with the ColecoVision when it was released in August 1982.
Built-in games, like those from the
AI simulation was also improved during this era. The generation also saw the first handheld game cartridge system, the Microvision, which was released by toy company Milton Bradley
in 1979.
In 1979, gaming giant
video game industry crash in 1983 and marked the start of the next generation. Beginning in December 1982 and stretching through all of 1984, the crash of 1983 caused major disruption to the North American market.[14][15] Some developers collapsed and almost no new games were released in 1984. The market did not fully recover until the third generation.[4] The second generation ended on January 1, 1992, with the discontinuation of the Atari 2600.[16]
Background
The primary driver of the second generation of consoles was the introduction of the low-cost
integrated circuits (ICs). Custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) like the AY-3-8500 were produced to replicate these circuits within a single chip, but still presented only a single fixed logic program,. Once a game was shipped, there were only minimal variations that could be made by adjusting the positions of jumpers (effectively the behavior of the "cartridges" that shipped with the Magnavox Odyssey). As Atari, Inc. recognized, spending from $100,000 to 250,000 and several months of development time on a hardware unit with a single dedicated game with only three-month shelf life before it was outdated by other competitors' offerings was not a practical business model, and instead some type of programmable console would be preferred.[17]
Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS or later known as the Atari 2600), was released in 1977 and based on the MOS Technology6507 microprocessor, with a cartridge design influenced in part by the Channel F system.[18]
Other console manufacturers soon followed suit with the production of their own programmable consoles.
At the start of the second generation, all games were developed and produced in-house. Four former Atari programmers, having left from conflicts in management style after Atari was purchased by
third-party developer for a console. This also established a working model for licensing other third-party developers, which several companies followed in Activision's wake, partially contributing to the video game crash of 1983 due to oversaturation.[19]
As the second generation of consoles coincided with the
Japanese video game companies by 1980, which led to Jonathan Greenberg of Forbes predicting in early 1981 that Japanese companies would eventually dominate the North American video game industry later in the decade.[20]
At this stage, both consoles and game cartridges were intended to be sold for profit by manufacturers. However, by segregating games from the console, this approach established the use of the razorblade business model in future console generations, where consoles would be sold at or below cost while licensing fees from third-party games would bring in profits.[21][22]
Home systems
See also:
List of home video game consoles § Second generation (1976–1992)
The Fairchild Channel F, also known early in its life as the Fairchild Video Entertainment System (VES), was released by Fairchild Semiconductor in November 1976 and was the first console of the second generation.[23] It was the world's first CPU-based video game console, introducing the cartridge-based game-code storage format.[24] The console featured a pause button that allowed players to freeze a game. This allowed them to take a break without the need to reset or turn off the console so they did not lose their current game progress.[25] Fairchild released twenty-six cartridges for the system, with up to four games being on each cartridge. The console came with two pre-installed games, Hockey and Tennis.[26]
Following the release of the Atari 2600, the Channel F's popularity waned quickly as the more action-driven games of the Atari 2600 drew more attention than the more educational and slow-paced games on the Channel F. By 1979, only an additional 100,000 units of the Channel F were sold for lifetime sales of 350,000.[27]
In 1978, Fairchild redesigned the system into a new model, the Channel F System II. The System II streamlined some of the initial Channel F to reduce cost and improve consumer usage compared to the Atari 2600, such as improved controller connections and using the television speakers for audio output, but by the time it was released, the Atari 2600 had too much market advantage for Fairchild to overcome. After releasing 21 games for the system, Fairchild sold the Channel F technology to Zircon International in 1979, who then discontinued the system by 1983.[27]
In 1977, Atari released its CPU-based console called the Video Computer System (VCS), later called the Atari 2600.[28] Nine games were designed and released for the holiday season. Atari held exclusive rights to most of the popular arcade game conversions of the day. They used this key segment to support their older hardware in the market. This game advantage and the difference in price between the machines meant that each year, Atari sold more units than Intellivision, lengthening its lead despite inferior graphics.[29] The Atari 2600 sold over 30 million units over its lifetime, considerably more than any other console of the second generation.[30] In 1982, Atari released the Atari 5200 in an attempt to compete with the Intellivision. While superior to the 2600, poor sales and lack of new games meant Atari only supported it for two years before it was discontinued.[31]
