This timeline gives a chronological listing of Games Consoles
The technology and software in successive games consoles are denoted as generations. New technology denotes a new generation
First Generation
1972 (September)
Magnavox Odyssey
The first home video games console developed by Magnavox. The console included a ping pong game which inspired Atari’s Pong.
1972 (29th November)
Atari Pong
The original console included a screen mounted in a box but was very expensive. By 1975 Atari’s Ping-Pong style game was produced in a version that could be plugged into a standard television set. Pong was the first commercially successful game.
Second Generation
1977 (11th September)
Atari 2600
A home video games console developed by Atari. It featured game cartridges and a joystick controller. Its most popular game was a version of Space Invaders.
1978 (December)
Philips Odyssey 2
A home video games console developed by Philips. It allowed for different games to be loaded by circuit cards and also featured a keyboard.
1979 (3rd December)
Intellivision
A home video games console developed by Mattel Electronics.
1982 (August)
ColecoVision
A home video games console developed by Coleco Industries.
1982 (November)
Atari 5200
A home video games console developed by Atari.
Third Generation
1983 (15th July)
Nintendo Entertainment System NES
A home video games console developed by Nintendo.
1985 (20th October)
Master System
A home video games console developed by Sega.
1986 (May)
Atari 7800
A video games console developed by Atari.
Fourth Generation
1988 (29th October)
Mega Drive
A video games console developed by Sega.
1989 (21st April)
Game Boy
A hand-held games console developed by Nintendo using game cartridges.
1989 (1st September)
Atari Lynx
The first hand-held game console with a colour display. It was developed by Atari.
1990 (6th October)
Game Gear
An 8-bit hand-held games console developed by Sega.
Fifth Generation
1993 (16th September)
Amiga CD32
A home video games console developed by Commodore.
1993 (23rd November)
Atari Jaguar
A home video games console developed by Atari.
1994 (9th September)
Neo Geo CD
A home video games console developed by Japanese tech company, SNK. Games were loaded by CD-ROM.
1994 (22nd November)
Sega Saturn
A home video games console developed by Sega.
1994 (3rd December)
Playstation PS
A video games console developed by Sony. It used discs to load games .
1996 (23rd June)
Nintendo 64
A video games console developed by Nintendo. It featured a 64-bit cpu and used cartridges to load games and for storage.
1998 (21st October)
Game Boy Color
A hand held video games console developed by Nintendo. It was successor to the Game Boy and had a colour screen, although there was no backlight.
1998 (27th November)
Dreamcast
A video games console developed by Sega. It was the last console developed by the company.
1999 (16th March)
Neo Geo Pocket Color
A handheld video games console developed by Japanese tech company, SNK to compete with the GameBoy.
Sixth Generation
1998 (27th November)
Dreamcast
A video games console developed by Sega. It was the last console developed by the company.
2000 (4th March)
Playstation 2 PS2
A video games console developed by Sony. It is the best selling console to date (155 million units) and remained in production until 2013.
2001 (23rd March)
Game Boy Advance
A handheld video games console developed by Nintendo as a successor to the Game By Color.
2001 (14th September)
GameCube
A video game console developed by Nintendo that used mini-dvds.
2001 (15th November)
Xbox
A video game console developed by Microsoft. It was the first console to include a built in hard disk.
2003 (7th October)
N-Gage
A handheld video games console and mobile phone system developed by Nokia. It was not very popular and was discontinued in 2005.
Seventh Generation
2004 (21st November)
Nintendo DS
A handheld video games console developed by Sony.
2004 (12th December)
PlayStation Portable PSP
A dual-screen handheld video games console developed by Nintendo as a successor to the GameBoy.
2005 (22nd November)
Xbox 360
A video games console developed by Microsoft.
2006 (11th November)
PlayStation 3 PS3
A video games console developed by Sony.
2006 (19th November)
Nintendo Wii
A video games console developed by Nintendo. The wii controller was motion sensitive and could be used to direct movement on screen.
Eighth Generation
2011 (26th February)
Nintendo 3DS
A handheld video games console.
2012 (18th November)
Wii U
A video games console developed by Nintendo as a successor to the Wii. It was discontinued in January 2017
2013 (15th November)
Playstation 4 PS4
A video games console developed by Sony.
2013 (22nd November)
Xbox One
A video games console. Xbox is owned by Microsoft
2017 (3rd March)
Nintendo Switch
A hybrid console that can be used as a home games console or as a handheld device.
2017 (17th December)
Playstation Vita
A handheld video games console.
2019 (20th September)
Nintendo Switch Lite
A handheld version of the Nintendo Switch.
Ninth Generation
2020 (10th November)
Xbox Series X
The latest version of Xbox developed by Microsoft.
2020 (12th November)
Playstation 5 PS5
The latest version of Playstation developed by Sony.
Published Jun 11, 2020 @ 5:05 pm – Updated – [last-modified]
Harvard Reference for this page:
Heather Y Wheeler. (2020). Games Consoles 1972 – Present. Available: http://www.thetimelinegeekhttps://www.thetimelinegeek.com/games-consoles-1972-to-present-day. Last accessed [date]