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The Odyssey was the first video game console to have the ability to connect to TV sets. The console had a few different modes on cards and the players would put see-through pictures on the TV to play games like Hockey, Tennis, a Haunted Mansion game< a Maze game, etc. It had paddles that were used to move your dot around. It sold 350,000 units by 1975.
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Pong was a very simple game in which players moved 1 of 2 paddles on a side of the screen to hit a ball back and forth and try to hit the ball behind their opponent's paddle and score 11 points to win. It made a lot of people interested to see what the new industry of video games could bring. It soon got many console versions, most of them not even made by Atari. One was even made by Nintendo.
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Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak creates Breakout which was said to be a "single-player" version to Pong where players hit brick and break them to get points.
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Home consoles become more common and in the 2nd Generation of Gaming, interchangable cartridges are implemented. The Fairchild Channel F,the Atari 2600 and the Magnavox Odyssey 2 compete for sales and fame but only 1 will stay.
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Fairchild Semiconductor created a microprocessor console that had ROM-Cartridges that you could put in the console and play multiple games off of.
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The 2600 was a multiprocessor based system that was programmable, it had joystick controllers that also had a button to press for additional actions in games and game variations could be made to change games slightly. The system had interchangable cartridges like the Channel F. It was a huge success.It was discontinued in 1992. The 2600 was the most popular system in the 2nd Gen
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Magnavox released the Odyssey 2 which no had better graphics and was trying to compete with the Atari 2600.
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Atari releases the Atari 5200 in 1982. It wasn't as successful as the 2600 even though it tried to surpass it.
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The Colleco Vision was a more powerful system in the 2nd Gen that was made to surpass the Atari 2600 in almost every way with graphics and sound. It may have been a stronger system but it didn't beat the 2600.
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The Video Game Crash of 1983 occurred due to the flooded market, too many consoles were out at the time, inflation, the gaining popularity of gaming on computers like the Apple I and the Commodore 64, too many games published and on the market and loss of publishing control for companies like Activision. Most people blame Atari for this since lots of games were being rushed to the market like movie-based games like E.T. on the 2600 (1983) and the port of Pac-Man on the 2600. Companies suffered.
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Sega, who was popular around the time at creating arcade games, tried to get into the home computer gaming industry so they created the SG-1000. It was a small success for Sega but it wasn't that popular and a lot of people don't even bring it up today unlike Seega's other consoles. Sega would soon make sequals to the SG-1000, like the Sg-1000 II and he Sgea Mark III (Sega Master System, 3rd Gen).
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During the Video Game crash of 1983, Nintendo released the Famicom (Family Computer). They released their arcade games on the system and in 1985, they released it internationally and renamed it the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) along with a little game called Super Mario Bros.
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Super Mario Bros on the NES and Famicom revolutionized gaming and saved the gaming industry. Most companies were bankrupt and only a few stayed.
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Nintendo made sure that a crash wouldn't come again so they tried to appeal mostly to a family friendly audience with the NES. Companies could only release 3 games a year which prevented store shelves to be flooded with games.
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Known as the Sega Mark III in Japan, the Sega Master System was created in 1985-1986 to compete with the NES. The Master System was more powerful with a better color palette, better resolution and better specs but Mario held the NES higher. Sega made an unofficial mascot known as Alex Kidd but he wasn't as memorable and soon he was forgotten all together.
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Atari releases the Atari 7800 in 1986 to compete with the NES and Master System. The 7800 was the first backwards compatible console that didn't use any accessories and it was compatible with 2600 games that were still being produced.
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The Sega Master System wasn't doing as well as the NES so Sega decided to go from 8-bit hardware (like all of the other consoles before) to 16-bit hardware with the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) in 1988-1989. The Genesis could play instruments besides those that made chip-tunes, they could show more colors and sprites and they had 7.6 mHz of speed. It caught everyone by storm and Sega was just getting started.
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Nintendo released the first interchangable handheld system, the Gameboy in 1989 after their successful Game and Watch series established in 1980. The Gameboy had a green tinted screen and it could only show pixels. It was brought up because of a little game called Tetris.
