30 October 1987 LAUNCHED

¥24,800 RETAIL

1 (11/1994) DB GAMES

The 16-bit PC Engine was released by NEC, a Japanese company, in October of 1987 in Japan and later in September of 1989 in North American, under the name "TurboGrafx 16". It was a very small video game console, due to a very efficient three-chip architecture and its use of smaller data cartridges. This, and other features, made the PC Engine extremely popular in Japan and it soon surpassed Nintendo's Famicom in sales. The PC Engine was also the first console to have an optional CD module, allowing the standard benefits of the CD medium: more storage, cheaper media costs, and better audio. With its efficient design and additional CD ROM capabilities, the PC Engine had a very wide variety of software in both formats, including one DragonBall Z release on the CD format.

29 October 1988 LAUNCHED

¥21,000 RETAIL

1 (04/1994) DB GAMES

The Sega Mega Drive was a 16-bit video game console released by Sega in Japan in the October of 1988. It debuted under the name "Genesis" in North America in January of 1989 due to a trademark dispute in the region. As one of the first 16-bit consoles, the Mega Drive initially experienced slow sales but soon rose to the peak of its popularity. Unfortunately this didn't last as long as Sega had hoped, and after the release of the PC-Engine CD add-on and the Nintendo Super Famicom, the Mega Drive lost its ground. In the end, only one DragonBall Z game was released for the Mega Drive system, which was released in both Japan and North America.

21 April 1989 LAUNCHED

¥12,500 RETAIL

2 (11/1994 ~ 08/1995) DB GAMES

The original Game Boy was released in the April of 1989 in Japan and in August of 1989 in the United States. This 8-bit battery-powered handheld game console sproted a black and green reflective LCD screen and was designed to be small, light, inexpensive, and durable. Not only did it have a huge library of games upon its release, it was the first cartridge-based system that supported more than four players at one time (via the link port). DragonBall Z eventually received releases on the Game Boy in the form of two games, both of which were only released within Japan.

21 November 1990 LAUNCHED

¥25,000 RETAIL

7 (01/1992 ~ 03/1996) DB GAMES

As the original NES/Famicom was at the height of its popularity, several companies began launching their own consoles. To compete, Nintendo unveiled plans for a 16-bit video game console and on November 21, 1990, the Super Family Computer (Super Famicom) was released. As done with the Famicom, the North American release was re-designed and re-named as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). One major downfall of the SNES console was its lack of backwards compatibility, meaning fans couldn't play NES cartridges. The early 90's saw a rivalry between Nintendo and Sega, causing a mass production of games and features. Unfortunately by 1996 the 16-bit era of gaming had ended and a new generation of consoles caused the popularity of the SNES to diminish, though it wasn't discountinued until 2003.

23 September 1994 LAUNCHED

¥24,800 RETAIL

2 (09/1994 ~ 12/1994) DB GAMES

The 32-bit Bandai Playdia was released in the September of 1994 in Japan, but was never released in North America. The Playdia was marketed mostly towards children, as it had basic commands for very basic games. The majority of the games released consisted of a lot of animated material with very little input required by the user. Most, if not all, of the games were based on Anime franchises, such as DragonBall Z, Gundam, and Sailor Moon. As the only traditional console ever released by Bandai, it couldn't stand up to the competition and lasted a little over a year.

22 November 1994 LAUNCHED

¥44,800 RETAIL

2 (11/1995 ~ 05/1996) DB GAMES

The Sega Saturn was released in the November of 1994 in Japan and in May of 1995 in North America. At one time, the Sega Saturn ranked higher than the Nintendo's Super Famicom in Japan. Unfortunately the Saturn was rushed into the market with very few games, causing it to slowly lose market shares to Sony's PlayStation. As price drops continued throughout the 32-bit era, the system board design of the Saturn wasn't as easy to condense in a cost saving manner and Sega fell behind on price drops offered by Nintendo and Sony. Ultimately only two DragonBall Z were released for the Sega Saturn, with "The Great DragonBall Legends" receiving an additional release on Sony's PlayStation.

