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.
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.
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.
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.
With the turn of the century came the evolution of new and more advanced Gaming platforms.
2000: Sony PlayStation 2
The U.S. launch of the $300 PlayStation 2 saw it become the fastest-selling console of all time. It quickly overshadowed the Sega Dreamcast and more than held its own against the Nintendo GameCube and Microsoft Xbox. Even today, vendors sell more slimmed-down PlayStation 2 units than they do Xbox 360, Wii, and even PlayStation 3 consoles. The PS2 uses a multiprocessor design, including a 128-bit "Emotion Engine" CPU, co-developed with Toshiba. Though such power contributed to the console's success, it took game developers some time to harness (early PS2 games didn't look as good as later Dreamcast games, for instance).
2001: Microsoft Xbox
After supplying the operating system for Sega's Dreamcast console, Microsoft ventured directly into the console race--with the PlayStation 2 squarely in its sights. Unlike the PS2, the $300 Xbox boasted a built-in 8GB hard disk and was broadband-ready out of the box (the Xbox Live Online gaming service launched a year later).
The powerful Xbox had a PC-like design and used a modified Pentium III processor (running at 733 MHz). One of its launch titles, Halo: Combat Evolved, ranked as the best-selling game of 2001.
2001: Nintendo GameCube
The GameCube arrived in the United States just days after the Xbox; and at $200, it was $100 cheaper than either Microsoft's offering or the PlayStation 2. The GameCube was notably compact (it even had a handle) and featured a 128-bit "Gekko" CPU designed by IBM.
Though Nintendo had finally stopped using game cartridges, it again bucked the prevailing trend by choosing a unique 8-cm disc format that could store only half as much information as the DVDs that rival consoles used. For the same reason, the GameCube couldn't play DVD movies or music CDs either. Even so, it more than held its own in sales against the Xbox (though both lagged behind the PlayStation 2), and Nintendo subsequently released separate dial-up and broadband networking adapters.
2004: SSD Company XaviXport
Two years before the Nintendo Wii's bundled sports title had gamers bumping into furniture and playing Van Gogh tennis, the XaviXport console used sensors and game-specific controllers (shaped like such implements as golf clubs and fishing rods) for a variety of games including golf, bass fishing, bowling, tennis, and boxing.
2005: Microsoft X-Box 360
Microsoft had slowly gained traction with its original Xbox, and its more-attractive successor reached stores a full year before either Sony's or Nintendo's counterthrust. The Xbox 360 features a 3.2-GHz Xenon CPU (with triple IBM PowerPC-based cores) and a custom ATI graphics chip; both of which share the system's 512MB of RAM.
At launch, the Xbox 360 was available in two configurations. The complete Xbox 360 package ($400) included a detachable 20GB hard disk, a wireless controller, a media remote, an Xbox Live online gaming headset, and component video cables (for 720p high definition). The Core System ($300) came with a wired controller and composite video cables.
The Xbox 360 possesses Media Center-geared abilities and accessories such as an HD DVD-ROM add-on (for playing high-definition DVD movies), a wireless networking adapter, a wireless steering wheel, and a wireless Webcam.
2006: Nintendo Wii
Arriving just days after the PlayStation 3 swaggered into town, the Wii has already proved to be a hit with casual gamers and longtime Nintendo fans alike. It costs $250 and builds in Wi-Fi (but not ethernet). Like the PS3, it has an SD Card slot and can display photos, but its standard-definition DVD drive can't yet play movies (Nintendo and Sonic Solutions are working on that shortcoming).
The Wii's most noteworthy innovation is its motion-sensing controllers. To throw a pass in Madden 07, for instance, you mime the movements of a quarterback. A joystick-style controller called the Nunchuk connects to the Wii Remote for further game control. In practice, it's addictive, and everyone wants to try it. Nevertheless, the $20 "classic" controller is quite handy for retro games.
My favorite Wii feature is its friendliness toward consoles of yesteryear: Through the Wii, users can go online and download games from the Nintendo 64, the NES, the Super NES, the Sega Genesis, and the TurboGrafx16.
2006: Sony PlayStation 3
Sony's latest console hit the United States in November 17 like the marketing spawn of Tickle Me Elmo and a Cabbage Patch Kid. Though observers criticized the PS3's high cost, supply has not kept pace with demand. The console has next-generation features such as HDMI output (for 1080p HD) and a built-in Blu-ray disc drive. It's available in two configurations: The $599 version features a 60GB drive, 802.11b/g wireless networking, and media slots for Memory Stick, SD Card, and CompactFlash. The $499 version lacks wireless capabilities and has a 20GB drive.
