MAIN HOME page Who is VGCL? Our Collections Site Updates FAQs Terms of Use Contact Support VGCL Credits \ Thanks Excellent Websites OVERVIEW The content of the Video Game Console Library is written by a group of gaming enthusiasts that, as a whole, collectively own every main console that has ever been released.  Our goal is to provide an objective viewpoint and information on the hardware that powers the games we all love, for both the hardware collector and gamer alike.  (Read more...) 1970s 72 - Magnavox Odyssey 75 - PC-50X Family 76 - Fairchild Channel F 76 - RCA Studio II 76 - 1292 APVS Family 77 - Atari Game Brain (proto) 77 - Coleco Telstar Arcade 77 - Atari Video Computer System (2600) 77 - Bally Home Library Computer (Astrocade) 78 - Magnavox Odyssey 2 \ Philips Videopac 78 - Interton VC-4000 78 - APF Imagination Machine 79 - Bandai Super Vision 8000 79 - Mattel Intellivision 1970s - HISTORY & OVERVIEW The 1970s marked the beginning of home video gaming as we know it today.  Ralph Baer, uniformly known as the father of the video game console, created and developed the infamous Brown Box, which would later become the revolutionary Magnavox Odyssey.  Few could honestly admit that this humble beginning would result in the multi-billion dollar market of today.  (Read more...) 1980s 81 - Epoch Cassette Vision 81 - VTech CreatiVision 82 - Coleco ColecoVision 82 - Emerson Arcadia 2001 82 - Entex Adventure Vision 82 - GCE Vectrex 82 - Atari 5200 SuperSystem 83 - Casio PV-1000 83 - Gakken Compact Vision 83 - Nichibutsu My Vision 83 - Nintendo Famicom \ NES 83 - Sega SG-1000 (Mark I \ Mark II) 83 - Tomy Pyuuta Jr. 83 - Ultravision VAS (proto) 84 - Nintendo AVS (proto) 84 - Epoch Super Cassette Vision 85 - Daewoo Zemmix 85 - RDI Halcyon 85 - Sega Mark III \ Master System 85 - BBC Bridge Companion 86 - Atari 7800 Pro System 86 - Bit Corp Dina 2 in one (2-in-1) 86 - Nintendo Famicom Disk System 86 - Sharp Twin Famicom 87 - Worlds of Wonder Action Max 87 - Atari XE Game System (XEGS) 87 - NEC PC Engine \ TurboGrafx-16 87 - Takara \ Bandai Video Challenger 88 - NEC PC Engine CD-ROM2 \ TG-CD 88 - Sega Mega Drive \ Genesis 89 - Konix Multisystem (proto) 89 - NEC SuperGrafx 1980s - HISTORY & OVERVIEW The 1970s may have been the beginning of home video gaming as we know it.  However, it was the 1980s that saw the premature death of the industry and its phoenix-like rise from the ashes.  Atari became synonymous with home video gaming, but newcomers like Sega and Nintendo quickly proved to not only be a threat but to reinvent the industry as we know it.  (Read more...) 1990s 90 - Atari Mirai (proto) 90 - Commodore 64GS 90 - SNK Neo Geo AES \ MVS 90 - Amstrad GX4000 90 - Nintendo Super Famicom \ SNES 91 - Philips CD-i 91 - Commodore CDTV 91 - Atari Panther (proto) 91 - Sega CD \ Mega-CD 91 - NEC PC Engine Duo \ TurboDuo 92 - Taito WoWoW (proto) 92 - Tandy \ Memorex VIS 92 - Victor Wondermega \ JVC X'Eye 93 - Fujitsu FM Towns Marty 93 - Pioneer LaserActive 93 - Amiga CD32 93 - Panasonic 3DO 93 - Atari Jaguar 94 - SNK Neo Geo CD \ CDZ 94 - Bandai Playdia 94 - Capcom CPS Changer 94 - NEC PC-FX 94 - Sega 32X \ Super 32X 94 - Sega Multi-Mega \ CDX 94 - Sega Neptune (proto) 94 - Sega Saturn 94 - Sony PlayStation 95 - Casio Loopy 95 - Nintendo Satellaview BS-X 95 - Atari Jaguar CD 95 - Nintendo Virtual Boy 95 - Funtech Super A'Can 95 - Bandai Pippin ATMARK \ @WORLD 96 - Atari Jaguar Duo (proto) 96 - Nintendo 64 97 - Sega Pluto (proto) 98 - Sega Dreamcast 98 - Panasonic 3DO M2 99 - Nintendo 64DD 1990s - HISTORY & OVERVIEW While Sega and Nintendo carved up the market neatly between them early on, companies like NEC looked to expand their influence while new entries by SNK, Philips and 3DO decided to ride the bleeding edge of new technology and multifunctional hardware in order to grab a slice of that pie for themselves.  Other companies, like Atari and Commodore, simply tried to hold on.  (Read more...) 2000s 00 - NUON Technology 00 - Sony PlayStation 2 01 - Nintendo GameCube 01 - Panasonic Q 01 - Microsoft Xbox 01 - Indrema L600 (proto) 03 - Nintendo iQue 03 - Sony PSX DVR 03 - Infinium Labs Phantom (proto) 04 - SSD Company XaviXPORT 04 - DISCover Technology 05 - Microsoft Xbox 360 05 - ZAPiT Game Wave 06 - Nintendo Wii 06 - Sony PlayStation 3 08 - Apple iPlay (concept) 09 - Tectoy Zeebo 09 - Envizions EVO Smart Console 2000s - HISTORY & OVERVIEW In March of 2000, Sony kicked off the new millennium by releasing the PlayStation 2 which would be shortly followed thereafter by Nintendo's GameCube console and newcomer Microsoft's Xbox.  With this new generation of hardware, developers would change gaming's importance in pop culture as well as telecommunications and entertainment.  (Read more...) 2010s 10 - OnLive Game System 12 - Nintendo Wii U 13 - EnGeniux OTON (proto) 13 - Boxer8 OUYA 13 - PlayJam GameStick 13 - Sony PlayStation 4 13 - Microsoft Xbox One 13 - Mad Catz M.O.J.O. 14 - ZTE FunBox 14 - Huawei Tron (proto) 14 - Steam Machines 2010s - NOTES With the new decade starting off, cloud gaming has begun to take a foothold within the gamer's living room.  OnLive released their MicroConsole in December of 2010 with rumors of similar streaming devices surfacing on a weekly basis.  The door may be opening as well for independent developers with the release of consoles focused on providing an open gaming environment like the OUYA. 2020s 20 - Place Holder! 2020s - NOTES Has it already been a decade? Time to catch up... Coming Soon REFERENCE History - What Makes it a Console? History - Video Game Crash of 1983 History - Evolution of Game Media History - Game Controllers History - Relative Console Prices Tools - Console Master Database Tools - Download Console Manuals Tools - Download Portable Manuals Tools - Video Game Terminology Tools - Connecting Your Game Systems Gallery - Console Holy Grails Gallery - Portable Systems Gallery - Educational Systems Misc - Buying Do's & Don'ts Misc - Demise of the Game Manual Misc - Vintage PC Gaming Misc - Roots of the Forum (BBS) CONSOLE CREWCAST BLOG INDEX You have stumbled upon our little corner of the video gaming universe where you will find a variety of articles on all facets of the industry.  From software reviews to gaming literature to the various rants that keep us sane, you get a taste of it all.  Please select an article category from the above list or check out our most recent additions listed from our Blog Index.  Please enjoy!!  (Blog Index...)