GAME HISTORY

ORIGINS AND CONSOLE

TIMELINES.
Turing's Chess.

The story begins way back in the 1940s when Alan Turing
invented an AI-informed chess game. Essentially it assigned
points to each potential move and the algorithms resembled a
'logic' to the play. The algorithms Turing and David
Champernowne wrote were too powerful to be run by
computers at the time, so instead was 'executed' by Turing
manually. Unfortunately, Turing died before they executed the
game on a real computer, but his work laid the foundations for
decades to come.

Another early demonstration was Tennis for Two, a game

created by William Higinbotham at Brookhaven National
Laboratory in 1958 for three-day exhibition, using an analog
computer and an oscilloscope for a display.
Games like tic-tac-toe or William Higinbotham’s 1958 Tennis for
Two were excellent ways to attract public interest and support.
As an added bonus, computer programmers were able to learn
from the creation of games as well because it allowed them to
break away from the usual subroutines and challenge the
computer’s capabilities.

1950's - 1960's

The majority of early computer games ran on university

mainframe computers in the United States and were developed
by individuals as a hobby. The limited accessibility of early
computer hardware meant that these games were small in
number and forgotten by posterity.
In 1959-1961, a collection of interactive graphical programs
were created on the TX-0 machine at MIT:
• Mouse in the Maze : which allowed players to place maze
walls, bits of cheese, and, in some versions, martinis using a
light pen. One could then release the mouse and watch it
traverse the maze to find the goodies.
• HAX: By adjusting two switches on the console, various
graphical displays and sounds could be made.
• Tic-Tac-Toe: Using the light pen, the user could play a simple
game of tic-tac-toe against the computer.
Spacewar.

The next significant event was when MIT professor Steve

Russell built 'Spacewar!' in 1962 on a giant University
computer. This advancement was significant to the early history
of video games as it became prevalent within the small
programming community in the 1960s. The public domain code
was widely shared and recreated across other computer
systems at the time.
Although Spacewar was fun to play, it was never destined for
released to the general public, since computers were still too
expensive for personal use. To play Spacewar one needed
access to a research facility’s computer, which kept the game’s
influence limited to the small computer technology sphere.

Birth of video game industry.

The history of gaming really started when Ralph Baer came up

with an idea for an entertainment device that could be hooked
up to a television monitor. Ralph Baer’s “Brown Box” was a
video game console that could play table tennis.
Baer led a team at Sanders Associates to build the first
commercial home console, the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972.
Players used plastic overlays on their TV screens to show
visual elements that supported the rules of the game. They
used controllers to move a dot and kept their own scores.

The first generation of home consoles (1975-1977) and

mainframe computer games (1971-1979), included Atari VCS
(1977) and Odyssey2 (1978).
This was the start of the history of game consoles, and they
operated on BASIC & C programming languages.

Meanwhile, a creative young entrepreneur named Nolan

Bushnell remembered playing Spacewar during his years as a
student at the University of Utah. He began to think of ways
that the game could be retailed. Bushnell had past experience
with amusement park arcades and had witnessed firsthand the
popularity of pinball machines. He believed that Spacewar
would make a successful coin-operated machine.

In 1971, Nutting Associates, a coin-op device manufacturer,

released Bushnell’s idea as “Computer Space.” However, while
Spacewar had been an enjoyable game, Computer Space
proved too complex for the casual game player to understand
quickly. The changes that were required to convert the two-
player Spacewar to a one-player game made Computer Space
frustratingly difficult for those who did learn how to play.
Computer space was the first commercially viable game.
Though Computer Space was a flop, Bushnell still believed that
coin-operated video games could be successful. After seeing a
demonstration of Magnavox Odyssey’s table tennis game in
May 1972, Bushnell set about trying to create an arcade
version of the same game. He and his business partner, Ted
Dabney, formed Atari, Inc., in June 1972, and released Pong,
an arcade ping-pong game, that same year. The first Pong
machine was installed in Andy Capp’s Tavern, a bar located in
Sunnyvale, California. A few days later, the tavern owner called
Atari to send someone out to fix the machine. The problem
turned out to be that the cashbox was filled with too many
quarters. The coins had overflowed and jammed the machine.
Atari clearly had a sensation on its hands.

In 1972, Pong was released by Atari and was available as one

of the earliest arcade video games.

