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Week 6: THE HISTORY OF…… ..................THE GAME CONSOLES

Wait wha..?

We’ll go briefly through the history of games consoles, starting from the 70’s (good times) up until 2000’s. I’ll put some pictures this time I promise.

70’s!!! and before

During the 50’s and 60’s we started with the very basic games and even simpler consoles. Games like pong on the oscilloscope anyone?
This game was called “Tennis for Two” developed in 1958 which simulated simple game of tennis. It was created by William Higinbotham. This was the first ever game that used graphical display.
But this was more of a game to watch. Not really a lot of people could play this. The computer was displayed in Brookhaven National Laboratory and people literally lined up just to play this for few minutes. Booooooring I know…
Let’s jump to something better. Magnavox Oddyssey! It was world’s first commercial home video game console. What did people do before that is beyond me. It was released in 1972 (predating Atari)
Funny facts time! The console itself was digital (not analog). No processor, no counting unit either. Hell, there was no sound unit and the console couldn’t display any colors. It consisted of 40 diodes and 40 transistors ( but it could still play 12 games!!!) The console could handle (and this is important) – only single straight vertical line, one dot and two short lines. Basically, game of pong. But there’s a catch – the console couldn’t count so no score points ;)

Some time, the game PONG was released as a standalone arcade machine!
And later on as a house console in 1975 with a name Home Pong by Atari. This is the most remembered product as it sold over 150.000 units.
In 1977 Atari released their revolutionary console called Atari (who would have thought) 2600. This console had two controllers, color graphics and featured hundreds of games that came on cartridges (which later on influenced the whole game market).
With steadily increasing demand came expectations. Customers wanted more and more, better hardware – graphics and sound, more games. So that brings us to the 80’s

The 80’s

In June of 1982 Company called Coleco released their new and powerful Coleco Vision. This console came with Nintendo’s Donkey Kong as its release title (this was back when Nintendo was a game developer company).
But this console had its problems. The controllers were very hard to use. These phone like controller had overlays that were different for every of the 150 games released. Despite its flaws, Coleco sold over 1.000.000 units.
Four years later, Nintendo had enough of only developing games, and in 1985 released Nintendo entertainment system NES. It became huge success very fast as it had the biggest and the best game titles at the time.
With one of the best games ever:
And with huge success, there comes…. Even a better success story. Nintendo in 1989 released the first ever portable gaming console called GameBoy. Even though the console had a small screen, didn’t display colors, the console itself was an astounding success in America all while Sega was dominating in Europe. With more markets to conquer, Sega released their Sega Genesis which was the first ever 16bit console. This is where the bit war era started, which brings us to the 90’s

The 90’s

It was all about the bits. No one knew what the fuzz was all about, but the more bits the console had the more power it had. To keep up with Sega, Nintendo released their new console called Super Nintendo entertainment System SNES.
This console was a huge success as it sold over 300.000 units on the release date! And this is where it began to be serious. Sega and Nintendo became enemies. Sega knew if they made their console sound cool and better in general, they would reach out for teenagers. When Nintendo had characters like
The Sega mage games with celebrities like
After a while, Sega realized that they had to make their own character to brand their name. To make their character sound cooler and better in every way, Sonic was created.
While Sega was still scratching their heads, thinking what to do with their newest character, Nintendo did what they always do, made spaceships with lasers! No, no… Just kidding (although they made a robot for SNES I kid you not). They made their console and games even better all while Sega made add-ons like a CD player or 32bit controller (they sold horribly with only 6 games ever released). This resulted in Sega loosing track and Nintendo dominating the home console market.
In 1993 Nintendo and Sony wanted to make a better console. Nintendo wanted to use discs. That’s why they asked Sony to help them out, and in 1 year, they created the PlayStation. Believe it or not, Nintendo is the actual creator of the PlayStation. But since Sony wanted to control over all the games released on discs by Nintendo, Sony released their own console called Sony PlayStation (creative….). It was the first console to fully utilize the Cd drive and it sold over 100.000.000 units (100 millions).
The system used 32 bits and had controllers so good, that they are still used today (I mean, the design is still used). While Sega was releasing their Sega Saturn (only 10.000.000 units sold), Nintendo released their newest console called Nintendo64. The first 64 bit console
It sold 33.000.000 units and it featured games like Super Mario 64 and Mario Cart 64. These games were so popular that they are considered the best games ever made. And this slowly brings us to the end.
In 1999 Sega released Dreamcast, the last console to be released before year 2000, but Sony PlayStation overshadowed the console.

Nowadays

I’m sure you all know consoles like Xbox, PlayStation and Wii. These companies are still competing between each other with new consoles to be released by the end of this year.

Questions

1)       What was the most influential console?
2)       Which ones did you use or are still using?

3)       Cheers!