Okay, what's up with the creepy baby in this ad, Sony? Maybe it's an homage to the end of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Maybe it symbolizes rebirth. Maybe it's evidence of the aforementioned Elmo/Cabbage Patch tryst. Whatever the particulars, it's pretty twisted.
Though the PS3's updated wireless controller lacks force feedback, it's lighter than the PlayStation 2's controller and improves on the older model's L2 and R2 triggers. And because the PS3's controller can sense motion along six axes, you can turn and tilt it to steer in driving or flying games.
The dulcet voice of Lance "Bishop" Henriksen explains the PlayStation 3's six-axis controller:
Both PS3 models feature a 3.2-GHz Cell Broadband Engine CPU (developed jointly by Sony, Toshiba, and IBM). Additionally, both include gigabit ethernet and built-in Bluetooth, and both let users copy photos, MPEG-4 videos, and music files to the hard disk.
A friends older brother had an odyssey.
I had a Pong
The same friend had a Fairchild
I had an Atari Stunt Cycle(not on list)
I had a 2600
A friend had a Magnavox Odyssey 2
I had an Intellivision
A friend had the Vectrex and Colecovision
ahhh the good old days, i still have my original atari 2600 and 5200 laying around. still work too. i'm in the process of reorganizing my home theater set up cause i want to hook all my consoles up just to give it some nerd cred. i still remember going into bradleys along time ago and playing the atari demos they had set up. it's still funny to look back at old games like that and remember how you thought they were amazing graphics and stuff. hell, i was at a graduation party for a friend and he had madden 64, which i picked up right after cause it was so good. my friends bro got pissed cause i hadn't played it before and ran a touchdown on the opening kick off. But anywho, we were playing it and i remember people watching it going...."wow, it's like your watching an actual football game" now go back and see how cheesy that game looks. i feel privalaged to have seen, for the most part, the entire evolution of video games. granted, i'm not old enough to have gotten my pong on, but i started with that atari 2600 my parents owened, then got a 5200 shortly before the release of the NES and have been a gamer ever since
ahhh the good old days, i still have my original atari 2600 and 5200 laying around. still work too. i'm in the process of reorganizing my home theater set up cause i want to hook all my consoles up just to give it some nerd cred. i still remember going into bradleys along time ago and playing the atari demos they had set up. it's still funny to look back at old games like that and remember how you thought they were amazing graphics and stuff. hell, i was at a graduation party for a friend and he had madden 64, which i picked up right after cause it was so good. my friends bro got pissed cause i hadn't played it before and ran a touchdown on the opening kick off. But anywho, we were playing it and i remember people watching it going...."wow, it's like your watching an actual football game" now go back and see how cheesy that game looks. i feel privalaged to have seen, for the most part, the entire evolution of video games. granted, i'm not old enough to have gotten my pong on, but i started with that atari 2600 my parents owened, then got a 5200 shortly before the release of the NES and have been a gamer ever since
I played Pong in a bowling alley arcade while my parents bowled in their league.oldman.gif
- 1992 Sega CD - An add-on peripheral to the Sega Genesis that first moved console games now onto a disk-based CD-Rom format. Some games, like "Lunar" were simply cartridge games with new digitized cut scenes, CD soundtracks and dialogue, some like "Sherlock Holmes" were conversions of popuar PC CD-ROM titles, many were "Dragon's Lair"-style games of branching outcomes on digitized full-motion video, such as Sewer Shark and Double Switch. (Titles that let users edit music video were less successful, and the console could also play the interesting CD+G format on compatible music CD's, but the format was nearing its end.)
An early experiment on low-processed video that led to the integrated but less successful Sega Saturn, and brought game concept out of pixel-sprites and MIDI soundtracks.
(...And DON'T you forget it, sez a former owner! )
I actually did a paper and presentation on this in college we had to pick a piece of technology and do a history on it's evolution. I was surprised when I was the only one in a class of 30 that picked gaming.
I'm kind of curious to see what the next evolution of consoles brings especially since it's been rumored that SEGA might be taking another stab at a home console.
Does anyone else think the early/mid 90s were the coolest period of consoles?
It seemed like that was a big transition period, and there were tons of options.
I got an SNES when it came out, but I remember always wanting to go to the store, to try out the other ones (Jaguar, Saturn, 3DO, etc). By late 95 I got a PS1, and have stuck with Sony ever since. But today it just doesn't seem the same.
Look at the boot-up screens for a PS1, and tell me that didn't seem awesome for its time. It seemed like video games were really taking a huge step forward.
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The Evolution of the Video Game
I knew there where a few, but jeez..
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