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The Odyssey, at the Beginning
The Magnavox Odyssey was the first home gaming console sold commercially in North America, hitting store shelves in September of 1972 (Banfi, 2023). The console came with two wired controllers and television connector cables ("Magnavox Odyssey," 2024). -
Atari brings Pong home from the arcade
Atari's Home Pong console debuted in October 1975 at Sears department stores under the brand name Tele-Games ("Pong," 2024). At this stage, Pong was virtually synonymous with home console gaming. -
Atari 2600, the next generation
The Atari 2600, released in 1977, popularized home console gaming by creating console versions of already-popular arcade games, such as Space Invaders. The success of Atari 2600 established a new era of cartridge-based consoles that played an expansive catalog of games. Over the next six years, Atari sold approximately 30 million 2600 consoles (Saucier, 2022). -
The 1983 Crash
In 1983, a flooded market and a decline in game quality led to a large-scale recession in the video game market. For a closer look, check out this video by YouTuber Ahoy: https://youtu.be/ikIeaCE3Ljc?si=-zs_7NcSzad3vieS -
Nintendo leads a resurgence
In 1984, on the heels of the gaming console crash of 1983, a Japanese video game company released its first console in the United States: the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The success of the NES throughout the mid to late 1980s led to the sharp decline of video game arcades and gave Nintendo the largest share of the video game market (Banfi, 2023). -
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The Console War of the 90s: Super NES vs. Sega Genesis
In 1989 Nintendo competitor Sega released its fourth-generation console in North America: the Sega Genesis. The Genesis boasted improved, 16-bit graphics as opposed to NES' 8 bits. And, while Nintendo had released its 16-bit Super Nintendo (SNES) console in Japan, it did not release SNES in the United States until 1990. So, despite its relatively poor sales in Japan, the Sega Genesis exceeded SNES in sales for four consecutive years (Kent, 2001). -
Sony enters the fray with its Playstation
In 1995, Sony releases its first video game console: the Playstation. The Playstation distinguished itself with 3D polygon graphics and memory cards that players could use to save their progress in a game. -
Nintendo Sixty-FOOOOOOOOOOUR
Not to be outdone by Sony Playstation, one year later, in 1996, Nintendo released its latest console: Nintendo 64 (N64). Nintendo's latest console featured 64-bit graphics, four controller ports, split-screen multiplayer games, and cutting-edge controllers. Unlike Playstation, N64 stuck with cartridge games did not switch to a CD drive. This did not, however, dampen kids' excitement for the N64: https://youtu.be/pFlcqWQVVuU?si=zT0nbwn3MNOK5bH_ -
A new century, a new Playstation
In 2000, Sony released its seventh-generation console, the Playstation 2, featuring an 10-button controller with dual-analog directional controls. Nintendo would not release its competing, seventh-generation console, the GameCube, until the following year, in November 2001. -
New millennium, new console competitor: Microsoft Xbox
In 2001, during the same week that Nintendo released the GameCube and one year after the release of the Playstation 2, Microsoft released its first console: Xbox. With the release of the Xbox, Microsoft became the first American company since Atari to be a major competitor in the console market (Loguidice & Barton, 2014).