The First of Many Generations: 1972–1977
The idea of a home-based gaming system could be traced back to the mind 1960s when Ralph Baer and his associates began working on a prototype dubbed 'The Brown Box'. Upon playing it, it received relatively decent responses. It did so well, in fact, that the company Magnavox purchased the license from Baer, which soon evolved into the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972, the very first home-based gaming console.
Five years later, after successes with Pong, Atari releases their own home-based console, the Atari 2600, which was also the first cartridge-based gaming console, and the face of first generation consoles. While the graphics weren't necessarily state of the art, the gameplay was simplistic and engaging, which helped fuel their successes. It also fueled the successes of other game consoles, but they were reaching a peak, and it was only a matter of time before that peak was passed.
Five years later, after successes with Pong, Atari releases their own home-based console, the Atari 2600, which was also the first cartridge-based gaming console, and the face of first generation consoles. While the graphics weren't necessarily state of the art, the gameplay was simplistic and engaging, which helped fuel their successes. It also fueled the successes of other game consoles, but they were reaching a peak, and it was only a matter of time before that peak was passed.