History of the Game Console Timeline

Cathode ray tube

Jan 1, 1947

It records and controls the quality of an electronic signal.
The strength of the electronic signals produced by the amusement device can be controlled by control knobs which influences the trajectory of the CRT's light beam.
The device is purely mechanical and does not use any memory device, computer, or programming.

The first Computer Game

Mar 6, 1949

Called EDSAC, at Cambridge University. Had a library of short programs called subroutines stored on punched paper tapes. Technology: vacuum tubes Memory: 1K words, 17 bits, mercury delay line Speed: 714 operations per second

SEGA

Mar 6, 1951

In 1951, SEGA distributed coin-operated amusement-type games such as jukeboxes and slot machines.
Within a few years Service Games began importing these machines to American military bases throughout Japan

Magnavox Odyssey

Mar 6, 1972

World's first game console
Predating the Atari Pong home consoles by several years.
designed by Ralph Baer
prototype known as the "Brown Box“ is now at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC
340,000 units sold

Pong

Mar 6, 1972

A coin-op arcade game by Atari Inc.
Pong was based on table tennis, and named after the sound generated when the ball is hit.

Pong was the first video game to achieve widespread popularity in both arcade and home console versions, and launched the initial boom in the video game industry.
Pong's popularity led to a successful patent infringement lawsuit from the makers of an earlier video game, the Magnavox Odyssey.

Gran Track 10

Mar 6, 1974

A single-player racing arcade by Atari
The player raced against the game clock, accumulating as many points as possible.
Early diode-based ROM was used to store the sprites for the car, score and game timer, and the race track.
The game's controls, steering wheel, four-position gear shifter, and accelerator and brake foot pedals were also all firsts for arcade games

Maze Wars

Mar 6, 1974

One of the first FPS game.
Players wander around a maze, moving backward or forward, turning right or left in 90-degree increments, and peeking through doorways.
Used simple tile-based movement.
Other players are eyeballs which can be shot or harmed.
Players gain points for shooting other players, and lose them for being shot.

Magnavox Odyssey

Mar 7, 1975

Played programmable ROM cartridges.
Allowed each game to be a completely unique experience, with its own background and foreground graphics, gameplay, scoring, and music.
Odyssey² included a full keyboard, which was to be used for educational games, selecting options, or programming.
One of the strongest points of the system was its excellent speech synthesis unit.
The Odyssey² may be best remembered for its fusion of board and video games: The Master Strategy Series. The first game release

Coleco Telstar

Mar 7, 1976

By Coleco
Originally a Pong clone based on General Instrument's AY-3-8500 chip.
The chip played several Pong variants on a domestic television receiver, and became available to any manufacturer.
The circuit was intended to be battery powered and a minimum number of external components were required to complete the system.

APF TV Fun

Mar 7, 1976

Another early Pong clone manufactured by APF Electronics Inc. in the United Kingdom.
It featured 4 built in games, a speaker, and 2 controller knobs. Could not add more games.
It could be powered by either the included AC adapter or by using 6 C size batteries.
First entry of APF into the video game market, APF was formerly a calculator and other small electronics developer.
While the TV Fun had only limited success.
4 games were Tennis, Hockey, Single Handball, and Squash.

Fairchild Channel F

Mar 7, 1976

The world's second cartridge-based video game console, after the Magnavox Odyssey (although it was the first programmable cartridge system as the Odyssey cartridges only contained jumpers and not ROM information).
By Fairchild Semiconductor price of $169.95.
At this point it was known as the Video Entertainment System, or VES, but when Atari released their VCS the next year, Fairchild quickly renamed it.

Atari 2600

Mar 7, 1977

Video game console credited with popularizing the use of a microprocessor and cartridges containing games.
Originally known as the Atari VCS—for Video Computer System—the machine's name was changed to "Atari 2600" in 1982, after the release of the more advanced Atari 5200.
It was wildly successful, and during the 1980s.
The 2600 was typically bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a cartridge game - initially Combat and subsequently Pac-Man.

Chuck E Cheese's

Mar 7, 1977

First type of family entertainment centers aimed at young children.
Is a sit-down pizza restaurant, with arcade games, amusement rides, an animatronics show, climbing equipment, tubes, and slides.
Help change the image of video games.

