Video game console

A video game console is a device that outputs a video signal or visual image to display a video game. The term "video game console" is used to distinguish a console machine primarily designed for consumers to use for playing video games in contrast to arcade machines or home computers. It includes home video game consoles, handheld game consoles, microconsoles and dedicated consoles.

Although Ralph Baer had built working game consoles by 1966, it was nearly a decade before Pong made them commonplace in home theaters. Through evolution over the years, game consoles have expanded to function as CD players, DVD players, web browsers, set-top boxes and more.

History

Overview of Timeline

First generation

The first video games appeared in the 1960s. They were played on massive computers connected to vector displays, not analog televisions. Ralph H. Baer conceived the idea of a home video game in 1951. In the late 1960s, while working for Sanders Associates, Baer created a series of video game console designs. One of these designs, which gained the nickname of the 1966 "Brown Box", featured changeable game modes and was demonstrated to several TV manufacturers, ultimately leading to an agreement between Sanders Associates and Magnavox.