Chapter06Historical overview
Beyond the disc
An always-changing library.
2005to 2020 / approximate chapter boundaries
High-definition displays arrived alongside network accounts and digital stores. A game could be downloaded instead of bought in a box. Motion and touch controls offered different ways to play, often on hardware with quite different visual ambitions.
This is a historical overview. The full console profiles and researched game selections for this period have not been published yet.
Read our complete 16-bit chapterSources and further reading2 references
- PlayStation history: PS3 and PS Vita ↗Sony Interactive Entertainment · Accessed 2026-10-27
High-definition displays, network services and downloads.
- Nintendo company history ↗Nintendo · Accessed 2026-10-27
Japanese hardware introduction years; also used for later-era context.