For around 47 years, the video game industry has been active and He has many fans all over the world.. Well, this sector has had the ability to bring entertainment to hundreds of millions of homes, through the enjoyment that the various existing video game consoles ensure, which emit all kinds of experiences.
For their part, there are many anecdotes and stories that these video consoles keep, to this day. Therefore, it is worth knowing certain aspects of interest around the chronicle of video games; specifically, to the most legendary video consoles and also to all the generations that have existed of these.
Reason why, in this post, we want to indicate how many and what are the generations of game consoles that there is until 2019. Like, the 10 most famous video game consoles and influential in this sectortaking into account its year of launch and its quantities sold, worldwide.
What have been all the generations of game consoles?
As we indicated, to understand a little about the history of video game consoles, it is necessary to know how many generations of them have existed, up to the present. To which, we delimit that there are eight generations of game consoles in total.
Next, We detail the most important characteristics of each of these:
first generation
Started in 1972, as of the release of the Magnavox Odyssey and concluded in 1977. It was characterized by exhibiting very simple and rudimentary machines of 4 bit, specifically. It should be noted that the Magnavox Odyssey sold around 330 thousand units and the other most famous game console was Nintendo Color TV Game that was able to distribute three million devices.
second generation
It is the generation of game consoles that began from 1976 and 1977, once the Fairchild Channel was launched on the market. However, the Atari 2600 it was listed as the most important video game console of the second generation. Which was released to the public in 1977 and sold more than 30 million units in the world. On the other hand, this generation culminated between 1980 and 1983.
third generation
Like the previous generation, this one was characterized by presenting machines of 8 bit. Thus, the third generation was a phase in the history of video games that began from the year 1983 when the NES console was presented by the renowned Japanese company Nintendo. Added to this, SEGA launched its first game console in Japanese territory and It was called “Sega Mark III”but commercially, they knew it as “Sega Master System”.
fourth generation
At this point in the history of video consoles, the machines of 16 bitsuch as the Super Nintendo Mega Drive and Super Nintendo which, respectively, were released in the year 1988 and 1990. It should be noted that this generation started in 1987 and ended in 1993.
On the other hand, during those years there was a period of intense trade war between SEGA and Nintendo; reason why it is also called “The Console War” either “War of the Bits”.
fifth generation
spanned a period between the years 1993 and 1998that is to say, there were five years in which machines of 32 bit and for this reason, it was also a generation identified as the “32-bit era”. In this sense, it is an era of video game consoles that meant the transition from 2D to three-dimensional 3D environments and, mainly, unveiled a Fujitsu proposal called “FM Towns Marty”. In addition, the consoles of 64 bit.
sixth generation
Among 1998 and 2005, the video game consoles that emerged belonged to the sixth generation, which is one of the most important, since it is located at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st. Thus, in 1998, they launched the famous Sega Dreamcast and the most successful of allwas the one that appeared in the year 2000 as a creation of Sony, known as “PlayStation 2”.
seventh generation
It refers to the penultimate generation of video game consoles in the world, which remained between the years 2005 and 2012. In this way, it is characterized by presenting different proposals from Nintendo, Sony and even Microsoft. One of the most important machines of the seventh generation, it is based on the Xbox 360 launched in 2005, like the Playstation 3 published in 2006 and the Wii which also arose in said year.
eighth generation
We end this list, with the eighth generation of video consoles that is in a period between the years 2012 and 2016. During these four years, machines such as portable game units were included and certain companies also debuted with a new video console proposal. But, mainly, the present generation distinguishes itself by publishing PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Wii U.
List of the best-selling video game consoles in the history of the industry
Now, if you want to know the most legendary video game consoles in all of history from 1977 to 2016, you have reached the indicated section of the post.
We detail below 10 of the best-selling game consoles in the industry:
Playstation 2
Launch year: 2000. Number of units sold: 160 million
With 160 million units sold, this Sony console has the highest number of units sold worldwide and for that reason, so far, no other has managed to surpass it. In this sense, the PlayStation 2 or PS2 had one of the most varied catalogs in historywhich is why it managed to attract the attention of so many users.
