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1994 BCE
- 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 -
Sega was launched
In 1951 Sega was launched
Sega (service games)
The console timeline is broken into seven generations
Each generation saw an increase in technology
Before the consoles hit the market, coin- operated arcade games ruled -
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 -
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 -
Fairchild Channel F
The world's second cartridge-based video game console, after the Magnavox Odyssey
Sold for $169.95
Originally called Video Entertainment System (VES), but when Atari released VCS, it was renamed -
Magnavox Odyssey
Played cartridges
Keyboard; used for educational games, selecting options, or programming
First game was an instant classic: Quest for the Rings!
Excellent speech synthesis unit
Master Strategy Series – a fusion of board and video games -
- Chuck E Cheese’s
First family entertainment centers aimed at young children
Pizza restaurant with arcade games, amusement rides, an animatronics show, climbing equipment, tubes, and slides
Helped improve the image of video games -
Intellivision
By Mattel Electronics at $299
Four games available and a pack-in game: Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack
First to pose a serious threat to Atari
By 1982 over two million had been sold, earning Mattel a $100,000,000 profit -
Pac Man
Namco - 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.
Appealed to both genders
Generated more than $2.5 billion in quarters by the 1990s
Highest brand awareness of any video game character -
Galaga
Fixed-shooter game
Control a space ship while aliens fly in formation and come down at the player's ship to either shoot or collide
Players fire at enemies, and once all enemies are vanquished, at which point the player moves to the next stage -
Donkey Kong
By Nintendo - platform
Move the character across a series of platforms while dodging and jumping over obstacles
Rescue a damsel in distress from a giant ape - Donkey Kong
The hero and ape became two of Nintendo's most popular characters
Nintendo licensed to Coleco, which developed home console versions
Dominated the market in the 1980s and early 1990s -
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 -
Q-Bert
By Gottlieb
Isometric platform with puzzle elements where the player controls the character from a third-person perspective
Object is to make all cubes the same color
Uses a joystick -
- 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 -
Tetris
Tile-matching from the Soviet Union
Name is from the Greek numerical prefix tetra- four segments
Electronic Gaming Monthly's 100th issue had Tetris in first place as "Greatest Game of All Time“. For Commodore 64 and IBM PC
Sold more than 70 million copies
In January 2010, it was announced that Tetris has sold more than 100 million copies for mobile phones alone since 2005 -
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!" -
Sega Master System
8-bit cartridge-based by Sega
The Master System was released as a direct competitor to the NES
Failed to topple Nintendo, but was popular in European markets -
Sega Genesis
Supported over 900 games
First 16-bit console to achieve notable market share - sold 40 million units worldwide
Direct competitor of the Super (SNES), although released two years earlier -
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!" -
Sony PlayStation 2
Best-selling console in history, selling over 150 million
Over 3870 game title are available
Produced for 12 years -
2005-2010 Seventh Generation
Started on November 22, 2005 with the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360 and a year later with Sony's PlayStation 3 on November 17, 2006 and Nintendo's Wii on November 19, 2006
Each new console introduced a new type of breakthrough in technology
Wii appears to be the leading seller of this generation -
Nintendo Wii
by Nintendo for a broader audience
As of 2012, the Wii led PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in worldwide sales
12/2009, broke sales record for a single month in the US
Notable features: controller, WiiConnect24, and Virtual Console. -
PlayStation 3
Third by Sony after the PS2
First to use Blu-ray Disc
Can output high-definition video for games and movies in up to 1080p
Initially available in two configurations, 20 GB and the 60 GB model -
Eighth Generation
Includes Nintendo's Wii U, Sony PlayStation 4, and Microsoft's Xbox One
Face competition for smart phones, tablets, and smart TV
Predicted to be the last generation
Rise of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) as the major processor
