Retro Game Consoles Guide

Video gaming has become one of the biggest entertainment industries of all time. The gaming industry's annual income has doubled the yearly income of the film industry. The game industry has become an unbridled source of creativity. Gone are the days when gamers were considered to be dweebs, geeks, nerds, and dorks. Just about everyone with a smartphone has a game or two they’ve downloaded on the app store. While the latest generation of consoles have settled into their new homes under televisions, one cannot embrace the future until they’ve learned all of the lessons from the past. Which is why we decided it was a good time to celebrate the legacy and history of gaming by looking back at some of our favorite retro game consoles.

No medium has evolved as rapidly as gaming. Just a decade ago multiplayer meant sharing a screen, a couch, and two controllers, and the best place to see some of the most advanced games on the planet was an arcade. Now retro consoles serve as beacons of nostalgia for a whole new generation. They sell for hundreds of dollars on eBay and are scooped up by enthusiastic collectors. Even modern gaming stores like Gamestop have begun selling retro games and consoles. The value of gaming's past from a historical perspective can’t be underestimated. So before you begin prowling eBay, Amazon, or your local Gamestop looking for retro game consoles, consult our list of some of the most significant and amazing consoles from gaming's past.

It might not have been the first console, but the Atari served as one of the main influencers that put console gaming on the map. It made the Atari name a household brand and something that would forever become an icon of gaming. The system was initially bundled with the two player tank battling game, but was later bundled with the home port of iconic arcade game Pac-Man. The Atari 2600 allowed consumers to enjoy ports of some of their favorite arcade titles. Finally, games like Space Invaders and Defender could be enjoyed by people in their own home. It transformed gaming into a form that was accessible and affordable for the average consumer and served as one of the lynchpin cornerstones that would allow for the evolution of gaming. This led the charge for consoles to ultimately invade our living rooms, providing a more accessible experience when compared to gaming on PCs.

The Magnavox Odyssey 2 console was one of the very earliest consoles to ever hit the game market. Following the success of the Odyssey, Magnavox capitalized on their success by releasing this massive improvement upon the previous system's hardware. By 1982, it had sold over 1 million consoles. Despite its reach, it was still the third best-selling console of its generation. But it proved to be an innovative piece of hardware, thanks to its speech synthesis unit, which allowed more sophisticated speech, music, and sound effects enhancements. One of the greatest innovations of the Odyssey 2 was its fusion of traditional board and video games in the Master Strategy Series. They combined real world game accessories like a game board with playing pieces with the electronic game. This served as the world’s first augmented reality experience, making this one of the most innovative retro game consoles.

From 1980 to 1991, Nintendo manufactured a series of successful portable electronic games by the name of Game and Watch. As the name indicates, it was an amalgamation of a single title of game with a watch, an alarm clock, or both. These handheld mini LCD screen devices had programed software which ran the title game. The controls were in the form of necessary buttons located on the device only. This was one of the most successful lines of Nintendo, with a sale of almost 45 million units in its lifespan. It later gave way to the highly popular Game Boy series.

Nintendo’s first entry into the home console market was a game changer and is often cited by historians as responsible for singlehandedly saving the video game industry. The game industry saw a collapse in 1984 thanks to a flood of terrible games and substandard products. This hit its pinnacle with the infamous ET Atari debacle, a game that was rushed to market to capitalize on the license and was so terrible that millions of copies of the game were dumped in a landfill in New Mexico. The NES brought a number of innovations with it. One of the chief innovations was the new business model of licensing third-party developers, allowing them to produce and distribute their own titles on Nintendo’s platforms, a practice that is now the standard industry model. Its lineup of games included hugely influential genre-defining games like Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Brothers, Mega Man, Castlevania, and many other classics, many of which still live on in some form or another to this very day.

Sega’s legacy in the console arena is legendary. But what most people seem to forget is that their first console wasn’t the Genesis, but rather the Sega Master System. It was with this console that a gaming dynasty was formed. Sega introduced it as a direct competitor to Nintendo’s NES console. While it never managed to overtake the NES, it did manage to carve a sizable audience, selling between 10-13 million consoles in its lifetime. It also introduced Sega’s pre Sonic the Hedgehog mascot Alex Kidd, as well as the influential RPG series Phantasy Star. In many ways the Master System served as the beach head allowing Sega to make a far more successful and aggressive entry into the console market with their next system.

