By: Laurent Sainte-Marie
HISTORY OF VIDEOGAME
CONSOLES
Sources
 ElderGeek.com. Web. May 16th 2015.
 Guinness World Records 2014: Gamer’s Edition.
Print.
 Clip Art
Table of Consoles
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Chapter 1: Time to Play the Game
Chapter 2: Crash of 1983
Chapter 3: Generation 1 Consoles
Chapter 4: Generation 2 Consoles
Chapter 5: Generation 3 Consoles
Chapter 6: Generation 4 Consoles
Chapter 7: Generation 5 Consoles
Chapter 8: Generation 6 Consoles
Chapter 9: Generation 7 Consoles
Chapter 10: Generation 8 Consoles
Chapter 11: Game Over
Chapter 12: Glossary
Chapter 1: Time to Play the
Game
 Videogames have been around for about 45
years and has been through glorious days and
rough years. One thing is sure though, It won’t
die out easily. From the 1970s to 2015,
Videogame Consoles have thrived, either
through social media, TV shows, commercials, or
magazines they have lived on, and I will show
you the full history of all the gaming revolution
that has survived for 45 years. Lets start with
gaming’s hardest period of time:
Chapter 2: The Crash of 1983
 The crash of 1983 started in the early age of gaming.
Publishers pushed out unfinished, terrible games. Gamers
stopped playing the games and left the horrible games to
sit collecting dust on the declining game stores. Soon, the
game stores went out of business. But, a man, Shigeru
Myamoto saved the Industry. He was born and lives in
Japan. The founder of Nintendo, he went on adventures in
wild places in Japan like in caves and other cool areas. He
then based his adventures into games. So, in the time of
declining consoles, Nintendo put out the NES (or Nintendo
entertainment system). Bundled with the console was a
great game called Super Mario Bros.. People bought the
console and the NES and Mario grew in popularity. Soon,
Mario, the NES, Shigeru Myamoto , and Nintendo became
the face of Gaming as a whole for saving Video Games.
Chapter 3: Generation 1:
1972-1975
 Magnavox Odyssey/year:1972/
The first console of all time and won the first generation of console
war. It had games that needed to put provided paper overlays on
your television to provide pictures.
Atari Pong/year:1975/
The first Pong console. It revolutionized gaming as a whole. You
could play a game that calculates your score for you.
Magnavox Odyssey 100&200/year:1975/
Magnavox’s consoles to rival the Pong. They did not sell well and
were not that impressive. Only minor changes between the two.
Phillips Tele-Spiel/year:1975/
A pong console that sold relatively well. Phillips first console.
Sears Tele-Games Pong/year:1975
A pong console that sold relatively well.
Chapter 4: Generation 2:
1976-1983
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APF TV Fun/year:1976/
Another average pong console.
Atari Super Pong/year:1976/
This console made Atari the pong console king of generation 2.
Coleco Telstar/year:1976/
Coleco’s first console. A pong and decent predecessor of the more widely known Colecovision.
Fairchild Channel F/year:1976/
A pong console who failed due to strange controls.
Magnavox Odyssey 300&400&500/year:1976/
Magnavox’s rival to the Super Pong. Again, they did not do well and have little to no change between
them.
Atari 2600/year:1977/
Atari’s first console that played games that weren't just tennis or sports. It had games with stories and
It played 100s of 1000s of games from arcades. Considered the father of all consoles. It had games
that are considered classics today and started gaming in the first place.
Nintendo Color TV Game 6/year:1977/
Nintendo’s first console, it isn't like Nintendo consoles today. The game included variations of pong
and an early car game.
Chapter 4: Generation 2:
1976-1983 continued
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RCA Studio 2/year: 1977/
By many considered one of the worst consoles of all time. The controllers are part of
the console so to play, your huddled around the console itself. Also, there are
many bugs.
Magnavox Odyssey2 /year:1978/
Magnavox’s final console, it failed and did not please to gamers unlike Atari.
Nintendo Color TV Game 15/year:1978/
An updated version of the Color TV Game 6, the 15 is an Atari like console and good
predecessor to the NES.
Nintendo Racing 112/year:1978/
Nintendo’s next release, it was a console with a racing game and had smooth wheel
controls.
Mattel Intellivision/year:1979/
A popular console with graphics and games like Atari. It did incredibly well and is still
praised today.
Chapter 4: Generation 2:
1976-1983 continued
 Nintendo Game and Watch Series/year:1980/
Nintendo’s first handhelds, it was popular in the 80s and put
Nintendo on the map.
