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In the history of computer and video games, the seventh generation began on November 21, 2004 with the North American release of the Nintendo DS, followed by the PlayStation Portable on December 12, 2004. The beginning of the seventh generation for home consoles came on November 22, 2005 with the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360 and continued a year later with the release of Sony's PlayStation 3 on November 11, 2006 and Nintendo's Wii on November 19, 2006.

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Because all three major home consoles have been competing only since the end of 2006, it is not yet possible to determine which console, if any, will take a dominating position in the seventh generation. However, on September 13, 2007, the NPD and Enterbrain reported that the Wii is currently leading in sales, with more than 9 million units sold across the globe.^[1]

Main article: Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 by Microsoft has gained an early lead in terms of market share, largly due to its early launch date, which was a year before its rivals. Sales in North America and Europe have been steadily strong, even after the launch of the Wii and PlayStation 3, but only received a muted reception in Japan.^[2] This was attributed to the lack of content aimed at Japanese gamers.^[3]

However, this head start did come with some trouble, as technical problems appeared in a portion of Xbox 360 units sold. The most well known is the "red ring of death" issue, which received a great deal of attention due to users' claims of having to replace their consoles multiple times. Microsoft addressed this by offering a three year warranty on all affected consoles and repairing them free of charge.^[4] It also retroactively reimbursed owners of affected systems who paid for repairs.^[4] According to Microsoft, new models of the console featuring 65-nanometer technology will address this and other issues; the new technology is expected to reduce heat production, which will lower the risk of overheating and system failures.^[5]

Some video game designers and developers have expressed skepticism over the Xbox 360's disc capacity. Hideo Kojima stated that "MGS4 is aimed ... for the PS3, so the game's scenario and graphics need this theatre-type hardware. It's when a producer has a game that can work on the 'DVD level' that a game will go multiplatform," dismissing the possibility of an Xbox 360 version.^[6] SCEA's Senior Vice President of Third Party and Developer Support, Riley Russell,^[7] claimed that the "exclusive collector's edition of Stranglehold demonstrates the power of PlayStation 3 Blu-ray disc and the total entertainment experience that can only be found on PlayStation 3" because the "50 GB capacity of Blu-ray disc allows PS3 content publishers to do things simply not possible on our competitor's 9 GB DVD-based systems."^[8] Yet a month later, an Xbox 360 collector's edition was announced and though it lacked the movie Hard Boiled that the PlayStation 3 version included and required a second disc for the bonus material,^[9] the Xbox 360 version of the game achieved an average review score 2% higher than the PlayStation 3 version on Game Rankings, casting doubt on Russell's claims.^[10]

At the end of first half of 2007, the console stabilized at 11.6 million units shipped as sales dropped 60% while its rival, Wii, gained momentum and Sony announced a competitive price drop on the PlayStation 3.^[11][12] However, Microsoft's strategy to boost sales with the release of the highly anticipated Halo 3 in September has paid off so far, outselling the Wii in that month.^[13] Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division experienced a huge increase in revenue, largely driven by the release of Halo 3, and posted a quarterly profit for the first time in two years.^[14]

In August 2007, the first price drop was announced for all Stock Keeping Units (SKU's) of the Xbox 360.^[15] The Core system's price was reduced in the United States by $20, the Premium by $50, and the Elite model by $30.^[15] Also, the HDMI port, previously exclusive to the Elite system, is now available with new models of the Premium and Core systems (and the new Arcade system).^[16]

Main article: PlayStation 3

The PlayStation 3 has a comparatively higher price and was released roughly a year later than its direct competitor, the Xbox 360. The system's reliance on new technology such as the Cell microprocessor and Blu-ray format has caused difficulties in manufacturing, especially the Blu-ray diode, leading to shortages at launch and the delay of the PAL region launches. However, by early December 2006, Sony announced that all production issues had been solved.^[17]

Market analysts^[18] and Sony executives have stated that the success of the PlayStation 3 and the Blu-ray format are dependent on one another; Rich Marty, VP of New Business Development at Sony Pictures Home Entertainment stated that the “PS3 is critical to the success of Blu-ray,"^[19] while Phil Harrison stated that the PlayStation 3's success will be ensured because "the growth of the Blu-ray disc movie market ... is a positive factor which will play more into the consumer psyche ... as more consumer electronics firms launch standalone disc players, as more Blu-ray disc movies become available, and as more shelf space is dedicated to the category at retail."^[20]

Sony will provide support for its console with new titles from acclaimed first-party franchises like Gran Turismo and God of War, and has secured a number of highly anticipated third-party exclusive titles, like Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII. The loss of exclusivity of the Devil May Cry ^[21] and Virtua Fighter ^[22] series; the timed exclusivity of the Grand Theft Auto series; the exclusivity of titles like Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War, Fatal Inertia,^[23] and Assassin's Creed;^[24] and a PlayStation 3 version of Beautiful Katamari ^[25] fueled rumours and fear that Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII would also be appearing on other platforms.^[26][27] Sony has blamed lower-than-expected sales on the lack of titles in the PlayStation's software library, its higher price, and stock shortages.^[28][29][30]