Early Atari 2600 cartridges contained 2 kilobytes of read-only storage. This limit grew steadily from 1978 to 1983: up to 16 kilobytes for Atari 5200 cartridges. Bank switching, a technique that allowed two different parts of the program to use the same memory addresses, was required for the larger cartridges to work. The Atari 2600 cartridges got as large as 32 kilobytes through this technique.[32] The Atari 2600 had only 128 bytes of RAM available in the console. A few late game cartridges contained a combined RAM/ROM chip, thus adding another 256 bytes of RAM inside the cartridge itself. The Atari standard joystick was a digital controller with a single button, released in 1977.[33]
The Bally Astrocade was released in 1977 and was available only through mail order.[34] It was originally referred to as the Bally Home Library Computer.[34][35] Delays in the production meant that none of the units shipped until 1978. By this time, the machine had been renamed the Bally Professional Arcade.[35] In this form, it sold mostly at computer stores and had little retail exposure, unlike the Atari VCS. The rights to the console were sold to Astrovision in 1981. They re-released the unit with the BASIC cartridge included for free; this system was known as the Bally Computer System.[35] When Astrovision changed their name to Astrocade in 1982 they also changed the name of the console to the Astrocade to follow suit. It sold under this name until the video game crash of 1983 when it was discontinued.[36]
In 1978, Magnavox released its microprocessor-based console, the Odyssey 2, in the United States and Canada.[37] It was distributed by Philips Electronics in the European market and was released as the Philips G7000.[38] A defining feature of the system was the speech synthesis unit add-on which enhanced music, sound effects and speech capabilities.[39] The Odyssey² was also known for its fusion of board and video games. Some titles came with a game board and pieces which players had to use in conjunction to play the game. Although the Odyssey² never became as popular as the Atari consoles, it sold 2 million units throughout its lifetime. This made it the third best selling console of the generation.[40] It was discontinued in 1984.[41]
16-bit era".[43] Programs were however stored on 10-bit ROM. It also featured an advanced sound chip that could deliver output through three distinct sound channels.[43] The Intellivision was the first console with a thumb-pad directional controller and tile-based playfields with vertical and horizontal scrolling. The system's initial production run sold out shortly after its national launch in 1980.[43] Early cartridges were 4 kilobyte ROMs
, which grew to 24 kilobytes for later games.
The Intellivision introduced several new features to the second generation. It was the first home console to use a 16-bit microprocessor and offer downloadable content through the PlayCable service.[44] It also provided real-time human voices during gameplay. It was the first console to pose a serious threat to Atari's dominance. A series of TV advertisements featuring George Plimpton were run. They used side-by-side game comparisons to show the improved graphics and sound compared with those of the Atari 2600.[43] It sold over 3 million units[45] before being discontinued in 1990.[46]
The ColecoVision was introduced by toy manufacturer Coleco in August 1982. It was more powerful than previous consoles, providing an experience that was closer to Arcades than what the 2600 could provide.[47] The console launched with several arcade ports, including Sega's Zaxxon, and later saw third-party support from many developers such as Activision and even their competitor Atari.[48] The ColecoVision is notable for its Atari 2600 expansion module, which enabled the console to play 2600 games, resulting in a lawsuit from Atari.[49] The ColecoVision was a victim of the video game crash, ultimately being discontinued in 1985.
The Vectrex was released in 1982. It was unique among home systems of the time in featuring vector graphics and its own self-contained display.[50] At the time, many of the most popular arcade games used vector displays. Through a licensing deal with Cinematronics, GCE was able to produce high-quality versions of arcade games such as Space Wars and Armor Attack. Despite a strong library of games and good reviews, the Vectrex was ultimately a commercial failure.[51] It was on the market for less than two years.[52]
Comparison
Comparison of second-generation video game home consoles
Milton-Bradley. was released in 1979.[78] It was the first handheld game console that used cartridges that could be swapped out and that contained their own processor as the console itself had no on-board processor. It had a small game library which was prone to damage from static electricity and the LCD screen could also rot. These two factors contributed to its discontinuation two years after release.[citation needed
]
Entex Select-A-Game and Adventure Vision
Entex released two handheld systems in the second generation, the Select-A-Game and the Adventure Vision. There were 6 games available for the Select-A-Game but it was only available for a year until focus shifted to the Adventure Vision which was released in the following year.
The Adventure Vision was released only in North America in 1982 by Entex and was the successor to the Select-A-Game.[79] It was unique among the consoles as it used a spinning mirror system for its built-in display and had to be used set down on a surface due to its size and shape.[80] It was discontinued one year later in 1983 after selling just over fifty thousand units.[79]
Palmtex Super Micro
Developed and manufactured by Palmtex, the Super Micro was released in 1984 and discontinued later that year. Due to financial problems between Palmtex and Home Computer Software, only three games were released for the system despite more being planned. It was criticized for its poor build quality and how easily it would break, and sold fewer than 37,000 units.
