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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 -
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 -
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 -
1975-77 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 -
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 -
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 -
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 -
Nolan Bushnell invents Atari
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 of 2
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 of 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 -
Intellivision
By Mattel Electronics at $299
• Four games available and a
pack-in game: Las Vegas
Poker Blackjack
• First to pose a serious
threat to Atari
• By 1982 over two million
had been sold, earning Mattel
a $100,000,000 profit -
Asteroids
Popular and influential
game - 70,000 sold by Atari
• Vector display and 2D view
• Control a spaceship in an
asteroid field traversed
by flying saucers
• Object - shoot asteroids and
saucers while not colliding or
being hit by counter-fire -
Pac Man (1 of 2)
Namco - considered
among the most famous
arcade games of all time
• Became a social
phenomenon that sold
related merchandise and
inspired an animated
television series and a
top-ten hit single -
Pac Man (2 of 2)
Appealed to both
genders
• Generated more than
$2.5 billion in quarters
by the 1990s
• Highest brand
awareness of any video
game character -
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 -
Donkey Kong (2 of 2)
The hero and ape became
two of Nintendo's most
popular characters
• Nintendo licensed to
Coleco, which developed
home console versions
• Dominated the market in
the 1980s and early 1990s -
Donkey Kong (1 of 2)
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 -
Galaga
Fixed-shooter game
• Control a space ship while
aliens fly in formation and
come down at the player's
ship to either shoot or collide
• Players fire at enemies, and
once all enemies are
vanquished, at which point
the player moves to the next
stage -
Tron
Game was based on the
Disney movie
• A computer hacker is
trapped inside a digital
world and forced to
participate in
gladiatorial-type games -
Q-Bert
By Gottlieb
• Isometric platform with
puzzle elements where
the player controls the
character from a third-
person perspective
• Object is to make all
cubes the same color
• Uses a joystick -
Pole Position
Arcade racing by Atari
• Most popular coin-op
arcade game of 1983
• Use a steering wheel
and a gear shifter for
low and high gears
• Featured an
accelerator and brake
pedal. -
Mario Brothers
By Nintendo – platform
arcade
• Full color
• Mario, a Italian-American
plumber, and his brother
Luigi must defeat
creatures from the
sewers below New York -
Tetris (1 of 2)
Tile-matching from the Soviet Union
• Name is from the Greek numerical prefix
tetra- four segments
• Electronic Gaming Monthly's 100th issue
had Tetris in first place as "Greatest
Game of All Time“ -
Tetris (2 of 2)
For Commodore 64 and
IBM PC
• Sold more than 70
million copies
• In January 2010, it was
announced that Tetris has
sold more than 100 million
copies for mobile phones
alone since 2005 -
Video Game Crash (1 of 2)
The delay of Atari's 7800 console left
consumers hungry for the next big thing
• A flood of consoles on the US market
gave consumers too many choices
• Poor game titles and too many games
based on the movie ET
• Introduction of personal computers like
the Commodore 64 -
Video Game Crash (2 of 2)
Millions of consumers shifted their
intention to buy choices from game
consoles to low-end computers that
retailed for similar prices
• The crash lasted two years. The market
was revitalized due to the success of the
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
with its landmark title Super Mario Bros -
NES
8-bit console by Nintendo
• Most successful of its time;
sold over 60 million worldwide
• Helped revitalize the US industry
following crash of 1984 - set the standard
for consoles
• First console to play and openly court
third-party developers
• Slogan "Now You're Playing With Power!" -
The Legend of Zelda
Fantasy action-adventure
created in Japan and
published by Nintendo
• Link, a playable
character, must rescue
Princess Zelda
• As of December 2011,
sold 67.93 million copies -
Sega Master System
8-bit cartridge-based by
Sega
• The Master System was
released as a direct
competitor to the NES
• Failed to topple
Nintendo, but was
popular in European
markets -
Atari 7800
Replaced Atari 5200, and
re-establish Atari's
supremacy over
Nintendo and Sega
• Digital joysticks; fully backward-
compatible with the Atari 2600;
and affordable - $140
• Designed to be upgraded to a
home computer -
Final Fantasy
Science fantasy RPGs
• Franchise includes motion
pictures, anime, printed
media, and other merchandise -
more than 100 million units sold
• Known for innovation, visuals,
full-motion videos, photo-
realistic character models, and
orchestrated music -
Atari Lynx
World's first with a color
LCD display by Atari
• Advanced features and
graphics, and
ambidextrous layout
• Failed to attract quality
third-party developers,
and was eventually
abandoned -
Nintendo’s Game Boy
8-bit for $89.95
• First successful handheld -
predecessor of all other
Game Boys
• Originally bundled with
Tetris
• Sold 118.69 million
worldwide -
Sega Genesis
Supported over 900
games
• First 16-bit console to
achieve notable market
share - sold 40 million
units worldwide
• Direct competitor of the
Super (SNES), although
released two years earlier -
Sega Game Gear
Sega's response to the
Game Boy; short battery
life, lack of support, and
lack of titles held it back
• Third color console released
• 8-bit color at $149.99
• Full-color backlit screen
with a landscape format -
TurboExpress
Most advanced of its time
and could play games on a
credit-card sized device
called HuCards
• 66 2.6 in. screen, displayed 64 sprites
at once, 16 per scanline, in 482 colors
from a palette of 512
• Had 8 kilobytes of RAM $249.99
• Could use as a video monitor -
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 -
Super Nintendo
Advanced graphics and
sound capabilities
• Ran 3D graphics better,
helping usher in 3D in
the fifth generation
• Best-selling of the 16-bit
era
• Remains popular well
into the 32-bit era -
Sony PlayStation
32-bit by Sony
• First of a series of PS
consoles
• First to ship 100 million
units
• PS2 released in 2000 is
best-selling home console
to date
• Has a PlayStation network -
Sega Saturn
32-bit - sold 9.5 million
units worldwide
• Powerful machine for the
time, but its design made
harnessing power difficult
• Was the "other" system,
running a distant third
behind the Nintendo 64 and
the PlayStation -
Nintendo 64
Nintendo's third home
console $199
• 64-bit processor sold
32.93 million units
worldwide
• Released Super Mario 64
and Pilotwings 64
• Slogan: "Get N, or get
Out!" -
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 -
Xbox 360
By Microsoft after the XBOX
• Had problems at first
• Xbox Live allows players to
compete online and
download content
• Streams media from PC
• Sold 80 million units
worldwide - seventh
highest-selling console -
Nintendo Wii
by Nintendo for a broader
audience
• As of 2012, the Wii led
PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in
worldwide sales
• 12/2009, broke sales record for
a single month in the US
• Notable features: controller,
WiiConnect24, and Virtual
Console. -
PlayStation 3
Third by Sony after the PS2
• First to use Blu-ray Disc
• Can output high-definition
video for games and
movies in up to 1080p
• Initially available in two
configurations, 20 GB and
the 60 GB model