Game Console Generations

Today many people only pay attention to the future of gaming but sometimes we have to take a step back and acknowledge where our gaming history began.

"Every revolution begins with a spark"

- Katniss (The Hunger Games)

First Generation, 1972- 1980

Technological Advances: It was the first game console (also a concept) to use a home TV set to play video games at home. During the time it came out, one of the cool features it came with was using color overlays for the game’s background and plug-in circuits to change the game.

Best console: Magnavox Odyssey (Brown Box)

• Units sold: 330,000

• Why it was the best: The Magnavox Odyssey was the best because it’s what started the whole at home game console idea. This is where the root of being able to play digital games in the comforts of your own home began!

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Second Generation, 1976- 1983

Technological Advances: The Atari 2600 has a ROM (read only memory) cartridges that contained game codes, 128 colors possible that can come out on the screen, usually came with two joystick controllers and two game paddles.

Best console: Atari 2600

• Units sold: 30 million

• Why it was the best: The Atari 2600 brought home the games/ experience from the arcades into a video game system from Pac-Man, to Space Invaders, down to even Frogger, and so on.

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Third Generation, 1983- 1993

Technological Advances: The NES was the first console with the 8-bit, had five redesigned consoles, and one of the first consoles to have tile and sprite- based graphics. This console also included two controllers.

Best console: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

• Units sold: 62 million

• Why it was the best: It was the best because of how clean the graphics were and of course because of the first game the Nintendo came out with which was Super Mario Brothers that sold over 40 million copies.The system continued to be a success especially since Shigeru Miyamoto made another game hit which was “The Legend of Zelda” that sold over 67 million copies!

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Fourth Generation, 1987- 1995

Technological Advances: The Sega was a 16 bit ROM cartridge format console that can display 64 colors at once out of 512 colors with a six button controller and it also had a remote arcade pad controller (arcade power stick) to use on games such as Street Fighter 2.

Best console: Sega Genesis

• Units sold: 40 million

• Why it was the best: I considered the Sega Genesis to be one of the best because of “Sonic the Hedgehog”, I thought this console was so cool back in the day because of all the violent games me and brother used to play on it. The Sega was the first console my brother owned and then from there on I was hooked on watching my oldest brother play different games on it from Sonic to Mortal Kombat. It was the first time I had seen different violent games in that time period which separated the Sega from the rest of the consoles that came before it.

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Fifth Generation, 1993- 2006

Technological Advances: The Sony Playstation was the new generation of CD-ROM (16 million colors) and rumble controllers (Dualshock). The console used memory cards to be able to save your game progress and come back to it where you last left off. The system’s graphics had improved to more three dimensional interfaces/ gameplay and the ability to listen to your CDs (music) as though it was a digital boom box, it also had two redesigned models; Sony Playstation and PSone.

Best console: Sony Playstation

• Units sold: 100 million

• Why it was the best: Well what can I say about the Sony Playstation besides how awesome the console was for its era! It was something really different and changed gaming console history! The graphics, the experience, the different games you can play was just out of this world! I remember when I was younger my favorite Playstation game was Crash Bandicoot and the whole 3D experience was amazing, with the inclusion of the rumble feature in the controllers made you feel as though you were part of all the action from the game in real life.

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Sixth Generation, 1998- 2013

Technological Advances: Playstation 2 (PS2) had a CD-ROM and now DVD-ROM to play your DVD movies at home. It had a multipurpose of being a gaming and movie entertainment function. The console came out with another slimmer redesigned PS2. It also had a network adapter, the EyeToy (a camera to interact with for gameplay), PS2 headset, and even a PS2 DVD remote controller.

Best console: Playstation 2 (PS2)

• Units sold: 150 million

• Why it was the best: What I loved about the Playstation 2 was that you can watch your movies on it. I remember someone telling me how the PS2 was a waste of money and that same day that person went and bought a Bose DVD player for $450.00, and told him my mom paid $300 for a PS2 bundle and it came with a built in DVD player sucker! I think got the better deal if I may say so myself, besides the DVD-ROM I like how it had a huge library of games to buy. The main game that was popular that made everyone want a PS2 was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas which sold over 17 million copies!

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Seventh Generation, 20014- Now

Technological Advances: Xbox 360 had HD resolution/ games, an Xbox windows dashboard to navigate through the menu, an online service (Xbox Live) to play amongst other players, 2 USB ports, had three redesigned models, and the Kinect which is a controller hands-free gaming experience.

Best console: Xbox 360

• Units sold: 84 million

• Why it was the best: It was the best because I was able to listen to my music in the background while I played my games. I also like the games that were exclusive for only the Xbox consoles, such as “Halo” and “Gears of War” (which were also the top games for Xbox). The HD quality to their games were really crystal clear and the updates were fast compared to the Playstation 3 that took an eternity to load/update. I do feel like the Xbox was the underdog in the console wars for the fact being that no one ever suspected that a random system from Microsoft to come up top with the Xbox 360 and be a fierce competitor against Nintendo and Sony, it seems to me that Microsoft has only just begun and hopefully continues to amaze me. Go Xbox!