Atari Pong
See Sears Tele-Games Pong
Atari ST
Manufacturer: Atari Corporation
Year released: 1985
Origin: USA
Type: Personal computer
The first home computer to support the MIDI electronic music standard and became widely used by professional electronic music acts such as 808 State. The Amiga’s main rival in Europe.
Atari VCS 2600
Manufacturer: Atari Inc.
Year released: 1977
Origin: USA
Type: Home console
The system that popularised the cartridge-based console. Released in Japan as the Atari 2800 in 1983. Combat, a remake of Atari’s 1974 coin-op Tank, was built in.
Auto Race
Manufacturer: Mattel Electronics
Year released: 1976
Origin: USA
Type: Handheld game
The first handheld video game. Used LED lights for its visuals.
B
Ball
See Game & Watch
Bally Professional Arcade
Manufacturer: Bally, Astrocade
Year released: 1978
Origin: USA
Type: Home console
Designed by Dave Nutting Associates. In 1982, Bally sold the rights to Astrocade, who relaunched it as the Astrocade.
Bandai Intellivision
See Intellivision
Bandai SuperVision 8000
See SuperVision 8000
Bandai TV Jack 1000
Manufacturer: Bandai
Year released: 1977
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
Part of Japan’s home Pong boom of 1977. Bandai’s first step into the video game business.
BBC Micro
Manufacturer: Acorn Computers
Year released: 1981
Origin: UK
Type: Personal computer
Line of home computers commissioned by the BBC.
Brown Box
See Magnavox Odyssey
Casio Loopy
Manufacturer: Casio
Year released: 1995
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
Short-lived console aimed at female players. Included a built-in thermal printer that allowed users to print colour stickers. It could also capture images from videocassette recorders.
C
Cassette Vision
Manufacturer: Epoch
Year released: 1981
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
Until Nintendo released its Famicom, this was Japan’s leading console.
CD32
Manufacturer: Commodore
Year released: 1993
Origin: USA
Type: Home console
A CD-based console reincarnation of Commodore’s Amiga computer.
CD-i
Manufacturer: Magnavox, Philips
Year released: 1991
Origin: Netherlands
Type: Home console
Released under the Magnavox brand in North America.
CDTV
Manufacturer: Commodore International
Year released: 1991
Origin: USA
Type: Home console/Personal computer
Sold as a console but could be turned into a Amiga computer.
ColecoVision
Manufacturer: Coleco
Year released: 1982
Origin: USA
Type: Home console
Its initial success was cut brutally short by the US video game crash.
Color TV Game 6
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Year released: 1977
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
Nintendo’s first games console containing six Pong-style games.
Color TV Game 15
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Year released: 1978
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
Yet another Pong console with 15 variations on offer.
Color TV Game Block Breaker
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Year released: 1979
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
Home version of Nintendo’s 1978 coin-op game Block Breaker.
Color TV Game Racing 112
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Year released: 1978
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
Console offering a selection of driving games. The console’s casing was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto.
Commodore 64
Manufacturer: Commodore International
Year released: 1982
Origin: USA
Type: Personal computer
The best-selling home computer model of all-time with around 17 million sold worldwide. Included the SID sound chip that was on of the most advanced for its time.
Commodore PET
Manufacturer: Commodore International
Year released: 1977
Origin: USA
Type: Personal computer
One of the first mass-produced personal computers. PET stood for Personal Electronic Transactor. Came encased in 1970s futuristic plastic that fused keyboard, monitor and computer together. The PET lacked the graphical capabilities of its key rival the Apple II, being monochrome and only capable of displaying ASCII characters.
D
Data General Nova
Manufacturer: Data General
Year released: 1969
Origin: USA
Type: Minicomputer
Created by a team of former Digital Equipment Corporation staff.
DEC GT40
Manufacturer: Digital Equipment Corporation
Year released: 1972
Origin: USA
Type: Terminal
Vector graphics terminal that connected to the PDP-11 minicomputer.
Dendy
Manufacturer: Steepler Company
Year released: 1993
Origin: Russia
Type: Home console
Pirated copy of Nintendo’s NES console. Became very popular in the former USSR. The games on sale were usually illegal copies of games available in Japan and the US.
Donkey Kong
See Game & Watch
Dreamcast
Manufacturer: Sega
Year released: 1998
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
Sega’s final console. Featured an in-built 56k dial-up modem. A keyboard and mouse was also available.
E
EDSAC
Manufacturer: University of Cambridge
Year released: 1949
Origin: UK
Type: Vacuum tube computeront>
The first computer with memory.