Before an era when our phones were infested with hundreds of gaming apps, Nintendo was the main company responsible for bringing portable gaming to the masses. Nintendo propelled this handheld to super stardom by securing the American rights to Tetris. Every Game Boy was bundled with Tetris and the two helped propel each other to become cultural icons. While other competing handheld hardware systems were released by other companies, none managed to compete with the Game Boy's incredible library and long battery life. Nintendo’s philosophy for designing game consoles has always focused on picking relatively cheap components to ensure a competitive product that can be sold and manufactured cheaply. Throughout its lifespan, the Game Boy had several iterations and managed to sell 118.69 million units, making it the most successful handheld retro game console of all time.

Atari Lynx was one of the most sought after game consoles, which revolutionized gaming in all aspects. aIt was the world’s first handheld video game with a colored screen. The LCD not only illuminated colors on the screen, but was also backlit. Along with this it also had a changeable user friendly control option, zooming capability, and could facilitate a huge number of multi users. This console hit the markets in 1989 and became a huge success. It offered a huge variety of games, entertaining every group of user. By 1995 the developers were unable to further aggravate the game library thus resulting in the cessation of Atari Lynx.

The portable video game console released by Sega in 90s was named as Sega Game Gear. With an 8-bit processor, 3.2" colored LCD screen, and backlit feature, it received mixed response from the audience. Along with its individual game library it shared many peripherals and cartridges with Master System. Unique accessories were also introduced while the product was active in the market. These included a TV tuner which transformed the console in a TV, an adopter which charged the gear while traveling, and cable which connected two gears together enabling a distinctive multi-player experience. In 1995 its successor, Genesis Nomad, entered the market and in 1997 Game Gear was discontinued by Sega. In 2000 it was re-launched under Sega’s patent by Majesco, but the technology in flux was too great for Gear to be noticed, and it was therefore it withdrawn within a year.

The Sega Genesis was the 16-bit console that defined Sega’s legacy of gaming in the early 90s. In a market that was completely dominated by Nintendo, Sega managed to perform the herculean task of carving out their own market share. The success of the Genesis was thanks to some very aggressive marketing and the introduction of the iconic gaming mascot Sonic the Hedgehog, who was designed to be more edgy and rebellious then Mario. The console was also infamous for including a version of Mortal Kombat that actually did feature blood, which had been censored into sweat on the Super Nintendo. They even went as far to use aggressive smear tactics with the infamous line "Genesis does what Nintendon’t," making it one of Sega's most successful retro game consoles.

NeoGeo is the name given to a niche of hardware products designed by the SNK. These include an arcade system, home video game console, and a portable hand carry console. Despite being one of the most expensive consoles in the gaming industry, the arcade system, which was the foremost release, initially gained success. This led to the releases of home and handheld consoles. Technologically it was the leader at the time of its launch in the 90s. The hardware assembly was ceased in 1997, the software development stopped in 2004, and the technical support was discontinued in 2007. NeoGeo has the credit of being the video game line with the longest live amongst all of its counterparts ever developed.

After the huge success of Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo launched their second home console by the name of Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990. With the processor capability of 16-bit, Super Nintendo was way superior in terms of graphics, game library, and sound quality than the other consoles of the time. The main unit was available in different shades of grey color. The controls were ergonomically designed with top and side buttons. Other input devices compatible with the unit were also launched with the passage of time. These included a light gun, joystick, and mouse, amongst others. The distinguishing feature of enhancement chips, along with famous games like Super Mario and Donkey Kong made it the most successful console of the age. With worldwide sales of almost 100 million units, the manufacture of Super Nintendo ended in 2009.

Jaguar game console, developed in 1993, was the final home game console manufactured by Atari. Jaguar received cold reception by the general public and failed in the market. This was mainly due to its highly difficult-to-use controller and poor games. In order to attain market share and give a boom to the dropping product cycle, Atari introduced relatively cheap add-ons for the product. The efforts went fruitless as Jaguar couldn’t attain the audience’s attention. The manufacture was eventually ceased in 1996. Only around 250,000 units of Jaguar were sold in its lifetime. The company could not recover the immense investment it had made in the development of this multi-processor console and therefore after Jaguar Atari left this market.

Sega 32x, with a code name of Project Mars, was basically an attachment or hardware top-off for Sega Genesis. Its main aim was to increase the lifespan of Genesis, giving it a new boom while the company focused on the completion of its successor, "Saturn." The major transition was to enable the user to play 32-bit CPU processor games. This gap filler add on was not as successful as the company had wished it to be. Nearly 40 new games were launched. The games introduced lacked the essential elements of a 32-bit game. Almost 665,000 units of the console were sold in its lifespan of approximately 2 years, ending in 1996.

