From Atari to Nintendo Switch, test your knowledge of the consoles that shaped gaming history.
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The history of video game consoles is one of the most dramatic technological sagas of the modern era. It began in 1972 when Magnavox launched the Odyssey, the world's first home console, followed just a year later by Atari's Pong. The late 1970s saw Atari dominate with the 2600, but it was Nintendo's NES in 1985 — released after the 1983 video game crash had devastated the industry — that rescued the market and established the template for the modern games console. Alongside the NES came the Game Boy in 1989, which single-handedly created the handheld gaming market and went on to sell over 118 million units.
The 1990s brought the legendary console wars: Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis battled the Super Nintendo, while Sony's PlayStation (launched 1994) revolutionised the industry with CD-ROM games and 3D graphics. The era also gave us iconic franchises — Super Mario 64, Sonic the Hedgehog, Final Fantasy VII — that defined a generation. Microsoft entered the scene in 2001 with the Xbox, introducing the first proper online gaming service with Xbox Live in and kickstarting the modern era of connected console gaming.
The 2000s and 2010s saw three-way rivalries between Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. The PlayStation 2 became the best-selling console of all time with over 155 million units sold. The Nintendo Wii (launched 2006) brought motion controls to the mainstream, selling 101 million units. Today, the Nintendo Switch — released in 2017 as a hybrid home/portable console — has sold over 140 million units, making it one of the best-selling consoles ever and proving that innovation in hardware design can still shake up the market.