2nd Generation Game Consoles 1976-1984
The first home consoles released had built in games that could not be changed. In order for a company to release more games, it had to release a entirely new console. There had to be a way to release new games without going through the trouble to make a new console. The solution was made when Fairchild released their system. It was a console that had its games stored on cartridges. When you wanted to play another game, you could just remove the cartridge and put in another one. When you bought a video game console, that wasn't all it. The company could release more game cartridges over time to sell more games. Soon companies like Atari, Magnavox, Mattel, and Coleco made their own cartridge based consoles. This generation is known as the Early 8-bit Era for the first consoles to use bits as graphic power. Some important titles released during this generation are Asteroids, Breakout, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Mario Bros, Pac-Man, Pitfall!, Q-Bert, Space Invaders, and Tempest.
Fairchild Channel F
Fairchild Channel F
It came out in 1976 by Fairchild Semiconductor. It was originally called the Video Entertainment System, but when Atari Inc. released their console, the Atari 2600, they changed their consoles name to the Fairchild Channel F.The console used cartridges and the controllers had cords. From the way the controllers were made, you could push the analog stick in and pull it out, you could rotate the stick, and you could spin the analog stick. Soon after the Atari 2600 was out, Fairchild quit with its console.and withdrew from the gaming market, thinking the fad will just pass over.
Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 was released in 1977 and is well known as one of the best video game consoles ever. It used cartridges for its games and had a huge selection. It came with everything you needed to play, even a game, so you could just go ahead and play it once you got it. The two controllers the console came with had joysticks with one button. This was the most popular console of the second generation of video games. It competed with Fairchild Semiconductor's Video Entertainment System, but Atari won the battle.
Magnavox Odyssey 2
Magnavox Odyssey 2
The Odyssey 2 was released in 1978 by Magnavox, now a subsidiary to Philips. It used a full alpanumeric keyboard as well as two controllers with standard joysticks. The keyboard was mainly used for educational games. This console had a very good add on voice synthesis unit. Unlike other consoles at the time, you could choose a color pallet from a list of color pallets to play the game on. All the game titles for this console ended with an exclamation point. Examples are Quest for the Rings!, Killer Bees!, and K.C. Munchkin!.
Intellivision
Intelivision
The Intellivision came out in 1979 by Mattel. It is known for its controllers, which are usually called one of the worst game controllers ever. The controller had a keypad with numbers like a phone, and under that was a spinning disk. The console itself had decent graphics for the time and even had an add on. The Intellivoice was a voice synthesis module that you would plug into the console, and if you put certain game cartridges into the Intellivoice, it will make the games talk. Back then, talking in home consoles was a new concept. An update to the console called the Intellivision II was made, but it was never released due to the effects of the North American Video Game Crash of 1983. Mattel was among the first to feel the effects of the crash.
Atari 5200
Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 came out in 1982 by Atari Inc. It was meant to be the successor to the Atari 2600. However, the system did not do so well compared to the Atari 2600. So Atari Inc. stopped working with the Atari 5200 and went back to the succsessful Atari 2600. The controlers had numeric keypads like a phone, and had an analog stick for control. There were two buttons on each side of the controler too. It also had a pause button, which was new at the time. As you can imagine, the Atari 5200 didn't have a very large library of games. One uniqe feature of the Atari 5200 was that it came with its own switchbox. The switchbox would plug into the wall socket and the tv, and a cord that came out of the Atari 5200 would plug into the switchbox. That means that the power supply and tv cables both ran through the same wire.
ColecoVision
ColecoVision
The ColecoVision came out in 1982 by Coleco. It had arcade-like graphics and included a version of Nintendo's Donkey Kong arcade game. Being released with this game and the graphics made this console very popular. The controllers had numeric keypads like phones and an analog stick for control. The ColecoVision had an add on called Expansion Module #1. This add on allowed players to play Atari 2600 games on the ColecoVision. Despite its popularity, it also suffered from the effects of the video game crash. Coleco withdrew from the gaming market in 1985.
Vectrex
Vectrex
The Vectrex was a unique console that was released in 1982 by General Consumer Electric. GCE was soon bought by Milton Bradley Company and they sold the console from there on. It originally costed $460, but MBC dropped it to $150, then $100 because of the video game crash. The Vectrex was cool because it came with its own screen. It also used vector graphics instead of regular pixel graphics. Everything on the screen was made up of lines instead of sprites. There was no color, but it had overlays to put over the screen. The games came on cartridges. Early ones had an annoying buzzing sound that was caused by the audio circuitry signal lines being improperly grounded, which reacted to the graphics. This was fixed in later versions.
Arcadia 2001
Arcadia 2001
The Arcadia 2001 is an 8-bit console released in 1982 by the Emerson Radio Corporation. It was unique for being smaller than most other consoles and that it ran on batteries. It had graphics similar to the Odyssey 2 and the Intellevision. The games came on cartridges. There were three different cartridge shapes. This console failed at market though because of more popular consoles and the fact that Atari had exclusive rights to many popular games. This made it hard for great games to be released on the Arcadia 2001.
Bally Astrocade
Bally Astrocade
The Bally Astrocade was originally released in 1977 by Bally, available only through a mail order. Then Bally decided to leave the gaming market. So the rights were obtained by another company called Astrovision which released it again in 1983. The games came on cartridges like many other consoles before it. This system was advanced for its time because it had a more efficient resolution on the screen. However, the pins that enabled this advanced method were not operational, so it could only do as good as other consoles. The console came with a cartridge for programming with BASIC language. An add-on was released called a ZGRASS that turned it into a computer with a functioning floppy drive, keyboard, and math processor.
Handhelds
Another great advancement of the second generation was the inclusion of portable game consoles. Basically they did the same thing as regular consoles, but you could take it wherever you wanted and play them at anytime you wanted. They ran on batteries, usually AA batteries, and had battery lives that lasted hours. However, because of their small size, the graphics and game play were usually not as great as the home consoles, something that stays true to this day.
Microvision
Microvision
The Microvision was released in 1979 by the Milton Bradley Company. It was the first handheld to use cartridges just like the consoles. However, it had very few games, a small screen, and lack of support from better companies. The screen itself was very primitive and could be ruined easily by leaving it in the sun. The keypad and microprocessor were also at risk.The Microvision met its demise in 1981.
Game & Watch
Game & Watch
Game & Watch was a line of handhelds released by Nintendo from 1980 to 1991. They were the first video games made by Nintendo to be a huge success. The idea came from a man named Gunpei Yokoi as he watch a man punch things into an LCD screened calculator. Each unit had a single game on it to play, and two difficulty levels. Game A was the normal and Game B was a faster harder version of Game A. The mascot of the handhelds was know as Mr. Game & Watch. Many of these games included characters from Nintendo's later game series' and were re-released on the Gameboy as part of the Game & Watch Gallery series. Some of the units were double screened like the Nintendo DS.
North American Video Game Crash of 1983
This was another video game crash. It was mostly caused by all of the low quality games, which caused a loss in buyer confidence. Other reasons were the fact there were so many consoles, competition, and the loss of publishing control. This crash caused many companies to go out of business. Magnavox, Mattel, and Coleco left the gaming market. The crash ended in 1985-1987 because of the Nintendo Entertainment System, which revived the video game market.