The ‘ball-and-paddle” industry stagnated, but spawned the

origin of games and early hits, including:
some early hits around this age were
• Gran Trak 10 (1974)

• Tank (1974)

• Wheels (1975)

• Gun Fight (1975)

• Sea Wolf (1976)

The arcade game industry entered its Golden Age in 1978 with
the release of Space Invaders by Taito, a success that inspired
dozens of manufacturers to enter the market. In 1979, Atari
released Asteroids.
Colour arcade games became more popular in 1979 and 1980
with the arrival of titles such as Pac-Man. The Golden Age had
a prevalence of arcade machines in shopping malls, traditional
storefronts, restaurants and convenience stores.
Mainframe computers

University mainframe game development blossomed in the

early 1970s. There is little record of all but the most popular
games, as they were not marketed or regarded as a serious
endeavour. The people–generally students–writing these
games often were doing so illicitly by making questionable use
of very expensive computing resources, and thus were not
anxious to let very many people know of their endeavors. There
were, however, at least two notable distribution paths for
student game designers of this time:

• The PLATO system was an educational computing

environment designed at the University of Illinois and which ran
on mainframes made by Control Data Corporation. Games
were often exchanged between different PLATO systems.

• DECUS was the user group for computers made by Digital

Equipment Corporation (DEC). It distributed programs–
including games–that would run on the various types of DEC
computers.
A number of noteworthy games were also written for Hewlett-
Packard minicomputers such as the HP2000. Highlights of this
period, in approximate chronological order, include:

• 1971: Don Daglow wrote the first computer baseball game on

a DEC PDP-10 mainframe at Pomona College. Players could
manage individual games or simulate an entire season. Daglow
went on to team with programmer Eddie Dombrower to design
Earl Weaver Baseball, published by Electronic Arts in 1987.
• 1971: Star Trek was created (probably by Mike Mayfield) on a
Sigma 7 minicomputer at University of California. This is the
best-known and most widely played of the 1970s Star Trek
titles, and was played on a series of small "maps" of galactic
sectors printed on paper or on the screen. It was the first major
game to be ported across hardware platforms by students.
Daglow also wrote a popular Star Trek game for the PDP-10
during 1970–1972, which presented the action as a script
spoken by the TV program's characters. A number of other Star
Trek themed games were also available via PLATO and
DECUS throughout the decade.

• 1972: Gregory Yob wrote the hide-and-seek game Hunt the

Wumpus for the PDP-10, which could be considered the first
text adventure. Yob wrote it in reaction to existing hide-and-
seek games such as Hurkle, Mugwump, and Snark.

• 1974: Both Maze War (on the Imlac PDS-1 at the NASA Ames
Research Center in California) and Spasim (on PLATO)
appeared, pioneering examples of early multi-player 3D first-
person shooters.

• 1974: Brad Fortner and others developed Airfight as an

educational flight simulator. To make it more interesting, all
players shared an airspace flying their choice of military jets,
loaded with selected weapons and fuel and to fulfil their desire
to shoot down other players' aircraft. Despite mediocre graphics
and slow screen refresh, it became a popular game on the
PLATO system. Airfight was the inspiration for what became the
Microsoft Flight Simulator.
• 1975: William Crowther wrote the first modern text adventure
game, Adventure (originally called ADVENT, and later Colossal
Cave). It was programmed in Fortran for the PDP-10. The
player controls the game through simple sentence-like text
commands and receives descriptive text as output. The game
was later re-created by students on PLATO, so it is one of the
few titles that became part of both the PLATO and DEC
traditions.

• 1975: By 1975, many universities had discarded these

terminals for CRT screens, which could display thirty lines of
text in a few seconds instead of the minute or more that printing
on paper required. This led to the development of a series of
games that drew "graphics" on the screen. The CRTs replaced
the typical teletype machines or line printers that output at
speeds ranging from 10 to 30 characters per second.

• 1975: Daglow, then a student at Claremont Graduate

University, wrote the first Computer role-playing game on PDP-
10 mainframes: Dungeon. The game was an unlicensed
implementation of the new role playing game Dungeons &
Dragons. Although displayed in text, it was the first game to use
line of sight graphics, as the top-down dungeon maps showing
the areas that the party had seen or could see took into
consideration factors such as light or darkness and the
differences in vision between species.

• 1975: At about the same time, the RPG dnd, also based on
Dungeons and Dragons first appeared on PLATO system CDC
computers. For players in these schools dnd, not Dungeon,
was the first computer role-playing game.
• 1977: Kelton Flinn and John Taylor create the first version of
Air, a text air combat game that foreshadowed their later work
creating the first-ever graphical online multi-player game, Air
Warrior. They would found the first successful online game
company, Kesmai, now part of Electronic Arts. As Flinn has
said: "If Air Warrior was a primate swinging in the trees, AIR
was the text-based amoeba crawling on the ocean floor. But it
was quasi-real time, multi-player, and attempted to render 3-D
on the terminal using ASCII graphics. It was an acquired taste."