Virtual Boy belonged to the rare group of unsuccessful products by the technological giant Nintendo. Released in 1995, it was a compact, portable game console, belonging to the fifth generation of consoles. It became the first console which supported a 32-bit system along with providing a 3D vision. The screen was in the form of an eyepiece which displayed monochrome color graphics. The console could be operated by either battery or direct connection. Special joy sticks were available which supported the 3D technology of the game. Virtual boy was declared as a technological disaster and market failure, its high price along with the potential of harming the gamers eyes were termed as the major reasons for the failure. With a sale of 770,000 units the manufacturing stopped in 1996.

If the Sega Master System served as the beginning of the Sega era of gaming then the Sega Saturn was the beginning of the end. Sega tried to enter into the 32-bit generation of gaming with a bang by announcing that their console was in stores not long after announcing its existence. This bold move proved to be disastrous. The system had a difficult time gaining users thanks to its initially steep price tag. Its complex hardware design with a dual-CPU architecture with a total of eight processors proved difficult for many game developers to wrap their heads around. Despite some influential games like Panzer Dragoon, Virtual Fighter, and Nights into the Dreams, the Saturn ultimately was discontinued in 1998 less than three years after its introduction in 1995. But this system has become a collector’s item amongst diehard Sega fans seeking out retro game consoles.

Genesis Nomad was the name of a portable video game console released by Sega in 1995 exclusively in the territories of North America and Japan. Codenamed "Venus," it had a 3"a backlit LCD screen and a six button control panel. It could be operated with either an adopter or AA batteries. A port to enable multi-player usage was also there. A unique feature of the console was that, through video port and cable, it could be connected to a regular TV set, thus enlarging the screen and turning it into a home console. Sega Genesis' game library was the source of cartridges for nomad also. The major drawbacks of the product included its incompatibility with other Genesis hardware, low battery life, and huge size overshadowed the pros thus making it a relatively unsuccessful product. In 1999 the product was finally withdrawn.

The original Playstation was a game changer for the industry. The home console traditionally had been a two company affair, with only two dominant players and any other companies finding tremendous difficulty breaking into the marketplace. Originally Sony had been collaborating with Nintendo to create a CD based console, but those plans fell through and Sony ultimately decided to enter into the industry itself. Sony dominated the era, with many developers abandoning Nintendo due to the increased licensing fees with publishing on their Nintendo 64 platform, as well as their very poor decision to stick with a cartridge based format. Developers flocked to the Playstation, which was releasing some of the best games of their respective generation. Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy 7, Tekken, Crash Bandicoot, Gran Turismo, and Metal Gear Solid. The Playstation’s library was a greatest hits list of some of the most influential games ever made. It’s no wonder its legacy can still be felt today. You can download a great many of these classic games on Sony’s Playstation network, but for the authentic experience, you're best served tracking down the original console itself. Not too hard, considering Sony managed to sell over 100 million of them, making it one of the most successful retro game consoles.

The Nintendo 64 served as Nintendo’s third home console. While not nearly as successful as Sony’s Playstation, the Nintendo 64 brought forward several innovations that managed to become industry mainstays. The N64 featured a rumble pack add-on that provided games with force feedback for a more immersive experience. This feature was copied and it is now seen as an industry standard practice to include a rumble feature in just about any controller. It also featured four controller ports, allowing for up to four people to play in competitive multiplayer. For many the N64 represented the pinnacle of couch co-op. It also brought several of Nintendo’s most iconic franchises into the 3D polygonal realm, including such beloved classics like Mario and Zelda. The approach that these series used with navigating in a 3D environment found their way as the de facto standard for handling a camera in 3D space.

The Dreamcast was Sega’s final home console and marked the end of Sega’s 18-year history in the console market. Although the system had a relatively short lifespan, it is fondly remembered for its innovative library of games and being the very first console to ever feature online support with a built in modem and several games that featured online competitive multiplayer. Unfortunately, its technology was quickly outpaced and overshadowed by Sony’s Playstation 2. The hype behind the Playstation 2, plus the far superior technology powering that retro game console, completely outpaced anything the Sega Dreamcast was capable of. After its launch in March 2001 the system was discontinued after less than two years on the market.

Ouya belongs to the eighth and relatively modern generation of consoles. It is a highly compact, portable android (4.1 Jelly Bean) based console. After the hard work of more than a year by the developers and funders, it was finally released by June 2013 for the general public. Special tailor-made games from Ouya store could be played on the console. The console was a small cubic device measuring mere a 3" accompanied with USB ports, wireless controller and 8GB internal memory. The console received mixed response and sales reception. Tower Fall with a sale of more than 7,000 copies, was declared as one of the most successful games. The original owners, in dire need of finances sold the software to Razer Inc., who announced the discontinuation of Ouya in July 2015.