History Platform / PlugNPlayGame

** Sega released their own plug 'n' play console, the Sega Genesis Mini, with help from game developer and emulation experts M2. The device comes with 42 Sega Genesis games, including a few that had limited releases the first time around. A second version, with a new slate of games and modeled after the second-model Genesis, was released in 2022.
** The Astro City Mini, released in 2020, focused on the company's arcade output and came with 37 preloaded games. While it has HDMI output, the Astro City Mini's screen is fully functional and can be played by itself. Sega later released a successor in 2022 through the Astro City Mini V (the "V" marking its focus on vertical-oriented games).

Back in The70s, videogame consoles were invented. But [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness unlike subsequent generations]], [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames First-generation consoles]] did not store games on removable media that could be swapped out to play different games: Instead, game(s) were stored (or hardwired) directly into the console itself. The obvious consequence was that you never purchased games separately: Just buy the console, hook it to your TV and power, plug the packaged-in controllers if they're not already connected, and you're all set.

Back in TheSeventies, videogame consoles were invented. But [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness unlike subsequent generations]], [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfVideoGames First-generation consoles]] did not store games on removable media that could be swapped out to play different games: Instead, game(s) were stored (or hardwired) directly into the console itself. The obvious consequence was that you never purchased games separately: Just buy the console, hook it to your TV and power, plug the packaged-in controllers if they're not already connected, and you're all set.

With the popularity of the UsefulNotes/{{Atari 2600}}, this practice fell in disuse and most game consoles from the second generation onwards have accepted games stored on removable media,[[note]]from ROM cartridges to [=CDs=] to [=DVDs=] to Blu-Ray to much-smaller ROM cartidges. And when that's not enough, downloading games from the Internet. [[/note]] with the only "dedicated" consoles remaining being handhelds (from ''VideoGame/GameAndWatch'' to Tiger Electronics to ''Toys/{{Tamagotchi}}'').

These are commonly called TV Games after toy maker Jakks Pacific's ubiquitous line of them. Jakks began the line with units containing compilations of classic games like ''VideoGame/PacMan'' and vintage games by Creator/{{Atari}}. It soon expanded to include original games based on licensed properties, and other companies got into the act as well. Name an IP that was popular with children in the first decade of the 2000s, and it's almost guaranteed that Jakks or some other toy company created a unit with newly developed retro-style games for said franchise. Some of the later ones even feature motion controls in response to the popularity of the UsefulNotes/NintendoWii.

The more recent official mini consoles typically use ARM-based chips running a stripped-down version of {{UsefulNotes/Linux}} as an operating system, with custom emulators atop of it. These are fairly powerful machines and have been found to modable by users poking around under the hood.

* ShoddyKnockoffProduct: Many bootleg consoles imitate the aesthetic of the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} or the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, despite having vastly inferior hardware. The latter are often called [=PolyStations=].

* In the mid-2000's, Radica produced a series of Plug N' Play games that featured built-in UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis games, namely first-party titles from Creator/{{Sega}} and {{Creator/Capcom}}. Most of them had one controller, but there was one that had two controllers to play ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'' and ''[[VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins Ghouls and Ghosts]]''. There was also a {{Light Gun|Game}} variant that had games designed to work with the Sega Menacer peripheral.

* {{Creator/Atari}} has their series of Atari Flashback consoles which let you play UsefulNotes/Atari2600 games. The second version even used actual recreations of Atari hardware, allowing one to add a cartridge slot to play actual 2600 cartridges (and use actual vintage controllers). From the third version onwards, they emulate the 2600.

* Creator/{{Nintendo}} released its "Classic Edition" series, which are plug 'n' play consoles that emulate retro Nintendo titles that look like miniature versions of the original. The NES version was an unexpected hit, and the Super NES version a year later also sold out. They're credited with keeping the company afloat after the failure of the UsefulNotes/WiiU until the release of the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch.

* The UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 Mini was released by Creator/{{Konami}} in 2020 with a selection of 58 games for the Japanese version (PC Engine Mini) and 57 games for the international versions. (Konami acquired Creator/HudsonSoft, the designer of the original hardware, in 2012, giving them the rights as successor.)

* An early example is the UsefulNotes/ColorTVGame series of consoles by Creator/{{Nintendo}}. The first consoles included clones of ''VideoGame/{{Pong}}'', but other games were included with the later consoles.

These are commonly called TV Games after toy maker Jakks Pacific's ubiquitous line of them. Jakks began the line with units containing compilations of classic games like VideoGame/PacMan and vintage games by Creator/{{Atari}}. It soon expanded to include original games based on licensed properties, and other companies got into the act as well. Name an IP that was popular with children in the first decade of the 2000s, and it's almost guaranteed that Jakks or some other toy company created a unit with newly developed retro-style games for said franchise. Some of the later ones even feature motion controls in response to the popularity of the UsefulNotes/NintendoWii.