Atari 5200/year:1982/
Atari’s sequel to the 2600, it was meant to end the 2600 and
replace it with the 5200. It failed and the 2600 continued.
Nintendo Famicon/year:1983/
Nintendo’s Japanese release of the console known in the U.S.
as the NES. It did so well that they released it in the U.S. with
only slight changes.
Sega SG 1000/year:1983/
Sega’s first console it eased them into the industry and created
the Sega Master System.
Chapter 5: Generation 3
1984-1987
 Nintendo Entertainment System/year:1985/
Nintendo’s first American release, it made Nintendo the undisputed
king of the third generation. It is the most nostalgic and most
important console of the early years of gaming and saved the
industry from the crash of 1983.
Atari 7800/year:1986/
Atari’s console that did relatively well, it finished of the 2600, what
the 5200 failed at and the 7800 did OK.
Sega Master System/year:1986/
Sega’s first mainstream console, it was made to compete with the
Nintendo NES. It brought along eventually the Sega Genesis.
NEC Pc Engine/year:1987/
NEC’s first popular console, it brought eventually the Turbo-Grafx 16.
It is relatively unknown but is decent as a console.
Chapter 6: Generation 4:
1988-1992
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Sega Genesis/year:1988/
Undoubtedly Sega’s most popular console, it competed directly with the
SNES and nearly won. But from then on, there was not a pretty future for
Sega.
Atari Lynx/year:1989/
Atari’s first handheld, I was a pretty good handheld but it was hard to see
the picture.
NEC Turbo-Grafx 16/year:1989/
NEC’s most popular console, it was great but was overshadowed by the
SNES and the Genesis and nearly killed NEC.
Nintendo Game Boy/year:1989/
It was the earliest most popular handheld, it was hard to see but had a huge
library of games and started the handheld market.
Nintendo Super Famicon/year:1990/
The SNES release in Japan. Again, it did well and was ported to the United
States.
Chapter 6: Generation 4
1988-1992
 Sega Game Gear/year:1990/
Sega’s first handheld console. It was really good and sadly, was
Sega’s near last console.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System/year:1991/
Nintendo’s second American release, it was amazing. Better
graphics, Better sound, Less bugs, more gameplay, and more
games. It beat all generation 4 consoles singlehandedly. But the
next two Nintendo consoles were not the same: the Cd-I and the
virtual boy.
Phillips CD-i/year:1991/
One of the worst console of all time. It partnered
with……Nintendo! It broke the deal between Nintendo and Sony,
which ended up being the PlayStation. It had horrible games and
bad controllers. It scarred all gamers alike.
Chapter 7: Generation 5
1993-1997
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Atari Jaguar/year:1993/
Atari’s worst console ever. It had too many buttons, and the console was complicated. It cost a lot, had
horrible graphics and bad games. It ended up killing ATARI.
Panasonic 3DO/year:1993/
Panasonic’s only console, it failed. It had Full Motion Video, and it felt more like watching a movie, not
playing a game.
Sega CD/year:1993/
Sega’s first add on to the Genesis. It was a cheap way to play CD’s but it was ok and had some good
games. It still failed though.
Nintendo Virtual Boy/year:1994/
One of the worst video game consoles of all time, it was Nintendo’s sequel to the Game Boy. You put
on a helmet that flashes red and black 3D graphics that can cause seizures, headaches, and neck pain.
It had about 15 games. It failed.
Sega 32X/year:1994/
Sega’s 2nd add on to the Genesis and the CD. A cheap way into the 32 bit era, you had to own a Genesis
and a CD. It did not do well. Also, the Saturn was coming out right after.
Chapter 7: Generation 5
1993-1997
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Sega Saturn/year:1994/
Sega’s release after the Genesis and the add ons, The Saturn did OK. It had some games that were
good but overall, it was underwhelming.
Sony PlayStation/year:1994/
As briefly mentioned in the Phillips CD-I, Nintendo broke their deal with Sony and went with Phillips,
which resulted in a horrible mess. Sony, instead created a revolution. It created the best 5th gen
console, the PlayStation. It had good games and good graphics and started the current era of games.
Atari Jaguar CD/year:1995/
Atari last console. You stick it on to your Jaguar and it plays CD’s. It failed like Sega’s add ons.
Bandai Apple Pippin/year:1995/
Apple’s and Bandai’s first console, it failed with horrible games and graphics and enormous price.
Nintendo 64/year:1996
Nintendo’s 5th gen console, it had great 3D graphics, revolutionary games, and a great controller. Also,
It had the first analog stick. It did great but lost to Sony’s PlayStation.
