The 70's kicked off the popularisation of home consoles as primitive as they were you can't deny that we wouldn't be where we are today without them. The 70s started with the first generation of consoles starting with the Magnavox Odyssey a rather fitting name for the first console if you consider what it started.
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1972
Magnavox Odyseey After the prototype games console (Brown Box) was presented to Magnavox, Magnavox started production on the Odyseey in 1972 and began selling the console in Magnavox TV dealerships. The Odyseey was not a success as you might expect but instead other TV dealers failed to see the potential of the Odyssey and didn't sell them and with the addition of a rumor that the Odyssey would only work on Magnavox TVs |
1977
Atari 2600 The atari 2600 was originally called the Atari VCS ( Video Computer System) the system featured full-colour and sound the system came bundled with two joysticks, two paddle controllers, and one game cartridge. the console became a hit with games like space invaders, Breakout, Combat and Missile command. |
The 1980s was the decade that the video game industry experienced high points and low points. The first half of the decade the industry was experiencing a boom following the success of atari in the late 1970s also in the 1980 the industry experienced a colossal crash due to the selling of low quality games flooding the video game market that brought the entire industry to its knees.
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1980
Intellivision the Intellivision was released by Mattel in 1980 and was the first console to challenge Atari's throne that they developed in the 1970s. the Intellivision featured better graphics than the atari 2600. The console attracted 3rd party creators like Activision and Coleco to develop games for it. |
1982
Coleco ColecoVision the ColecoVision was released in 1982 the console came with 12 titles at launch then 10 games came out later in the year the games were available as ROM cartridges. Coleco licensed Donkey Kong from Nintendo as the official game that came packaged with the console helping boost the popularity of the console making it a contender with the Atari 2600 |
1983
Sega SG-1000 The Sega SG-1000 (also known as the Sega Game 1000) was Sega's first console they realised making there way into the growing industry. The SG-1000 made little impact on the video game industry and was criticised for the poor response of the controller's joystick and the lack of RAC output |
1989
Gameboy Nintendo launched the Gameboy in 1989 and the entire stock consisting of 300,000 units was sold. a few months later, the Gameboy's released in the US on July 31st and on its first day sold 40,000 units over its lifespan the first Gamboy sold 120 million units and had 1,200 games released for it. |
the 1990s were the decade that the most innovation took place, with the transition from sprite graphics to 3D graphics and the decade also saw the rise of some of the most popular genres in gaming like first-person shooter,real time strategy,survival horror and MMO also the growing popularity in hand-held portable systems.
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1991
Super NES After the success of Sega's 16bit Sega Genisis Nintendo launched their own 16bit console in 1991. the SNES initially had a slow start but then quickly rose and caught up with the Sega Genisis thanks to its technological superiority and the existing nintendo brands like super Mario bros, Metroid and Zelda. |
1995
Sony Playstation Development of the playstation started before the 16bit era when sony was working with nintendo on a CD-ROM add-on for the NES but the project broke down so sony decided to work on their own console so the launched the playstation in 1995. The console was an immediate success in Japan, selling over 2 million units within its first six months on the market. |
the 2000s were the decade that saw the industry dominated by 3 contenders sony with there playstation Nintendo with there handhelds and Gamecube and it also saw a new comer in the form of Microsoft with there Xbox, also in this decade saw Nintendo's main rival Sega pulls out of the video game industry in 2002.
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2000
Playstation 2 Playstation 2 released on December 3, 1994 and was the first 128bit system the system and has the ability to play games previously released on the original playstation also functions as a DVD player the titles available on the PS2 like metal gear solid and final fantasy the playstation 2 quickly became the most popular console of the 128bit era sold 155 million units world wide making it the biggest selling games console of all time. |
2001
Xbox Microsoft makes its first step into the console game when it launches the Xbox in 2001 although the Xbox was more powerful than the Gamecube and Playstation 2 sales still fell short compared to the Playstation 2 One of Xbox's greatest achievements was the xbox exclusive game Halo which is one of the most popular games of all time. |
2004
Nintendo DS The Nintendo DS released in 2004 and succeeded the Game Boy Advance. It was the first Nintendo platform to utilize a touch screen display DS features two 3-inch screens positioned vertically The bottom screen is the touchscreen and has sold 153.98 Million units world wide making it the second best selling games console worldwide |
November 17, 2006
Playstation 3 The system was released in North America on November 17th, 2006 PlayStation 3 proved to be difficult mostly due to this was the high price point for the console; $599 for the 60GB model in the US. some games didn't think the price was worth it especially compared to the Xbox 360 price of $399 |
December 8, 2006
Nintendo WII December 8 2006 Since its launch the console has sold over 50 million consoles as of March 2009 he Wii has been infamous for its limited availability oncept focusing primarily on a new form of player interaction the Wii features a wireless controller the Wii Remote which is used as a handheld pointing device and detects movement in three dimensions. |
References
Time. (2005). A History of video Game Consoles. Available: http://content.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2029221,00.html. Last accessed 9th Jan 2016.
William L. Hosch. (May 27, 2008). Atari console. Available: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Atari-console. Last accessed 9th Jan 2016.
Patterson, Shane. (2008). Consoles of the '80s. Available: http://www.gamesradar.com/consoles-of-the-80s/. Last accessed 9th Jan 2016.
Miller, Michael. (2005). A History of Home Video Game Consoles.Available: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=378141. Last accessed 9th Jan 2016.
Winnie Foster (2011). Game Machines. 2nd ed. Vancouver: Enati Media. 84.
Valhallen. (2015). GameCube. Available: http://www.giantbomb.com/gamecube/3045-23/. Last accessed 9th Jan 2016.
Time. (2005). A History of video Game Consoles. Available: http://content.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,2029221,00.html. Last accessed 9th Jan 2016.
William L. Hosch. (May 27, 2008). Atari console. Available: http://www.britannica.com/topic/Atari-console. Last accessed 9th Jan 2016.
Patterson, Shane. (2008). Consoles of the '80s. Available: http://www.gamesradar.com/consoles-of-the-80s/. Last accessed 9th Jan 2016.
Miller, Michael. (2005). A History of Home Video Game Consoles.Available: http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=378141. Last accessed 9th Jan 2016.
Winnie Foster (2011). Game Machines. 2nd ed. Vancouver: Enati Media. 84.
Valhallen. (2015). GameCube. Available: http://www.giantbomb.com/gamecube/3045-23/. Last accessed 9th Jan 2016.