|
In the history of video games, the sixth-generation era (sometimes referred to as the 128-bit era; see "Bits and system power" below) refers to the computer and video games, video game consoles, and video game handhelds available at the turn of the 21st century which was from 1998 to 2008. Platforms of the sixth generation include the Sega Dreamcast, Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Microsoft Xbox. This era began on November 27, 1998 with the Japanese release of the Dreamcast, and it was joined by the PlayStation 2 in March 2000 and the GameCube and Xbox in 2001. The Dreamcast was discontinued in 2001. The GameCube was discontinued in 2007 and the Xbox was discontinued in 2008. Though the seventh generation of consoles started in November 2005 with the launch of the Xbox 360, the sixth generation didn't end until January 2013, when Sony announced that the PlayStation 2 had been discontinued worldwide. Bit ratings for consoles largely fell by the wayside during this era, with the notable exceptions being the Dreamcast and PS2 promotions adverting 128-bit graphics at the start of the generation. The number of "bits" cited in console names referred to the CPU word size and had been used by hardware marketers as a "show of power" for many years. However, there was little to be gained from increasing the word size much beyond 32 or 64 bits because once this level was reached, performance depended on more varied factors, such as processor clock speed, bandwidth, and memory size. 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'' was the last game released for PlayStation 2.〔http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2013/08/21/the-last-ps2-game-to-launch-for-the-system-might-not-be-fifa-14-as-pes-2014-is-confirmed-for-ps2-psp/〕 Due the long lifespan of the PlayStation 2, which was available for more than a decade, the sixth generation is the second longest generation of all time. ==Home systems== The Sony PlayStation 2〔http://www.ps2fantasy.com/hardware/ps2/system.php〕〔http://www.angelfire.com/electronic2/mariotan/〕〔http://users.beagle.com.au/jmk222/d-ps.html〕 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, which arrived prior to all of the others and was discontinued in 2001, came in fourth with 10.6 million sold. The sixth generation began to end when the Xbox was succeeded by the Xbox 360 in late 2005. GameCube hardware was still being produced when the Wii was released in late 2006, but as of June 2008 has also been ceased. PlayStation 2 sales continued to be strong into November 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 Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3, making the sixth generation the second longest generation of all time. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sixth generation of video game consoles」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|