In July 2007, Sony announced a drop in the price of the console by $100.^[31] This measure only applied to the 60 GB models and was exclusive to the United States and Canada, where those models are no longer in production.^[32] When stock of this model runs out, only a new model with an 80 GB hard disk will be available, and for the same as the launch price of the 60 GB version.
On October 18, 2007, Sony announced a $100 price drop for the 80 GB model and a new $399 40 GB model to launch on November 2, 2007 ^[33] with reduced features such as the removal of backward compatibility with PS2 games. Within weeks, Sony announced that sales of the 40 GB and 80 GB models by major retailers had increased 192%.^[34]

Main article: Wii

Nintendo entered this generation with a new approach embodied by its Wii console; the company planned to attract current hard-core and casual gamers,^[35] non-gamers,^[36] and lapsed gamers by focusing on new gameplay experiences and new forms of interaction with games rather than cutting edge graphics and expensive technology.^[37] This approach was previously implemented in the portable market with the Nintendo DS.^[38] Nintendo expressed hope that the new control schemes it has implemented will render current conventionally controlled consoles obsolete, leading to Nintendo capturing a large portion of the existing market as well.^[39]

So far this strategy has paid off, with demand for the Wii expected to outstrip supply at least until 2008.^[40] Since Nintendo profited on each console right from the start unlike its competitors,^[41] it has already achieved very positive returns.^[42] Month after month with few exceptions, worldwide Wii sales have been higher than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3,^[13][43][44] eroding Microsoft's early lead and widening the gap between its market share and Sony's.^[38] On September 12, 2007, it was reported by the British newspaper Financial Times that the Wii had surpassed the Xbox 360, which was released one year previously, and became the market leader in worldwide home console sales for the current generation.^[45]

As in previous generations, Nintendo has provided strong support for its new console with acclaimed first-party franchises like Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Pokémon among others. To appeal to casual and non-gamers, Nintendo has also created the Wii Series of games, where players make use of the motion-sensing abilities of the console and its peripherals to simulate real world activities, such as sports, table games, music or doing exercises.^[46][47]

Nintendo hopes to continue its momentum with the upcoming releases of key, highly anticipated, major exclusives like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, No More Heroes and Mario Kart Wii. Also, a few publishers such as Ubisoft, EA, Capcom, and Majesco Entertainment are releasing exclusive titles for the console, but so far the Wii's strongest titles have been mostly from its first-party line-up. Analysts speculate that this will change in time as Wii's growing popularity persuades other publishers to focus more development on it.^[43][48]

• The PlayStation 3 20 GB has been discontinued in North America.^[75]
• The PlayStation 3 60 GB has been discontinued for NTSC territories. When the remaining stock in stores is sold, the 80 GB version will serve as its replacement.^[76]
• The PlayStation 3 60 GB has been effectively discontinued for PAL territories. When the remaining stock in stores is sold, the 40 GB version will serve as its replacement.
• Sony announced before the PS3 launch in Europe that the Emotion Engine would be removed from it for cost savings, and all backwards compatibility would be software-based.^[77] It is also the same for the 80 GB launching in the North American market.^[78]
• An HDMI out port was added to the Premium Xbox 360 in August of 2007.^[79]
• The Xbox 360 Core system has been discontinued and replaced with the "Arcade" version at a price of US$279.99.^[80]

See also: List of best-selling game consoles

Console	Units shipped to retailers	Units sold to consumers
Wii	13.17 million (as of September 30, 2007)[81]	9 million (as of July 31, 2007)[45]
Xbox 360	13.4 million (as of September 30, 2007)[82]	8.9 million (as of July 31, 2007)[45]
PlayStation 3	5.59 million (as of September 30, 2007)[83]	3.7 million (as of July 31, 2007)[45]

See also: Comparison of handheld game consoles

For video game handhelds, the seventh generation began with the release of the Nintendo DS on November 21, 2004. This handheld was based on a design fundamentally different from the Game Boy and other handheld video game systems. The Nintendo DS offered new modes of input over previous generations: a touch screen and a microphone. On December 12, 2004, Sony released its first handheld, PlayStation Portable. The PlayStation Portable was marketed at launch to an above 25 year old^[84] or "core gamer" market,^[85] while the Nintendo DS proved to be popular with both core gamers and new consumers.^[86]

Nokia Corporation plans to revive its N-Gage platform in the form of a service for selected Nseries devices. This new service will launch in December 2007.^[87][88]

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

• Alien Syndrome
• Jetpac
• Perfect Dark
• Donkey Kong Racing
• Point Blank
• Shadowrun
• Warhawk
• Wing Commander
• Yoshi's Island
• NiGHTS

• Banjo-Kazooie
• Bionic Commando
• Fallout
• Golden Axe
• Turok

• Halo 3 (Xbox 360) broke many first day records, including preorders (1.7 million+), and first day sales (US$170 millon+), surpassing its predecessor, Halo 2, in both of these fields.^[101][102]
• Super Mario Galaxy (Wii), the most critically acclaimed title of the seventh generation, sold more copies in its first week, including over 500,000 in the US, than any other game for the Wii and any other Mario title in the history of the franchise.^[103] It is second only to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as the overall best-reviewed game of all-time, as listed on Game Rankings.^[104]

GP2X (GamePark Holdings), November 2005–Present

HyperScan (Mattel), October 2006–Present

Game Wave Family Entertainment System (ZAPiT Games), October 2005[105]–Present

Atari Flashback 2 (Atari) August 2005

FC Twin Video Game System (Yobo) November 20, 2006-Present[106]