The Evolution of the Video Game

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In the spirit of 'Throwback' Heres the evolution of the video Game up until Todays newest most complex Gaming Systems

Facts courtesy of PC Gaming

• 1972: Magnavox Odyssey
  • a product that the first Atari has a direct link to.
• 1975 Atari Pong
• 1976: Fairchild Channel F
• 1977: Atari VCS/2600
  • The VCS featured an 8-bit, 1.19-MHz MOS Technology 6507 CPU, coupled with 128 bytes of RAM. A single chip engineered by Jay Miner (who would later be critical to the development of Commodore Amiga computers) delivered four-channel sound and 16 on-screen colors.
• 1978: Magnavox Odyssey 2
  • In 1974, Magnavox merged with Philips and four years later released its own $200 cartridge-based console. Though the new Odyssey 2 (aka the Philips Odyssey 2 or Philips Videopac G7000) had lower specs than the Atari 2600, it produced less-flickery graphics; notable features included an alphanumeric membrane keyboard and voice synthesis.
• 1980: Mattel Intellivision
  • For a while, superior graphics and sound made Mattel's $300 Intellivision (and a succession of rebadged versions) the major competitor to the Atari VCS. Mattel's product was the first console to use a 16-bit microprocessor, but poor controllers and--more importantly--a lack of third-party games limited its success. Mattel eventually released an adapter for Atari 2600 games, but the adapter worked only with the later Intellivision II console.
• 1982: Milton Bradley Vectrex
  • The unique, portable Vectrex came with a built-in 9-inch vector monitor. Instead of relying on the sprite/raster-based methods that other consoles used, it incorporated wireframe-like vector graphics. Though this idea provided sharp lines, the Vectrex depended on plastic screen overlays to add color to games
• 1982: Coleco ColecoVision
  • At its launch, the $175 ColecoVision qualified as the most technologically advanced console ever. Games like Defender, Frogger, and Zaxxon came closer to "arcade-quality" than did competing titles for the Atari VCS or Intellivision. And many units came bundled with a near-arcade-quality port of Nintendo's Donkey Kong.
• 1982: Atari 5200
  • Essentially an Atari 400 computer without a keyboard, the 5200 Super System succeeded the Atari 2600 console. Among its innovations were a pause button, automatic switching between TV viewing and game play, and a new controller that combined an analog joystick with a numeric keyboard and two fire buttons. Unfortunately, the joystick proved unreliable, and gamers were unhappy that their older Atari 2600 cartridges were incompatible with the new console (a separate adapter was released the next year).
• 1983: Magnavox Odyssey 3 Command Center
  • Previewed at the 1983 Consumer Electronic Show (CES), the Odyssey 3 Command Center held out the promise of an improved keyboard, a built-in joystick holder, a voice synthesizer, and a 300-baud modem. It was never released. Nevertheless, I stumbled upon this promotional ad for it. (The analog synth soundtrack is kinda catchy.)
• 1984: Sega Game-1000 Mk II
  • The original SG-1000 was Sega's first foray into the home-console market. Despite achieving a measure of popularity in Japan, Australia, Italy, and Spain, it never reached U.S. shores. In 1984, Sega launched the 15,000-yen (roughly $125) SG-1000 Mk II, with an improved CPU, a redesigned case, and a detachable keyboard. It remained a stranger to the Americas as well. Not until 1986's Master System did Sega arrive in U.S. homes.
• 1985: Nintendo Entertainment System
  • By 1984, Nintendo's Famicom (Family Computer) was the most popular game console in Japan. After a North American release through Atari fell through, Nintendo decided to go it alone, unveiling the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) at the 1985 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). By 1990, the NES had become the best-selling video game console in the United States, thanks to hot titles like Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, The Legend of Zelda and Donkey Kong Jr.
• 1986: Sega Master System
  • Sega began distributing the $200 Sega Master System in the United States only a few months after the NES had become widely available. But Nintendo had a trump card: Its strict game developer contracts prohibited developers from releasing any NES game on any other console for two years. Because the NES had become the dominant console, a developer had to choose between maximizing its game's sales and gambling on the success of a new console. This contributed to the limited game offerings Sega could muster. Nevertheless, the Master System was cheaper than the NES and became popular in Great Britain, Brazil, and Australia.
• 1986: Atari 7800 Pro System
  • Shortly before the scheduled release of the Atari 7800 in 1984, Warner Communications sold Atari to Commodore computers founder, Jack Tramiel. He immediately shifted Atari's focus to personal computers, and only when Nintendo's NES breathed new life into the console category did Tramiel decide to launch the 7800 (at a price of $140 each). By then, however, Nintendo had captured the hearts and minds of gamers, and its severe restrictions on software developers meant that the already-geriatric 7800 received little third-party game support.
• 1986: Atari 2600 Jr.
  • Maybe this was when Atari jumped the shark. Around 1986, Atari repackaged its classic Atari 2600 console in a series of Atari 2600 Jr. revisions. The idea was simple: Make it cheap ($50) and keep Atari's balance sheet in the black. "The Fun is Back!...it's the 2600 from A-tar-i!"
• 1988: NEC TurboGrafx-16
  • NEC decided to capitalize on the success of its Japanese PC Engine console by launching it in the United States as the $200 TurboGrafx-16. This 8-bit system used a custom 16-bit graphics chip to deliver graphics that were clearly superior to those on the NES, and early commercials (like the one below) took pains to point that out. But the TurboGrafx-16 also had to compete against the Sega Genesis, which in the United States, at least, eventually proved more popular.