• 1977: The writing of the original Zork was started by Dave

Lebling, Marc Blank, Tim Anderson, and Bruce Daniels. Unlike
Crowther, Daglow and Yob, the Zork team recognized the
potential to move these games to the new personal computers
and they founded text adventure publisher Infocom in 1979.
The company was later sold to Activision. In a classic case of
"connections", Lebling was a member of the same D&D group
as Will Crowther, but not at the same time. Lebling has been
quoted as saying "I think I actually replaced him when he
dropped out. Zork was 'derived' from Advent in that we played
Advent ... and tried to do a 'better' one. There was no code
borrowed ... and we didn’t meet either Crowther or Woods until
much later."

• 1978: Multi-User Dungeon, the first MUD, was created by Roy

Trubshaw and Richard Bartle, beginning the heritage that
culminates with today's MMORPGs.

• 1980: Michael Toy, Glenn Wichman and Ken Arnold released

Rogue on BSD Unix after two years of work, inspiring many
roguelike games ever since. Like Dungeon on the PDP-10 and
dnd on PLATO, Rogue displayed dungeon maps using text
characters. Unlike those games, however, the dungeon was
randomly generated for each play session, so the path to
treasure and the enemies who protected it were different for
each game. As the Zork team had done, Rogue was adapted
for home computers and became a commercial product.

Earliest online gaming.

The history of online games dates back to the early 1970s,

when packet-based computer networking was first developed
Maze War: In 1974, this networked multiplayer game was the
first to allow players on different computers to interact visually
in a virtual space. Players roamed around a maze in first-
person perspective, shooting at each other.

Empire: In 1973, this was a turn-based strategy game for

PLATO network systems.

SpaceWar!: In the 1960s, Rick Bloome implemented this two-

player game on PLATO.

MUD1: Created in 1978, this was the first MUD, or massively

multiplayer online game. It was originally confined to an internal
network, but was connected to ARPANet in 1980.

Snipes: In 1983, this text-mode networked computer game was

created to test a new IBM Personal Computer-based computer
network. It's believed to be the first network game written for a
commercial personal computer.
Video game crash of 1983

At the end of 1983, the industry experienced losses more

severe than the 1977 crash. This was the "crash" of the video
game industry, as well as the bankruptcy of several companies
that produced North American home computers and video
game consoles from late 1983 to early 1984. It brought an end
to what is considered to be the second generation of console
video gaming. Causes of the crash include the production of
poorly designed games such as Custer's Revenge, E.T. the
Extra-Terrestrial and Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 that suffered
due to extremely tight deadlines. It was discovered that more
Pac-Man cartridges were manufactured than there were
systems sold. In addition, so many E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
cartridges were left unsold that Atari allegedly buried thousands
of cartridges in a landfill in New Mexico.

CONSOLE TIMELINE.
1972 - Magnavox Odyssey
The Magnavox Odyssey is the root for where all home consoles
begin. The first commercial home video game console
released, The Magnavox Odyssey was designed by a team led
by the "Father of video games," and was capable of displaying
three square dots and one line of in monochrome black and
white. In essence PONG. Nonetheless, if not for The Magnavox
Odyssey, gaming home consoles may have never existed if not
for its release.

1975 - Atari Home Pong

What is left to say about the game that kicked off a medium.
Atari brought the arcade experience home with their PONG
Home series of hardware which simply only played PONG.
While it was not the first console to bring this experience home
(that honor goes to the Magnavox Odyssey), it was the first
platform to push Atari as a household name.
1976 - Fairchild Channel F
The first system to use swappable cartridges, The Fairchild
Channel F was a groundbreaking platform that opened the door
for console lifespans to extend for years. Centered around an
Intel 8080 microprocessor and interchangeable circuit boards,
lead engineer Jerry Lawson championed the platform for
Fairchild to license the technology. While only a small officially-
released library had existed for the platform, homebrew
development continues to this day with the release of The
Arlasoft Collection in 2022, highlighting the significance of the
platform's contribution to gaming history for allowing future
software additions.
1977 - Atari 2600
Atari 2600 at LI Retro Console Timeline Exhibit

The first true leading game platform, The Atari 2600 made Atari
a staple in the living room. While not the first, the 2600 made
swappable cartridges the norm and the concept of developing
an expanding software library based on one microprocessor-
based platform. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Asteroids could
now all be playable right at home thanks to the 2600.

1976 - Coleco Telstar

The Coleco Telstar was the first series of game consoles to
solidify game consoles' place in the living room. Produced from
1976 to 1978, the Coleco Telstar initially launched with built-in
games of hockey, handball, and tennis.

