Evolution of Home Video Game Consoles (1967 – 2011)

By Michael Poh. in Culture. Updated on April 21, 2025.

Video gaming has come a long way since the early days of Pong and Pac-man. We can now play affordable games with high-quality 3D graphics and impressive interactivity in the comfort of our homes. This evolution didn’t happen overnight – it’s the result of countless subtle improvements made to each console over the years.

The fierce competition between video game console companies has driven innovation, bringing us the exceptional gaming experiences we enjoy today.

As you’ll see below, the evolution of video game consoles is fascinating. Did you know there have been more than 70 different consoles to date? Or that there was a golden era of video arcade games when Nintendo and Sega fiercely competed with their revolutionary consoles?

If these facts intrigue you, I guarantee this article will excite you even more with fascinating historical details across the video game console timeline.

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1967

The first video game console (working prototype) debuted as a bulky rectangular brown wooden box with two attached controllers, earning it the name “Brown Box.”

Invented by Ralph H. Baer, known as “The Father of Video Games,” he developed the console to work with ordinary TV sets. The system featured six simple games: ping-pong, tennis, handball, volleyball, chase games, and a light-gun game.

“Brown Box” (1967)

1972

The demonstration of the “Brown Box” led to Magnavox licensing the technology in 1972, resulting in the release of the first official home video game console – the Magnavox Odyssey.

Just as the earliest films lacked recorded sound, the first video game console was silent, with graphics that we would consider very primitive by today’s standards.

Magnavox Odyssey (1972)

1975 – 1977

Atari’s PONG arcade machine was so popular in 1973 that the company decided to market it as a home console in 1975. That same year, Magnavox improved its Odyssey system, releasing two different versions: the Magnavox Odyssey 100 and 200.

From 1976-77, Magnavox produced a series of Odyssey consoles, each slightly better than the previous one. The consoles featured similar games but with improved graphics, controllers, and digital on-screen scoring.

Unsurprisingly, Atari responded with new consoles like the highly-acclaimed Atari 2600, Video Pinball, and Stunt Cycle. New companies like Fairchild, RCA, and Coleco also entered the market, creating their own consoles.

The Wonder Wizard by General Home Products was essentially identical to the Odyssey 300 by Magnavox, except for having better and larger paddle controllers.

Fairchild and RCA didn’t achieve much success with their first consoles, while Coleco’s Telstar system was well-received for its color gaming capability and different difficulty levels. This popularity led to several new Coleco consoles appearing in the market from 1977-78.

Atari Sears Tele-Games Pong System (1975)

Magnavox Odyssey 100 (1975)

Magnavox Odyssey 200 (1975)

Coleco Telstar (1976)

Fairchild Channel F (1976)

Magnavox Odyssey 300 (1976)

Magnavox Odyssey 400 (1976)

Magnavox Odyssey 500 (1976)

The Wonder Wizard Model 7702 (1976)

RCA Studio II (1977)

Magnavox Odyssey 2000 (1977)

Atari 2600 (1977)

Atari Video Pinball (1977)

Atari Stunt Cycle (1977)

Coleco Telstar Ranger (1977)

Coleco Telstar Alpha (1977)

Coleco Telstar Colormatic (1977)

Coleco Telstar Combat (1977)

Magnavox Odyssey 3000 (1977)

Magnavox Odyssey 4000 (1977)

1978 – 1980

Nintendo, which would become a major player in the video gaming industry for the next three decades, released its first series of video game consoles from 1977 to 1979.

The Color TV Game Series was only available in Japan. These consoles followed in Atari’s footsteps, featuring Pong-style games.

Several new companies entered the market with limited success. The Bally Astrocade, released in 1977, was celebrated for its superior graphics but didn’t last long. Mattel introduced its Intellivision console in 1979, which actually challenged the Atari 2600 with its exceptional capabilities.

Coleco continued its line of consoles, attempting to compete with the mighty Atari 2600. The company produced consoles for shooting, car racing, and pinball games.

Similarly, Magnavox persisted with more upgraded consoles, though they remained Pong-based systems. Philips, having bought Magnavox in 1974, also developed variations of Magnavox Odyssey models. Despite these efforts, the Atari 2600 remained dominant due to its cartridge-based system with better graphics and games.