• 1989: Sega Genesis
  • The $200 Sega Genesis (known as the Mega Drive outside North America) debuted in the United States in 1989. The first true 16-bit console, it pushed the NEC TurboGrafx-16 into obscurity and quickly began eating into Nintendo's NES sales.
• 1990: SNK Neo Geo
  • Gaming enthusiasts revered the Neo Geo for its high-color 2D graphics, superb sound, excellent joystick controllers, and top-notch conversions of games like Fatal Fury, Samurai Showdown, and Art of Fighting. That said, it's probably most vividly remembered for its pricing: The console cost $650 at launch (with two joysticks and a game), and individual games were priced at roughly $200 each.
    SNK would later release an updated Neo Geo CD console in both Japan and the United States for a more palatable $250, but by then it was competing with 32-bit 3D consoles like the Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation.
• 1991: Super Nintendo System
  • Despite enjoying immediate success in Japan, the 16-bit SNES faced stiff competition in North America from Sega's 16-bit Genesis. These two rivals became the center of the notorious console wars, a conflict fought more intensely in schoolyard and media debates than today's Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3 rivalry. Generally, you were either a Mario maniac, or a Sonic the Hedgehog kid.
    The $200 SNES boasted in-game effects such as scaling and rotation, as well as peripherals like the Super Scope (a bazooka light-gun) and the Super Game Boy (which enabled users to play games from the popular Game Boy handheld on a TV). The SNES also got an early exclusive on the prized arcade hit Street Fighter II.
• 1991: Philips CD-I
  • Costing about $700 at launch, the Compact Disc Interactive played interactive CD-I software (including several Zelda games from Nintendo) plus music, video, graphic (CD+G), and karaoke CDs. Philips, Sony, and Nintendo co-developed the CD-I format, and a variety of vendors introduced several series of players, but the concept never achieved widespread success.
• 1992: TTi TurboDuo
  • The $300 TurboDuo combined 1988's NEC TurboGrafx-16 and an enhanced version of the TurboGrafx-16's CD add-on in a single unit. But consumers considered the console overpriced, despite its being bundled with seven games.
• 1993: Commodore Amiga CD32
  • Released in September 1993, the Amiga CD32 was the first 32-bit CD-ROM console to reach North America. Using third-party add-ons (a 3.5-inch floppy disk drive, a hard disk, and a PC keyboard), a dedicated owner could turn the console into a pseudo-Amiga computer. The system became something of a cult hit, but it never caught on with the masses, and expired when Commodore International went bankrupt in 1994.
• 1993: 3DO Interactive Multiplayer
  • Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronics Arts, conceived the 3DO and took the unusual step of franchising its technology to multiple companies (most notably Panasonic and Goldstar, now LG Electronics). The first to arrive in the United States was Panasonic's pricey $700 Real 3DO. Like the Philips CD-I, it could play various multimedia CD formats. Though the 3DO hosted a number of top games (including Return Fire, Alone in the Dark, Need for Speed, and Street Fighter II Turbo), many other titles were dominated by poorly received, pixelated video footage. An interesting side note: Creative Technology even launched a 3DO-Blaster ISA card add-on for PC gamers.
• 1993: Atari Jaguar
  • After several years of watching Sega and Nintendo dominate the home console market that it had helped create, Atari Corporation launched its $250 Jaguar system. The console benefited from popular games like Wolfenstein 3D and Alien vs. Predator, yet it developed a reputation for lacking compelling titles. Atari eventually introduced a Jaguar CD drive add-on, but soon thereafter the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Saturn overshadowed the Jaguar. Is that Vin Diesel doing the end-of-commercial voice-overs?
• 1995: Sega Saturn
  • The powerful Sega Saturn console came equipped with two 32-bit CPUs and various other multimedia processors. It debuted with a hefty sticker price $400, several months ahead of the $300 Sony PlayStation. Though its games included Sega Rally, Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter 2, Quake, and Duke Nukem 3D, many developers had difficulty squeezing the most from its complex hardware. By 1997, it had fallen to third in popularity among consoles, behind the PlayStation and the Nintendo 64 (released the following year).
• 1995: Sony Playstation
  • Sony's 32-bit PlayStation sold in record numbers right from the get-go. Aided by the Japanese giant's well-oiled marketing machine and a great lineup of launch titles (like Battle Arena Toshinden, Wipeout, and Ridge Racer), the $200 PlayStation soon became the number one console in most of the world.
    • Youtube Commercial #1
    • Youtube Commercial #2
• 1995: Virtual Boy
  • The motivation behind Nintendo's poor old Virtual Boy remains obscure. This unique portable 32-bit console required the player to peer through rubber eye goggles to get the illusion of 3D graphics. The problem was that those images were in monochromatic black and red. As antisocial as gaming can be sometimes, having your head stuck in a headset may have set a new standard. It launched at $180 in 1985, and Nintendo killed it off the following year.
    • Youtube Commercial
• 1996: Nintendo 64
  • This is the point at which Nintendo started bucking trends. Rather than launching its own 32-bit/CD-ROM-based console (as Sega and Sony had), Nintendo surprised gamers by introducing a cartridge-based system that featured the first true 64-bit processor.
• 1999: Sega Dreamcast
  • Still reeling from the mistakes it had made with the Saturn, Sega made sure that its $200 Dreamcast would be a trailblazer. Launched on 9/9/99 to great fanfare, it was the first 128-bit game console, and the first to have a built-in modem. This permitted Internet browsing (with mouse and keyboard accessories in place) and online gaming through SegaNet.
    • Sega Dreamcast Advert