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Bertie the Brain
Bertie the Brain is built to showcase Josef Kates' new additron tube, a computer part which would quickly be taken over by the transistor, for the 1950 Canadian National Exhibition. It allowed a player to play tic-tac-toe against the computer itself. Some definitions allow it to be credited as the first video game. -
Nimrod
Nimrod is designed by John Makepiece Bennett to play Nim at the 1951 Festival of Britan. Like Bertie, it plays one game and is sometimes considered the first video game. -
Spacewar!
Spacewar! is developed by Steve Russell and fellow Tech Model Railroad Club at MIT. The game features two spaceships, each controlled by a player, which are destroyed if they hit an asteroid, the star, or each other. It is one of the first multiplayer games and the first widely distributed video game, spawning countless clones over the coming decades. -
The Magnavox Odyssey
The first commercial home video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey sold 375,000 units before its discontinuation in 1975. It marked the beginning of the first generation of home game consoles. The console could not track scores and did not have audio capabilities, and was released before the invention of ROM cartridges, so instead used printed circuit boards. -
Pong is released to arcades
Originally assigned as a training exercise to new Atari employee Allan Alcorn, Pong would go on to become one of the most iconic arcade games of the decade. Coming in at 8,000 units sold in just two years, the game kick-started Atari's legacy as a top producer in the industry and made the company a household name across America. It also proved just how profitable the video-arcade game could be, making approximately US$35 per console per day. -
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Release of the Color TV-Game Series
Nintendo's first series of consoles, releasing 5 over a 4-year period. The third console in the series was Shigeru Miyamoto's first-ever project at Nintendo. -
Space Invaders is released
it was importnant! shoot the lil alien guys -
Star Fire is released
The first arcade game to be housed in its own sit-down control booth, and the first to have players enter their initials on the high-score leaderboard. DISCLAIMER: While being INSPIRED by a certain LucasFilms property, Star Fire is NOT based on any licensed properties. -
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The Golden Age of Arcade Games
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Activision is founded
Several former Atari employees, unsatisfied with the treatment they were getting at Atari, left the company and founded their own. This established the idea that third-party companies could be profitable. Dozens of Activision clone companies would pop up over the following years. -
The First Easter Egg
In 1980, Atari released the game Adventure, developed by Warren Robinett. At the time, Atari was giving their developers little to no recognition, so Warren built a secret room into the game which could only be opened by picking up a key, represented by a single gray pixel, and walking into a specific wall. In the room he programmed the words "Created by Warren Robinett," and by the time it was discovered and Atari was notified, Robinett had already left the company. -
The Game Market Crash of 1983
Essentially what happened is too many people were making too many games and the industry imploded on itself, giving parents the excuse to say "I told you so" about the idea that video games were a fad. (spoilers they were wrong) -
The NES is released
The release of the NES marked the end of the game market crash, and with nearly 62 million units sold, still stands as one of the most popular consoles in gaming history. It rocketed Nintendo's popularity and laid the foundation for the corporate giant we see today. -
Super Mario Bros
it's a 2d platforming sidescroller. you know what super Mario is don't even -
The Legend of Zelda is released in America
Designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, sold 2 million copies in 1988, and launched a fan-favorite franchise with 20 canonical series titles (excluding remakes) as of 2024. do you really need more of an explanation for tloz are you being fr rn -
Game Boy
Marked the beginning of Nintendo's most successful line of handheld consoles. -
SNES
the NES, but better -
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sega's first super popular game; established the Sonic series. -
PlayStation
PlayStation -
N64
uhhh there were more bits (64 vs 32) and it could do better audio (stereo audio capabilities, echo effects, more audio channels, etc)!! and also the Mario kart was better than the snes mario -
Pokemon: Red/Blue
The first Pokemon game, released to the GameBoy. -
Nintendo DS
handheld yippee! the fact that they're so hard to get now is terrible and homophobic -
the Xbox 360 is released
Although not the first Xbox console, many consider the 360 to be the most impactful. -
Wii
you could play GameCube games on it! motion controls! shaped my childhood and those of many others!!!! we have 2 of them in my house -
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
One of the first mainstream FPS games to feature zombies as the enemy. Set up the premise for the Black Ops games. -
Minecraft
I'm just gonna. y eah -
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
THIS IS MY FAV ORITE LOZ GAME IF YOU DONT LIEK IT YOuRE WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!
there was a special edition version released that contained a full CD collection of the OST and a gold Wii mote! htat's the version I have and the story is great! in the timeline its canonically first and establishes why link and Zelda get reincarnated!!
"the motion controls suck though" WRONG you have to actually hold/swing the mote like a sword!! play it as nintended and don't suck and you'll see. its a good game -
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The first open-world Zelda game, and the most anticipated release for the Nintendo Sw you know why this is here. I don't have to explain botw to you -
Nintendo Switch
this is literally just here to be a timestamp <3