History of video game consoles (second generation) Facts for Kids

The second generation of video game consoles started in 1976. This was a time when home video games were becoming more popular. The first consoles of this generation were the Fairchild Channel F and the Radofin Electronics' 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System. People sometimes call this period the "early 8-bit era" because of the way the consoles processed information.

Many different consoles were released during this time. The Atari 2600 was the most famous and popular console for a big part of this generation. Other well-known consoles included the Intellivision, the Odyssey 2, and the ColecoVision.

The second generation of video game consoles ended in 1984. This happened because of a big problem in the video game world called the video game crash of 1983. It was a tough time for video game companies, and many stopped making games or consoles.

Even with the crash, some consoles sold very well. The Atari 2600 sold an amazing 30 million units! The Intellivision sold 3 million units, and the ColecoVision sold 2 million units. The Fairchild Channel F sold 250,000 units.

Home Video Game Systems
- Comparing the Consoles
Handheld Systems
- List of Handheld Systems
Popular Games
Images for kids
See also

Home Video Game Systems

This section looks at some of the popular home video game systems from this generation.

Comparing the Consoles

Name	Fairchild Channel F	Atari 2600	Magnavox Odyssey²	Intellivision	Atari 5200
Made by	Fairchild Semiconductor	Atari	Magnavox	Mattel	Atari
Console
Price when new	US$169.95	US$199	US$200 ¥49,800	US$299	US$270
Release date	^US August 1976	^US October 1977 ^EU 1978	^US 1978 ^EU December 1982 ^JP 1982 ^BRZ 1983	^US 1979 ^EU 1982 ^JP 1982	^US November 1982
Game type	Cartridge	Cartridge and Cassette (with a special attachment)	Cartridge	Cartridge	Cartridge
Top-selling games	N/A	Pac-Man, 7 million copies	N/A	Astrosmash (1 million copies)	N/A
Play older games?	No	No	No	Yes, with a special module for Atari 2600 games
Extra stuff	N/A	Driving controller Keypad Game Brain Starpath Supercharger GameLine	The Voice Chess Module	Keyboard component (was planned but cancelled) Entertainment Computer System Intellivoice	Trak-Ball Controller Atari 2600 adaptor

Name	Vectrex	Arcadia 2001	ColecoVision	Bally Astrocade
Made by	General Consumer Electric and Milton Bradley	Emerson Radio Corporation	Coleco	Bally Technologies
Console
Price when new	US$199	N/A	US$199	N/A
Release date	^US November 1982 ^EU May 1983 ^JP June 1983	^US 1982	^US August 1982 ^EU May 1982	^US 1977
Game type	Cartridge	Cartridge	Cartridge and Cassette (with Expansion #3)	Cartridge and cassette/Floppy (with ZGRASS unit)
Top-selling games	N/A	N/A	Donkey Kong (came with the console)	N/A
Play older games?	No	No	Yes, with Expansion #1 for Atari 2600 games	No
Extra stuff	3-D Imager Light Pen	N/A	Expansion #1 Expansion #2 Expansion #3 Roller Controller Super Action Controller Set	ZGRASS unit

Handheld Systems

The first handheld game console that could use different game cartridges was the Microvision. It was designed by Smith Engineering and sold by Milton-Bradley in 1979. The Microvision had a small screen called an LCD display. Only a few games were made for it, and it was stopped two years later.

The Epoch Game Pocket Computer came out in Japan in 1984. This game system did not sell very well, so only five games were ever made for it. Nintendo's Game & Watch was much more successful. It was very popular and continued to be sold until 1991.