1979 - Intellivision
One of the greatest consoles of all time, Mattel's Intellivision
was the first true challenger to pose a legitimate threat to
dethrone Atari's dominance. Having richer graphics and more
complex gameplay compared to the competition, the
Intellivision hosted amazing ports of the most popular arcade
games of the era including BurgerTime, Dig Dug, Pac Man,
Donkey Kong, and even an NFL game, one of the first
instances of a licensed sports game.
1982 - ColecoVision
Based around a Zilog Z80 CPU, the ColecoVision would
become one of the recognizable consoles of the early 80s.
Having slightly more impressive graphical capabilities than the
competing Atari 2600, the ColecoVision provided exceptional
ports of the arcade classics of the era including first home
version of Nintendo's Donkey Kong and Sega's Zaxxon. More
notable on the ColecoVision was its offering of arcade ports of
lesser known titles Lady Bug, Cosmic Avenger and Venture that
would be less easier to come by on other subsequent
platforms.

1985 - Nintendo Entertainment System

The NES at LI Retro's Timeline of Consoles Exhibit
The NES is the platform that single-handedly saved the gaming
industry while simultaneously making video games a pop-
cultural zeitgeist. While indeed the NES introduced the world to
most of the modern concepts of gaming we're more familiar
today such as 2-D platformers, RPGs, and adventure games,
the Nintendo Entertainment System's place in history is more
for its means of getting videogames accepted into the
mainstream. Super Mario Bros, Mike Tyson's Punch Out,
Kirby's Adventure, Ninja Gaiden - it all started here on the NES
and gaming history would never be the same again.
1985 - Tiger Electronics LCD Handheld
Play classic Tiger Handheld LCD games at the LI Retro
Timeline of Console Exhibit
Introduced in 1985 with their first title "Bowling," the Tiger
Electronics brand of LCD handhelds would become known as
the cheap, alternative solution for gaming on the go. Much
simplified and limited in gameplay mechanics than their home
console or even Nintendo/Sega handheld counterparts, Tiger
Electronics' licensed games represent the halcyon days of 80s
and early 90s gaming. Despite their simple designs, Tiger
Electronics brought some of gaming's biggest franchises to the
platform including Sonic 3, Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat,
Castlevania, Mario Bros, and a slew of licensed cartoons
featuring Thundercats, Transformers, G.I. Joe and the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles.
1986 - Sega Master System
Play the Sega Master System at the LI Retro Timeline of
Consoles Exhibit
The Master System was an 8-bit third-generation home video
game console originally remodeled from the Sega Mark III in
Japan. Containing an Zilog Z80A processor at 3.58 MHz, the
Master System contained more horsepower than that of the
NES but lacked the wealth of third-party support. Nonetheless,
the platform enjoyed a more fruitful lifespan outside of America,
hosting ports all the way to Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat
3. Scaled-back arcade ports aside, the platform was home to
the beginnings of Sega's iconic franchises including Phantasy
Star, Hang-On, Sonic, Alex Kidd and Shinobi, as well fan-
favorites Penguin Land, Alf and an incredible version of R-
Type.

1986 - Atari 7800

Made to correct the flaws of its predecessor, the Atari 5200, the
7800 Pro Model harnessed a customized 6502 processor
running at 1.79 MHz that enabled backwards compatibility the
more popular Atari 2600. Meant to compete with Nintendo's
NES and Sega's Mastersystem, the 7800 was in some regards
behind the time in graphical capability but was able to pump out
high quality ports of golden-era arcade titles including
Centipede, Pole Position II, Dig Dug, and Galaga.

1989 - TurboGrafx-16
Redesigned from its Japanese-counterpart the PC Engine, the
TurboGrafx-16 contained an 8-bit CPU with dual 16-bit graphics
processors that could out-duel the dominant NES but wound up
competing with the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. While
failing to make a significant dent in the American market, the
TurboGrafx-16 would garner a cult-following the decades to
come with a vast library of shoot-em ups. At its time, the
platform was most widely known for its introduction of the Bonk
series of games, the closest "mascot" in competition to Mario
and Sonic.
1989 - Sega Genesis

Sega Genesis at LI Retro Console Timeline Exhibit

The system that put Sega on the map as a household name in

America was based on their System 16 arcade board, centered
on a Motorola 68000 processor, a Zilog Z80 chip for a distinct
sound controller. Popularizing the term "blast processing," the
Sega Genesis was capable of fast sprite scaling that set it apart
from the competition. With a library that featured the rise of
Sonic The Hedgehog along with the genre-defining titles of the
90s in Streets of Rage 2, Castlevania Bloodlines, and Disney's
Aladdin, the Genesis was force to be reckoned with in the 16-
bit wars.