Nintendo Game Boy Color/year:1997/
Nintendo’s update to the Game Boy after the failed Virtual Boy, It brought color to the Game Boy’s
huge library of great games.
Chapter 8: Generation 6
1998-2004
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Tiger Game.Com/year:1998/
A black & gray handheld with little to no games, it failed to compete with other handhelds.
Sega Dreamcast/year:1999/
An extremely underrated console, it was Sega’s last console. It had great games and amazing graphics
but ended up failing nevertheless.
Sony PlayStation 2/year:2000/
Sony’s greatest console, and by many, the greatest console of all time, it had thousands of millions of
games. It had amazing graphics, sound, gameplay, controls, great games, and it continued Sony’s
takeover.
Microsoft Xbox/year:2001/
Microsoft’s first console, it was great. It had new games such as Halo, and great shooter gameplay. It
was perfect, except for the fat controller, which was fixed.
Nintendo Game Boy Advance/year:2001/
Nintendo’s next Game Boy, It was amazing! Amazing graphics, bright and colorful games, great
controls, and was very portable. Also, a great, big, giant library of awesome games.
Nintendo GameCube/year:2001/
Nintendo’s next console, it is awesome. It brought back games with better graphics, and introduced
new franchises such as Pikmin.
Chapter 8: Generation 6
1998-2004
 Nokia N-Gage/year:2003/
Nokia’s only handheld, it was a phone and a game
console together, but had a big price tag and adds and
horrible games, so it failed.
Nintendo DS/year:2004/
Nintendo’s next handheld, It was revolutionary! It
played millions of games with its touchscreen 2
screens. With its great graphics and ability to play
Game boy Advance games and other great capabilities.
Sony PlayStation Portables/year 2004-current/
Sony’s line of handhelds, they directly competed with
Nintendo. They were good.
Chapter 9: Generation 7
2005-2010
 Microsoft Xbox 360/year:2005/
Microsoft’s 2nd console, it was a huge improvement to the Xbox and
this one had current graphics, amazing controls, and great games.
The only problem was the bugs on the console.
Sony PlayStation 3/year:2006/
Sony’s next console, it did not do as well as the Xbox 360 or the Wii,
as it had okay graphics and little games.
Nintendo Wii/year:2006/
Nintendo’s next console, it was amazing! Millions of games, cool
graphics, games for older and younger demographics, and great
motion controls, it was great and still is popular today.
Nintendo DSi/year:2009/
Nintendo’s next handheld, it added a camera to the DS and a couple
new games. It did pretty good.
Chapter 10: Generation 8
2010-(current)2015
 Nintendo 3DS/year:2011/
Nintendo Ds with new 3D graphics, new games, and new features
such as the option to connect it to the Wii U.
Nintendo Wii U/year:2012/
Nintendo’s current console, it is failing due to lack of games, bad
controls, needs lots of batteries, no bundle game, bad co-op
gameplay in main game, and no 3rd party support.
Sony PlayStation 4/year:2013/
Sony’s current console, it is doing great with amazing graphics, good
controls, and a variety of games.
Microsoft Xbox 1/year:2013/
Microsoft’s current console, its failing due to focus on sports and TV,
no games due to Microsoft needing to verify 3rd party games. Also,
needing to be connected at all times.
Chapter 11: Game Over
 Currently the gaming industry is declining as
a whole. But, people on YouTube and the
Internet are trying to save it. May it be
through let’s play videos or reviews, gaming is
slowly going to continue the amazing 45 year
lifespan it has currently created.
glossary
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Generation: a specific time of creation of a group of consoles.
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Overlays: covers that you put on your TV to provide pictures.
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Pong: a Tennis game of two lines and a dot.
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Pong console: A console with a single, built-in game.
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Controls: How to play a game.
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Controllers: a device you use to play a game.
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Bugs: Problems in a game.
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Graphics: What a game looks like.
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Handhelds: Portable consoles.
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FMV or Full Motion Video: Where the game is not where you move but you tell the characters what to do and they move. Kind of
like an interactive movie.
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Add on: and addition to a console where you attach it and it plays different games.
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Bits: Pixels that make up a games graphics.
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Analog stick: a joystick that can be moved in all directions not just left, right, up, and down.
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Game library: What games are playable on the consoles.
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Shooter: A game where you shoot enemies with guns.
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Franchise: a multiple game series.
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Touchscreen: a screen that you can touch to play a game.
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Demographic: What age will be most fun to play the game.
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Motion controls: a game where you move your body.
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Bundle: a game that comes with a console
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Co-op: multiple player gameplay.
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3rd party: game developers creating games for a console not owned by them.