The document traces the history of video games from their origins in the 1950s to modern consoles. It discusses the early computer games created by Claude Shannon in 1951 and the first home console, the Magnavox Odyssey, released in 1972. The document then summarizes the major generations of video game consoles, including the video game crashes of 1977 and 1983, and the rise of popular systems like the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo, PlayStation, and modern consoles like the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

1. VIDEO GAMES IN THE
21ST CENTURY
by: Nathan Bender

2. HOW THEY STARTED
In 1951, Claude Shannon created a game of chess for the
original computers. This was the first time anyone had
programmed a computer to play chess.
In 1972, Magnavox released the first take-home video game
console that you could hook up to the tv called Magnavox
Odyssey.
It was invented by Ralph H. Baer.

3. SECOND GENERATION
VIDEO GAMES
In 1976, Fairchild released the Fairchild Video
Entertainment System (VES).
It contained a programmable microprocessor, which was the
foundation of many more video game systems to come.

4. VIDEO GAME CRASH
OF 1977
In 1977, everyone started to sell their video game systems
because they did not have enough money.
This led to many video game companies going out of
business.
RCA and Fairchild abandoned video games all together.
The only companies to stay in were Atari and Magnavox.

5. VIDEO GAME CRASH
OF 1983
In 1983, companies started to release low quality and
cheaper video game systems for people that could not afford
these more expensive consoles.
Also, home computers started to flood the market and
people started to turn to them for gaming.
People started to lose interest in video game consoles, so
most companies filed for bankruptcy.

6. THIRD GENERATION
CONSOLES
In 1985, Nintendo brought the NES (Nintendo
entertainment system) over to the United States from Japan.
Nintendo found their breakout product to be Super Mario
Bros., a game that would be known for many generations to
come.
Nintendo’s success restarted the video game industry and
many more consoles would be introduced to compete with
the NES.

7. FOURTH GENERATION
In 1988, Sega released the Mega Drive/Genesis.
In 1990, Nintendo released the SNES (Super Nintendo
Entertainment System)
Other not well know consoles that were released were
TurboGrafx-16, and Neo Geo.

8. FIFTH GENERATION
The first game systems in this generation were Sega’s Jaguar
and the 3DO.
Both of these game systems were much more powerful than
the SNES and the Genesis.
These consoles were not very productive.
The 3DO costed more than the SNES and Genesis combined,
while the Jaguar was very hard to program for, leading to a
shortage in games.

9. FIFTH GENERATION
CON’T
It was not until Playstation One, Nintendo 64, and the
Saturn were released that people started to buy gaming
consoles again.
The Saturn and the PlayStation did something no other
gaming consoles had ever done, they used cds instead of
cartridges.
Both of these systems were way cheaper than the Jaguar and
the 3DO.

10. SIXTH GENERATION
The leading consoles in this generation were Sega’s
Dreamcast, Sony’s Playstation 2, Nintendo’s Gamecube, and
Microsoft’s Xbox.
Gaming consoles in this generation now started to use DVDs
instead of CDs.
These were the first video game systems to be more PC-like.
In this generation we also started to see Online gaming
becoming more popular.

11. SEVENTH
GENERATION
Sony’s Playstation 3, Microsoft’s Xbox 360, and Nintendo’s
Wii, are the mosted advanced video game consoles on the
market today.
Nintendo’s Wii is the first video game console to use motion
sensing as a way to play video games.
The Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 are the top competitors
in Online Gaming.
The Playstation 3, started a revolution by supporting the
Blu-ray disk formats.