Comments

alt_pl said…
1) IMHO the most influential console was Nintendo's NES ( Nintendo Electronic Systems in Western Countries, in Japan known as Famicom- Family Computer). Sold in 80's. It was one of the first cheapest game device sold worldwide. It also had many groundbreaking and most influential games in history :
* Legend of Zelda
* Mario
* Mega-Man
* Final Fantasy
* Dragon Quest
* CONTRA
* Castlevania
and many more... Playstation One had one of the most sales ever. But NES set standards.
2) Sadly I sold my good old Amiga 500 which I had for many years. I plan to buy old TV Set and to buy few consoles to have fun with other computer games dinosaurs like me :)
3) Cheers! :)
armandstanczak said…
1) I had a NES from US when I was little. It had to be connected by a transformer of the size of whole TV. And those games... man. Milon's Secret Castle - a game where You cannot save. Ever! If you die you die and the game itself took like w month to finish (you had to have your NES always powered up). Dragon Quest. I've gone through it like a million times already. I still play it on my PC (emulators ftw). Castelvania.... The worst best game ever.
2) I've seen system boxes (I think this is how are they called) which allow you to connect anything to a new TV. Scaling might be a problem but it's worth trying.
3) Cheers!
Unknown said…
I am, and always was, more like a PC gamer rather than console. As a child i had Pegasus console. It was awesome! Mario Bros, CONTRA, that game with shooting ducks and laughing dog when you miss. It was cool. I still have this pegasus somewhere in the basement. Once i had game boy advance. I've played Pokemon all the time with emergency pair of batteries. That was something i am not able to compare to anything else :) Recently o bought PS Vita, but it not the same, and games are so freaking expensive... So i just stick mostly to my PC and i am happy with it.
diana said…
I'm not really into computer gaming and I din't have any console, but I enjoyed this post anyway. Didn't know about the oscilloscope game, the idea is quite fun :)
I know Sonic from PC Sonic the Hedgehog (or sth like that) game, I loved it and used to play it all days long. Didn't know it was Sega main character though :)
I really love computer games but I never had any gaming console and I don’t think that this will never change. I’m a dedicated PC gamer. So I don’t really have anything to say about which console had the most influence on the development of videogames.
Tomek Niezgoda said…
I’m not an avid gamer but I do play PC games from time to time. I’ve known the history of consoles for a while know. It’s interesting to see what people came up a few years ago while trying to appeal to gamers. For instance, being able to pause games was not available from the get-go (along with saving the game state as mentioned in the post). Also, violence in games has been a hot topic for a long time and adult games were kept away from view in shops. Companies really came up with some unique designs for consoles back then. The Virtual Boy for instance was revolutionary in a way. It tried to make the interaction between the player and the game better by emulating 3D with two separate screens. It failed miserably but many companies are still trying to get it right today (for example: http://www.oculusvr.com/).
Sylwia said…
As Diana I'm not into that topic. I have never possessed any console as I have never been a fun of games, console ones as well as computer ones. As a child and teenage I always prefered to spend time more active than staing at home playing games. However from time to time I sat next to my brother watching him playing and I really enjoyed it. Now I just do not have time for it although I heard about some games which I would like to try.
Natalia said…
Thanks for an interesting article! I didn't know that consoles could have such history. I don't have any idea which console could be the most influential in overall but for me it is console created by SEGA (Unfortunately I don't remember any technical specification) It was my first console and I loved to play Sonic!
Currently I own an xbox one and I have bought it only for the kinect. I don't see any reason to buy games for console if I could play them on my laptop which is much more mobile. Montion sensor in kinect gives user an opportunity to ineract with game in more natural way ( f.e. jumping througth someting - not pressing space button) so I think it is worth buying and having fun :)
Seisyll said…
When I first started my tour in video game world my dad got me Atari 2600, then was this pegasus console. Right now I don't have any of those and to be honest I sometimes regret that. Those consoles were a big part of my and my friends childhood which I will always remember with big smile on my face. I still have my gameboy and playstation somewhere, but sadly I don't have all the games I used to.

It's fun to look at how things looked in the past. Really it's just pure luck that video games concept didn't die in early ages. No one ever imagined that this idea would ever live on (the same was with PCs) and be so successful. Right now we have dozens of consoles and lots of ways to customize your PC to bring better quality and performance to games. Also fun thing is that computer technology started developing rapidly with video games being more popular. Maybe not everything, but with more computing power, video games got more interesting as developers were able to do more things. I am pretty sure that graphic cards could be developed further thanks to video games, and what that brought us?
http://zdrowie.dziennik.pl/nowotwory/artykuly/342219,procesor-karty-graficznej-wykryje-nowotwor.html
lukasz-anwajler said…
For me Pegasus (SNES clone in Poland), Playstation 1 and Game Boy were the most influential game consoles ever. In my opinion "Metal Gear Solid" is still one of the best games ever created.

