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Odyssey released
In Autumn of 1972, the Odyssey was released by Magnavox. This was the first commercial video game console. The system is marketed in Magnavox TV dealerships beginning in 1972 and uses up to six cartidges to play up to 12 games featuring dots and lines on the screen. -
Pong
In 1975, Atari sells a home version of Pong in Sears under the Sears Tele-games label. Pong's unique feature is a single chip that produces an on screen score and the sound the game makes when the paddle meets the ball. -
Atari 2600 VCS
After Bushnell sells Atari to Warner Communcations in 1976, Warner enthusiastically backs Atari's new project and the Atari VCS later named the Atari 2600. The console becomes an enormous hit with games like Space Invaders, Breakout, Missle Comand and Combat. -
Intellivision
Mattel released the intellivision, the first challenge to Atari's dominance and the start of a console war between Atari and Mattel. This console has slightly better graphics then the Atari 2600. -
Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo, originally a Japanese playing card company, released the NES in the U.S. The Nes soon breaks sales and becomes a record breaker in sales and the best selling console in video game history. -
Game Boy
Nintendo scores its second smash hit with the introduction of the gameboy in 1989. The first major handheld game console features an 8 bit CPU like its parent system. -
Playstation 1
The launch of Sony's playstation marks the arrival of the most popular console of the 32 bit era of video games. Games stress 3 dimentional gameplay for the first time ever over the 2D games that dominated the 16 bit and earlier systems. -
Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64 is released, marketing the last mass market system to use cartlidges. -
Playstation 2
The ps2 is the first 128 bit system. It features backwards compatibility, the ability to play older 32 bit games on the system. It also functions as a DVD player.