1989 - Nintendo Gameboy

Nintendo Gameboy at the LI Retro Timeline of Consoles Exhibit
Woefully underpowered and with only monochrome coloured
graphics, the Nintendo Gameboy proved it's not about
hardware specs, but intuitiveness and software that gets
players to come. Sporting a Sharp LR35902 core at 4.19 MHz,
the Nintendo Gameboy immediately stormed out of the gate to
be a commercial success thanks to possibly the greatest pack-
in game of all time - TETRIS. Combined with a simple but
familiar two-button interface, ample battery life, and better
portability over its more powerful handheld peers, the Nintendo
Gameboy would maintain dominance in the market for more
than a decade. Amongst its iconic library included early gems
as Gargoyle's Quest, Tennis, and Super Mario Land, but also
the introduction to modern mainstays such as Kirby and Dr.
Mario. Even when its lifespan would seemingly be near its end
in the late 90s, the Gameboy would introduce arguably
Nintendo's biggest money-maker - Pokemon. Even from a
technical standpoint, the Gameboy would also impress with a
suite of unique accessories including a sewing machine, a
fishing sensor, and the first ever digital selfie camera.

1989 - Atari Lynx

The Atari Lynx was a technical marvel of its time, sporting a 16

MHz 65C02 8-bit CPU with a custom 16-bit blitter, and most
importantly a colored display that was clearly technically
superior to the Nintendo Gameboy. The Atari Lynx also featured
the ability to be daisy-chained for up to 8 players at once for
unique multiplayer experiences. While failing to capture
significant market share from Nintendo, the Atari Lynx still left
an indelible mark amongst gamers, having been supported in
production through 1995 with 73 official titles, including popular
Atari arcade conversions featuring a technically impressive port
of Xybots.

1991 - Nintendo Super Nintendo

The Super Nintendo at the LI Retro Time of Console Exhibit

The Super Nintendo further solidified Nintendo's place in
videogame dominance and established new techniques in
visual fidelity with its introduction of "Mode 7" graphics to create
pseudo 3-D effects. The SNES was able to pump the most
iconic retro games of all time including Super Mario World, F-
Zero, Megaman X, Donkey Kong Country, Killer Instinct and
Earthbound. With the use of cartridge-based chipsets, the
SNES' horsepower was further maximized to push larger
sprites, improved scaling, and polygonal rendering to produce
games such as Star Fox, Doom and a near-impossible port of
Street Fighter Alpha 2. With a near endless library of gems, it's
no wonder the SNES is fondly remembered as one of the
greatest systems of all time.
1991 - Neo Geo AES

With a 16-bit 68000 chip combined with an 8-bit Z80 co-

processor, and a a 24-bit graphics data bus, the Neo GEO
AES was for the time, the world's most powerful home console.
Carrying the same hardware as that of it's arcade equivalent,
the Neo Geo MVS, the Neo Geo AES was the Rolls Royce of
gaming consoles with arcade-perfect ports of SNK's hit series
Fatal Fury, King Of Fighters, Samurai Shodown amongst many.

1991 - Philips CD-i

Built first and foremost as a media-player for the home, CD-i

players were more than capable of handling edutainment
software and games with hardware built around the popular
Motorola 68000-based microprocessor and its own operating
system called CD-RTOS. While the CD-i's most notable titles
were the poorly-reviewed Nintendo-licensed games of Mario
and Zelda, the platform was home to reasonably serviceable
games Burn Cyle, Voyeur and Mutant Rampage.

1992 - Sega CD

The Sega CD brought the dawn of CD-based gaming to the

mainstream. While the add-on provided an additional processor
to the Genesis with a 12.5MHz 16-bit Motorola 68000, running
at 5 MHz faster than the Genesis processor, the real benefit of
the Sega CD was the ability to provide additional storage for
game data versus what cartridges provided. This lead to the
ability to showcase full-motion video and higher quality CD-
based audio. FMV games became the speciality of the Sega
CD, featuring iconic titles Night Trap and Sewer Shark, along
with more widely-acclaimed titles Lunar, Sonic CD, Earthworm
Jim Special Edition and Hideo Kojima's Snatcher.
1993 - The REAL 3DO

Play the REAL 3DO at the LI Retro Time of Consoles

ExhibitWhen it came to introducing the heralded "Next
Generation" of gaming, the Real 3DO was the first to arrive in
North America, ushering a new wave of 3-D graphics, CD-ROM
technology, and more advanced gameplay. Utilizing a 32-bit
custom ARM CPU at 12.5 MHz, the 3DO was capable of
touting 3D polygonal graphics at respectable frame rates for the
time. While the platform was heavy on FMV games, it is notable
for introducing the Need for Speed series, solid SNK ports, the
introduction of their pseudo-mascot Gex, and mature storyline
titles.