Nintendo Color TV Game Series (1977 – 1979)

Coleco Telstar Sportsman (1978)

Coleco Telstar Colortron (1978)

Coleco Telstar Marksman (1978)

Coleco Telstar Gemini (1978)

Coleco Telstar Arcade (1978)

Bally Astrocade (1978)

Magnavox Odyssey 2 (1978)

Philips Odyssey 2001 (1978)

Philips Odyssey 2100 (1978)

Mattel’s Intellivison (1979)

1981 – 1985

The golden age of video gaming had arrived! With progressively advanced gaming technology, the 1980s became a period of genre innovation. The industry began experimenting with non-Pong games like fighting, platform, adventure, and RPG games.

This era also saw the release of all-time classic games such as Pac-man (1980), Mario Bros (1983), The Legend of Zelda (1986), Final Fantasy (1987), and Golden Axe (1988). There was also a major shift from dedicated consoles (with built-in games) to cartridge-based video game systems.

Both Sega and Nintendo dominated the video gaming scene in this decade. Sega’s first console, the SG-1000, was released in 1983. It wasn’t particularly well-known since it was mostly distributed in Asia and never launched in North America.

However, this machine laid the foundation for its top-notch successor in 1985, the Sega Master System. Nevertheless, the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), released in 1983, emerged as the best-selling console of that generation. It’s fair to say that the NES single-handedly established Nintendo as a company synonymous with gaming.

Companies within the video game consoles market like Atari, Mattel and Coleco released new consoles, Atari 5200, Intellivision II and ColecoVision, respectively, but these were not comparable with the popularity of Sega and Nintendo.

In fact, ColecoVision was the last home video game console Coleco released. They dominated the home video gaming market until they were dethroned by NES when it was introduced to the US and UK market a year after the 1984 video game industry crash.

As a result of the crash, ColecoVision ended up as the last console released by Coleco. Meanwhile, a few new and unheard consoles were brought to the market by hopeful companies, only to be overwhelmed by the intense competition between the Sega Master System and NES. (Thanks Jared for pointing out the error in this paragraph)

Epoch Cassette Vision (1981)

Vectrex (1982)

Emersion Arcadia (1982)

ColecoVision (1982)

Atari 5200 (1982)

Mattel Intellivision II (1982)

Casio PV-1000 (1983)

Sega SG-1000 (1983)

Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) (1983)

Epoch Super Cassette Vision (1984)

Sega Master System (1985)

1986 – 1990

As the struggle for domination continued between Nintendo and Sega, each released new consoles to challenge the other’s position. Sega introduced its most successful console of all time, the Mega Drive/Genesis, in 1988.

To counter this threat, Nintendo presented the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) two years later. Sega released the Master System II in the same year after achieving significant success with the Mega Drive/Genesis. This marked the major console war of the 80s.

Atari was slowly fading from the console market despite releasing its latest system, the Atari 7800. Its main selling point was backward compatibility with the phenomenal Atari 2600, allowing players to enjoy classic games from the past.

Newcomer TurboGrafx-16 by NEC attempted to compete with both Sega Genesis and Nintendo’s SNES and NES consoles but ultimately ranked fourth in the video game market by 1991. An enhanced version, the SuperGrafx (1989), also failed to gain traction.

SNK Neo Geo, already famous for its arcade machines production, went ahead to bring the arcade experience to home video game consoles in 1990. The Neo Geo AES (Advanced Entertainment System) was equipped with remarkable graphics thanks to the larger size of the games, which consequently led to the pricey tag (the console costs more than 800 dollars, while each game piece over 200 dollars). It is for this reason that the public’s reception of the first Neo Geo console was less than great.

Atari 7800 (1986)

NEC TurboGrafx-16 (1987)

Sega Mega Drive/Genesis (1988)

NEC SuperGrafx (1989)

Sega Master System II (1990)

SNK NeoGeo AES (Advanced Entertainment System) (1990)

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1990)

1991 – 1993

The early 1990s saw a notable shift in game storage medium from cartridges to compact discs. This increased capacity for video gaming and prompted a transition from 2D to 3D graphics.

Philips launched the first CD console in 1991 – the CD-i. Unfortunately, the console is more commonly remembered as a failure due to its sub-standard games and frustrating controllers.

In 1992, NEC upgraded the TurboGrafx-16 to the TurboGrafx-CD to meet the demands of CD-based consoles. However, it lost out to Sega Genesis/MegaDrive with its latest add-on, the Sega CD.

