Video Game Timeline

  • Magnavox Odyssey

    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
  • Pong

    Pong
    A coin-op arcade game by Atari Inc
    Based on table tennis
    First game to gain widespread popularity - launched the industry boom

    Led to a successful patent-infringement lawsuit from the Magnavox Odyssey
  • Gran Track 10

    Gran Track 10
    A single-player racing arcade game by Atari
    Player races against the game clock, accumulating points
    Early diode-based ROM was used
    Controls, steering wheel, shifter, accelerator, and brake pedals were all firsts for arcade games
  • Maze Wars

    Maze Wars
    One of the first FPS
    Players wander in a maze
    Used tile-based movement
    Other players are eyeballs that can be shot or harmed
    Players gain points for shooting other players and lose them for being shot
  • Coleco Telstar

    Coleco Telstar
    By Coleco - AY-3-8500 chip
    Pong variants on a domestic television receiver and available to any manufacturer
    Battery-powered and external components were required
  • APF TV FUN

    APF TV FUN
    Pong clone manufactured by APF formally a electronics developer
    Four built-in games (Tennis, Hockey, Single Handball, and Squash)
    Had a speaker and two controller knobs
    Powered by AC adapter or batteries
    Limited success
  • Fairchild channel F

    Fairchild channel F
    The world's second cartridge-based video game console, after the Magnavox Odyssey
    Sold for $169.95
    Originally called Video Entertainment System (VES), but when Atari released VCS, it was renamed
  • Atari 2600

    Atari 2600
    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
  • Chuck E Cheese's

    Chuck E Cheese's
    First family entertainment centers aimed at young children
    Pizza restaurant with arcade games, amusement rides, an animatronics show, climbing equipment, tubes, and slides
    Helped improve the image of video games
  • Space Invaders (2)

    Space Invaders (2)
    Grossed $2 billion worldwide by 1982
    Pixilated alien has become a pop culture icon, often used as a symbol representing video games as a whole
  • Space Invaders

    Space Invaders
    Created in Japan - later licensed in US
    Shooting game - players defeat waves of aliens with a laser and earn points
    So successful it caused a temporary shortage of coins in Japan
  • Intellivision

    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
  • Asteroids

    Asteroids
    Popular and influential game - 70,000 sold by Atari
    Vector display and 2D view
    Control a spaceship in an asteroid field traversed by flying saucers
    Object - shoot asteroids and saucers while not colliding or being hit by counter-fire
  • Pac Man

    Pac Man
    Namco - considered among the most famous arcade games of all time
    Became a social phenomenon that sold related merchandise and inspired an animated television series and a top-ten hit single
  • Pac Man (2)

    Pac Man (2)
    Appealed to both genders
    Generated more than $2.5 billion in quarters by the 1990s
    Highest brand awareness of any video game character
  • Donkey Kong

    Donkey Kong
    By Nintendo - platform
    Move the character across a series of platforms while dodging and jumping over obstacles
    Rescue a damsel in distress from a giant ape - Donkey Kong
    The hero and ape became two of Nintendo's most popular characters
    Nintendo licensed to Coleco, which developed home console versions
    Dominated the market in the 1980s and early 1990s
  • Frogger

    Frogger
    Move frogs home by crossing a busy road and navigate a river - skillful players obtain bonuses
    A classic - noted for its novel gameplay and theme
    Used two Z80 processors
    By 2005, sold 20 million worldwide, 5 million in the US
  • Galaga

    Galaga
    Fixed-shooter game
    Control a space ship while aliens fly in formation and come down at the player's ship to either shoot or collide
    Players fire at enemies, and once all enemies are vanquished, at which point the player moves to the next stage
  • Tron

    Tron
    Game was based on the Disney movie
    A computer hacker is trapped inside a digital world and forced to participate in gladiatorial-type games
  • Q- Bert

    Q- Bert
    By Gottlieb
    Isometric platform with puzzle elements where the player controls the character from a third-person perspective
    Object is to make all cubes the same color
    Uses a joystick