Video games are still a young medium in the grand scheme of things, but have been around for well over 50 years now. After the arcade boom in the 70s, home consoles slowly took over the gaming landscape with Nintendo’s NES leading the charge. The NES is one of the best video game consoles of all time, but it was far from the first console and certainly not the last with the likes of the PS5, Xbox Series X, and Switch 2 currently fighting for market dominance. Currently, we’re in the ninth generation of consoles but how exactly did we get here, and what consoles were in the eight prior generations? Let’s rewind time and look at what defined every console generation from the first up to today.
If you want to look even further ahead, we can also tell you about every upcoming video game console and upcoming video game.
Note that generations weren’t as clearly defined for the first several decades so the specific years some generations start or end is up for debate and many generations will overlap. We will also only list well-documented consoles released in each generation to avoid bloating the list with one-off systems no one purchased.
First generation: 1972 – 1983
Going all the way back to the origins of home consoles, we are at a point where most games don’t even resemble the experiences we have today. The most recognizable game in this era was one of the best games of all-time, Pong. In this generation, consoles were essentially smaller arcade machines in the sense that most could only play one or two games. The main exception, and most famous console from this generation, was the Magnavox Odyssey. This console included various plastic overlays you could put on your screen to play different games with as you moved blocks of light around the screen.
Notable consoles in the first generation:
- Magnavox Odyssey
- Ping-O-Tronic
- Home Pong series
- TV Tennis Electrotennis
- Coleco Telstar
- Color TV-Game
Second generation: 1976 – 1985
The second console generation is where we start to see some names that still exist today. The Atari 2600 and 5200 both arrived this generation in the late ’70s and early ’80s, setting the standard for cartridge-based consoles. However, it wasn’t the first to pioneer this technology. The Fairchild Channel F is widely accepted as the first widely available home console to fully allow for consoles to read ROM cartridges and process new code. This, along with a more user-friendly joystick controller, paved the way for the likes of Atari to dominate the generation and become the leader in home consoles over Magnavox, Coleco, and Intellivision. This era was also when Activision first entered the game space and became the first-ever third-party developer of games. This is the generation we got some of the first truly great home console games like Space Invaders, Combat, Super Breakout, Missile Command, and Pitfall!
Notable consoles in the second generation:
- Fairchild Channel F
- Atari 2600
- Magnavox Odyssey 2
- Intellivision
- ColecoVision
- Atari 5200
Third generation: 1983 – 1990
For most people, home consoles really started with the third generation when Nintendo entered the American market with the Nintendo Entertainment System and pulled the entire gaming industry back from collapse. Games evolved into the 8-bit era, which is a style many creators still emulate today, especially with some of the best indie games. Atari was still in the game with the 7800, but was a distant third behind the power of Nintendo and newcomer Sega with its Master System. While rudimentary by today’s standards, game production in this generation was unlike anything before it. There were more colors, sounds, and even basic storytelling.
It wasn’t just the home console market Nintendo upended, but handhelds as well. The Game Boy was the most sophisticated handheld ever released. It was the first to not only take advantage of cartridges but also offer console-like quality experiences on the go. This is the era where major gaming icons first appeared on consoles, like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and Kirby.
Notable consoles in the third generation:
- NES
- Master System
- Atari 7800
- Atari XEGS
- Game Boy
Fourth generation: 1987 – 1996
The fourth generation is where the “console wars” officially began. Sega was out for blood with the 16-bit Genesis, which easily outclassed the NES for a few years before the SNES arrived. Sega also tried to push more hardware out faster than the competition with add-ons to the Genesis, such as the Sega CD, to take advantage of the new CD technology that allowed for more storage space and use of full-motion video. Neo Geo, an arcade powerhouse, also dipped its toes into the home console space but failed to find much footing due to charing far more than the competition.
The 16-bit era is one of the most fondly remembered thanks to some amazing games that are still played today. Games like Super Mario World, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Super Metroid are considered all-time classics.
Notable consoles in the fourth generation:
- Sega Genesis
- Neo Geo
- SNES
- Sega CD
- CD-i
Fifth generation: 1993 – 2002
The jump from 16-bit graphics to fully 3D games is arguably the largest generational leap ever seen in console gaming. After being burned as a partner with Nintendo, Sony entered the console business as a new player with its PlayStation. It was far from the first CD-based console, but it managed to completely dominate the generation with a combination of fantastic PS1 games like Metal Gear Solid, Twisted Metal, and Crash Bandicoot, plus the brilliant marketing move of allowing the console to also play CDs. This is a tactic PlayStation would soon use to even greater effect. While it lagged behind in terms of sales, the N64 proved that Nintendo understood 3D game design far better than the competition. Sega especially struggled to translate its franchises into this new dimension, plus was also losing its customers’ faith with how quickly it was releasing new hardware. This would also mark the last major console from Atari.
