{"id":2893,"date":"2013-05-19T11:00:27","date_gmt":"2013-05-19T18:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bensbargains.net\/thecheckout\/?p=2893"},"modified":"2013-10-28T14:50:06","modified_gmt":"2013-10-28T21:50:06","slug":"video-game-consoles-through-the-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/features\/video-game-consoles-through-the-years\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s Next? Video Game Consoles Through the Years"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Video game sales accounted for nearly $15 billion in the U.S. last year. In 2012, the U.S. box office sold about $11 billion worth of tickets, the home video industry made about $18 billion and the publishing and music industry each brought in $7 billion.<\/p>\n

F<\/span>our decades of mainstream gaming have turned the video game industry into a major player in the entertainment business. With last year’s release of Nintendo’s next-gen console Wii U<\/a>, the February announcement of this fall’s Sony PlayStation 4<\/a> and the expected unveiling of Microsoft’s “Xbox 720” this coming Tuesday, May 21st, the video game industry is ready to take another leap into cultural dominance.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a look back at some of the most popular home video game consoles of the past 35+ years, starting with one of the most famous and beloved consoles of any generation, the Atari 2600.<\/p>\n

1977: Atari 2600<\/h3>\n

Not the first video game console\u2014the 1972 Magnavox Odyssey was the first\u2014but the Atari 2600 was certainly the one that started the modern age of video games.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Atari-2600-original\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1978: Magnavox Odyssey 2<\/h3>\n

The successor to the original video game console had no third-party games but still sold over a million consoles.<\/p>\n

\"Magnavox-Odyssey-2-Console\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1979: Mattel Intellivision<\/h3>\n

It never could get out of the shadows of the Atari 2600, but with unique add-ons like Intellivoice,\u00a0the speech synthesizer, the Intellivision still has many fans to this day.<\/p>\n

\"intellivision\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1982: ColecoVision<\/h3>\n

It had better graphics than the Atari 2600 and Intellivision, and it included the arcade smash Donkey Kong<\/em>. But there was also a depressing Smurfs<\/a><\/em> game.<\/p>\n

\"colecovision\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

1982: Atari 5200<\/h3>\n

The inevitable sequel to the legendary 2600, the 5200 would eventually fall victim to the video game crash of 1983, but had an analog joystick with a numeric keypad and pause button.<\/p>\n

\"Atari-5200\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

1982: Intellivision II<\/h3>\n

Yeah… sneaky name since it was the same exact<\/em> thing as the Intellivision, only smaller.<\/p>\n

\"Intellivision-II\"<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

1985: Nintendo Entertainment System<\/h3>\n

An absolute all-time classic which revived the fortunes of the video game industry, the NES boasts a legacy of first-party titles like Super Mario Bros. 3<\/em>, The Legend of Zelda\u00a0<\/em>and Metroid<\/em> that are still loved today.<\/p>\n

\"Nintendo-Entertainment-System\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1986: Sega Master System<\/h3>\n

Playing Intellivision to Nintendo’s Atari 2600, the Sega Master System was not a success, but it was arguably cooler looking with its sleek “Power Base.”<\/p>\n

\"Sega-Master-System\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1986: Atari 7800<\/h3>\n

It was backwards-compatible with the 2600. Which didn’t help people forget how classic the 2600 was.<\/p>\n

\"Atari-7800-Console\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1989: Sega Master System II<\/h3>\n

Yeah… sneaky name since it was the same exact<\/em> thing as the Sega Master System, only smaller. Wait, where have we heard this before?<\/p>\n

\"Sega-Master-System-II-Console\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1989: Sega Genesis<\/h3>\n

With Sonic the Hedgehog as its answer to Mario, the Sega Genesis helped usher in 16-bit consoles in the U.S. (Launch model pictured below.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Sega-Genesis-Mod1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1991: Super Nintendo Entertainment System<\/h3>\n

