Iconic Consoles and Games That Shaped Gaming History
From Mario to GTA, technology writer Jonathan Weinberg looks at the video games and consoles that made their mark on the world.
When it comes to video games, no matter how old we are, we remain big kids at heart. Nobody forgets their first gaming console. I loved button bashing on the rubber keys of the industry-dominating ZX Spectrum in the early 80s, although I was also lucky enough to have the wood-finished Atari 2600. My best friend, Scott, was a huge Nintendo fan. We loved making Mario smash into blocks and steering The Legend of Zelda’s Link on his Nintendo Entertainment System (NES; below left).
The equally iconic handheld Game Boy, released in 1990, changed my life. Mario, Tennis, and Tetris were firm favourites. Even my dad had tonnes of fun slotting those bricks into place. For those a little younger than me, their first console might have been Sony’s original PlayStation in 1994, or 1997’s Nintendo 64.
Many suggest gaming grew from a simple 1972 Atari arcade title called Pong, which offered hours of black-and-white fun for players as they batted a ball between vertical lines on either side of the screen. If you're old enough to remember that, you’ll appreciate how far we’ve come.
Last year, the UK video gaming market was worth a staggering £7.8bn. Today, thanks to powerful broadband speeds, the pain of waiting for cassettes to load is a distant memory.
Games consoles through the decades
1977 - Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 was a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System, it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridges, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F in 1976.
1982 - Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International. It has been listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest-selling single computer model of all time, with independent estimates placing the number sold between 12.5 and 17 million units.
1982 - ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum was an 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. Considered one of the most influential computers ever made, it is also one of the best-selling British computers ever, with over five million units sold.
1994 - Sony PlayStation
The PlayStation was is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment.
2001 - Xbox
The Xbox is a home video game console manufactured by Microsoft that is the first installment in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was released as Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console market on November 15, 2001, in North America, followed by Australia, Europe and Japan in 2002.
Rivalry hots up
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was only one gaming battle – between Nintendo and Sega. It coined the phrase “console war,” with the duo’s machines going on to sell tens of millions between them. The Super NES ultimately saw sales of nearly 50 million worldwide, beating Sega’s Mega Drive, which shifted about 30 million. By much-loved consoles got even better, selling just under 120m around the world before it was discontinued in 2003.
The PlayStation was a major leap forward as it shifted to running games on CDs rather than cartridges, it delivered a huge leap forward in graphics and processing power – and gave us Lara Croft and Tomb Raider. It also marked the start of games becoming much more expensive to buy for us fans – back then, the pocket money didn’t stretch too far.
Moving up a gear
With the disc era came the need for memory cards to store in-game data and progress. This was then followed by the first console with built-in hard drive… the original Xbox from Microsoft, with its memorable green X branding. It didn’t sell as many units as Sony’s PlayStation 2, though.
Microsoft brought multiplayer online gaming to the Xbox with its Xbox Live service. There had been earlier attempts – between 1993 and 1996, for instance, Sega, Nintendo, and Atari tried to do it by using dial-up, but it didn’t take off due to slow internet capabilities.
Three new games to watch out for
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Help Princess Zelda save the people of Hyrule, coming to the Nintendo Switch on 26 September.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
The latest first-person shooter from the epic military franchise coming to all major consoles on 25 October.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
The 14th instalment of the hugely popular series, is set in 16th-century Japan and comes to consoles in November.
At the turn of the millennium, the Sega Dreamcast was the world’s first internet-ready console but its success was soon overshadowed by the Xbox, mostly due to the arrival of the Halo universe, with its hero Master Chief.
This was a seminal period for gaming that also saw the Grand Theft Auto series go mainstream, grabbing media headlines for its 18+ storylines.
In 2006, Nintendo’s movement-focused home console, the Wii, was launched. Remember falling over furniture trying to play Wii Tennis?
Fast forward to today and Sony’s PlayStation has version 5 of its console on the market and Xbox has its fourth-gen with the Series X and S. The processing speed and graphical power of all three are unbelievable compared with the experiences of those who enjoyed their first offerings.
Apple’s iPhone and iPad brought downloadable apps with immense graphics – a far cry from the mega-popular greyscale Snake on Nokia mobiles in 1998. Today, the rise of esports, augmented and virtual reality and the open worlds of the metaverse promise to keep us glued to the screen – and long may that gaming fun continue for generations to come!