On the handheld side, Nintendo was still essentially unchallenged. It released the upgraded Game Boy Color to enhance its games with more than two-tone screen, but even more powerful competition like the Nomad or Neo Geo Pocket couldn’t overtake Nintendo’s stranglehold on the space.
Notable consoles in the fifth generation:
- Atari Jaguar
- 3DO
- Sega Saturn
- Sega 32X
- PlayStation
- Nintendo 64
- Game Boy Color
- Neo Geo Pocket
- Genesis Nomad
Sixth generation: 1998 – 2005
At this point in the timeline, the number of players in the home console space was shrinking to a few powerhouses. This was Sega’s last gasp with the Dreamcast before it would throw in the towel on hardware and focus on publishing, but not for a lack of great Dreamcast games. Nintendo was still feeling the pressure from both Sony and Microsoft with its first console, the Xbox. Despite great games like Super Smash Bros. Melee, Pikmin, and Animal Crossing, it couldn’t match the success of either rival. Xbox had a very strong start not only because of a strong lineup of games, most notably Halo: Combat Evolved, but technical innovations like a streamlined online console multiplayer experience through Xbox Live. Despite that, it was now the only real competition in town for handheld games and finally released a true Game Boy successor with the Game Boy Advance.
It goes without saying that the PS2 crushed this generation to the point where it remains the best-selling console ever made. Games played a big part in that, but what made it such a phenomenon and reach the widest possible audience was the fact that it was the only console that doubled as a DVD player.
Notable consoles in the sixth generation:
- Dreamcast
- PlayStation 2
- GameCube
- Xbox
- Game Boy Advance
Seventh generation: 2005 – 2013
Also known as the HD-era, the seventh generation firmly established the three-way console war between Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox. Home consoles were now completely mainstream and games were breaking media records left and right. Xbox and PlayStation’s latest systems were attempting to transition into more than just video game machines, but complete entertainment boxes with more app integration and online services. Xbox Live really came into its own for online multiplayer, which PlayStation also adapted to with a competing online and PlayStation Plus service. Console exclusives were the main differences between systems now, with Xbox building a reputation on games like Halo, Gears of War, and Forza while PlayStation established franchises like Uncharted, Infamous, and The Last of Us.
Nintendo made its first major gamble with a console and decided against competing directly with Xbox and PlayStation and instead stuck to SD graphics but instead focused on a system fully built on motion controls. The Wii, despite its lack of power, was such a cultural moment that it finally brought Nintendo back to the top of the sales charts on the back of games like Wii Sports, Mario Galaxy, and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
PlayStation also made its first attempt to get a cut of the handheld market with the PSP competing against Nintendo’s new DS line.
Notable consoles in the seventh generation:
Eighth generation: 2012 – 2020
Even when the PS2 was the clear dominant force of its generation, Xbox and Nintendo were still both healthy competitors. The eighth generation was one of massive missteps for everyone except PlayStation, letting its PS4 run away with the lead right up until the very end. The Xbox One got off to a terrible start with poor messaging that focused on media over games, DRM restrictions, and requiring the motion sensor Kinect that increased the price by $100 over the PS4. On the other hand, Nintendo tried to recreate the same success with the Wii U, and even launched it two years before the PS4 and Xbox One, but also failed in its communication leading to the worst-performing system in the company’s history. Thankfully the new 3DS handheld was doing well, but Nintendo made the call to cut its generation short and launched the Switch in 2017. Merging its home console and hybrid systems together ended up being a brilliant move that completely turned the company’s outlook.
PlayStation took one last shot at the handheld market with the Vita, but it ended up falling short of what the PSP managed to do by a large margin.
Notable consoles in the eighth generation:
- Wii U
- Nintendo Switch
- PlayStation 4
- Xbox One
- Nintendo 3DS
- PlayStation Vita
Ninth generation: 2020 – present
That brings us to the ninth and current console generation. Despite its best efforts Xbox continues to struggle with its Xbox Series X and S systems compared the the PS5, although both systems had a rocky start due to supply constraints. Xbox made some of the biggest acquisitions in industry history this generation with the likes of Bethesda and Activision Blizzard but is also moving away from console-exclusive games. It remains to be seen if it will continue to invest in hardware or pivot to a third-party publisher like Sega before it.
Nintendo continued to enjoy the popularity of the Switch even after Xbox and PlayStation released hardware that dwarfed its technical power. At long last, it is releasing the Switch 2 to lessen the gap, though likely not completely erase it.
This generation also saw the rise of handheld PCs that blur the line between PC gaming and consoles. The Steam Deck was the first to break into this space in a big way with a system that made it easy to play the best Steam games on a handheld, with many others following suit.
There are still a few years left to go in this generation but we do have an idea of what upcoming consoles might look like that will define the tenth generation.
Notable consoles in the ninth generation:
- PlayStation 5
- Xbox Series X/S
- Steam Deck
- Switch 2
