Evolution of Gaming Consoles

In the '80s, console gaming experienced a major upsurge. Magnavox Odyssey, Atari 2600 and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis all found success during this era.

Nintendo was the pioneer in family-oriented gaming when they released the Wii, with its motion control system getting children up off of couches and into active gameplay. Meanwhile, Microsoft offered more subdued gaming in an understated gray slab console.

Atari

In 1983, an oversupply of consoles, games, and cartridges led to a video game crash. Atari suffered $538 million in losses before laying off most of its employees.

Nolan Bushnell creates Home Pong, a dedicated home console designed to play his iconic arcade game Pong. Sears becomes its exclusive distributor.

Bally Astrocade

The Bally Astrocade was a second generation home video game console and simple computer system, first released as the Bally Home Library Computer during 1977 before later changing to become known as the Bally Professional Arcade in 1978.

Software was released for this system via cassette tapes that could be shared among users, including games and programs written using BASIC programming language.

Mattel’s Intellivision

Mattel's own games generated revenue, while hardware additions like Intellivoice, Aquarius and Intellivision 3 weren't profitable.

Intellivision was known for its head-to-head sports and strategy titles. Unfortunately, Mattel lost control over its console market during 1984, selling INTV Corporation its rights.

Coleco

Coleco entered the console market in 1976 with their home version of Pong called Telstar, which proved an instantaneous hit before quickly being overshadowed by Mattel and Atari products.

ColecoVision was released into the market with Donkey Kong and Pac-Man included as pack-in games, making a smart move at a time when home computers with games options became increasingly affordable.

Tabletop mini-arcade games were also an area of success for the company.

Sega’s Dreamcast

Though often underappreciated in discussion of console history, the Dreamcast still holds its place within gaming culture. A true next-gen console, it was far ahead of its time and had many benefits over rival systems of its era.

Sega attempted a daring experiment using GD-ROMs (an early forerunner to DVD technology). Unfortunately, due to Sony's PlayStation 2, their enthusiasm waned quickly for this venture and forced Sega out.

Nintendo’s GameCube

The GameCube marked an exciting step forward for Nintendo, breaking from cartridge-based home consoles and ushering in an age of 3D games.

Its small size and unique handle made the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) appealing, although its status as a children console hindered sales in comparison to Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. Still, it was an exceptional system at the time.

Sony’s PlayStation 2

At the turn of the millennium, Sony made an important breakthrough with PlayStation 2. Competing against Sega Dreamcast and Microsoft Xbox was no easy task - yet Sony managed to overcome them all with PS2.

Its library included popular titles like Grand Theft Auto and Guitar Hero, plus DVD movie playback capabilities to bring console gaming closer to a multimedia experience. Furthermore, hardware revisions were carried out to address issues like faulty memory cards.

Sony’s PlayStation 3

The PlayStation 3 was an innovative console. Utilizing a Cell Processor and offering better graphics and game play than its predecessors, this revolutionary machine revolutionized game play experience.

It had an attractive, slim design and featured an innovative controller; however, critics were quick to criticize its price point and lack of multiplatform games.

Sony eventually managed to reinvigorate the PS3 by offering a cheaper Slim model and revamping its online services.

Sony’s PlayStation 4

Following the success of PlayStation 2, Sony unveiled a new console designed with social integration and high-definition gaming in mind, as well as featuring a Blu-ray DVD player and support for PlayStation Network.

Xbox Series X featured powerful internals that offered a significant increase in game graphics quality and featured critically-acclaimed exclusive titles, making development of next-gen features such as Ray Tracing easier than ever before on gaming PCs. It also allowed easy development for games released exclusively for this console.

Sony’s PlayStation 5

Sony's PlayStation 5 stands out as an eye-catching gaming gadget. Depending on its positioning, its unique shape resembles two opposing Pringles chips or even a phallic toy.

The PS5 features an NVMe SSD designed specifically to speed game loading times up. In addition, ray tracing supports, providing more realistic lighting effects and reflections.