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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
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
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
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 -
magnavox odyssey
Played cartridges
Keyboard; used for educational games, selecting options, or programming
First game was an instant classic: Quest for the Rings!
Excellent speech synthesis unit
Master Strategy Series – a fusion of board and video games -
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
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
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
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
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 1
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 -
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 -
Pac Man
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
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 -
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 -
Sonic the Hedgehog
Platform by Sega
Successful; increased the popularity of Sega's console and established Sonic the Hedgehog as the company's mascot
Led to subsequent games in Sega's flagship Sonic the Hedgehog series -
Sega Dreamcast
First sixth-generation console
Successor to the Sega Saturn as a comeback effort
Was hailed as ahead of its time but failed to gather momentum when PS2 was released
Discontinued in 2001 -
sony playstation 2
Best-selling console in history, selling over 150 million
Over 3870 game title are available
Produced for 12 years -
Nintendo Gamecube
Nintendo's fourth system used compact discs
Sold 22 million units worldwide
Discs are encrypted and unreadable by most DVD drives.
Discontinued in 2007 -
microsoft xbox
Microsoft's first console with 24 million units sold
Allowed players to play online
$299.99
Discontinued in 2008
Followed by the Xbox 360 and Xbox One