Atari made its final console appearance with the CD-based Atari Jaguar in 1993, meant to compete against other 16-bit consoles like the Sega Genesis and SNES. It then found itself losing the console battle to more advanced next-generation consoles like the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation a year later.

Commodore, a US-based home computer manufacturer, gained entry into the market with its very own Amiga CD32 (1993). Sadly, it was only for a brief few months before Commodore declared bankrupcy in 1994, thus prematurely ending the sales of a video game console with some potential.

Philips CD-i (1991)

NEC TurboDuo (1992)

Panasonic 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (1993)

Atari Jaguar (1993)

Commodore Amiga CD32 (1993)

1994 – 1997

In 1994, Sony finally entered the market with the leading PlayStation. Meanwhile, Sega, riding on the immense success of its MegaDrive/Genesis system, expanded it into a series with the Genesis 2 (1994) and Genesis 3 (1997).

Sega also developed an entirely new console, the Saturn, to compete with other CD-based consoles. Nintendo, on the other hand, stuck to its cartridge system for its new Nintendo 64.

SNK Neo Geo moved to a CD-based console in 1994. Having learned from their previous expensive pricing, the Neo Geo CD console cost 00 while its games cost around 0 – significant drops from their previous AES system.

NEC introduced its new PC-FX, which resembled a desktop CPU more than a console. The technology they used was outdated compared to that of the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation, leading to the console being phased out and NEC exiting the home console market.

During this time, there were also many other consoles which most of us would not have heard of. Bandai, Casio and even Apple came up with their own consoles. The Virtual Boy by Nintendo, launched in 1995, consisted of a head-mounted display to view 3D graphics.

Sega Genesis 2 (1994)

Sega Saturn (1994)

Playstation (1994)

SNK Neo Geo CD (1994)

NEC PC-FX (1994)

Bandai Playdia (1994)

Apple Bandai Pippin (1995)

Casio Loopy (1995)

Nintendo’s Virtual Boy (1995)

Nintendo 64 (1996)

Sega Genesis 3 (1997)

1998 – 2004

Since the Sega Saturn wasn’t a major success, Sega developed a new console for the next generation – the Sega Dreamcast (1998). In terms of providing internet support via its built-in modem for online play, Dreamcast was the pioneer in 1998.

Two years later, Sony progressed with the PlayStation 2. In 2001, Nintendo switched from its cartridge-based Nintendo 64 to the DVD-ROM GameCube.

That same year, Microsoft entered the video game console industry with its well-received Xbox, which also featured an online gaming service, Xbox Live.

By this time, the industry had stabilized after three decades of experimentation with various consoles, and few new companies attempted to enter the market. Interestingly, there was one relatively unknown console, the XaviXPORT, released in 2004.

The console used cartridges and had controllers that resembled sports equipment for interacting with on-screen games. It was primarily used for exercise and fitness. This concept somewhat foreshadowed the Nintendo Wii, doesn’t it?

Sega Dreamcast (1998)

Playstation 2 (2000)

Nintendo Gamecube (2001)

Xbox (2001)

XaviXPORT (2004)

2005 – 2011

The current generation of video game consoles has room for only three major competitors: Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii. With full 1080p HD graphics for both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and Wii’s innovative motion-sensing remote, video gaming has indeed come a long way.

All three consoles expanded with add-ons: the MotionPlus for Wii (2009), Kinect (2010) for Xbox 360, and Move (2010) for PlayStation 3. These add-ons similarly featured accurate motion-sensing capabilities, enhancing the interactive experience for players.

Most of the original companies had already exited the market – Atari, Coleco, NEC, Sega, etc. However, two adventurous companies attempted to compete with the Big Three.

Mattel returned with its Hyperscan console after a three-decade absence from the industry. Marketed to young boys aged five to nine, it was only available for a year before being discontinued in 2007. PC World Magazine ranked it the 7th worst video game system of all time.

On the other hand, the EVO Smart Console (2008) appeared more promising with its HD graphics, internet access, 120GB hard drive, and 2GB RAM. Also a Media PC, it was the first Linux Open Source game console. However, for unknown reasons, the console’s official website is no longer available and isn’t even mentioned on Envisions’ website.

Xbox360 (2005)

Playstation 3 (2006)

Wii (2006)

Mattel’s Hyperscan (2006)

Envizions EVO Smart Console (2008)