1.  The ‘Staggered’ nature of technology development in this
sector is cynical and strategic
 New consoles are introduced so regularly that the time for
which a console is ‘best’ is limited to a few months
 Each major player has a portable handheld version of their
consoles to accompany the fixed on at home
1st – 2nd Generation 1972 – 1984
 Odyssey 100
 Atari 2600
Games: Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, and Mario Brothers
3rd Generation 1983 – 1992
Videogame crash of 1983: Industry lost faith in game consoles
with growing use of home computers.
 Nintendo Famicon
 NES
Games: Dragon Quest, Super Mario Bros, Metal Gear,
MegaMan, And Final Fantasy.
4th Generation 1987 – 1992
 Game Gear
 Super Nintendo
 Sega Megadrive
 GameBoy
5th Generation 1993 – 2002
 Playstation 1
 GameBoy Colour
 Sega Satin
 Nintendo64
Games: Goldeneye, Mario Cart, Gran Tourismo, Metal Gear
Solid, and Legend of Zelda

2. 6th Generation 1998 – 2006
Alternative controllers: Dance mat, guitar, and steering wheels
Rise of casual games (e.g. The Sims) Playstation were seen as
increasingly complex, sophisticated and adult-orientated
gameplay.
 Xbox
 Sega Dreamcast
 GameCube
 Playstation 2
Games: GTA 3, Halo, Resident Evil 4
7th Generation 2004 – Present
HD Graphics, Interactive Gaming (Online and In the home),
Rock Band, Wii Fit, Motion control
 Wii
 Xbox360
 Playstation 3
 Nintedno DS
 PSP
Games: Wii sports, Metal Gear Solid 4, Halo, GTA 4, Bioshock