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This is a list of Game consoles by the era they occurred in. Eras are named based on the dominant console type of the era, though not all consoles of those eras are of the same type. Some eras are referred to based on how many bits a major console could process. Also included in this list are handheld game systems, which are usually of lower computational power than the set-top consoles of the same era. Consoles marketed and sold as general-purpose computers or that can play only a set of built-in games are not included.

First and second generation (1958–1982)[]

Main articles: History of Game consoles (first generation) and History of Game consoles (second generation)
name release date manufacturer type
Magnavox Odyssey 1972 Magnavox console
Coleco Telstar 1976 Coleco Dedicated
Fairchild Channel F / Video Entertainment System (VES) 1976 Fairchild console
Channel F System II 1979 Fairchild console
Philips Odyssey 1976 Philips console
Pong 1976 Atari Inc. Arcade
RCA Studio II 1976 RCA console
Atari 2600 / Atari Video Computer System (VCS) / Sears Video Arcade 1977 Atari Inc. console
Atari 2600 Jr. 1986 Atari Inc. console
Atari 2700 / Atari Remote Control VCS canceled Atari Inc console
Atari 2800 / Sears Video Arcade II (Japan Only) 1983 Atari, Inc console
Coleco Gemini (Atari 2600 hardware clone) ~1982 Coleco console
TV Boy ~1990 console
TV Boy 2 console
Super TV-Boy 1995 Akor console
Bally Astrocade 1977 Midway console
Color TV Game 6 (Japan Only) 1977 Nintendo Dedicated
Color TV Game 15 (Japan Only) 1978 Nintendo Dedicated
Color TV Racing 112 (Japan Only) 1978 Nintendo Dedicated
Color TV Game Block Breaker (Japan Only) 1979 Nintendo Dedicated
Computer TV Game (Japan Only) ~1979
Interton VC 4000 1978 Interton console
Magnavox Odyssey² 1978 Magnavox / Philips console
APF Imagination Machine 1979 APF console
Microvision 1979 Milton Bradley Handheld
Game & Watch 1980 Nintendo Handheld
Intellivision 1980 Mattel console
Intellivision II 1983 Mattel console
System Changer (Unlicensed Atari 2600 Compatibility)
PlayCable 1981
CreatiVision 1981 VTech console
Epoch Cassette Vision 1981 Epoch console
Emerson Arcadia 2001 (Leisure Vision in Canada) 1982 Emerson Radio console
Atari 5200 1982 Atari Inc. console
Atari 5100 / Atari 5200 Jr. canceled Atari Inc.
ColecoVision 1982 Coleco console
Expansion Module #1 (Unlicensed Atari 2600 Compatibility)
Commodore MAX Machine 1982 Commodore console / Home computer
Entex Adventure Vision 1982 Entex console
Vectrex 1982 Smith Engineering console

* Consoles of the early 1970s, such as Pong and Magnavox Odyssey were often inaccurately called "analog" but actually discrete logic circuits.[1]

Third generation (1983–1989)[]

Main article: History of Game consoles (third generation)
name release date manufacturer type
MSX 1983 Microsoft Japan console / Home Computer
Game Boy 1989 Nintendo Handheld
Game Boy Pocket 1996 Nintendo Handheld
Game Boy Light (Japan Only) 1997 Nintendo Handheld
Sega Game Gear 1991 Sega Handheld
PV-1000 1983 Casio console
Super Cassette Vision 1984 Epoch console
Supergame VG 3000 1985 CCE console [1]
Commodore 64GS 1990 Commodore console
TurboGrafx-16 1989 NEC console
PC Engine 1987 NEC console
Atari 7800 1986 Atari Corporation console
Sega SG-1000 1983 Sega console
Sega SG-1000 II 1984 Sega console
Sega Master System, Sega Mark III 1985 Sega console
Sega Master System II 1992 Sega console
Sega Master System III Sega console
PlayPal 2006 Coleco Handheld
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) / Famicom 1983 Nintendo console
C1 NES TV / Sharp Nintendo Television 1983, Japan Sharp / Nintendo console
NES-101 / AV Famicom 1993 Nintendo console
Famicom Disk System (Japan Only) 1986 Nintendo console add-on
Action Max 1987 Worlds of Wonder console
Amstrad GX4000 1990 Amstrad console

Template:Seealso

Fourth generation (1989–1993)[]

Main article: History of Game consoles (fourth generation)
name release date manufacturer type
Sega Mega Drive / Sega Genesis 1989 Sega console
Sega Mega Drive II Sega console
Sega Genesis II (North America Only) 1994[2] Sega console
Sega Mega Drive III (Brazil Only) Sega console
Sega Genesis 3 (Americas) 1998 Sega console
Sega CD 1992 Sega console add-on
Sega Genesis 32X / Sega Mega Drive 32X / Sega Super 32X 1994 Sega console add-on
JVC X'eye / The Wondermega Sega / JVC console
Atari Lynx 1989 Atari Corporation Handheld
Action Gamemaster Unreleased, aprox. 1992 Active Enterprises Handheld
TurboGrafx-16 1989 NEC console
TurboGrafx-CD NEC console
TurboExpress 1990 NEC Handheld
SuperGrafx 1989, Japan NEC console
Konix Multisystem Unreleased Konix console
Neo-Geo 1990 SNK console / Arcade
Neo-Geo CD 1994 SNK console
Neo-Geo CDZ 1994 SNK console
Commodore CDTV 1991 Commodore console / Personal computer
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) / Super Famicom 1991 Nintendo console
SF-1 SNES TV (Japan Only) 1990 Sharp / Nintendo console
SNES 2 / Super Famicom Jr. 1997 Nintendo console
SNES-CD canceled Nintendo console
Satellaview (Japan Only) 1993 Nintendo console add-on
Super Game Boy 1994, U.K. Nintendo console add-on
Super Game Boy 2 1998 Nintendo console add-on
FM Towns Marty (Japan Only) 1991 Fujitsu console
CD-i 1991 Philips console / Media player
TurboDuo / PC Engine Duo 1992, U.S. / 1991, Japan Turbo Technologies console
Supervision 1992 Watara Handheld
Mega Duck/Cougar Boy 1993 Creatonic / Timlex / Videojet Handheld
Pioneer LaserActive 1993 Pioneer console
Sega Nomad 1995 Sega Handheld
Super A'Can 1995 Funtech console

