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Brown Box
Widly known as the Brown Box, this prototype was later followed by Ralph Baer's design of The Odyssey. He began worki on his prototype in 1966 and finished it by 1968. The Brown Box now resides at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.. -
The Odyssey
Four years after Bear presented his prototype of the Brown Box to Magnavox, the production of The Odyssey began and was demonstrated on May 24, 1972 and released in August of that same year. Unlike any conventional console today, this system was powered by batteries and also lacked sound capability. In its first six months, Magnavox sells 100,000 units. -
Pong
In 1973, after the success of the original PONG coin-op, an Atari engineer by the name of Harold Lee came up with the idea of a home PONG unit. Later, In 1975 it was decided Sears would sell PONG under it's own specially created Tele-Games label. That following year Atari agreed to give Sears exclusive rights to continue to make custom Tele-Games versions for any future consoles. -
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 was Atari’s most popular unit sold to date.
The original price was $199.99 with 2 controllers and Combat. -
Magnavox Odyssey 2
Also created in 1977. The Odyssey 2 featured a keyboard style unit with two controllers. From 1978 to 1983 their were approx 1 million units sold. -
Atari 400 / 800
Designed as a home based computer system with superior graphics. These units were released for nearly one whole decade. -
Intellivision Video Game System
The intellivision was the first game system to rival that of the Atari 2600. -
ColecoVision
This was the first video game system to market itself as a Arcade style game system. ColecoVision was discontinued in 1984 -
Atari 5200
This system was created to compete with the Intellivision, but wound up more directly competing with the Coleco Vision shortly after its release. The Atari 5200 suffered from its software incompatibility with the Atari 2600 though an adapter was later released in 1983 allowing it to play all Atari 2600 games, using the more reliable controllers native to that system. -
Commodore 64
8-bit Home Computer with a original price of $595. Sales of almost 30 million units, making it one of the most popular home computers sold. At the time Commodore won the the consumers over with better graphics, and 16 bit color. The high pricing of the Commodore 64 was one of the starting factors in the great video game crash of 1983. -
Vectrex
Produced by GCE, then by Mattel for original price of $199
Vectrex was unique in which it had its own monitor, and a built in game Minestorm. The Vectrex used color screen overlays, to give the unit color graphics. This was the first game system to have 3D peripheral Graphics. -
Colecovision Adam
This was a failed attempt from coleco vision to release a keyboard computer type game system. The main down fail of this system was when you started the system it took so much power to start up that it would erase any removable media you had. Another problem was the fact the coleco adam had a printer, which was the housed the units power supply, so if the printer failed to work the unit did not work. -
Intellivison II
This was intelliviosions attempt to release a game system with a smaller design and detachable controllers. The main flaw is that it would not always play many of the original games released on the first intellivison game system. -
Famicom
Famicom was released with controllers with square A and B buttons. After many Famicoms were recalled in 1984, the controller was updated with the circular buttons which most people came to know and love. -
Nintendo Entertainment System
The NES was first released in Japan in 1983 know as the Famicom, it was an 8-bit video game system, that changed the way we played video games for ever. The Original Nintendo was the best selling game system of its time. The Nes fell out of favor when the 16 bit systems were later released. -
Colecovision Dina
This was actually released by Telegames, this unit suffered due to its lack of compatibility with any coleco vision games or modules. -
Atari 7800
Released to be a superior model with less of the problems from the original Atari 5200. The Atari 7800 could play almost any Atari 2600 game with out any sort of modulator or expansion module. The Atari 7800 had the ability to play tons of games, but the development for new games for the system wasn’t their. It has been stated that Atari released on 60 or so titles just for the Atari 7800. -
Sega Genesis
Sega was the first to release a 16 bit Video Game Console
The Genesis was sega became the new best selling game system. Sega’s main competition at the time was the Original NES, and Sega was winning the battle with better graphics and sound. -
Nintendo Gameboy
This was the first hand held video game to play cartridges. The gameboy was so popular at first that it sold over million units in less than a month.The main attractive feature of the game boy was that 4 AA batteries would last about 30 plus hours where the competitions Atari Lynx had 6 AA batteries and lasted about 4 to 5 hours. -
Super Nintendo SNES
This was Nintendo’s 16 bit system to stay current in the video game market. The SNES was the best selling 16 – Bit Video Game System of it's time.The original price was $199.99. -
Sega Saturn
The Saturn really was just an expansion module for the genesis. The idea of the Saturn didn’t really go over very well due in part, that for the price it didn’t bring much results. The graphics weren’t any better either, but the design of the system was by far the best yet to come. -
Atari Jaguar
This was the last system ever produced by Atari. They say the reason for this system failed, market and overall failure was due in large part to poor commercials. Sales price of this unit in 1993 was $250.00. -
Panasonic 3DO
This System was built as a multi-media player. With the Ability to play 3DO Game, CD's, Photo's and Video's using an add on adapter. The Original 3DO had a original price of $699 being on of the most expense video game ever made.
