Accessing electronic information sources through computer games consoles

This paper provides an overview of the games console market, a rapidly growing sector of the entertainment industry. An overview of the emergence of games consoles, and advances in games console technology, is given, as well as examples of the increasing incorporation of aspects of computer gaming into Higher Education student courses. Current and future games consoles are described in some detail, and their networking capabilities considered. The paper then focuses on the requirements of users of networked‐based services. The first games console to come equipped with network access facilities is used in order to access a number of electronic library resources and services, and to consider the viability of such a device for this purpose. Comments on issues surrounding data exchange between electronic devices such as games consoles are given, and future developments in the games console sector, especially in relation to the remote access of electronic information resources and services, are speculated.