History of Electronic Games

First Game Console

Aug 12, 1972

The Magnavox Odyssey is the world's first game console.

Early FPS Games

Oct 6, 1974

Maze wars was one of the first FPS games introduced.

Pac Man

May 22, 1980

Considered among the most famous arcade games of all time, Pac Man became a social phenomenon.

Video Game Crash

Jan 11, 1984

The delay of Atari's 7800 left consumers hungry for the next big thing. Poor game titles were produced as a result. The crash lasted two years.

Game Crash part 2

Feb 4, 1986

Millions of consumers shifted their intention to buy choices from game consoles to low-end computers that retailed for similar prices. The market was revitalized due to the success of the NES with its landmark title, Super Mario Bros.

Legend of Zelda

Feb 21, 1986

This was a fantasy action/adventure game published by Nintendo. The game in general has sold 67.93 million copies as of December 2011.

Sega Master System

Mar 3, 1986

This console was relased as a direct competitor to the NES. Even though it failed to topple Nintendo, it was popular in European markets.

Atari 7800

Aug 28, 1986

This was the sucessor to the Atari 5200 to re establish its supremacy over Nintendo and Sega. It had digital joysticks and was backwards compatible with the Atari 2600.

Final Fantasy

Nov 10, 1987

Series of science fantasy RPGs. The franchise alseo includes motion pictures, anime, etc.

Handhelds

Jan 1, 1989

The Nintendo Game Boy and Atari Lynx were two of the first handhelds.

Super Nintendo

Aug 24, 1991

Helped usher 3D into the 5th generation of video games.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Sep 5, 1991

Increased Sega's console popularity and Sonic became the mascot for Sega.

PlayStation

Dec 3, 1994

First in a series of PS consoles.

Sega Saturn

Sep 2, 1995

Ran a distant third by Nintendo and Playstation.

Nintendo 64

May 13, 1996

Nintendo's 3rd hime console. 64 bit.

Sega Dreamcast

Sep 9, 1999

First console of the 6th generation. Failed to pick up momentum when the PS2 came out. Discontinued in 2001.

PlayStation 2

Aug 12, 2000

The best selling game console so far. Continued well into the next generation.

Xbox and Gamecube

Feb 19, 2001

These were relesed in response to Playstation 2. Xbox by Microsoft, and Gamecube by Nintendo.

Xbox 360

Nov 22, 2005

Seventh highest-selling console. Streams media from PC.

PlayStation 3

Nov 17, 2006

Third by Sony and first to use Blu Ray.

Nintendo Wii

Dec 7, 2006

Led PS3 and Xbox 360 in worldwide sales. Notable features include its motion control, WiiConnect24, and Virtual Console.

Eighth Generation

Period: Jan 1, 2011 to Feb 19, 2015

Includes PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U.