formerly Freescale and Motorola) |
IBM |
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IBM/Nintendo |
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Cancelled in gray, historic in italic |
There are several ways in which game consoles can be categorized. One is by its console generation, and another is by its computer architecture. Game consoles have long used specialized and customized computer hardware with the base in some standardized processor instruction set architecture. In this case, it is PowerPC and Power ISA, processor architectures initially developed in the early 1990s by the AIM alliance, i.e. Apple, IBM, and Motorola.
Even though these consoles share much in regard to instruction set architecture, game consoles are still highly specialized computers so it is not common for games to be readily portable or compatible between devices. Only Nintendo has kept a level of portability between their consoles, and even there it is not universal.
The first devices used standard processors, but later consoles used bespoke processors with special features, primarily developed by or in cooperation with IBM for the explicit purpose of being in a game console. In this regard, these computers can be considered "embedded". All three major consoles of the seventh generation were PowerPC based.
As of 2019, no PowerPC-based game consoles are currently in production. The most recent release, Nintendo's Wii U, has since been discontinued and succeeded by the Nintendo Switch (which uses a Nvidia Tegra ARM processor). The PlayStation 3, the last PowerPC-based game console to remain in production, was discontinued in 2017. [1]
Name | Image | Manufacturer | Generation | CPU | Clock | RAM | On the market | No. sold |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pippin | Apple Bandai Katz Media | 5th | PowerPC 603 | 66 MHz | 6 MB | 1995–1997 | 42.000 | |
M2 | 3DO Panasonic | 2× PowerPC 602 | 2× 66 MHz | 8 MB | 1997 Never marketed | none | ||
GameCube | Nintendo | 6th | Gekko | 486 MHz | 24 MB | 2001–2007 | 21.74 million | |
Xbox 360 | Microsoft | 7th | XCPU (Xbox 360) XCGPU (Xbox 360 S and Xbox 360 E) | 3.2 GHz | 512 MB | 2005–2016 | 84 million June 2014 | |
Wii | Nintendo | Broadway | 729 MHz | 64 MB | 2006–2017 | 101.63 million March 2016 | ||
PlayStation 3 | Sony | Cell B.E. | 3.2 GHz | 512 MB | 2006–2017 | 87 million May 2017 | ||
Wii U | Nintendo | 8th | Espresso | 1.24 GHz | 2 GB | 2012–2017 | 13.36 million September 2016 |
A central processing unit (CPU)—also called a central processor or main processor—is the most important processor in a given computer. Its electronic circuitry executes instructions of a computer program, such as arithmetic, logic, controlling, and input/output (I/O) operations. This role contrasts with that of external components, such as main memory and I/O circuitry, and specialized coprocessors such as graphics processing units (GPUs).
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 console, screen, speakers, and controls in one unit, allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place.
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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 a television or other display devices and controlled with a separate game controller, or handheld consoles, which include their own display unit and controller functions built into the unit and which can be played anywhere. Hybrid consoles combine elements of both home and handheld consoles.
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The PowerPC 7xx is a family of third generation 32-bit PowerPC microprocessors designed and manufactured by IBM and Motorola. This family is called the PowerPC G3 by Apple Computer, which introduced it on November 10, 1997. The term "PowerPC G3" is often, and incorrectly, imagined to be a microprocessor when in fact a number of microprocessors from different vendors have been used. Such designations were applied to Mac computers such as the PowerBook G3, the multicolored iMacs, iBooks and several desktops, including both the Beige and Blue and White Power Macintosh G3s. The low power requirements and small size made the processors ideal for laptops and the name lived out its last days at Apple in the iBook.
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