History of video game consoles (first generation)
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The first generation of video game consoles lasted from 1972 until 1977. The start of the first generation began with the release of Magnavox Odyssey. The first generation ended in 1977 because of the video game crash of 1977.
Home systems
Comparison
| Name | Magnavox Odyssey | Magnavox Odyssey Series | Atari/Sears Tele-Games Pong | Coleco Telstar | Nintendo Color TV Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Magnavox | Magnavox | Atari | Coleco | Nintendo |
| Console | 
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| Launch price | US$100 | US$100–230 | US$98.95 | US$50 | ¥8,300 - ¥48,000 (Roughly $100 – $594.80 USD Today) |
| Release date | NA May 1972 EU 1973 JP 1974 |
NA 1975 |
NA 1975 |
NA 1976 JP 1977 |
JP 1977 |
| Media | Cartridge | n/a | Inbuilt Chip[1] | Cartridge (Telstar Arcade) | n/a |
| Accessories (retail) | Light gun | n/a | n/a | Controller styles | n/a |
| Sales | 330,000[2] | 150,000[3][4] | 1 million[5] | 3 million[6] |
Pong on a chip
| Chip code/name | Year | Manufacturer | Colors | Games | Consoles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AY-3-8500 | 1976 | General Instrument | No (1) | Tennis, soccer, squash, practice, 2 rifle games | Telstar (Telstar, Classic, Deluxe, Ranger, Alpha, Colormatic, Regent, Sportsman) Odyssey (300,2000,3000) Radio Shack TV Scoreboard Unisonic Sportsman/Tournament Philips Tele-Spiel ES2203 and ES2204 Zanussi/Seleco Play-O-Tronic Videomaster (Strika, Strika 2,ColourScore 2, SuperScore) APF TV Fun (Model 401) BSS 01 |
| AY-3-8510 | 1978? | General Instrument | Yes | Tennis, hockey, squash, jai alai | Telstar Colortron |
| AY-3-8512 | 1978? | General Instrument | Yes | Tennis, hockey, squash, jai alai, skeet, target | Telstar Marksman |
| AY-3-8600 | 1977 | General Instrument | No(2) | 8 games with balls and paddles | Telstar Galaxy Odyssey 4000 Philips Tele-Spiel ES2218 |
| AY-3-8610 | 1977 | General Instrument | No(2)[7] | 8 games with balls and paddles + 2 rifle games | Videomaster Sportsworld Philco/Ford Telejogo II |
| AY-3-8550 | 1976? | General Instrument | No(1) | The same of 8500 but with the addition of horizontal movement of player | Philips Tele-Spiel ES2208 |
| AY-3-8700 | 1978? | General Instrument | 4 games with tanks | Telstar Combat! | |
| MPS-7600-001,002,003,004 (3)(4) | 1977 | MOS Technology | The four versions of chip usually support 4 games. | Telstar Gemini(only version 004). Telstar Arcade(all 4 versions). Commodore TV Game 2000K/3000H (only version 001). | |
| MM-57100/MM-57105(PAL) | 1976 | National Semiconductor | Yes | Tennis, Hockey, Squash | National Adversary Philips Odyssey 2001 Videomaster (ColourScore, VisionScore, ColourShot) Philco/Ford Telejogo |
| MM-57106/MM-57186(PAL) | 1977 | National Semiconductor | Yes | Tennis, Hockey, Squash, Breakout, Flipper e Football. | Philips N30 Philips Odyssey 2100 |
| F4301 | 1976 | Universal Research Labs | N/A | Two games with balls and paddles and two games of car racing | Indy 500 system (Video Action 4) Sears/Atari Speedway e Speedway IV Interton Video 2800 MBO Tele-Ball VIII |
| SN76410N | 1977 | Texas Instruments | N/A | Six games of balls and paddles | Tele-Match 3300R Ricochet Super Pro (modello MT-4A) Venture Electronics Video Sports VS-5 |
| 3659-1C/C2566 | 1975 | Atari | No | Pong | Atari PONG |
| 3659-3 | 1975 | Atari | No | Pong | Atari PONG Doubles Sears PONG IV |
| C010073-3 | 1976 | Atari | No | 4 Pong games | Atari/Sears Super PONG |
| C010073-01/C2607 | 1976 | Atari | N/A | 10 Pong games | Atari Super PONG Ten |
| C010765 | 1977 | Atari | N/A | Atari Ultra PONG Atari Ultra PONG Doubles | |
| C011500-11/C011512-05 (4) | 1977 | Atari | N/A | 7 games (example: Pinball, Basketball and Breakout) | Atari Video Pinball |
References
- ↑ "Atari home PONG systems". Pong-Story. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
- ↑ "Magnavox Odyssey, the first video game system". Pong-Story. 1972-06-27. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
- ↑ Ellis, David (2004). "Dedicated Consoles". Official Price Guide to Classic Video Games. Random House. pp. 33–36. ISBN 0-375-72038-3.
- ↑ Kent, Steven (2001). "Strange Bedfellows". Ultimate History of Video Games. Three Rivers Press. pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4.
- ↑ Herman, Leonard (1997). Phoenix: the fall & rise of videogames (2nd ed.). Union, NJ: Rolenta Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-9643848-2-5. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
Like Pong, Telstar could only play video tennis but it retailed at an inexpensive $50 that made it attractive to most families that were on a budget. Coleco managed to sell over a million units that year.
- ↑ Sheff, David; Eddy, Andy (1999), Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered the World, GamePress, p. 27, ISBN 978-0-9669617-0-6,
Nintendo entered the home market in Japan with the dramatic unveiling of Color TV Game 6, which played six versions of light tennis. It was followed by a more powerful sequel, Color TV Game 15. A million units of each were sold. The engineering team also came up with systems that played a more complex game, called "Blockbuster," as well as a racing game. Half a million units of these were sold.
- ↑ "Gemini TV Game Circuits" (PDF). Pong-story.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-17. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
Other websites
- How Video Games Invaded the Home TV Set by Ralph Baer
- "A History of Home Video Game Consoles". Archived from the original on 2007-12-26. by Michael Miller
- Video Game Consoles (1970-1976)
- The Dot Eaters: Bits From the Primordial Ooze Archived 2011-01-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ClassicGaming Expo 2000: Baer Describes the Birth of Videogames Archived 2008-03-06 at the Wayback Machine
- Video Games Turn 40 (1UP.com) Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine Slap Those Hoes