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SEGA
In 1951 Sega was launched (service games)
The console timeline is broken into seven generations
Each generation saw an increase in technology. Before the consoles hit the market, coin- operated arcade games ruled. -
1972 Magnavox Odyssey
World's first game console. Predates the Atari Pong home consoles. Prototype known as the “Brown Box” is now at the Smithsonian. There were about 340,000 units sold -
1972 Pong
A coin-op arcade game by Atari Inc
Based on table tennis First game to gain widespread popularity -launched the industry boom. Led to a successful patent-infringement lawsuit from the Magnavox Odyssey -
1974 - Gran Track 10
A single-player racing arcade game by Atari. Player races against the game clock, accumulating points. Early diode-based ROM was used. Controls, steering wheel, shifter, accelerator, and brake pedals were all firsts for arcade games -
1974 - Maze Wars
One of the first FPS
Players wander in a maze. Used tile-based movement. Other players are eyeballs that can be shot or harmed. Players gain points for shooting other players and lose them for being shot -
1976 - Coleco Telstar
By Coleco - AY-3-8500 chip. Pong variants on a domestic television receiver and available to any manufacturer. Battery-powered and external components were required. -
1976 - APF TV Fun
Pong clone manufactured by APF formally a electronics developer. Four built-in games (Tennis, Hockey, Single Handball, and Squash) .Had a speaker and two controller knobs, powered by an AC adapter or batteries, it had limited success -
1976 - Fairchild Channel F
The world's second cartridge-based video game console, after the Magnavox Odyssey. Sold for $169.95. Originally called Video Entertainment System (VES), but when Atari released VCS, it was renamed. -
Period: to
1976-1983 Second Generation
By the mid-1970s cartridges moved to CPU-based consoles. Games now consisting of microprocessor-based code; games burned onto ROM chips mounted inside plastic cartridge casings that could be plugged into slots on the console. Consumers could acquire large libraries of game cartridges -
Period: to
1983–1992 Third Generation
The third generation began with the release of the Nintento Family Computer, or better known as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Sega SG-1000 -
1984 - Video Game Crash (1 of 2)
In 1984, Atari 7800 was delayed and consumers were hungry for something new.
-Too many consoles on the US market gave consumers too many choices
-There were many poor game titles and too many games based on the movie ET
- Introduction of personal computers like the Commodore 64 -
1985 - Video Game Crash (2 of 2)
-Millions of consumers shifted their intention to buy choices from game consoles to low-end computers that retailed for similar prices
-The crash lasted two years. The market was revitalized due to the success of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) with its landmark title Super Mario Bros -
1985- NES
Nintendo created an 8-bit console being the most successful of its time; it sold over 60 million worldwide.
-Helped revitalize the US industry following crash of 1984 - set the standard for consoles -
1986 - Atari 7800
- Replaced the Atari 5200, this put Atari back on top over Nintendo and Sega.
- Digital joysticks; fully backward-compatible with the Atari 2600; and affordable - $140. Designed to be upgraded to a home computer.
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1990 - Sega Game Gear
World's first with a color LCD display by Atari. Advanced features and graphics, and ambidextrous layout. Failed to attract quality third-party developers, and was eventually abandoned -
Period: to
1989-1990 Handheld Games
Hand held games started to be a thing like the game boy and game gear from sega -
1991 - Super Nintendo
Advanced graphics and sound capabilities. Ran 3D graphics better, helping usher in 3D in the fifth generation. Best-selling of the 16-bit era. Remains popular well into the 32-bit era. -
Period: to
1992-1996 Fourth Generation
Also known as the 16-bit generation. Dominated by commercial rivalry between Nintendo and Sega: Super Nintendo Entertainment System vs. the Sega Genesis. The machines introduced in this generation retained the majority market share until 1996 -
Period: to
1993-2003 Fifth Generation
32-bit and 64-bit. Dominated by three consoles, Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, and Nintendo 64. Nintendo's Game Boy Color released.Bit ratings did not increase with the exception of Nintendo 64. Performance depended on other factors such as processor clock speed, bandwidth, and memory size. PCs now were powerful enough to emulate the 8- and 16-bit systems of the previous five or more years. The Internet made it possible to store and download tape and ROM images of older games -
1994 - Sony PlayStation
32-bit by Sony. First of a series of PS consoles. First to ship 100 million units. PS2 released in 2000 is best-selling home console to date. Has a PlayStation network. -
Period: to
1998-2004 Sixth Generation
128 bit era -
2001 - Microsoft Xbox
Microsoft's first console with 24 million units sold. Allowed players to play online $299.99. Discontinued in 2008. Followed by the Xbox 360 and Xbox One -
2005 - Xbox 360
By Microsoft after the XBOX. Had problems at first. Xbox Live allows players to compete online and download content. Streams media from PC. Sold 80 million units worldwide - seventh highest-selling console -
Period: to
2005-2010 Seventh Generation
Started on November 22, 2005 with the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360 and a year later with Sony's PlayStation 3 on November 17, 2006 and Nintendo's Wii on November 19, 2006. Each new console introduced a new type of breakthrough in technology. Wii appears to be the leading seller of this generation -
Period: to 2020 BCE
2011+ Eighth Generation
Includes Nintendo's Wii U, Sony PlayStation 4, and Microsoft's Xbox One. Face competition for smart phones, tablets, and smart TV. Predicted to be the last generation. Rise of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) as the major processor
