Video gaming is a use of TV technology that's somewhat on the fringes of what most people lump in with home entertainment (probably because of its obvious computer origins), but it's a very popular use of TV equipment nonetheless.

Video games were first available back in the nineteen seventies with the introduction of the Atari and the Intellivision. Both of these video game systems produced very primitive, low resolution graphics and extremely simplistic sound effects and music, but offered a lot of entertainment to first generation gamers. These were the gaming platforms that first brought us classic games like Pacman, Donkey Kong, and Asteroids in our own homes.

Nintendo and Sega brought us the next generation of video games that provided a lot more realism. These systems were faster and had higher resolution and a lot more memory for much more extensive games. There were action adventure games like the Legend of Zelda, fast paced side scrolling games like Sonic the Hedgehog, and racing games like Road Rash.

Over the years, video gaming platforms have only gotten better and have helped to make new technologies mainstream as well. For example, Sony's Play Station 2 not only further raised the bar on the quality of the graphics that could come out of a video game console, but also helped to make DVD's the standard video format for watching movies at home.

Most recently, we have access to the Nintendo Wii, the Play Station 3 from Sony, and Microsoft's Xbox 360. The Nintendo Wii offers an economical and flexible way to enjoy a bunch of different games in a family friendly environment. The Play Station 3 and the Xbox 360 are higher end gaming platforms that take advantage of the latest TV technology by displaying graphics in HDTV resolutions of up to 1080p and playing DVD's.

The Play Station 3 and Xbox 360 are especially impressive pieces of equipment because of the computational power that they both have. They both have multi core processors that allow them to generate such high resolution graphics. In fact, many people who are watching others play the Play Station 3 have to remind themselves that they're watching a video game instead of watching video of live people! Both of these platforms also have hard drives that can be used to store music, preferences for the games, and even video.

The Play Station 3 has the extra feature of being able to play Blu-ray high def DVD's, which helps to promote this new format while building extra functionality into the device. The Xbox 360 can play the competing HD DVD format with the addition of an external HD DVD drive. The Xbox 360 can also download high def movies, while the Play Station 3 can upconvert normal DVD's and Play Station 2 games to high def resolutions.

By contrast, the lower priced Wii from Nintendo doesn't have all of the high def features, but it can access the web and download various supplementary material. The Wii also has a special remote control that can be used to play sports games like baseball and tennis.

In all, video game platforms have come a long way in the past thirty years!