Like its predecessor, the SNES had a long life and ultimately outsold all its competitors.<\/p>\n

\"Super-Nintendo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1995: Sony PlayStation<\/h3>\n

The most successful of the “fifth generation” consoles, the Sony PlayStation used CDs for games and ending up selling over 100 million consoles, a first in the industry.<\/p>\n

\"Sony-PlayStation\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1996: Nintendo 64<\/h3>\n

While not dominating the market share like previous Nintendo consoles, the N64 still had Super Mario 64<\/em>, considered one of the greatest games ever.<\/p>\n

\"Nintendo-64-Console\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1999: Sega Dreamcast<\/h3>\n

While overshadowed by later rivals, the Dreamcast is remembered fondly by gamers for its innovative games. Ah… Soul Calibur.\u00a0<\/em>Plus, it had a built-in modem, which was a first.<\/p>\n

\"Sega-Dreamcast\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2000: PlayStation 2<\/h3>\n

Somehow managing to meet the incredible hype, the PlayStation 2 outdid its predecessor and is now the best-selling home console ever with over 155 million units sold worldwide. Which is ironic, considering how difficult it was to find at launch. (The original design pictured alongside the later slim version.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Playstation-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2001: Nintendo GameCube<\/h3>\n

While it’ll probably always be the awkward sibling at Nintendo console family gatherings, the GameCube had some good games.<\/p>\n

\"Nintendo-GameCube\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2001: Microsoft Xbox<\/h3>\n

With its innovative built-in hard drive and ethernet port, the Xbox ensured that Microsoft’s first entry into console gaming would be powerful and groundbreaking. Plus, it introduced Halo<\/em> to the world.<\/p>\n

\"Microsoft-Xbox\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2005: Xbox 360<\/h3>\n

In a relatively quick turnaround for consoles, the current generation Xbox 360 appeared four years later and surpassed the original Xbox in every way. It’s a favorite among gamers for its awesome graphics, highly praised Xbox Live online gaming service and innovative and popular Kinect motion controller. (The later slim model with the Kinect.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Microsoft-Xbox-360\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

2006: Sony PlayStation 3<\/h3>\n

Equipped with a Blu-ray drive and HDMI output, the PlayStation 3 is as much a home theater device as it is a powerful gaming system. It’s also undergone three major design revisions, the latest being released in fall 2012 (far right).<\/p>\n

\"PlayStation-3-versions\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2006: Nintendo Wii<\/h3>\n

The funny name has not stopped the Wii from being embraced by both gamers and non-gamers alike. It has sold nearly 100 million consoles to date.<\/p>\n

\"nintendo-wii\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2012: Nintendo Wii U<\/h3>\n

While it’s too early to say whether it will be joining the GameCube at the kids’ table at Nintendo console family reunions, the Wii U has seen disappointing sales thus far.<\/p>\n

\"Nintendo-Wii-U\"<\/a><\/p>\n

2013: PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720<\/del> One<\/h3>\n

While we still don’t know what either of these consoles will look like, expect this holiday season to be another titanic battle between the major video game makers.<\/p>\n

Update [5\/21\/13]:<\/h3>\n

Microsoft finally unveiled their next-gen console, officially named the Xbox One, and it’s being touted as an “all-in-one” entertainment device with powerful multitasking capabilities, live TV and a Blu-ray drive.<\/p>\n

\"xbox-one-console\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Watch the Ben’s Bargains video games page<\/a> for the latest hardware and software deals!<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Video game sales accounted for nearly $15 billion in the U.S. last year. In 2012, the U.S. box office sold about $11 billion worth of tickets, the home video industry made about $18 billion and the publishing and music industry each brought in $7 billion. our decades of mainstream gaming have turned the video game […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3859,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[33,367,25,368],"class_list":["post-2893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-gaming","tag-video-game-consoles","tag-video-games","tag-xbox-720"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2893"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3501,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2893\/revisions\/3501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}