1993 - Atari Jaguar

While it's debatable if the Atari Jaguar was really 64-bits, the
console was capable of hosting stellar graphics when in the
right hands. With two custom 32-bit processors, nicknamed
Tom and Jerry — in addition to a Motorola 68000 processor, the
Jaguar could push a reasonable amount of polygons and more
impressively do 2-D sprite scaling on par with arcade hardware
of the early 90s. Tempest 2000 and Alien vs Predator are
amongst the system's library highlights but one only needs to
see the visual showpiece of Ubisoft's Rayman and the racing
game Burnout with its blistering frame rate to see the Jaguar's
true graphical potential.

1994 - Sega 32X

Meant to be a more affordable solution for gamers wanting to

get in on the rise of "Next-Gen" gaming in the mid-90s by
upgrading their existing Sega Genesis, The 32X would add
more advanced 3-D capability to the aging 16-bit hardware.
Containing two Hitachi SH-2 32-bit RISC processors at 23
MHz, the 32X run data 40 times faster than a stand-alone
Genesis and render an impressive 50,000 polygons per
second. While critics at the time panned the add-on, the
platform provided exceptional ports of arcade titles T-Mek,
Mortal Kombat 2, NBA JAM Tournament Edition and more
remarkable, faithful ports to Sega Model 1 arcade titles such as
Star Wars Arcade, Virtua Racing and Virtua Fighter.

1995 - Sega Saturn

Sega Saturn at LI Retro Timeline of Consoles

Complex in architecture and over-designed in hardware, the
Sega Saturn was both a 2-D powerhouse and an adequate 3-D
processor. Containing a dual-CPU architecture and eight
processors, the Sega Saturn posed difficulty for developers but
when harnessed properly, could churn out some of the finest
titles of the generation including a technical marvel of a port of
Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Cop and Virtual On. Its 2-D library was
second to none including X-Men Vs. Street Fighter, Street
Fighter Alpha 3 and Vampire Savior and its arcade ports from
the Sega ST-V board were nothing short of stellar including Die
Hard Arcade, Radiant Silvergun and Astra Superstars. Not to
mention, a slew of golden gems still only exclusive to the
Saturn to this day such as Burning Rangers and Panzer
Dragoon Saga.

1995 - Nintendo Virtual Boy

Two players playing the Virtual Boy at LI Retro

While the Virtual Boy was panned for its red-color palette, the
portable tabletop platform was notable for one of the first
commercial uses of dedicated "3-D" gaming. Containing an
NEC V810 20 MHz chipset, the Virtual Boy's processing power
was focused on providing an unparalleled experience of depth
for the time. Most of the platform's library made use of the
system's ability to separate levels of 2-D planes, which is best
utilized by the titles Wario Land, Mario Tennis and Golf. While
the platform never had a two-player connection cable released,
the console is displayed at LI Retro with the first ever two-
player setup on the homebrew title Hyper Fighting.

1995 - Sony Playstation

Playstation (PSX) at LI Retro timeline of consoles
Whereas the Atari 2600 solidified gaming at home and the NES
established videogames as a pop culture zeitgeist, the Sony
Playstation is accredited with being the genesis for gaming to
"grow up." The Sony Playstation with its R3000 chip running at
33.8688 MHz, took the gaming world by storm with a stellar
library of arcade ports and original titles that best took
advantage of the platform's 3D capabilities. Crash Bandacoot,
Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy 7, Tekken and
Resident Evil are only a sample of the highlighted franchises
that first got their start on the PlayStation.

1996 - Nintendo 64 (N64)

Nintendo 64 N64 at the LI Retro Timeline of Consoles Exhibit

No other system is as symbolic of the Gen-x and Millennial
generations than the N64. Sporting a 64-bit NEC VR4300 CPU
at clock rate of 93.75 MHz and a performance of 125 MIPS, the
previously named "Ultra 64," introduced to the world some of
the most iconic games of all time including Super Mario 64,
Star Fox 64, Mario Kart 64, the original Super Smash Brothers
and The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. Aided by
strong second-party support from RARE that would also add
Banjo Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Diddy Kong Racing and
Goldeneye 007 to the N64's library, the platform would become
ubiquitous with the terms "split-screen multiplayer." The N64
would also be the first console to establish analog controls out
of the gate, and possess the ability to have resolution modes
up to 480p. While the perception of the platform was often
conveyed as the system for "kids," the Nintendo 64 was a
polygon-pushing beast that had more than the chops to provide
developers the ability to create deep gameplay mechanics not
bounded by technical limitations. More than 25 years later, the
N64 library has aged incredibly well and despite coming second
in sales to the Playstation, its legacy is firmly cemented within
the memories of gamers both hardcore and casual.