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The NeoGeo was advertised as a 24-bit console. It wasn't as popular as the Genesis and Nintendo's 16-bit console because it was sold for $600.
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The Sega Game Gear was released in 1990-1991 to compete with the Gameboy with it's backlit screen and color. It failed because it drained 6 batteries in 2 hours.
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Nintendo creates their own 16-bit console to compete with the Sega Genesis. Nintendo also brings another Mario game, Super Mario World to give those with a regular Nintendo, a reason to get their new console. The SNES had more 200 times more colors than the Genesis, better audio and a better resolution but it had slower speeds than the Genesis making some people prefer the Genesis more and giving Nintendo a disadvantage.
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Sega finally creates their official mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog His speed was possible with the Genesis' speed unlike the SNES. Sonic gained popularity like Mario did and he had many sequels. Sonic's appearance start the Console Wars with Nintendo and Sega.
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The Sega CD (Mega CD) was created on Dec.12th, 1991 to play CD-quality music and motion video. It was expensive and failed. Sega tried again with the 32X on November 4th, 1994 to display early 3D polygons and turn the 16-bit console into a 32-bit system. It failed as well. Few of their games were good and some even used both the CD and 32X add-ons.
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Sony showed the world, the capabilities of their new console in 1994 like it's entirely 3D models after a bad deal with Nintendo. Sony revolutionized the way people looked at games for the time and now Nintendo and Sega who had controlled the Gaming Industry in the early 90s now had another rival. The console was 32-bit and it displayed static polygon models. With the help of Naughty Dog, Sony had Crash Bandicoot as their unofficial until 2001 when he became a 3rd Party character.
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With people expecting 3D games for the next gen, Sega had to make hardware to compete against the Playstation. THe Saturn had bad marketting campaigns, was hard to develop for, and had a terrible library of games. People expected Sonic to go ito 3D on the Saturn but only Sonic R and a port of Sonic 3D Blast was released for it. Unlike the soon coming N64 and in 1997 for the Playstation, this controller had no analog controllers that were affordable.
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Nintendo's response to the Playstation was a 64-bit console instead of the 32 of their rivals. The N64 could display smoother models and textures and it was cartridge based giving it some disadvantages. Nintendo released the N64 with Super Mario 64, a revolutionary 3D platformer. The controller had a control stick in the middle for analog movement which made 3D games a lot better but the N64 could be held in 2 different ways.
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The Gameboy Color was released in 1998. It may just sound like a colored Gameboy but it was more powerful than the original.
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Sega's Saturn failed and Sega abandoned it. They started the 6th generation by creating a 128-bit console that was way ahead of it's time. The Dreamcast had cards in the controllers that could display images and keep save data.
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Many handhelds trying to compete with the likes of the Gameboy failed like the Atari Lynx. This handheld came out in late 1998 and the colored version in 1999. It was very unpopular but it had the first 3rd Party Sonic game, "Sonic Pocket Adventure"
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The PS2, one of the best video game consoles, started off revolutionary. It could play DVD's, at the time, the PS2 was the cheapest DVD Player meaning people who didn't even play video games had this system. The system's power was amazing for the time and the lineup of games at launch, including GTA 3, Jak and Daxter and Max Payne, this console would do very well. People say the PS2 killed the Dreamcast in 2001. The PS2 just discontinued 2 years ago too. PS2 could also play PS1 games.
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Nintendo turned the Gameboy into a Man with the Gameboy Advance. It jumped from using an 8-bit processor to a 32-bit processor. It had no competition and it was a very successful console
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The Gamecube was shown to display more and smoother polygons. At launch it came with Luigi's Mansion, no ambitious Mario game and Super Smash Bros. Melee, a fighting game still played today. The controller had a lot of character but the childish look wasn't that appealing even though it was only $99 at launch.
