Videogames. The mere uttering of the word brings about an array of feelings from many people.

From the indifference by non-gamers and concern by parents to the collective passion shared by hardcore gamers — videogames have come a long way, none more so than on the gamer's workhorse: the console.

Join us as we take a look at the highlights of its fascinating history.

The generations:

» 1st: Consoles are born
» 2nd: The rise of Atari, the fall of games
» 3rd: Nintendo saves the day
» 4th: the Golden Age of Gaming
» 5th: The rise of 3D
» 6th: Consoles goes online
» 7th (current): A multimedia experience

First generation: Consoles are born

The first generation of consoles, led by the Magnavox Oddysey, laid the foundation for things to come — little did the world know that a new medium was born.

The Magnavox Odyssey is often credited as being the first commercially available console. It lacked a dedicated computer processor, with the machine making use of physical overlays to simulate colour graphics. The cartridge medium used by the Odyssey differs from other cartridges and CDs in that it only contained jumpers to change existing code within the machine.

The machine enjoyed sales in excess of two million units.

The Coleco Telstar was another machine released to capitalise on the success of the Oddysey — and on that of 'Pong'. With 14 console models released, the Telstar attempted to carve its own niche.

Second generation: The rise of Atari, the fall of games

The second generation of consoles saw an explosion of interest from the public, with various companies entering the fray.

The Colecovision, Intellivision and Odyssey 2 all rose to prominence but it was Atari's 2600 that received the most attention.

The Atari 2600, introduced in 1977, was the first machine to popularise interchangeable cartridges with actual games on them. With games like 'Space Invaders', the ground-breaking 'Adventure', 'Breakout' and 'Pitfall', the Atari 2600 was a phenomenal success.

However, this era also saw the start of film to videogame ports, and shoddy ones at that. Of the four million 'E.T. the Extra Terrestrial' cartridges manufactured, only 1.5 million were sold. The remaining cartridges were buried in the New Mexico desert.

Mattel's Intellivision, released in 1979, was undoubtedly the powerhouse during this generation, offering better graphics and sound than the Atari 2600. The machine also attempted to introduce voice-operated games and programming to the public. In a sign of things to come in the industry, the Intellivision also experimented with game downloads via cable TV.

Due to a large volume of crappy games and dozens of consoles, however, the videogame industry crashed in 1983.

Magnavox Odysssey. Photo: Martin Goldberg

Coleco Telstar

Atari 2600

Intellivision. Creative Commons Share Alike

Colecovision. Creative Commons Share Alike

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