3 December 1994 LAUNCHED

¥39,800 RETAIL

3 (07/1995 ~ 08/1997) DB GAMES

The PlayStation was launched in Japan on December 3, 1994 and in North America on September 9, 1995. Before the release of the PlayStation, Sony had never held a large portion of the videogames market. Also available at launch were a host of peripherals including a memory card, a link cable to connect two PlayStations together, an S-Video Adaptor, and a Multitap Unit. The PlayStation was also slim, sleek, and gray, with a revolutionary controller that was years ahead of it's competitors. In September of 2000, Sony produced a redesigned version of the original console, called the PSone. On March 23, 2006 Sony announced they have stopped production of all PlayStation one units. Having lasted over 11 years, the PlayStation enjoyed one of the longest production runs in the videogame industry.

21 October 1998 LAUNCHED

¥7280 RETAIL

1 (08/2002) DB GAMES

The original Game Boy's successor, the Gameboy Color was released in October of 1998 in Japan and in November of 1998 in the United States. It featured a color screen and was slightly smaller than the original Game Boy. The Game Boy Color was backward compatible, a first for a handheld console system, and maintained the large library of games from the original Game Boy. Backwards compatibility became a major feature of the Game Boy line, as each new launch began with a plethora of games. Unfortunately only one DragonBall game was released on the Game Boy Color, but unlike those of the original Game Boy, it was released in the United States.

4 March 2000 LAUNCHED

¥39,800 RETAIL

7 (02/2003 ~ 10/2007) DB GAMES

Released in the March of 2000 in Japan and in October of 2000 in North America, the PlayStation 2 is the successor to the PlayStation. The PS2 is backwards compatible with older PlayStation games, allows for DVD Video playback, and supports older memory cards and controllers. For the first time, Sony released games that supported online play, with the purchase of a separate unit called the Network Adaptor. Also, since its initial launch, the PS2 has undergone some revisions with the most recent being smaller and thinner than the old version and includes a built-in Ethernet port. However, the new Japanese slim models have more issues with playing PlayStation games than the first PS2 revisions. In the end, the PS2 has become the fastest selling gaming console in history, beating the previous record holder the original Sony PlayStation.

30 December 2000 LAUNCHED

¥7800 RETAIL

1 (12/2000) DB GAMES

The WonderSwan Color is a handheld game console designed by Bandai. It was released in December of 2000 in Japan, and was a moderate success. The original WonderSwan had only a black and white screen, but the WonderSwan Color featured a larger color LCD screen. In addition, the WonderSwan Color is compatible with the original WonderSwan library of games. Prior to WonderSwan's release, Nintendo had virtually a monopoly in the Japanese video game handheld market. After the release of the WonderSwan Color, Bandai took approximately 8% of the market share in Japan partly due to its low price. However, with the popularity of the Game Boy Advance, the WonderSwan Color and its successor, the Swan Crystal, quickly lost their competitive advantage.

21 March 2001 LAUNCHED

¥9800 RETAIL

3 (03/2004 ~ 11/2004) DB GAMES

In the March of 2001, Nintendo released a significant upgrade to their Game Boy line, the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. This successor to the popular Game Boy Color would utilize new technical capabilities, like a new custom 32-bit processor, a larger 2.9" LCD screen, additional "L" and "R" buttons, and a serial port for connecting multiple units together. Following suit with its predecessors, the Game Boy Advance was backwards compatible with most games previously released for the Game Boy or the Game Boy Color. As usual, several DragonBall games were released for the Game Boy Advance. However, unlike the past, many of the DragonBall games were developed solely for the US Market. In fact, "The Legacy of Goku II" is the only US developed Game Boy Advance game that has been released in Japan.

14 September 2001 LAUNCHED

¥25,000 RETAIL

1 (11/2002) DB GAMES

The GameCube is Nintendo's fourth home video game console, and was the most compact and inexpensive console of its time. Released in September of 2001 in Japan and in November of 2001 in the United States, the GameCube was designed for ease of portability. The GameCube also uses a unique storage medium, the GameCube Optical Disc, approximately 8 centimeters (3 1/8 inches) in diameter which are considerably smaller than the CDs or DVDs used in their competitors' consoles. The system also has the unique capability to connect to Nintendo's portable Game Boy Advance and SP. This connection between the two systems utilizes the transfer of game data, allowing the Game Boy Advance to be used as a controller. Despite Nintendo's best efforts, the GameCube was unsuccessful in competing in the market with Sony's PlayStation 2.

