That may no longer be the case: The next challenger is not a console but an open platform anyone can build a console for.
Not only that, the toys are cross-platform within the console world itself, which is also a first.
Steam has an enormous library of games, and is the best platform for purchasing and downloading them across any platform, PC or console.
It will be interesting to see whether the new prominence of the iPad as an app platform will help old console warhorses like Electronic Arts and Activision to find a better footing in the mobile game market.
FORBES: iPad App Revenue Catching up with iPhone Faster than Expected
Shalom says one of the main attractions of Cisco UCS is that it comes with an application programming interface (API) that gives the GigaSpaces Extreme Application Platform (XAP) management console direct access to the hardware.
In May Microsoft effectively stopped treating Live like an add-on for a videogame console and started pricing the console as a loss leader for an entertainment platform.
At the heart of the MobileMedia platform is Nvidia's GeForce 5500 chip, which supposedly delivers "console-class 3D gaming, " although they convienently don't specify which console -- we're guessing it falls somewhere below an Xbox 360 but above a Sega Genesis.
ENGADGET: Nvidia intros Windows Mobile multimedia platform Mobile
This is seriously a game changer for console users compared to what's been available for cross-platform Dolby surround sound decoders in the past.
ENGADGET: Turtle Beach XP Seven Series headset review: a new era of tournament-grade gaming audio
Excluding online or browser based gaming, the console market in the Middle East is by far the more dominant gaming platform with PC game sales representing less than 15% of overall sales.
FORBES: Quirkat CEO Speaks About the State of Gaming in the Middle East
"LG is very impressed by the capabilities of NVIDIA's GRID Platform to deliver high-quality game streams directly to LG Smart TVs without a game console, " said Bae-Geun Kang, vice president, head of Software Development Group, TV Research Lab, LG.
ENGADGET: NVIDIA details the Grid, a card built for powering cloud computing
So Microsoft turned the Xbox 360 into the dominant games console, not by making a better gaming machine, but by giving people a platform for getting more out of their living room.
The contest judges entrants on how effectively they use the OUYA platform too, including processor, sound, controller integration, in-game payments and other elements available in the console's development kit.
ENGADGET: OUYA and Kill Screen announce CREATE Game Jam, bait developers with $45,000 in prizes
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