The Epoch Game Pocket Computer was released in Japan in 1984.[81] Due to poor sales, only five games were made for it and was not released outside of Japan.[82]
The Game & Watch was a series of 60 handheld consoles that contained a single game in each release. The first, titled "Ball" was released in 1980 and titles were released up until it was discontinued in 1991.[79] Unlike the other handheld consoles in the second generation, the Game & Watch had a segmented LCD screen similar to a digital watch which limited the display to the configuration of the segments. The series sold a combined 43.4 million units, making it the most popular handheld of the generation.
action-adventure video game[93] and first console fantasy game.[94] It is considered to be an important role in the advancement of home video games[95] and one of the best Atari 2600 titles.[96]
Asteroids (arcade port) (Atari 2600) was the first game on the 2600 to utilize the bank switching technique.[97]
Baseball (Intellivision) by Mattel was the console's best selling title with over one million copies sold.[58]
Demon Attack (Atari 2600) by Imagic was released in 1983. It won the 1983 Arcade Award for "Best Videogame of the Year".[98] It was the company's best selling game and is considered a classic of the Atari 2600.[99][100][101]
Donkey Kong (arcade port) (ColecoVision) by Coleco was praised highly for being very faithful to the original arcade game. Critics considered it the best version out of the ColecoVision, Atari and Intellivision ports.[39][102]
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Atari 2600) released in 1982[103] and is often accredited to being one of the worst games of all time.[104] Some believe the game played a significant role in the video game crash of 1983.[105]
Microsurgeon (Intellivision) by Imagic was praised highly for its originality.[39] It was included in "The Art of Video Games" exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in 2012.[106]
Missile Command (arcade port) (Atari 2600) by Atari, Inc. was released in 1981 and sold more than 2.5 million copies.[107] This made it the third best selling game on the console.[108]
Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (Atari 2600) by Activision, released in 1984[112] was one of the most technically impressive titles for the 2600.[113] It came with a specialized audio chip on the cartridge that allowed for advanced music capabilities where music could be changed dynamically.[114]
River Raid (Atari 2600) by Activision was the first video game to be banned for minors in West Germany.[115] Despite this, it was still one of the most popular titles for the Atari 2600 and won an award for "1984 Best Action Videogame".[116]
Space Invaders (arcade port) (Atari 2600) by Taito was the first official licensing of an arcade game and was the first "killer app" for video game consoles.[6][117] Its release saw sales of the Atari 2600 quadruple[117] and was the first title to sell 1 million copies.[118]
ISBN 9781466601505. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved November 3, 2020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
^Aeppel, Timothy (December 10, 1982), "Zap! Pow! Video games sparkle in holiday market", Christian Science Monitor: 7, In recent weeks, two particularly hot-selling systems have emerged - the Atari 5200 and ColecoVision. Both are described as powerful 'third wave' machines, the Cadillacs of game systems, and priced accordingly at close to $200...[T]hey are sure to snatch most of the Christmas market.
^Mabuchi, Hiroaki (December 29, 2016). "テレビテニスから始まった国内家庭用ゲーム機の移り変わり". IGN Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
^Weigers, Karl E. (December 1985). "Atari Fine Scrolling". Compute! (67): 110. Archived from the original on February 16, 2006. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
^Coleco Industries sales report, PR Newswire, April 17, 1984, 'First quarter sales of ColecoVision were substantial, although much less that [sic] those for the year ago quarter,' Greenberg said in a prepared statement. He said the company has sold 2 million ColecoVision games since its introduction in 1982.
^"Coleco Industries, Inc. 1983 Annual Report". Coleco Industries, Inc. 1983: 3. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2019. The year's sales of 1.5 million ColecoVision units brought the installed base to over 2 million units worldwide.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^Schrage, Michael (May 22, 1984). "Atari Introduces Game In Attempt for Survival". Washington Post. p. C3. The company has stopped producing its 5200 SuperSystem games player, more than 1 million of which were sold.
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^"Iwata Asks". iwataasks.nintendo.com. April 2010. Archived from the original on August 16, 2013. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
^"Hand-Held Cartridges". Technocracy. Joystik: How to Win at Video Games. Vol. 1, no. 6. Skokie, Illinois: Publications International. July 1983. p. 62.
^"Iwata Asks". Archived from the original on July 25, 2015. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
^Katz, Arnie (September 26, 1982). "Arcade Express"(PDF). Reese Publishing Co. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved August 26, 2015.