2 December 2004 LAUNCHED

¥15,000 RETAIL

2 (12/2005 ~ 03/2007) DB GAMES

The Nintendo DS is a dual-screen handheld game console developed by Nintendo. The name DS is actually an acronym for "Dual Screen" or "Developers' System" by Nintendo developers. Unlike Nintendo's previous handheld releases, the DS is only backwards compatible with Gameboy Advance games. Nintendo wanted to break the mold with the DS and incorporated some awesome technology. This included stereo speakers, which up until this point had not appeared on any of Nintendo's handheld systems, a touch screen, Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity/internet capability), and the ability to play games from any region (region free).

12 December 2004 LAUNCHED

¥19,800 RETAIL

2 (04/2006 ~ 06/2007) DB GAMES

With the huge success of the PlayStation and PS2, Sony unveiled plans for a handheld console. The PlayStation Portable was released in Japan in the December of 2004 and in March of 2005 in North America, officially entitled the "PSP". Despite the name, it is not compatible with PlayStation games and only runs games developed specifically for the console. The PSP was designed primarily for gaming, despite its movie and music playback capabilities which include a variety formats. In fact, Sony developed the Universal Media Disc (UMD), allowing studios to release feature films specifically for the PSP. In addition, the PSP includes Wi-Fi support, allowing the PSP to connect to wireless networks for multiplayer gaming and the Internet. Thus far, DragonBall Z has seen two releases for the PSP, the first of which had its release date pushed back several times while in development.

22 November 2005 LAUNCHED

$299.99 (¥39,795) RETAIL

1 (2008) DB GAMES

The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft, and the first American consule to feature a Japanese produced DragonBall game. The Xbox 360 was released on November 22, 2005, in the United States and Canada, and December 10, 2005, in Japan. Due to its early launch, the Xbox 360 has a one-year lead on both of its competitors, Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii. The Xbox 360 is available in three standard variants; the "Xbox 360 Arcade", the "Xbox 360 Premium", and the "Xbox 360 Elite". Each edition retails at a different price and comes bundled with specific features, items, and games. The Xbox 360 comes equipped with Xbox LIVE, which allows players to compete online and download arcade games and content such as game demos, trailers, TV shows, music videos, or rented movies.

11 November 2006 LAUNCHED

¥56,600 (20 GB) RETAIL

1 (2008) DB GAMES

The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The system was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November 17, 2006 in the United States. It is the first console to utilize a next-generation storage media, Blu-ray Disc, though it also supports DVDs and CDs. There are multiple models of the PS3, denoted by hard drive size; 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, & 80 GB. On April 11, 2007, Sony discontinued the 20 GB PS3 model in the United States, although it is still on sale in Japan. The PS3 uses the Sixaxis, a controller that is very similar in appearance to that of its predecessors, except it contains a PS ("home") button and a USB mini-B port for charging the internal battery, but has no vibration feature. The PS3 supports up to 7 simultaneous controllers over Bluetooth. Unfortunately, the PS3 has not been as widely accepted as its predecessors were originally.

2 December 2006 LAUNCHED

¥25,000 RETAIL

2 (01/2007 ~ 10/2007) DB GAMES

The Wii is the fifth home video game console released by Nintendo. The console is the direct successor to the Nintendo GameCube. Released in November of 2006 in the United States and in December of 2006 in Japan, the Wii was designed to target a broader demographic than that of Microsoft and Sony. A distinguishing feature of the console is its wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and can detect acceleration in three dimensions. This design allows users to control the game using physical gestures as well as traditional button presses. The controller connects to the console using Bluetooth and features rumble as well as an internal speaker. The Wii console is Nintendo's smallest home unit to date, the near-equivalent of three DVD cases stacked together. The front of the console features an illuminated slot-loading optical media drive that accepts both 12 cm Wii Optical Discs and Nintendo GameCube Game Discs. Overall, Nintendo broke the mold of video game play and set a new standard with the Wii.