-
Magnavox Odyssey
World's first game console, Predates the Atari Pong home consoles, Prototype known as the “Brown Box” is now at the Smithsonian, 340,000 units sold. -
Pong
A co-op arcade game by Atari Inc Based on table tennis
First game to gain widespread popularity - launched the industry boom Led to a successful patent-infringement lawsuit from the Magnavox Odyssey. -
Gran Track 10
A single-player racing arcade game by Atari
Player races against the game clock, accumulating points
Early diode-based ROM was used
Controls, steering wheel, shifter, accelerator, and brake pedals were all firsts for arcade games -
Maze Wars
One of the first FPS
Players wander in a maze
Used tile-based movement
Other players are eyeballs that can be shot or harmed
Players gain points for shooting other players and lose them for being shot -
Coleco Telstar
By Coleco - AY-3-8500 chip
Pong variants on a domestic television receiver and available to any manufacturer
Battery-powered and external components were required -
Fairchild Channel F
The world's second cartridge-based video game console, after the Magnavox Odyssey
Sold for $169.95
Originally called Vid Entertainment System (VES), but when Atari released VCS, it was renamed -
Atari 2600
Popularized game cartridges - popular in the 1980s
Originally Atari VCS; later changed to "Atari 2600" in 1982, after the release of Atari 5200
Two joysticks, two paddle controllers, and a cartridge game - initially Combat later Pac-Man -
Asteroids
Popular and influential game - 70,000 sold by Atari
Vector display and 2D view
Control a spaceship in an asteroid field traversed by flying saucers
Object - shoot asteroids and saucers while not colliding or being hit by counter-fire -
Frogger
Move frogs home by crossing a busy road and navigate a river - skillful players obtain bonuses
A classic - noted for its novel gameplay and theme
Used two Z80 processors
By 2005, sold 20 million worldwide, 5 million in the US -
Tron
Game was based on the Disney movie
A computer hacker is trapped inside a digital world and forced to participate in gladiatorial-type games -
Mario Brothers
By Nintendo – platform arcade
Full color
Mario, a Italian-American plumber, and his brother Luigi must defeat creatures from the sewers below New York -
NES
8-bit console by Nintendo
Most successful of its time; sold over 60 million worldwide
Helped revitalize the US industry following crash of 1984 - set the standard for consoles First console to play and openly court third-party developers Slogan "Now You're Playing With Power!" -
The Legend of Zelda
Fantasy action-adventure created in Japan and published by Nintendo Link, a playable character, must rescue Princess Zelda As of December 2011, sold 67.93 million copies -
Nintendo’s Game Boy
8-bit for $89.95 First successful handheld - predecessor of all other Game Boys Originally bundled with Tetris Sold 118.69 million worldwide -
Sonic the Hedgehog
Platform by Sega Successful; increased the popularity of Sega's console and established Sonic the Hedgehog as the company's mascot Led to subsequent games in Sega's flagship Sonic the Hedgehog series -
Sony PlayStation
32-bit by Sony First of a series of PS consoles First to ship 100 million units PS2 released in 2000 is best-selling home console to date Has a PlayStation network -
Nintendo 64
Nintendo's third home console $199
64-bit processor sold 32.93 million units worldwide
Released Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64
Slogan: "Get N, or get Out!" -
Sega Dreamcast
First sixth-generation console Successor to the Sega Saturn as a comeback effort Was hailed as ahead of its time but failed to gather momentum when PS2 was released Discontinued in 2001 -
Sony PlayStation 2
Best-selling console in history, selling over 150 million Over 3870 game title are available Produced for 12 years -
Microsoft Xbox
Microsoft's first console with 24 million units sold Allowed players to play online $299.99 Discontinued in 2008 Followed by the Xbox 360 and Xbox One