The High cost was partly due to the pricey cost to design such a system. -
Playstation
This was a 32-bit Video Game System. Playstation was the first game system to sell over 100 million units, due in large part to a excellent marketing concept & launch. The playstation was made for over a decade, being one of the most popular game systems. -
Nintendo 64
This was Nintendo’s third game system launch and would be the last system with game cartridges. The system marketed itself as the first 64-bit game system. The N64 was released with 2 games Super Mario World and Pilotwings, with a sale price of $199.99. -
Sega Dreamcast
The first 128-bit console. The Dreamcast was the first game system with a built in modem, and on-line gaming support. Sega Dreamcast didn't sell any EA Sports games, due to poor sales with the Sega Saturn. The Dreamcast was considered by many to be the pioneer of the on-line gaming community, and was developed ahead of its time. -
Playstation 2
This system was a pioneer, in which the PS2 could play DVD’s and Games. This and the fact the playstation 1 was so popular, that it was nearly impossible to get a PS2 upon the release. In 2004 Sony released what is known today as the Slim Model, which that and several great games made the PS2 explode in the video game market. -
Nintendo Gamecube
This was Nintendo’s Fourth Game System. The Gamecube was also Nintendo’s first game system that used CD’s. The Best Game on the System was Super Mario Smash Brothers Melee. -
Xbox
The Xbox was the first Major Console to really advertise in the on-line gaming market which set the tone for today. The Xbox was cheaper than the PS2 and could also play DVD’s and Game CD’s. This was Microsoft’s first attempt in the video game market -
Nintendo DS
A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP. The Nintendo DS also features a built-in microphone and supports wireless standards,[4] allowing players to interact with each other within short range, or online with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service -
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable is the first handheld video game console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc (UMD), as its primary storage medium. Other distinguishing features of the console include its large viewing screen, robust multi-media capabilities, and connectivity with the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, other PSPs, and the Internet. -
Xbox 360
Markets itself as a superior on-line game system. With High Def resolution and the ability to download music, photo’s and more. The Xbox 360 has the ability to play high definition movies with 1080i resolution, which made it probably the best selling game of that era. -
Nintendo DS Lite
It is a slimmer, brighter, and more lightweight redesign of the Nintendo DS, designed to be aesthetically sleeker. As of December 31, 2009, shipments of the DS Lite have reached 89.19 million units worldwide, according to Nintendo. -
Playstation 3
The PS3 main competition is that of the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360. The PS3 features Blue Ray technology for crystal clear resolution, and 80 GB of memory. The PS3 is the next generation of gaming, with all the fancy features like a mini home audio game system computer of sorts. -
Nintendo Wii
This is Nintendo’s 5th Game System. The wii sold more units than Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 combined in 2007. The Wii is a game system that markets to all walks of life from kids to grandparents. The Wii also has a very unique wireless Bluetooth technology. -
Pandora
The Pandora is a handheld game console designed to take advantage of existing open source software and to be a target for home-brew development. It is developed by OpenPandora, which is made up of former distributors and community members of the GP32 and GP2X handhelds. -
Nintendo DSi
While the DSi's design is similar to that of the DS Lite, it features two digital cameras, supports internal and external content storage, and connects to an online store called the Nintendo DSi Shop. This new functionality was intended to facilitate personalization, so as to encourage each member of a household to purchase an individual DSi. -
Nintendo DSi XL
Critics believed the DSi XL is not an essential upgrade, but those in need of a handheld to use primarily at home should consider it. -
PSP Go
Unlike previous PSP models, the PSP Go does not feature a UMD drive, but instead has 16 GB of internal flash memory to store games, video, pictures, and other media. This can be extended by up to 32 GB with the use of a Memory Stick Micro (M2) flash card. Also unlike previous PSP models, the PSP Go's rechargeable battery is not removable or replaceable by the user. -
Zeebo Inc.
Zeebo is a 3G-enabled entertainment and education system from Zeebo Inc. It not only enables users to play video games, but also connect to the Internet, communicate on line and run educational applications. The Zeebo is targeted at developing markets such as BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and Mexico. -
Zone
Zone is a brand name used by Ultimate Products Ltd. for "family" video game consoles. Unlike most video game consoles, all of the games are built in (Zone 60 features 60 built-in games, Fusion Portable Arcade features 30 built-in games, etc.). Superficially most of the Zone line bears a resemblance to the Nintendo Wii, but all Zone consoles are based on 16 or 32-bit architecture; the company claims they are not intended compete with contemporary seventh generation systems. -
3DS
The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic three-dimensional effects without requirement of additional accessories. The console succeeds the Nintendo DS series of handheld systems, which primarily competes with Sony's PlayStation Portable. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software. -
PlayStation Vita
The handheld includes two analog sticks, a 5-inch OLED multi-touch capacitive touchscreen, and supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G. Internally, the Vita features a 4 core ARM Cortex-A9 core processor and a 4 core SGX543MP4+ graphics processing unit, as well as LiveArea as its main user interface, which succeeds the XrossMediaBar. A main feature is full backwards-compatibility with all PlayStation Portable games digitally released on the PlayStation Network, via the PlayStation Store. -
Wii U
The system is expected to be released in 2012 and was unveiled during Nintendo's press conference at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 on June 7, 2011. The Wii U is Nintendo's sixth home console and the first Nintendo console to produce 1080p high-definition graphics, and features a new controller with an embedded touchscreen. The controller allows a player to continue a gaming session by displaying the game even when the television is off.
