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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 -
Nolan Bushnell invents Atari
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 -
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 -
NES (Nintendo Classic)
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 -
Atari 7800
Replaced Atari 5200, and re-establish Atari's supremacy over Nintendo and Sega
Digital joysticks; fully backward-compatible with the Atari 2600; and affordable - $140
Designed to be upgraded to a home computer -
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 -
Atari Lynx
World's first with a color LCD display by Atari
Advanced features and graphics, and ambidextrous layout
Failed to attract quality third-party developers, and was eventually abandoned -
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 -
Sega Game Gear
Sega's response to the Game Boy; short battery life, lack of support, and lack of titles held it back
Third color console released
8-bit color at $149.99
Full-color backlit screen with a landscape format -
TurboExpress
Most advanced of its time and could play games on a credit-card sized device called HuCards
66 2.6 in. screen, displayed 64 sprites at once, 16 per scanline, in 482 colors from a palette of 512
Had 8 kilobytes of RAM $249.99
Could use as a video monitor -
Super Nintendo (SNES)
Advanced graphics and sound capabilities
Ran 3D graphics better, helping usher in 3D in the fifth generation
Best-selling of the 16-bit era
Remains popular well into the 32-bit era -
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 Saturn
32-bit - sold 9.5 million units worldwide
Powerful machine for the time, but its design made harnessing power difficult
Was the "other" system, running a distant third behind the Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation -
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 -
Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo's fourth system used compact discs
Sold 22 million units worldwide
Discs are encrypted and unreadable by most DVD drives.
Discontinued in 2007 -
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 -
Xbox 360
By Microsoft after the XBOX
Had problems at first
Xbox Live allows players to compete online and download content
Streams media from PC
Sold 80 million units worldwide - seventh highest-selling console -
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