1998 - Gameboy Color

Quite possibly the most highly-anticipated upgrade of all time
occurred when Nintendo's Gameboy finally achieved what its
competition had launched with nearly a decade ago - color.
Hosting a sizable bump in performance specs over the original
Gameboy, the Gameboy Colour featured a hybrid Intel 8080
and Zilog Z80 with a clock speed of approximately 8 MHz (2x
the original Gameboy) with three times as much memory as the
original. This allowed for visually more impressive games
beyond just adding colour palettes, including an impressive
upgrade to the Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX and a
system exclusive of a Metal Gear Solid title. The console's IR
port also provided for unique gameplay functionality not found
on other Nintendo handheld platforms. Like most of Nintendo's
handheld platforms, Pokemon would be one of the console's
finest outings with many proclaiming Pokemon Crystal, Gold
and Silver as the best of the series.

1999 - Sega Dreamcast

Play Sega Dreamcast at LI Retro's Timeline of Consoles

ExhibitFor what was to be Sega's final home console hurrah,
they surely pulled out all the stops. Running a two-way 360
MIPS superscalar Hitachi SH-4 32-bit RISC, clocked at
200MHz and a 128-bit graphics-oriented floating-point unit
delivering 1.4 GFLOPS, the Dreamcast (originally codenamed
Project Kitana), could draw more than 3 million polygons per
second, producing mesmerizing graphics. The Dreamcast was
the truly the first system to materialize "better than arcade
perfect" ports as evident by launch titles Soul Calibur, House of
the Dead 2 and Hydro Thunder. Despite its short lifespan, the
Dreamcast revolutionized the industry with its natively-built
online capabilities bringing MMORPGs to home consoles for
the first time in Phantasy Star Online, voice-operated gameplay
with the title Seaman, cell-shaded graphics with Jet Grind
Radio, and the introduction of 2K series of sports titles,
featuring the now dominant NBA 2K franchise. The
Dreamcast's legacy forever remains one of the greatest and
most-beloved consoles of all time.

2000 - Sony Playstation 2 (PS2)

The most successful console of all time would initially gain

attention for its "Emotion Engine" CPU that would allow the
Playstation 2 (PS2) to churn out some of the most life-like
graphics for the time. The PS2 with its DVD-rom capabilities
had more horsepower and game storage than its predecessor
and would bring its hit franchises along to the next generation
including Gran Turismo and Tekken but its the original IP
released during the PS2 era that would help propel the platform
into the stratosphere with fans. First party titles such as Jak &
Daxter, Sly Cooper, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus along with
stellar third-party exclusive support with blockbusters like
Tekken Tag and Final Fantasy X-XII and hidden gems as Mr.
Mosquito and Katamara Damacy, made the PS2 THE console
of choice for gamers for the widest variety of titles.

2001 - Gameboy Advance

Similar in scope to the Super Nintendo, the 32-bit successor to

the original Game Boy was Nintendo's long-awaited step into
the next generation of handheld gaming. The GameBoy
Advance could replicate much of the sprite manipulation of the
Super Nintendo including Mode-7 graphics and sprite scaling.
In addition, through nifty development tricks, the GameBoy
Advance could pull off impressive pseudo 3-D effects to offer
experiences that the SNES could not, which came especially in
handy for first-person shooters, racers, and 3D adventure
games. Nintendo brought out its biggest franchises to the
platform which featured some of their best outings including
Pokemon Leaf Green, Yoshi's Island, Mario Kart: Super Circuit,
Metroid Fusion and WarioWare. Third-party support was strong
on the platform that ranged from hidden gems such as
GameFreak's Drill Dozer and Capcom's stellar port of the
arcade hit Street Fighter Alpha 3 and the console exclusive
Street Fighter 2 Turbo Revival. Through multiple redesigns and
iterations including a licensed combo DVD-GameBoy Advance
unit, the GBA was the epitome of a generational platform who’s
legacy and sentimental value would far exceed its own
technical limitations.

2001 - Microsoft Xbox

The most powerful console upon its release, Microsoft's XBOX

touted a 32-bit 733 MHz, custom Intel Pentium III processor
with 64 MB of unified DDR SDRAM, equivalent to some of the
best PC builds of the time. Standardizing unique features that
would become mainstays in future generations such as a built-
in hard drive and broadband capability, the XBOX was a
powerhouse capable of providing the closest home console
correlation to PC gaming experiences. While the system is
mostly known for the launch of the Halo series, its library
contained a wealth of noteworthy releases, highlighted by
Sega's AAA releases of Panzer Dragoon Orta, Outrun 2006,
House of the Dead 3 and more. The XBOX would lay the
foundation for the brand as the hardcore gamer's destination.
2001 - Nintendo Gamecube

