8-bit in the context of WDC 65C02

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on July 15, 1983, as the Family Computer (Famicom), and released as the redesigned NES in test markets in the United States on October 18, 1985, followed by a nationwide launch on September 27, 1986. The NES was distributed in Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia throughout the 1980s under various names. As a third-generation console, it mainly competed with Sega's Master System.

Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi called for a simple, cheap console that could run arcade games on cartridges. The Famicom was designed by Masayuki Uemura, with its controller design reused from Nintendo's portable Game & Watch hardware. The western NES model was designed by Lance Barr and Don James to resemble a video cassette recorder. To aid the console's acceptance in stores, Nintendo released add-ons such as the Zapper, a light gun for shooting games, and R.O.B., a toy robot.

The Apple II (stylized as apple ][) is a personal computer released by Apple Inc. in June 1977. It was one of the first successful mass-produced microcomputer products and is widely regarded as one of the most important personal computers of all time due to its role in popularizing home computing and influencing later software development.

The Apple II was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak. The system is based around the 8-bit MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor. Jerry Manock designed the foam-molded plastic case, Rod Holt developed the switching power supply, while Steve Jobs was not involved in the design of the computer. It was introduced by Jobs and Wozniak at the 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, and marks Apple's first launch of a computer aimed at a consumer market—branded toward American households rather than businessmen or computer hobbyists.

The Game Boy Color (abbreviated as GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and in international markets the following month. Compared with the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT screen instead of monochrome, a CPU running at up to twice the speed, and four times as much memory. It is backward compatible with games developed for its predecessor. The Game Boy Color was released during the fifth generation of video game consoles and competed with the WonderSwan and Neo Geo Pocket, and Genesis Nomad.

The handheld is slightly thicker, taller and has a smaller screen than its immediate predecessor, the Game Boy Pocket, but is significantly smaller than the original Game Boy. As with its predecessors, the Game Boy Color has a custom 8-bit processor made by Sharp. The American English spelling of the system's name, Game Boy Color, remains consistent throughout the world.

The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum; it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and the German-speaking parts of Europe, and also Canada.

The series spawned a total of six distinct models: The CPC 464, CPC 664, and CPC 6128 were highly successful competitors in the European home computer market. The later 464 plus and 6128 plus, intended to prolong the system's lifecycle with hardware updates, were considerably less successful, as was the attempt to repackage the plus hardware into a game console as the GX4000.

The Master System is an 8-bit home video game console manufactured and developed by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, released in Japan in 1985. The Master System launched in North America in 1986, followed by Europe in 1987 and Brazil and Korea in 1989. A Japanese version was launched in 1987, with additions including a built-in FM audio chip, a rapid-fire switch, and a dedicated port for the 3D glasses. The Master System II, a cheaper model, was released in 1990 in North America, Australasia, and Europe.

The original Master System models use both cartridges and a credit card-sized format, Sega Cards. Accessories include a light gun and 3D glasses that work with specially designed games. The later Master System II redesign removed the card slot, turning it into a strictly cartridge-only system, and is incompatible with the 3D glasses.

The Intel 8085 ("eighty-eighty-five") is an 8-bit microprocessor produced by Intel and introduced in March 1976. It is binary compatible with the more famous Intel 8080. It is the last 8-bit microprocessor developed by Intel. The "5" in the part number highlighted the fact that the 8085 uses a single +5-volt (V) power supply, compared to the 8080's +5, −5, and +12 V, which makes the 8085 easier to integrate into systems that by this time were mostly +5 V.

The other major change was the addition of four new interrupt pins and a serial port, with separate input and output pins. This was often all that was needed in simple systems and eliminated the need for separate integrated circuits to provide this functionality, as well as simplifying the computer bus as a result. The only changes in the instruction set compared to the 8080 were instructions for reading and writing data using these pins.

The Arcadia 2001 is a second-generation 8-bit home video game console released by Emerson Radio in May 1982 for a price of US$99, several months before the release of ColecoVision. It was discontinued only 18 months later, with a total of 35 games having been released. Emerson licensed the Arcadia 2001 to Bandai, which released it in Japan. Over 30 Arcadia 2001 clones exist despite the system being a commercial failure.

Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model significantly improves graphical and audio capabilities compared to 8-bit systems, and is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-bit or 16/32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, and mouse-based GUIs. These include the Atari ST, Macintosh, Archimedes, and later the Apple IIGS. The Amiga differs from its contemporaries through custom hardware to accelerate graphics and sound, including sprites, a blitter, and four channels of sample-based audio. It runs a pre-emptive multitasking operating system called AmigaOS, with a desktop environment called Workbench.

The Amiga 1000, based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor, was released in July 1985. Production problems kept it from becoming widely available until early 1986. While early advertisements cast the computer as an all-purpose business machine, especially with the Sidecar IBM PC compatibility add-on, the Amiga was most commercially successful as a home computer with a range of video games and creative software. The bestselling model, the Amiga 500, was introduced in 1987 along with the more expandable Amiga 2000. The 1990 Amiga 3000 includes a minor update to the graphics hardware via the Enhanced Chip Set also used in subsequent models.

The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 6502 CPU and three custom coprocessors which provide support for sprites, smooth multidirectional scrolling, four channels of audio, and other features. The graphics and sound are more advanced than most of its contemporaries, and video games are a key part of the software library. The 1980 first-person space combat simulator Star Raiders is considered the platform's killer app.

The Atari 800 was positioned as a high-end model and the 400 as more affordable. The 400 has a pressure-sensitive, spillproof membrane keyboard and initially shipped with a non-upgradable 8 KB of RAM. The 800 has a conventional keyboard, a second cartridge slot, and allows easy RAM upgrades to 48K. Both use identical 6502 CPUs at 1.79 MHz (1.77 MHz for PAL versions) and coprocessors ANTIC, POKEY, and CTIA/GTIA. The plug-and-play peripherals use the Atari SIO serial bus, and one of the SIO developers eventually went on to co-patent USB (Universal Serial Bus). The architecture of the Atari 8-bit computers was reused in the 1982 Atari 5200 game console, but games for the two systems are incompatible.

The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit entry level home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PET. The VIC-20 was the first computer of any description to sell one million units, eventually reaching 2.5 million. It was described as "one of the first anti-spectatorial, non-esoteric computers by design...no longer relegated to hobbyist/enthusiasts or those with money, the computer Commodore developed was the computer of the future."