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first home console Magnavox Odyssey
Only three dots were shown on the screen when connected to the television, and the dots would change depending on the game being played.pre-dating the Atari Pong home consoles by three years.The Magnavox Odyssey was a cartridge based console allowing it to play a different game simply by inserting a different game card. -
nes released in america
The NES was originally the Famicom, or Family Computer, and it was released in Japan in 1983. There, it sold over 2.5 million units during its first year on the market. Developer Nintendo, a former collectible card company, then decided to expand its interests globally. Executives knew Western markets would be difficult to utilize. The video games industry was in shambles so stores would be hesitant to stock a new console that likely no one would buy. Nintendo planned properly -
gameboy release
When Nintendo's GameBoy first hit American markets, it came pre-loaded with a relatively unknown PC game called 'Tetris.' During the first holiday season post-launch, Nintendo went on to sell over one million GameBoy consoles. Today Nintendo has sold nearly 120 million GameBoys worldwide, making GameBoy and GameFreak's beloved 'Pokemon' franchise for GameBoy an icon in the handheld market. -
SNES release
The Super NES was Nintendo's response to a decline in NES sales in the early '90s following the arrival of the Sega Genesis in 1989. The 16-bit machine boasted 32K colors, and could also support special effects, including scaling, rotating, and transparency. Super Mario World was included as a pack-in game. -
playstation
Nearing the end of Super NES's run, console manufacturers and designers were attempting to integrate discs into the hardware. The result was Sony's PlayStation, where, for the first time ever, CDs were used instead of game cartridges. -
playstation 2
As the followup to PlayStation's revolutionary disc-based console, the PS2 continued to revolutionize gaming technology. This time however, the PS2 boasted the Emotion Engine, a unique CPU customized by Sony and Toshiba allowing players to run old PlayStation games on the console, as well as modern DVDs. -
XBOX 360
The successor to Microsoft's massively successful Xbox, the 360 model gave fans a chance to play in high definition due to the 360 internal Core system, while providing wireless controller support. Three versions of the 360 were available: Core (the entry-level model), Premium (with a 20GB detachable hard disc drive), and Elite (HDMI output, 120GB hard drive, and a cool matte black finish). -
WII
This interactive game console offered a revolutionary wireless remote giving players a new approach to gaming. Most interestingly, however, was the 'Wii-mote'--the motion sensors in the remote that captured the player's movement as they swung the controller in a mock game of tennis. Paying homage to its roots, it also had an infrared light at the end of the controller (à la Duck Hunt) so players could point and shoot at the screen.
