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Magnavox releases the first ever console: Magnavox Odyssey
The first ever console was the Magnavox odyssey created in 1971
sold 340,00 units -
Atari releases PONG
Atari launched the very first widespread industry boom when they released their coin in arcade game PONG -
Maze War released
Maze wars launched in 1974 was one of the very first FPS in the game you must wander around a maze and try to shoot or dodge another player who are eyeballs. -
Second Generation of Video Games 1976-1983
By the mid-1970s cartridges moved to CPU-based consoles
1976-1983 launched the second generation of video games. -
Fairchild channel F
In 1976 the second console was released, Fairchild Channel F, this was the second cartridge-based console after the Magnavox Odyssey. -
Atari-2600
In 1977 Atari released their own console the ATARI 2600-which popularized game cartridges (this console was originally known as the Atari VCS but later changed) -
Space Invaders
In 1978 Japan released Space Invaders which became extremely popular-so popular that it left Japan in a coin shortage for a while- This game consists of the player shooting lasers at aliens and building up points that way. This game alone grossed up to $2 billion worldwide by 1982, and now those pixel aliens are now iconic in the video game culture almost considered to represent gaming. -
Pac- Man
In 1980 PAC-MAC was released by Namco and is now considered to be the most famous arcade game ever. This game became a social phenomenon which led to it having their own merchandise along with their own animated television series on Disney and a hit single.
This game grossed up to $2.5 billion in quarters by the 1990s this game appealed to both genders and had the highest brand awareness of any video game character. -
Donkey Kong
- In 1981 Nintendo released Donkey Kong- game where you must move the character across a series of platforms and jump over objects and try and save the damsel in distress. The hero (Mario) and the ape became two of Nintendo’s most iconic characters’ this game dominated the markets in early 1980s and 90s.
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Video Game Crash
1984 was the start of the Video Game Crash, due to the delay of Atari’s 7800 console people started to look for the next best thing and because of the flood of consoles in the US markets and poor game titles and choices people started to shift their intention to buy consoles to buying low end PCs that retailed for the same price, The crash lasted for about 2 years until Nintendo revitalized the market by releasing Super Mario Bros. -
NES
In 1985 Nintendo released an 8-bit console, it was the most successful of its time as it sold over 60milion units worldwide, this console helped revitalize the US Industry following the crash and set the standard for consoles. This was the first console that allowed other players to court third party developers. Their slogan was “Now You’re playing with power” -
Sega Genesis
1989 Sega Genesis was released, the first 16-bit console to achieve notable market share, direct competitor of Super (SNES), although released two years earlier -
Super Nintendo
In 1991 Nintendo released their Super Nintendo that was the best selling in the 16-bit generation as it had amazing 3D graphics that helped usher 3D in the 5th generation, remained popular well into the 32-bit era. -
Fourth Generation
1992-96 was the start of the fourth generation of video games, this was the 16-bit era, and this era was dominated by commercial rivalry between: Nintendo and Sega: Super Nintendo Entertainment System V.S the Sega Genesis, the machines introduced n this era retained majority of the market share until 1996. -
Fifth Generation
1993-2003 was the start of the 5th generation, the start of using 32-64-bit this era was dominated by 3 consoles: the PlayStation, the Sega station and the Nintendo 64, Nintendo also released the Gameboy color and Bit ratings did not increase with the exception of the Nintendo 64, PCs also were now able to emulate the 8- 16 bit systems of the previous 5 years, the internet made it possible to store and download tape and ROM images of older games. -
Playstation
In 1994 Sony released the PlayStation, 32 bits, this was the first series of PS Consoles this was the first to sell 100 million units and their PS2 is still the best-selling home console to date, Has the PlayStation network. -
Sixth Generation
1998-2004 start of the Sixth generation aka the 128-bit era -
Playstation 2
In 2000 Sony released the PlayStation 2 which is the highest selling console ever, selling over 150 million units this console produced for 12 years -
Seventh Generation
2005-2010 start of the seventh generation, started in 2005 with the release of the Xbox 360 and a year later the PlayStation 3 on Nov 17, 2006 and the Nintendo’s Wii a couple days later Nov 19, each console released introduced new breakthrough of technology, Wii led this generation in sales. -
Eighth Generation
2011-Present??? Start of the eighth Generation Includes: Nintendo’s Wii U, Sony PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Xbox one, faces competition with tablets, phones and smart TV’s, predicted to be the last generation, Rise of the Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) as the major processor