Elektronika 60
Manufacturer: Elektronika
Year released: Unknown, probably late 1970s
Origin: USSR
Type: Minicomputer
Soviet clone of the Digital Equipment Corporation’s PDP-11 minicomputer.
ENIAC
Manufacturer: University of Pennsylvania
Year released: 1946
Origin: USA
Type: Vacuum tube computer
The first programmable multi-purpose computer.
Epoch TV Block
Manufacturer: Epoch
Year released: 1979
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
The Japanese version of Atari’s Video Pinball console
Epoch TV Tennis
Manufacturer: Epoch
Year released: 1975
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
Japan’s first games console – a version of the Magnavox Odyssey.
Exelvision EXL100
Manufacturer: Exelvision
Year released: 1984
Origin: France
Type: Personal computer
Created by a group of former Texas Instruments employees.
F
Fairchild Channel F
Manufacturer: Fairchild Semiconductor, Zircon International
Year released: 1976
Origin: USA
Type: Home console
The first console to use cartridges. Zircon International bought the rights in 1979 and launched a redesigned version, the Channel F System II.
Famicom
See NES
Famicom Disk System
Manufacturer: Nintendo, Sharp
Year released: 1986
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console add-on
A disk storage device for the Famicom, the Japanese version of the NES. Offered more memory for games than cartridges and the possibility to save games. Sharp released the Twin Famicom, an all-in-one Famicom console and Famicom Disk System, in the same year as the Disk System was released.
FM-7
Manufacturer: Fujitsu
Year released: 1982
Origin: Japan
Type: Personal computer
One of Japan’s most popular computers during the 1980s.
FM Towns
Manufacturer: Fujitsu
Year released: 1989
Origin: Japan
Type: Personal computer
A multimedia-based PC for the Japanese market. A home console version of the computer, the FM Towns Marty, was launched in 1991.
Football
Manufacturer: Mattel Electronics
Year released: 1977
Origin: USA
Type: Handheld game
Portable LED game.
G
Game & Watch
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Year released: 1980
Origin: Japan
Type: Handheld game
Nintendo released 60 Game & Watch games between 1980 and 1991.
Game Boy
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Year released: 1989
Origin: Japan
Type: Handheld console
The original was monochrome. 1998’s Game Boy Color added basic colour visuals. The Game Boy Advance, launched in 2001, was a full upgrade of the handheld.
Game Boy Advance
See Game Boy
Game Boy Color
See Game Boy
Game Gear
Manufacturer: Sega
Year released: 1990
Origin: Japan
Type: Handheld console
A portable Master System.
Gamecube
Manufacturer: Nintendo, Panasonic
Year released: 2001
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
Panasonic released a DVD-playing version, the Panasonic Q, in Japan. The Wii can play Gamecube games.
Genesis
See Megadrive
H
Halcyon
Manufacturer: RDI Video Systems
Year released: 1985
Origin: USA
Type: Home console / Personal computer
The Halcyon was a Laserdisc player, games console and home computer. It cost $2,500 and just two games were released before RDI Video Systems closed down.
Hector 1
Manufacturer: Micronique
Year released: 1983
Origin: France
Type: Personal computer
A souped-up version of Micronique’s 1981 computer the Victor Lambda, which in turn was based on the US-made Interact Computer that was launched in 1979.
Hitachi TV-Game VG-104
Manufacturer: Hitachi
Year released: 1977
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
Part of Japan’s 1977 home Pong boom. Monochrome visuals and four built-in games.
I
IBM 1130 Computing System
Manufacturer: IBM
Year released: 1965
Origin: USA
Type: Minicomputer
IBM minicomputer that made computing affordable to smaller businesses.
IBM 701
Manufacturer: IBM
Year released: 1952
Origin: USA
Type: Vacuum tube computer
One of the first computers produced in quantity rather than being custom-made.
IBM 7094
Manufacturer: IBM
Year released: 1962
Origin: USA
Type: Mainframe computer
Transistor-based update of the IBM 709 mainframe, which used vacuum tubes.
IBM PC
See PC
Imlac PDS-1
Manufacturer: Imlac Corporation
Year released: 1970
Origin: USA
Type: Minicomputer
One of the first, if not the first, computers with a graphical user interface. Used a light pen instead of a mouse to point and a foot pedal to click.
Intellivision
Manufacturer: Mattel Electronics, Bandai
Year released: 1979
Origin: USA
Type: Home console
Bandai released it in Japan. Also home to PlayCable, the world’s first downloadable games service, which was the result of a partnership between General Instrument and Mattel. The service, launched in 1981, supplied games via cable TV although the games could not be stored on the Intellivision.
