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First Generation Consoles
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Magnavox Odyssey
The Magnavox Odyssey is the first commercial home video game console. It was developed by a small team led by Ralph H. Baer at Sanders Associates and released by Magnavox in the United States -
Home Pong
Pong was developed and published by Atari Inc, and was the first successful home video game system produced -
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Second Generation Consoles
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Fairchild Channel F
is a home video game console released by Fairchild Semiconductor in November 1976 across North America[2] at the retail price of $169.95. It was also released in Japan in October the following year. It has the distinction of being the first programmable ROM cartridge–based video game console, and the first console to use a microprocessor. -
Atari 2600
is a home video game console released on September 11, 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and ROM cartridges containing game code, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F video game console in 1976. This format contrasts with the older model of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware, which could only play the games which were physically built into the unit. -
Color TV-Game Block Breaker
a series of five home dedicated consoles, created by Nintendo and sold only in Japan. Nintendo sold three million units of the first four models: one million units of each of the first two models, Color TV-Game 6 and 15; and half a million units of each of the next two models, Block Breaker and Racing 112.[2] The Color TV-Game series has the highest sales figures of the first generation of video game consoles. -
Atari 5200
is a home video game console that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc. as a higher-end complementary console for the popular Atari 2600.[2] The 5200 was created to compete with the Intellivision, but wound up more directly competing with the ColecoVision shortly after its release.The 5200's controllers have an analog joystick and a numeric keypad along with start, pause and reset buttons -
Famicom/NES
is an 8-bit home video game console that was developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was initially released in Japan as the Family Computer. The best-selling gaming console of its time,[10]e[›] the NES helped revitalize the US video game industry following the video game crash of 1983.[11] With the NES, Nintendo introduced a now-standard business model of licensing third-party developers, authorizing them to produce and distribute titles for Nintendo's platform -
SG-1000
also known as the Sega Computer Videogame SG-1000, is a cartridge-based home video game console manufactured by Sega and released in Japan, Australia, and other countries. It was Sega's first entry into the home video game hardware business, and provided the basis for the more successful Master System -
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Third Generation Consoles
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Atari 7800
is a home video game console officially released by Atari Corporation in 1986.[3] It is almost fully backward-compatible with the Atari 2600, the first console to have backward compatibility without the use of additional modules. -
Atari Lynx
It was the first color handheld console ever made, as well as the first with a backlit screen. It also featured networking support with up to 17 other players, and advanced hardware that allowed the zooming and scaling of sprites. The Lynx could also be turned upside down to accommodate left-handed players. However, all these features came at a very high price point, which drove consumers to seek cheaper alternatives. The Lynx was also very unwieldy, consumed batteries very quickly. -
Mega Drive/Genesis
in most regions outside North America, is a 16-bit home video game console which was developed and sold by Sega Enterprises, Ltd. The Genesis was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master System.In South Korea, the systems were distributed by Samsung and were known as the Super Gam*Boy, and later the Super Aladdin Boy.[b] -
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Handhelds are Introduced
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Game Boy
he Game Boy came under scrutiny by some industry critics, saying that the monochrome screen was too small, and the processing power was inadequate. The design team had felt that low initial cost and battery economy were more important concerns, and when compared to the Microvision, the Game Boy was a huge leap forward. More than a million units were sold in the US -
Game Gear
The Game Gear was the third color handheld console, after the Lynx and the TurboExpress; produced by Sega. It was based on the Master System, which gave Sega the ability to quickly create Game Gear games from its large library of games for the Master System. While never reaching the level of success enjoyed by Nintendo, the Game Gear proved to be a fairly durable competitor, lasting longer than any other Game Boy rivals. -
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
is a 16-bit home video game console developed by NintendoThe SNES is Nintendo's second home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The console introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with other consoles at the time. The development of a variety of enhancement chips integrated in game cartridges helped to keep it competitive in the marketplace. -
Super Mario World
is a 1990 platform video game developed and published by Nintendo as a pack-in launch title for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Development was handled by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development, led by Shigeru Miyamoto, who produced the game. It also features 2D graphics with linear transformations.
