Resource: Video game home consoles

Purpose: The purpose of this scheme is to describe video game consoles: dedicated computers focused on running video game software (and occasionally other multimedia functions but an emphasis on video games first). No two systems are alike, and sometimes even the same system has revisions that can radically change the playing experience. An example of this includes the standard Nintendo Entertainment System, which cannot play games meant for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System while both version have Japanese versions that can’t run American software (The Famicom and Super Famicom ). A further example is the first release of the Xbox 360, which had notorious hardware failures (the infamous ‘red ring of death’) that later revisions fixed. Because video game systems have so many unique properties and differences, it is important to have robust ways of talking about these features that are not crammed into other metadata categories. While some schemas describe some basic aspects of video game hardware, no one has created one specifically to address very specific design features and characteristics that become important for detailed description.

Scope: This schema sticks to home game systems that require external power and video input. This excludes arcade cabinets, portable systems like the game boy, and machines that can play video games but are not it’s primary purpose (like Smart TVs, Tesla cars, Personal Computers, Cell Phones, games made for DVD players). This framing allows early game systems that only had one or several games built in (Pong and it’s various clone systems) and systems that allow software to be inserted (via cartridges, cassettes, or discs) or downloaded via the internet. Due to the distinct lack of system hardware, live streaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and Amazon Luna are not included. ‘Raspberry Pi’s’ and other enthusiast hacking computers often used for games emulation are not included because these computers can be used for a number of purposes and are not commercial games systems. ‘Mini’ systems made by Nintendo, Sega, and Sony do not count for this schema as they are largely nostalgia fueled products that package older games into a novelty collection without making new games for the platforms. They are like the ‘plug and play’ systems below. ‘Plug and Play’ systems were a series of cheap game systems that used a TV’s composite cables without power cables. These are excluded from the schema due to the high abundance of them and being marked as novelty electronics rather than a true dedicated home system. This logo is an easy way to identify such systems. https://wiki.batocera.org/_media/systems:plug-it-in-play-tv-games.jpg

Audience: The primary audience for this schema is video game historians, researchers, and archivists who need to use detailed and accurate terms for the system hardware they are working with. This schema will provide categories specific to video games that other standards and ontologies don’t account for. Ideally this schema would become a standard for video game archiving and cataloging as more institutions begin to take the medium seriously.