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Yes. Game consoles are just as much “general purpose computers” as phones are. Volume and ubiquity doesn’t change that (modern) game consoles have the architect

Yes. Game consoles are just as much “general purpose computers” as phones are. Volume and ubiquity doesn’t change that (modern) game consoles have the architecture required to run anything you want, even easier than needing to compile for Arm through Xcode. One could argue that any console pre-CD days were specialized computing devices that required additional circuitry to run (cartridges.) But in my mind, any console that downloads contents of a storage medium to RAM and executes it is general purpose. You could make Spreadsheets for the Xbox or PlayStation or Switch, if you so chose.

WWLink 6y ago
The funny thing is, up until around the time of the PS2, you could still buy unlicensed console games. For example: https://tcrf.net/Category:Unlicensed_Genesis_games https://tcrf.net/Category:Unlicensed_Genesis_games https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_unlicensed_games https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_unlicensed_games In a way, I really do think the term "general purpose computer" should denote a standard for hardware that anyone can write software for. Both Microsoft and Apple are rather notorious for trying to kill this. https://www.pcworld.com/article/248342/windows_8_secure_boot_the_controversy_continues.html https://www.pcworld.com/article/248342/windows_8_secure_boot... The question of "where to draw the line" is an interesting one. People don't complain about it with consoles because you can just buy the game disks anywhere (including some list of retailers, and used from ebay/craigslist/wherever). Even though making a game for a console requires licensing and specific developer tools that - like iOS, access can be granted and revoked. With iOS, Apple sells the idea that the iPad is a computer pretty hard. Yet it's not. It's an Apple Terminal. Just like the iPhone is.

WWLink 6y ago

The funny thing is, up until around the time of the PS2, you could still buy unlicensed console games. For example: https://tcrf.net/Category:Unlicensed_Genesis_games https://tcrf.net/Category:Unlicensed_Genesis_games https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_unlicensed_games https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_unlicensed_games In a way, I really do think the term "general purpose computer" should denote a standard for hardware that anyone can write software for. Both Microsoft and Apple are rather notorious for trying to kill this. https://www.pcworld.com/article/248342/windows_8_secure_boot_the_controversy_continues.html https://www.pcworld.com/article/248342/windows_8_secure_boot... The question of "where to draw the line" is an interesting one. People don't complain about it with consoles because you can just buy the game disks anywhere (including some list of retailers, and used from ebay/craigslist/wherever). Even though making a game for a console requires licensing and specific developer tools that - like iOS, access can be granted and revoked. With iOS, Apple sells the idea that the iPad is a computer pretty hard. Yet it's not. It's an Apple Terminal. Just like the iPhone is.