Fifth generation (1993–1998)[]

Main article: History of Game consoles (fifth generation)
name release date manufacturer type
Virtual Boy 1995 Nintendo console
Apple Pippin 1995 Bandai console
PC-FX 1994 NEC console
Atari Jaguar CD 1995 Atari Corporation console
Atari Jaguar II canceled Atari Corporation console
PlayStation 1994 Sony console
PocketStation 1999 Sony Handheld
Net Yaroze 1997 Sony console development kit
PS one 2000 Sony console
Sega Saturn 1994 Sega console
3DO 1993 Panasonic / Sanyo / GoldStar console
Amiga CD32 1993 Commodore console
Casio Loopy 1995 Casio console
R-Zone 1995 Tiger Electronics Handheld
FM Towns Marty 1991 Fujitsu console
Game.com 1997 Tiger Electronics Handheld
Pioneer LaserActive 1993 Pioneer console
Playdia 1994 Bandai console
Neo Geo Pocket 1998 SNK Handheld
Game Boy Color 1998 Nintendo Handheld
Atari Jaguar 1993 Atari Corporation console
Nintendo 64 1996 Nintendo console
Nintendo 64DD 1999 Nintendo console add-on

Sixth generation(1998–2004)[]

Main article: History of Game consoles (sixth generation)
name release date manufacturer type
ApeXtreme canceled Apex Digital console
Atari Flashback 2004 Atari Dedicated
Dreamcast 1998 Sega console
Game Boy Advance 2001 Nintendo Handheld
Game Boy Advance SP 2003 Nintendo Handheld
Game Boy Advance SP Mark II 2005 Nintendo Handheld
Game Boy Micro 2005 Nintendo Handheld
GP32 2001 GamePark Handheld
GameKing 2005 TimeTop Handheld
L600 canceled Indrema console
N-Gage 2003 Nokia Handheld
N-Gage QD 2004 Nokia console
Neo Geo Pocket Color 1999 SNK Handheld
Nintendo GameCube 2001 Nintendo console
IQue Player 2003 Nintendo console
Panasonic M2 canceled Panasonic console
Panasonic Q 2001 Nintendo / Panasonic console
PlayStation 2 2000 Sony console
PlayStation 2 Slimline 2004 Sony console
Pokemon mini 2001 Nintendo Handheld
PSX (DVR) 2003 Sony console
Q Game Boy Player 2001 Panasonic / Nintendo console
Rumble Station Color Dreams Handheld TV game
SwanCrystal 2002 Bandai Handheld
Tapwave Zodiac 2003 Tapwave Handheld
V.Smile VTech console
WonderSwan 1999 Bandai Handheld
WonderSwan Color 2000 Bandai Handheld
XaviXPort gaming console 2004 console
Xbox 2001 Microsoft console

Seventh generation (2004–2010)[]

Main article: History of Game consoles (seventh generation)
name release date manufacturer type
Atari Flashback 2 2005 Atari Inc. console
C64 Direct-to-TV 2004 Ironstone Handheld TV game
Evo: Phase One 2006 console
Fantastic Four TV game 2005 Jakks Pacific Handheld TV game
FC Twin 2006 Yobo console
GameSystem 2010 CUBE Design console
Game Wave 2005 ZAPiT console
Generation NEX 2005 console
Gizmondo 2005 Tiger Telematics Handheld
GP2X 2005 GamePark Handheld
GP2X Wiz 2009 GamePark Handheld
Mattel HyperScan 2006 Mattel console
iPhone 2007 Apple Inc. Handheld
iPod Touch 2007 Apple Inc. Handheld
N-Gage (service) 2008 Nokia Handheld
Mi2 2009 Planet interactive Handheld
Nintendo DS 2004 Nintendo Handheld
Nintendo DS Lite 2006 Nintendo Handheld
Nintendo DSi 2008 Nintendo Handheld
Nintendo DSi XL 2009 Nintendo Handheld
OnLive 2010 OnLive Gaming on demand
Pandora 2009 Handheld / UMPC / PDA
The Phantom Phantom console
PlayStation 3 2006 Sony console
PlayStation 3 Slim 2009 Sony console
PlayStation Portable 2004 Sony Handheld
PlayStation Portable Slim 2007 Sony Handheld
PlayStation Portable "Brite" 2008 Sony Handheld
PSP Go 2009 Sony Handheld
Space Invaders 2004 Radica Games Handheld TV game
Wii 2006 Nintendo console
Xbox 360 2005 Microsoft console
Zeebo 2009 Tectoy / Qualcomm console
Zone 40 2010 console

See also[]

References[]

  1. Andrew Bub (June 7, 2005). The Original GamerDad: Ralph Baer. http://www.gamerdad.com.+Retrieved on February 23, 2010.
  2. Sega Genesis II. Retrieved on 2010-03-30.
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