. Super Mario World marks the first appearance of Yoshi, Mario's dinosaur sidekick and riding mount. -
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Fourth Generation Consoles
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Fifth Generation Consoles
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PlayStation
is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment The console was the first of the PlayStation lineup of home video game consoles. It primarily competed with the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn as part of the fifth generation of video game consoles. The PlayStation is the first "computer entertainment platform" to ship 100 million units, which it had reached 9 years and 6 months after its initial launch -
Super Mario 64
is a 1996 platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64.In the game, Mario explores Peach's castle and must rescue her from Bowser. As one of the earlier three-dimensional 3D platform games kSuper Mario 64 is based on open world playability, degrees of freedom through all three axes in space, and relatively large areas which are composed primarily of true 3D polygons as opposed to only two-dimensional 2D sprites. The game established a new archetype for the 3D genre -
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Sixth Generation Consoles
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PlayStation 2
is a home video game console that was developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment formerly Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the successor to the PlayStation, and is the second installment in the PlayStation lineup of consoles the PlayStation 2 was the first PlayStation console to offer backwards compatibility for its predecessor's DualShock controller, as well as for its games.The PlayStation 2 is currently the best-selling video game console in history selling over 155 million units -
GameCube
The GameCube is the first Nintendo console to use optical discs as its primary storage medium. The discs are similar to the miniDVD format; as a result of their smaller size and the console's small disc compartment, the system was not designed to play standard DVDs or audio CDs. The console supports online gaming for a small number of titles via the broadband or modem adapter and connects to the Game Boy Advance via the link cable -
Xbox
is a home video game console and the first installment in the Xbox series of consoles manufactured by Microsoft. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market. The sixth-generation console competed with Sony's PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo GameCube. It was also the first console produced by an American company since the Atari Jaguar ceased production in 1996. The Xbox, graphically powerful compared to its rivals, featured a standard PC's 733 MHz Intel Pentium III processor -
Nintendo 64
is Nintendo's third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit central processing unit, It is the industry's last major home console to use the cartridge as its primary storage format, although current handheld systems (such as the PlayStation Vita and Nintendo 3DS) also use cartridges. While the Nintendo 64 was succeeded by Nintendo's MiniDVD-based GameCube in November 2001, the consoles remained available until the system was retired in late 2003. -
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Seventh Generation Consoles
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Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 features an online service, Xbox Live, which was expanded from its previous iteration on the original Xbox and received regular updates during the console's lifetime. Available in free and subscription-based varieties, Xbox Live allows users to: play games online; download games -
Wii
the Wii leads its generation over PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in worldwide sales, with more than 101 million units sold; in December 2009, the console broke the sales record for a single month in the United States.The Wii introduced the Wii Remote controller, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and which detects movement in three dimensions. WiiConnect24, which enabled it to receive messages and updates over the Internet while in standby mode. -
Halo: Reach
is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 home video game console. The sixth installment in the Halo series, Reach was released worldwide in September 2010. The game takes place in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the alien Covenant. Players control Noble Six, when Reach falls under Covenant attack.The game grossed US$200 million on its launch day, setting a new record for the franchise. -
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Eighth Generation Consoles
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Wii U
The Wii U is the first Nintendo console to support HD graphics. The system's primary controller is the Wii U GamePad, which features an embedded touchscreen, and combines directional buttons, analog sticks, and action buttons. The screen can be used either as a supplement to the main display,or in supported games, to play the game directly on the GamePad independently of the television. Games can support any combination of the GamePad, -
Xbox One
Moving away from its predecessor's PowerPC-based architecture, the Xbox One marks a shift back to the x86 architecture used in the original Xbox; it features an AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) built around the x86-64 instruction set. The console places an increased emphasis on cloud computing and the integration of entertainment applications and services, offering the ability to overlay live television programming from an existing set-top box -
Destiny
Destiny is an online-only first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Activision. It was released worldwide on September 9, 2014, for the PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Destiny marked Bungie's first new console franchise since the Halo series, Set in a "mythic science fiction" world, the game features a multiplayer "shared-world" environment with elements of role-playing games. it sold over US$500 million at retail, making it the biggest new franchise launch of all time