In this way, it offered different proposals to players of all kinds, based on memorable and unforgettable experiences. Reason why, even when it is discontinued, many users look for emulators to obtain the same gaming experience. It is worth distinguishing that the PS2 caused the collapse of the Nintendo company for a generation.
Nintendo DS
Launch year: 2004. Number of units sold: 154.02 million
In second place on the list, we place a video console created, designed and published by Nintendo at beginning of the 21st century. This being the second best-selling video game machine in history, so far and especially, because it was a laptop that could easily revolutionize the video game industry.
So the Nintendo DS introduces the dual screen concept and thanks to that, with his motto “Touch Generation”achieved real success in hundreds of countries around the world.
Taking into account that, additionally, it provided various games suitable for all tastes; because it contained everything from classic sagas to video games adapted to their tactile capabilities.
Game Boy/Game Boy Color
Release year: 1989/1998, respectively. Number of units sold: 118.69 million
It consists of the third best-selling console to run video games in history and another of the best successes of the Nintendo company. Taking into account that the Game Boy was the first proposal with which Nintendo managed to exceed 100 million consoles sold and was widely accepted by the public of all ages.
In addition to this, the Game Boy also offered an extensive catalog of games and one of the most famous of these, without a doubt, was the series Legend of Zelda (such as: Pokémon and Super Mario Land). In short, it was one of the first laptops with the best deliveries and the one that left the most memories for users of Nintendo game consoles.
Playstation 4
Launch year: 2013. Number of units sold: 102.80 million
The PS4 is one of the newest video game consoles in the video game industry, because belongs to the eighth and last generation. Being this, a proposal from Sony with which it also revolutionized the market and because of it, it was the torment of the rivals of this company, especially for Microsoft. Taking into account that, it could not surpass the PlayStation 4 with its Xbox One and in the case of Nintendo, it showed competition with its nintendoswitchbut it also failed to surpass the PS4.
Currently, this game console has not been discontinued and therefore, it is estimated that the number of units sold can increase significantly in the remainder of 2019 and throughout 2020. Because many users were delighted with this machine that offers very varied and updated catalogscompared to other alternatives.
PSOne
Release year: 1994. Number of units sold: 102.49 million
It is considered another of the proposals launched by Sony with greater success and with the highest number of units sold, this being the fifth most distributed game console around the world. Which is also known as “PlayStation” and it arose after an attempt by Sony and Nintendo together that was completely frustrated.
So only Sony went a step further and released this machine that It was the first stone for the hegemony of said company in the entertainment and video game industry.
Among other details, the game console has exclusive games that have been developed by the same Sony studios and as one of the most iconic, the Gran Turismo is located. On the other hand, the PSOne provided a very striking catalog that is made up of works of interest such as Final Fantasy, for example.
Wii
Launch year: 2006. Number of units sold: 101.63 million
From this console, Nintendo opted for a business model in which there was no direct competition, as it decided to take a completely different course to attract new audience and take the lead over Sony. Reason why, the Wii presents the particularity of a control by movement and a groundbreaking controlwhich has not been seen on any other machine before.
In addition to this, Nintendo looked at bet on the gameplay with Wii, instead of accessing the graphs. In this way, this game console started a new contemporary system and managed to get many customers all over the world, so the company managed to sell more than 101 million units during its life cycle, gaining an immediate success in terms of hardware, peripherals and catalog of titles.
Playstation 3
Launch year: 2006. Number of units sold: 87.40 million
It is a Sony game console that is also called “PS3” and is considered the seventh best-selling console of all time. Being a proposal presented to the public in order to tear down the new Nintendo machines at that time and also in order to overcome a great setback in sales that occurred in the company Sony.
That is why the PlayStation 3 managed to stage a remarkable comeback and with this, in his generation, he was able to find second place among all the machines launched during the time. So, only Wii was the one who could overcome it. Among its best features, we find that Sony studios designed an exclusive and powerful catalog of games for this console.
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