Space Invaders

Mar 7, 1978

Created in Japan, and was later licensed by the Midway in the US.
Shooting game where the players defeat waves of aliens with a laser cannon to earn as many points as possible.
So successful it caused a temporary shortage of 100-yen coins in Japan and grossed $2 billion worldwide by 1982.
Pixelated enemy alien has become a pop culture icon, often used as a symbol representing video games as a whole.

Asteroids

Mar 7, 1979

Most popular and influential games selling 70,000 by Atari.
Used a vector display and a 2D view that wraps around in both screen axes.
Player controls a spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers.
Object of the game is to shoot and destroy asteroids and saucers while not colliding or being hit by the saucers' counter-fire.

Intellivision

Mar 7, 1979

By Mattel Electronics.
Test marketed in California, with four games available, and nationwide in 1980 with a price tag of $299 and a pack-in game: Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack.
Though not the first system to challenge Atari, it was the first to pose a serious threat to Atari's dominance.
A series of ads were produced attacking the Atari 2600's lesser capabilities with side-by-side game comparisons.
By 1982 over two million Intellivision consoles had been sold, earning Mattel a $100,000,000 pr

Pac Man

Mar 7, 1980

by Namco is considered among the most famous arcade games of all time.
Became a social phenomenon that sold related merchandise and inspired, an animated television series and a top-ten hit single.
Was appealing to both genders.
Generated more than $2.5 billion in quarters by the 1990s.
Highest brand awareness of any video game character.

Donkey Kong

Mar 7, 1981

By Nintendo - platform game genre.
Players moved the main character across a series of platforms while dodging and jumping over obstacles who must rescue a damsel in distress, Lady, from a giant ape named Donkey Kong.
The hero and ape later became two of Nintendo's most popular characters.
Nintendo licensed the game to Coleco who developed home console versions.
Dominated the video game market in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Frogger

Mar 7, 1981

By Konami, and licensed for worldwide distribution by Sega/Gremlin.
Player directs frogs to their homes by crossing a busy road and navigate a river full of hazards. Skillful players obtain bonuses.
The game is regarded as a classic and was noted for its novel gameplay and theme.
Example of a game using more than one CPU, as it used two Z80 processors.
By 2005, Frogger had sold 20 million copies worldwide, including 5 million in the United States.

Galaga

Mar 7, 1981

Fixed shooter game by Namco in Japan and Midway in US.
The player controls a space ship at the bottom of the screen.
In beginning the playing area is empty, but over time, enemy aliens fly in formation and come down at the player's ship to either shoot or collide with it.
The player fires upon the enemies, and once all enemies are vanquished, the player moves onto the next stage.

Pole Position

Mar 7, 1982

Pole Position arcade racing game released by Atari, Inc. in the US. Most popular coin-op arcade game of 1983. Had a steering wheel and a gear shifter for low and high gears. The environmental/cockpit cabinet featured both an accelerator and brake pedal.

Tron

Mar 7, 1982

Tron is about a computer programmer transported inside the software world of a mainframe computer, where he interacts with various programs in his attempt to get back out.

Q-Bert

Mar 7, 1982

Q*bert is an isometric platform game with puzzle elements where the player controls the titular protagonist from a third-person perspective.

Mario Brothers

Mar 7, 1983

By Nintendo in 1983.
In this game, Mario a Italian-American plumber and his brother Luigi, must defeat creatures from the sewers below New York.
The gameplay focuses on Mario's extermination of pests in the sewers by flipping them on their backs and kicking them away.
The original versions of Mario Bros., the arcade version and the Nintendo Famicom/Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) version, were received positively.

Tetris

Mar 7, 1984

A tile-matching game originally designed and programmed in the Soviet Union.
Name is from the Greek numerical prefix tetra- (all of the game's pieces contain four segments)
First entertainment software exported from the USSR to the U.S. and published for Commodore 64 and IBM PC.
Electronic Gaming Monthly's 100th issue had Tetris in first place as "Greatest Game of All Time".
It has sold more than 70 million copies. In January 2010, it was announced that Tetris has sold more than 100 million co