-
Magnavox Odyssey
The Magnavox Odessey, originally called the Brown box before release, was the first ever video game console introduced to the public. Created by Ralph Baer, known as The Father of the Video Game, as he saw the potential for new inventions for the market place after noticing the increase proliferation of TV sets in America. -
Period: to
The Beginning
The very first generation of at home entertainment for the masses in the US that brought the idea of video games into the public view and to show what is possible. -
Period: to
The Second Generation
The introduction of the video game cartridges, that revolutionized the video game experience in the mid 70's and early 90's, this period also introduced the first handheld games ever released to the public. -
Magnavox Odyssey 2
The Magnavox Odyssey 2 was the succesor to the original, featuring removable circuit cards that switched between the built-in games. Each game within the Odyssey 2 had many feature that weren't in the original like background graphics, foreground graphics, gameplay, scoring, and music. -
Simon
Created by Ralph Baer, during the time he was transitioning out of video game making. Simon was an electronic game of short-term memory skill that uses a series of tones and lights and requires a user to repeat the sequence. If the user succeeds, the series becomes progressively longer and more complex. While not a traditional video game, it still generated a future of handheld video games. -
Period: to
The 8-bit Era
Also known as the "8-bit generation" for the consoles of this generation using 8-bit processors, five audio channels, and more advanced graphics capability including sprites and tiles instead of block-based graphics of the second generation. -
The Nintendo NES
A 8-bit era console, this console is one of the best-selling consoles of its time and helped revitalize the US gaming industry following the video game crash of 1983. It also pionieered the hiring of third-party developers which is considered a now-standard business model. it is also responsible for groundbreaking games, such as the 1985 platform game Super Mario Bros. and the 1986 action-adventure games The Legend of Zelda and Metroid, which became long-running franchises. -
Period: to
The 16-bit Generation
This Generation introduced consoles with advance core console technology with 16-bit processors, improving the available graphics and audio capabilities of games. -
The Game Boy
The Game Boy is the second handheld game console and combines features from both the Game & Watch handheld and NES home system. The Game boy received mixed reviews from critics and was deemed technologically inferior to its fourth-generation competitors because it lacked backlight, its graphics were lackluster, it had a bulky design and it was very pricey. But it did get praise fro having a long battery life compared to the others, and quickly outsold the competition in a matter of a few weeks. -
The Super NES
The Super NES introduced advanced graphics and sound capabilities compared with other systems at the time. It was designed to accommodate the ongoing development of a variety of enhancement chips integrated into game cartridges to be competitive into the next generation. -
Period: to
The 3D Age
In this time, computer had gained greater prominence as a way of playing video games, dispite this, the console industry thrived with the computer industry as game consoles were lower in prices, easier portability, circuitry specifically dedicated towards video games, the ability to be played on a television set. -
The Play Station
The newest contender in the console industry and it came in swinging, its design primarily emphasis on 3D polygon graphics which granted a major advantage for its many memorable games in its extensive game library such as the likes of Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Metal Gear, Tekken, and Final Fantasy. It also had low retail price, and aggressive youth marketing which advertised it as the preferable console for adolescents and adults. -
Period: to
The DvD and Internet Period
With console industry catching up with the times, they dropped the use of bits systems in their consoles, as the selling point fell down the wayside, and began to foucus on the strengths of their game libraries as marketing instead. Eventually adopting optical media, expanding into the DVD format for even greater data storage capacity, additional internal storage memory cards, as well as adding support either directly or through add-ons to connect to the Internet for online gameplay. -
The Game Boy Color
An improvement of the original Game Boy, by featuring a color screen rather than monochrome. It has a custom 8-bit processor made by Sharp that is a hybrid between the Intel 8080 and the Zilog Z80. The Game Boy Color is slightly thicker and has a slightly smaller screen than the original. -
PlayStation 2
The PS2 is the successor to the PS1 in everyway, featuring its highlighted Emotion Engine processor which is said to be as strong or more powerful than a personal computer. It also has backwards compatiblility for its predecessors controllers and games, allowing people to play their favorite game from the PS1 to the PS2 with better processing power. -
The Xbox
The first console created by Microsoft as a way to compete with the PlayStation 2 as Microsoft saw the PS2 as a threat to personal computers as an entertainment device. Featuring various components from personal computers like a 733 MHz Intel Pentium III CPU and a 233 MHz Nvidia GeForce 3-based NV2A GPU, making the Xbox more powerful than a computer. It also has a built-in hard disc, support for broadband connectivity to the Internet via an integrated Ethernet port, and the release of Xbox Live. -
The GameCube
The GameCube is the successor to the Nintendo 64, the GameCube is the first Nintendo console to feature a optical discs instead of ROM cartridges, supplemented by writable memory cards for saved games. It also has limited support for online gaming via the GameCube broadband, or modem adapter, as well as an e-Reader cards to unlock special features in its various games. -
Period: to
The Seventh Generation
Video game consoles became an important in the global IT infrastructure, making up 25% of the world's general-purpose computational power in the year 2007. -
The Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the Successor to the Xbox. Featuring the improved Xbox Live that recieved regular updates during the console's lifetime, Xbox Live also allowed the user to download games online via the Xbox Live Arcade. Xbox 360 also can stream music, television programs, and films through the Xbox Music and Xbox Video portals. The Xbox 360 came with wireless controllers, expanded hard-drive storage, and the Kinect motion sensing camera. -
The PlayStation 3
The Playstation 3 was supposed to be a successor to the Playstation 2, but had many mixed reviews ranging from its high price tag ($599 for a 60-gigabyte model or $499 for a 20 GB model) to lack of quality games. It was the first console to use Blu-ray Disc technology as its primary storage medium, it was also the first PlayStation console to have intergrated social game services via the PlayStation Network. -
Period: to
The consoles considered old school now
The console of this era had the usually hardware enhancements, but also focus on further integration with other media and increased connectivity. By using the same x86 CPUs in computers, granting consoles better frame rates at up to 4K resolutions and second screen experiences via companion apps added more interactivity to games. -
The PlayStation 4
The true successor to the PS2, and the PS3 in a way, Featuring a AMD Accelerated Processing Unit, considered one of the most powerful APU ever developed. The PS4 has a redesigned controllers that was also an improved version of the PS3, featuring improved buttons and analog sticks, and an integrated touchpad among other changes. The PS4 also supports HDR10 High-dynamic-range video and playback of 4K resolution multimedia. -
Period: to
The Console of the Future
Consoles now have launched with no disc drive as to target those who would prefer to purchase games exclusively through digital downloads. But consoles also target 4K and 8K resolution televisions at high frame rates, support for real-time ray tracing rendering, 3D spatial audio, variable refresh rate, and support in-game streaming. -
The PlayStation 5
The Lastest PlayStation console and the successor to the PlayStation 4. The PS5 has two model, the base model and the digital edition, both launching simultaneously. Featuring a solid-state drive customized for high-speed data streaming, a AMD GPU capable of 4K resolution up to 120 frames per second, ray tracing for realistic lighting and reflections, and the Tempest Engine for accelerated 3D audio effects.