My first game console was Pegasus ("365 games in 1" cartridges, "Contra" - it was my childhood), then I had a Game Boy Color ("Pokemon" :) , I was a PC-gamer for a long time ("StarCraft", "Counter Strike") and near 2010 I bought PS3 to play "God of War 3" and I'm still active player (recently "GTAV" and "Battlefield 4").

I never really liked Xbox, Dreamcast or Wii consoles, comparing to PS they lack a good design, I don't know why, it's just my impression - something similar to PC vs Apple thing. Game console and TV series/ movies are the only reasons why I bought TV, because I don't watch linear TV stations.

Next steps? PS4 coming soon (2 weeks from now :)
Yay! Consoles! SNES was my first console! I loved it so much! The best Mario game I ever played was on that console, it was Super Mario World. I think that was actually the first video game I ever owned. With the most influential I probably should go with NES as someone pointed out, cause it actually was very important for the console industry. BUT SNES will always be number one for me :P. Also the Game Boys from Nintendo have been with me for a long, long time. After that I've been a strong SONY supporter and bought basically every PlayStation console that came up. At the same time I stopped playing on handheld consoles. Anyways I like consoles, but I must say I find PC better in financial terms. PC games usually cost less than games for the PS3 which I currently have and also a PC can be easily upgraded to meet the requirements newer games. Also, you can easily use a gamepad on a PC, so basically a PC can be as good as console.
Unknown said…
I am not really into consoles I never was. I rather prefer PC computers but few years ago I had(I still have working model) Commadore 64 which was using cassette tapes to store "files" let say. That was something. Imagine situation when you are waiting 15 minutes to load your game and when it is almost ready you accidentally shake your tape drive and is is all gone :) That was something. Then I had Amiga 500 with 7 Mhz CPU and 512 kB of RAM and revolutionery floppy disks. Great piece of hardware I tell you.
Unknown said…
I don't like playing games, therefore I don't do it often. I have never had a game console. I have never heard about Sega before reading your presentation. I think playing games is a waste of time, so it isn't a topic I could add something clever or interesting. I prefer to watch a good movie or read a fascinating book.
Anyway, I will try to answer your questions. From what I have heard, Playstation is the leader in game consoles or at least it is for me, a person who plays really rarely. When I talk about game consoles I always call them Playstation, even if it's Xbox or Wii. I can't see any difference between them. According to your article, Playstation was build by Nintendo and they created CD drive which is used even today. It was the biggest change which was also the most successful. I guess Nintendo was the most influential, because they came with an idea for Playstation which I think is the best.
Now, let me answer your second question. I have played Atari once and it was really cool. Unfortunately, I don't remember which model. I have also played on Xbox and Playstation some games with car races a few times. And it's the end of my story with game consoles.
elos said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
elos said…
I think the most influential console was the first console because people realized that dedicated gaming device is better than computer which is also used for other purposes.

When I was young. No, I am still young :-) When I was younger I had Pegasus console and I played a lot Soccer and Robin Hood, games placed on cartridge named “The Golden For, 4 in 1” (I hope you know what I talking about). Currently I own XBOX360 but I am not fanatic or something like that I play only one game :-) Football game Fifa (currently Fifa 14), couple of years ago I played Pro Evolution Soccer. These two football games are the most popular and the best but currently my choice is Fifa. Why I play only this game, because I can make two enjoyable things in one time – meet my friends, play good game and kick their “three letter part of body”. Ok, so in fact three enjoyable things in one time. From time to time we play UFC or Fight Night Champion, also sport games, also emotive games.
Unknown said…
blimpiehunter, this is very interesting text about history of consoles! It was pleasure to read it.
Unfortunately, I have little experience with consoles. I prefer computer games rather than video games. Honestly speaking, I don't know which console was the most influential. Maybe it was PlayStation 1. At last Sony sold over million copies. Personally I haven't console. Maybe in future I'll buy PS4 because of move controller.
Laraib Khan said…
Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their store. I’d prefer to use some with the content on my blog whether you don’t mind. I’ll give you a link on your web blog. I recently came to know about http://toysuae.com/, their Game Consoles are very effective.
Game Consoles Thanks for sharing.
mind.it said…
Pleasant Informative Blog having decent sharing.. r4 3ds
Unknown said…
I just read your article and found it very informative for PC gamers like me. You have provided a nice information about the history of gaming consoles. There are many gamers who still love to play games and PC and in order to improve the gaming experience, it is necessary to have the best controller for gaming. Well, if someone is looking to buy the best controller for their gaming then I'd recommend to take a look at this list of best buy game controllers.I bet you will find the best one for your needs on this link.

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