Gifts for console fans
Know someone who loves console? Pick their favourite topic for gift ideas, with a fact to share when they open it.
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Sony PlayStation
The original PlayStation's iconic grey color was chosen because it was the cheapest plastic available at the time.
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3DO Interactive Multiplayer
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer's controller was designed by the same person who designed the Atari Jaguar's controller.
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Atari 2600
The Atari 2600's iconic joystick was originally designed to be used with the unreleased Atari 5200's light pen.
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Atari 7800
The Atari 7800's controller featured a selectable switch for either 7800 or Atari 2600 compatibility.
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Atari Lynx
The Atari Lynx had a backlit screen, making it the first handheld gaming console with that feature.
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ColecoVision
ColecoVision's Donkey Kong arcade port was so faithful to the original that it even included the same glitches.
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Commodore 64GS
The Commodore 64GS, despite its name, wasn't significantly different from the standard Commodore 64; its main upgrade was a built-in 1541-compatible floppy disk drive.
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Fairchild Channel F
The Fairchild Channel F, despite being the first home video game console, used a unique cartridge system with a *rotary dial* for game selection, rather than buttons or a switch.
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Game Boy
The Game Boy's original design included a built-in microphone, but it was removed before release to reduce costs.
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Game Boy Advance
The Game Boy Advance's cartridge slot is backwards compatible with Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges.
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Game Boy Color
The Game Boy Color's backlit model wasn't released until years after its initial launch. Many early adopters played in the dark or bright light.
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Intellivision
Intellivision's original controller featured a numerical keypad, allowing for direct input of codes and commands, a feature unusual for consoles of its time.
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Magnavox Odyssey
The Magnavox Odyssey, the first home video game console, used overlays on the screen to create different game visuals, rather than relying on the console to generate the graphics itself.
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N-Gage
The N-Gage's cartridge slot was also its speaker, resulting in muffled audio if you held the phone incorrectly.
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Neo Geo
The Neo Geo AES, despite its high price point at launch, came with a surprisingly high-quality arcade stick controller.
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Neo Geo Pocket Color
The Neo Geo Pocket Color had a built-in clock, a feature not common in handheld consoles at the time.
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Nintendo 3DS
The Nintendo 3DS has a "sleep mode" that allows it to continue downloading games and updates even when the system is closed.
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Nintendo 64
The Nintendo 64 controller's unusual design was partly influenced by the designers' desire to make it feel comfortable in the player's hands, even during extended play sessions.
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Nintendo DS
The Nintendo DS was the first handheld console to feature two screens.
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Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
The NES's iconic gray cartridges were actually a cost-cutting measure; earlier prototypes used more expensive colored plastic.
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Nintendo Entertainment System Classic Edition
The NES Classic Edition's power supply was notoriously short, requiring many players to find creative solutions to place it near the console.
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Nintendo GameCube
The GameCube's controller was designed to be small and comfortable for children, a significant departure from the larger, more adult-oriented controllers of its time.
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Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch's Joy-Con controllers can be used as standalone controllers, even when detached from the console.
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Nintendo Wii
The Wii's motion controls were originally intended to be used for a horse racing game.
Other interests
- Activism
- Activity
- Adventure
- Aerospace
- Agriculture
- AI
- Animal Care
- Anthropology
- Art
- Artisan
- Artist
- Astronomy
- Athlete
- Attribute
- Audio
- Author
- Automotive
- Beverage
- Biology
- Botany
- Business
- Canine
- Chemistry
- Collecting
- Commerce
- Communication
- Competition
- Computing
- Concept
- Construction
- Consulting
- Consumer Goods
- Content
- Cosmetics
- Countries
- Crafting
- Critique
- Cuisine
- Culinary
- Culture
- Dance
- Data
- Design
- Dinosaurs
- Ecology
- Economics
- Education
- Energy
- Engineering
- Entertainer
- Entertainment
- Enthusiast
- Environmental
- Ethics
- Event
- Family
- Fashion
- Feline
- Filmmaking
- Finance
- Fitness
- Food
- Format
- Franchise
- Fruit
- Game
- Gardening
- Genre
- Geography
- Geology
- Group
- Haircare
- Hardware
- Health
- Herpetology
- History
- Hobbies
- Hospitality
- Human Resources
- Humanities
- Industry
- Information
- Language
- Law
- Lifestyle
- Linguistics
- Literature
- Logistics
- Management
- Manufacturing
- Marketing
- Martial Arts
- Materials
- Media
- Medicine
- Methodology
- Music
- Paleontology
- Performance
- Person
- Pet
- Philosopher
- Philosophy
- Photography
- Physics
- Platform
- Politics
- Popular Cities
- Process
- Products
- Psychology
- Recreation
- Religion
- Repair
- Retail
- Robotics
- Science
- Security
- Self- Improvement
- Skill
- Social
- Social Justice
- Social Science
- Sociology
- Software
- Spice
- Sport
- Style
- Sustainability
- Systems
- Technique
- Technology
- Telecommunications
- Textiles
- Tools
- Toys
- Travel
- US Cities
- US States
- Vegetable
- Weather
- Wellness
- Work
- Zoology
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