Generations of Video Game System: Defying the Way we Specify Entertainment

Posted by Lasonya on August 5th, 2021

Home entertainment takes its new kind. With the development of innovation and its integration to various aspects of our lives, traditional home entertainment such as theatrical plays and cultural programs is changed by so-called "electronic home entertainment". There you have different digital and animated films that you can view on movie houses or on your home entertainment system, cable television service system (CTS), and the video game system, which is popular not simply to young and old gamers alike however likewise to video game designers, simply because of the advancement of ingenious innovations that they can utilize to enhance existing video game systems.

The video game system is planned for playing video games, though there are modern-day game systems that allows you to have a gain access to over other kinds of home entertainment using such game systems (like viewing DVD movies, listening to MP3 music files, or surfing the Internet). Hence, it is often described as "interactive home entertainment computer" to identify the video game system from a device that is used for different functions (such as personal computer and game games).

The very first generation of computer game system started when Magnavox (an electronics business which makes televisions, radios, and gramophones or record players) launched its very first video game system, which is the Magnavox Odyssey developed by Ralph Baer. Odyssey's popularity lasted till the release of Atari's PONG computer game. Magnavox realized that they can not take on the popularity of PONG games, thus in 1975 they developed the Odyssey 100 video game system that will play Atari-produced PONG video games.

The second generation of video game system came a year after the release of Odyssey 100. In 1976, Fairchild launched the FVES (Fairchild Video Entertainment System), which made use of a programmable microprocessor so that a game cartridge can hold a single ROM chip to save microprocessor guidelines. However, because of the "computer game crash" in 1977, Fairchild abandoned the video game system industry. Magnavox and Atari stayed in the video game industry.

The rebirth of the computer game system began when Atari launched the popular arcade Area Invaders. The market was all of a sudden revived, with numerous players made purchase of an Atari video game system just for Space Intruders. In other words, with the appeal of Area Invaders, Atari dominated the video game industry throughout the 80s.

Computer game system's third generation entered seeking the release of Nintendo's Famicon in 1983. It supported complete color, high resolution, and tiled background video gaming system. It was at first introduced in Japan and it was later given the United States in the form of Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985. And just like Atari's Space Intruders, the release of Nintendo's famous Super Mario Brothers was a huge success, which entirely revived the suffering computer game system industry in the early months of 1983.

Sega planned to take on Nintendo, however they stopped working to develop considerable market share. It was till 1988 when Sega released the Sega Genesis in Japan on October 29 of the same year and on September 1, 1989 in the United States and Europe territories. Two years later, Nintendo launched the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1990.

Atari returned with their new video game system, which is the Jaguar and 3DO. Both systems could display more onscreen colors and the latter made use of a CD instead of video game cartridges, making it more powerful compared to Genesis and SNES. Nintendo, on the other hand, decided to launch brand-new games such as Donkey Kong Country instead of producing new computer game systems. Sega's Vectorman and Virtua Racing followed suit. Numerous years later, Sony, Sega, and Nintendo released the 5th generation of computer game systems (PlayStation, Saturn, and N64, respectively).

The 6th generation of video game systems followed, including Sega (Dreamcast, which was their last video game system and the first Internet-ready game system), Sony (PlayStation 2), Nintendo (Video Game Cube which is their first system to use video game CDs), and the game reviews newcomer Microsoft (Xbox).

The latest generation of computer game systems is now gradually getting in the video game market. These are as follows:

- Microsoft's Xbox, which was released on November 22, 2005;

- Sony's PlayStation 3, which is schedule to be launched on November 11, 2006 (Japan), November 17 of the very same year (The United States and Canada), and March 2007 (Europe); and

- Nintendo's Wii, which is scheduled to be released on November 19, 2006 (The United States And Canada), December 2 of the exact same year (Japan), December 7 (Australia), and December 8 (Europe).

The development of video game system does not end here. There will be future generations of game system being developed since this minute, which will defy the method we specify "entertainment".