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Microsoft, the creators of Windows and founded by Bill Gates created a gaming console to have better specs than both the Gamecube and PS2. The XBOX had a DVD Player and it could play Music. Microsoft was the first to implement online gaming on home consoles with Halo 2 in 2004. They also purchased Rareware (the people who made the DK Country games, Banjo Kazooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day and other N64 classics) in the hopes to get Donkey Kong. Halo's Master Chief was XBOX's mascot.
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After the stronger hardware of their rivals' consoles, Sega discontinued the Dreamcast and stopped making consoles. Sega made a truce with Nintendo and they rereleased Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 on the Gamecube. In 2003, Sega released Sonic Heroes which was their first multiplatform game and they are now a 3rd party game developing company.
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Nintendo released another handheld, the DS (Dual Screen) in 2004. It was designed like the GBA SP and it had a touch screen on the bottom screen. The DS could connect to other DS systems without cords with a wireless network and it had WI-Fi Connection. It's main competitor was the PSP. It esd the best-selling handheld of all time and it had many upgrades and different versions.
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In 2003, the PSP was announced at E3 and it was released in 2004 to compete against the DS. It wasn't as successful as the DS even though it had more power and better graphics. One thing that probably would have made it a lot better was a 2nd analog stick on the right.
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XBOX releases the XBOX 360 which had a bigger emphasis on online play and a community with XBOX Live. It was also the first system to have HD Graphical capabilities
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The PS3 was Sony's 7th Gen console that was made to add more to the gameplay of the games. Players could turn the controller for movement and the controller was now wireless
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Nintendo's Wii added motion controls to the gaming industry. The Wii sold welll because of it's launch title, Wii Sports that came with it. The Wii would soon create controllers like the classic controller to play games normally. It was also backwards compatible with Gamecube games. A drawback was that the Wii didn't have a HD graphics and the power that the PS3 and XBOX 360 had so this made them miss out on games like Sonic 06 and GTA 4.
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During the 7th Gen, Playstation, XBOX and Nintendo recolored and/or upgraded their systems slightly. The PS3 switched the logo from the Spider Man text, removed the curved look and took of the ability to play PS1 and 2 games. XBox recolored their system black and removed the Red Ring of Death that occured on White XBOX's. The Wii allowed player to get recolored versions of the system, that's it.
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Playstation and XBOX wanted to get into implementing motion controls on their consoles to raise sales. The PS3 had the Playstation Move. It was ok.The XBOX 360 had the Kinect which used no controllers. The Kinect was laggy and really hard to play and have fun with and it failed.
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Nintendo wanted to create a next-gen handheld. They upgraded upon the DS with the 3DS. It's main feature was to display the screen in 3D on a handheld. The 3DS also had smoother polygons than the DS, better sound quality, more space and a wider top screen. The system was $325 at launch making it too expensive to buy. After September the price was lowered to $169.99. Those who spent over $300 got a special Ambassador program on the eShop on the system which gave the 20 free NES and GBA games.
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Nintendo created the Wii U to be the sequel to the Wii. It used a handheld controller called the Gamepad that used a touch screen that was kind of innovative. You could play Wii U with the TV off. This was Nintendo's first HD console and Playstation and XBOX had that in 2006 meaning Nintendo was really late. The Wii U was more powerful than the PS3 and 360 but the 8th Gen was just starting. The Wii U had poor sales along with the 3DS and Nintendo was doing bad like Sega (Foreshadowing?)
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The XBOX One had so much more power than it's predecessor and the graphical capabilities looked very realistic.. The controller was similar to the 360's and was very comfortable.
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Sony upgraded their PS4 and finally stuck with a new design for the Dualshock Controllers. The console like the XBOX One was very powerful and had great graphical capabilities.
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Nintendo only upgraded their 3DS and gave it an easily misunderstood name, the New 3DS. It was faster and more powerful than the old 3DS and it even had a few exclusive games. Sony upgraded the PS4 with the PS4 Pro which could display more realistic graphics, it was faster 4k display and faster frame rates. The XBOX One S was recolored white, had more memory, it was smaller and had 4k streaming.