For those in the know, the Gamecube hosted some of the best
games of the era. From the onset with its attached "lunchbox
handle," the Gamecube suffered from a "kiddie" console
perception like its predecessor the N64, but its IBM custom
designed PowerPC-based processor at 486 MHz wound up
being more a capable workhorse than the competing
Playstation 2. With Nintendo's first foray into disc-based media,
the Gamecube hosted the finest titles of the generation, many
of which are only being realized in greatness nearly two
decades after their release: Mario Kart Double Dash, Super
Mario Sunshine, Eternal Darkness, Billy Hatcher and Cubivore
to name a few. Yet the Gamecube is still a go-to for much of
Nintendo's best back catalog of franchise regulars, including
Zelda Windwaker, Metroid Prime and Smash Brothers Melee,
considered by many to be the best of the series. While the
Nintendo Gamecube may not have been the hit it needed to be
when it was stacked against the PS2 and Xbox, it now
commands the respect it rightfully deserves when viewed in
retrospect by most fans and historians.
2003 - Nokia N-Gage

The original "mobile gaming" platform, the Nokia N-Gage was

the first cell phone to integrate a dedicated, changeable game
system. Running a ARM920T CPU at 104 MHz, the Nokia N-
Gage housed reasonably powerful hardware for its size to
produce respectable 3D polygonal graphics. The N-Gage had
no shortage of recognizable IPs grace the platform including
Sonic, Tomb Raider, WWE, Rayman and Crash Bandicoot.
While the system was often criticized for its hardware design
and poorly-reviewed games, in retrospect the N-Gage was a
forerunner in providing the foundation for future fixtures in
gaming. The N-Gage opened the door for online mobile gaming
and proved their could be an appetite for gaming outside of
traditional dedicated handhelds. While its library was small, the
N-Gage received considerably big name support from Sega,
Activision, EA and Ubisoft that for most upstarts systems would
be a pipe dream. Despite what the pundits may say about the
N-Gage's legacy, the system would have a considerable
lengthy production lifespan through 2006, and sell a
respectable 3 million units - no short small number by any
means for a failed console.
2004 - Nintendo DS

Nintendo was always known for trying out unique new concepts
never imagined before but the Nintendo DS provided a
completely new concept for handheld gaming. Two-screens
utilized at once, touch-screen capability, a built-in microphone,
and wifi capability were just some of the many innovations that
the Nintendo DS brought to the table. With a whole new way to
play games, developers found new and creative ways to play.
Blowing on the screen in Sega's Feel The Magic, writing the
answer on screen in Nintendo's Brain Age, and drawing Pac-
Man to eat ghosts in Pac-Pix were just a sample of the fun,
quirky ways that players interacted with the Nintendo DS.

2005 - Microsoft XBOX 360

The release of the XBOX 360 ushered in the age of High
Definition gaming and a new level of visual fidelity never
imagined in graphics. Armed with a 3.2 GHz PowerPC Tri-Core
Xenon processor, the XBOX 360 also cemented the
establishment of multimedia dashboards on the home
consoles, a wider adoption of a centralized online gaming
network in XBOX Live, and WIRELESS controllers right out of
the gate. Initially the XBOX 360's library was underwhelming at
best with a sub-par prequel to Perfect Dark and a fantastic
fourth entry into the Dead or Alive series but would eventually
take off with the release of the groundbreaking Gears of War
and the killer app Halo 3. Eventually the XBOX 360's library
would grow to become one of the best catalogues in gaming
yet to be realized.

2006 - Sony Playstation 3 (PS3)

Housing a 3.2 GHz IBM Cell Broadband Engine processor able
to pull off incredible feats of graphical effects, the Playstation 3
would lay birth to some of the most Hollywood-ready franchises
in gaming including The Last of Us and Uncharted, along with
other high-profile exclusives Little Big Planet and Metal Gear
Solid 4. Innovation-wise, the PS3 provided the first samples of
online cloud computing and a Second-Life avatar like
experience with Playstation Home.

2006 - Nintendo Wii

Underpowered when compared to the competing PS3 and

XBOX 360, the Nintendo Wii would prove that creativity trumps
specs in the world of video games. Bringing motion-based
gameplay to the masses, the Nintendo Wii took the guessing
out of controls in favour of sheer intuitiveness, as evident in one
of the most popular pack-in games of all time, Wii Sports. While
most will remember the Wii for the use of the Wiimote
controllers, the Wii was also notable for being Nintendo's first
foray into home console backwards compatibility with the
Gamecube library, the use of avatars in the creation of Mii
characters, lifestyle content with the Weather and News Wii
Channels, and best of all the Virtual Console, opening the door
for Nintendo's back catalogue and new indie titles.