Interton VC-4000
Manufacturer: Interton
Year released: 1978
Origin: West Germany
Type: Home console
One of many European consoles released in the late 1970s and early 1980s that were based on the 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System, which was created by another West German firm: Radofin.
iPhone
Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
Year released: 2007
Origin: USA
Type: Smartphone
Touchscreen smartphone that became an outlet for thousands of downloadable games. Its phone-less sister product, the iPod Touch, can also play most of these games.
K
KIM-1
Manufacturer: MOS Technology
Year released: 1976
Origin: USA
Type: Kit computer
Created by microprocessor firm MOS Technology prior to its purchase by Commodore International.
Konix Multisystem
Manufacturer: Konix
Year released: Never released
Origin: UK
Type: Home console
Was to be a UK rival to the Megadrive and Super NES. Its peripherals were set to include a light gun with recoil and the Power Chair, a motorised seat designed to mimic the hydraulics used in arcade games such as Out Run. Also known as the Slipstream. Its release was cancelled in August 1989.
L
Lisa
Manufacturer: Apple Computer
Year released: 1983
Origin: USA
Type: Personal computer
The first personal computer with a graphical user interface.
M
Macintosh
Manufacturer: Apple Computer
Year released: 1984
Origin: USA
Type: Personal computer
The first popular personal computer with a graphical user interface.
Magnavox Odyssey
Manufacturer: Magnavox
Year released: 1972
Origin: USA
Type: Home console
The first video game console, developed by Sanders Associates as the Brown Box. Sold with plastic overlays to put over the TV screen to enhance its primitive graphics. It was also home to the first light gun controller, Shooting Gallery.
Magnavox Odyssey2
Manufacturer: Magnavox, Philips
Year released: 1978
Origin: USA
Type: Home console
Released in Europe as the Philip
s Videopac G7000 (Philips C52 in France). Also released in Brazil as the Philips Odyssey.
Magnavox Odyssey3
Manufacturer: Magnavox, Philips
Year released: 1983
Origin: USA
Type: Home console
Never released in North America but did get a brief release in Europe as the Philips Videopac G7400.
Magnavox Odyssey 100
Manufacturer: Magnavox
Year released: 1975
Origin: USA
Type: Home console
The first of several home Pong consoles relsed by Magnavox.
Master System
Manufacturer: Sega
Year released: 1985
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
Outsold the NES in Europe. Also popular in Brazil, where it was distributed by Tec Toy. Originally released in Japan as the Sega Mark III.
MBX Expansion System
Manufacturer: Milton Bradley
Year released: 1983
Origin: USA
Type: Personal computer add-on
Originally planned as a stand-alone console, Milton Bradley eventually turned the MBX into an add-on for the TI-99/4A home computer. Featured speech synthesis, voice recognition and an analogue joystick that also allowed 360o rotation. Discontinued almost as soon as released after Texas Instruments quit the home computer market. Versions for the Atari VCS 2600 and Atari 5200 consoles were also mooted.
Megadrive
Manufacturer: Sega
Year released: 1988
Origin: Japan
Type: Home console
Called the Genesis in North America. The Sega CD add-on, also known as the Mega CD, allowed users to play CD-ROM games.
Merlin
Manufacturer: Parker Brothers
Year released: 1978
Origin: USA
Type: Handheld game
Multi-game handheld that doubled as a musical instrument. Created by former NASA scientist Bob Doyle.
MicroVision
Manufacturer: Milton Bradley
Year released: 1979
OrigiSA
Type: Handheld console
The first handheld console. Created by Jay Smith who later designed the Vectrex console.
MK14
Manufacturer: Science of Cambridge
Year released: 1977
Origin: UK
Type: Kit computer
Clive Sinclair’s first venture into the computer business.
MSX / MSX2
Manufacturer: Various (designed by ASCII Corporation and Microsoft Japan)
Year released: 1983
Origin: Japan
Type: Personal computer
Touted as a home computer standard and produced by a bewildering number of manufacturers across the world including Casio, Daewoo, GoldStar, Hitachi, Panasonic, Philips, Sony, Spectravideo and Yamaha (to name just a few). The MSX2, the second generation version of the computer, was introduced in 1986. Eventually the line was discontinued in 1995.
N
Nascom 1
Manufacturers: Nascom Microcomputers
Year released: 1977
Replay: The History of Video Games Page 58