Another name for game consoles. Complete history of game consoles. The best portable game consoles

Due to the imminent start of sales in our shopping center game consoles, we think that our visitors will be interested in the history of development game consoles. To date, eighth-generation consoles with super-powerful processors, a bunch of gigabytes of RAM and disk space rule the world. In this regard, it is now difficult to imagine games with flat graphics, low resolution and a three-color palette. But there were times when people opened their mouths when they saw games on the first 8-bit consoles, and then a riot of colors on 16-bit consoles. And now we will tell you about the development of game consoles and even give you the opportunity to play them by downloading the emulators of these consoles. Let's start in order.

The first generation of game consoles.

Magnavox Odyssey is considered the world's first game console. Attachment presentation.

The Magnavox Odyssey 100 was launched on the market in the autumn of 1975. It was cheaper than the previous one, but at the same time, the presentation of this model was on May 24, 1972
year, and in August of the same year it became available to customers. Unlike today's gaming systems, the first console had no chips or microprocessors. The operation of the Magnavox Odyssey was based on diode-transistor logic. She only had two games. This was followed by a few more consoles from this manufacturer. Magnavox Odyssey 200 and Magnavox Odyssey 300, the latter of which ran on a General Instruments AY-3-8500 chip. In 1976, M entered the market. agnavox Odyssey 400 and Magnavox Odyssey 500, the second pleased customers with fairly advanced color graphics. In 1977, several more consoles saw the light: Magnavox Odyssey 2000, 3000 and 4000. In 1975 and 1976, Pong consoles from Atari and Coleco Telstar also came out. In 1977, the first prefix from Nintendo appeared - the Nintendo Color TV Game.

The second generation of game consoles (the appearance of the first 8-bit consoles).

The era of the second generation began in 1976. The founders of this era are the Fairchild Channel F.

The Fairchild Channel F was the first video game console to run on cartridges containing programs. The set-top box worked on the basis of a fairly complex Fairchild F8 microprocessor. Imagine these specifications: processor 1.79 MHz, RAM: 64 bytes, and a resolution of 128 × 64.

Atari 2600 - this console is also worth noting. It was released in 1977 and became the most popular gaming system of the time.

Mattel Intellivision can be called a console that was ahead of its time from a technical point of view. Released in the 80th year of the 20th century, long before the 16-bit generation, it had a processor with 16-bit registers.

Gaming systems such as the Atari 5200, Milton Bradley Vectrex, Emerson Arcadia 2001, ColecoVision, Sega SG-1000 and Bally Astrocade were also released during that time. Of these, the ColecoVision and Sega SG-1000 consoles are worth noting, the Donkey Kong game first appeared on the first, and the second was the first attempt by the now well-known Sega company.

The third generation of game consoles (restoration of the gaming industry after its crisis).

The third era is the era of 8-bit consoles, and most important and significant is the advent of sprite graphics. And although up to this point in some consoles there were 8-bit processors, the very concept of "8-bit consoles" came during this period.

Famicom/NES/Dendy is the most popular 8-bit. The start of sales of this gaming system took place in Japan, back in 1983. It was very successful in terms of technical solutions. It is she who is considered by many to be the impetus for gaming industry after the crisis. A huge number of games were released on this console, and Mario, main character series super games Mario Bros., became the company's mascot. The NES console is still on sale to this day, but if you do not have the opportunity to buy it, you can download the Dendy emulator and play on it.

In addition to the console from Nintendo, the Master System game systems from Sega and Atari 7800 came out in the era of the third generation. It is also worth noting that it was then that many famous game series were born, such as: Sonic, Prince of Persia, The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Quest, Castlevania, final fantasy and many others.

The fourth generation of game consoles (the times of 16-bit game systems).

This era dates back to 1987, when TurboGrafx-16 (NEC PC Engine) entered the Japanese market. Yes, it was this system that was the first 16-bit, and not consoles from Sega or Nintendo. But major players nevertheless, the prefixes of the last two companies have become.

Sega Mega Drive /Genesis - the first of two 16-bit monsters went on sale. On October 29, 1988, the console became available to Japanese consumers. The console had two processors: the primary Motorola 68000 and the secondary Zilog Z80. More than 900 games were released on the console, some were the company's own development, and some, such as Golden Ax, Ghouls "n Ghosts, etc., were ported from slot machines.

Those who want to remember their youth, or those who want to know what 16-bit games are, can still find and buy a Sega Mega Drive / Genesis console today. Here you can download the Sega MD emulator.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super Nintendo, Super NES and SNES) - the console appeared at the end of 1990, mainly due to the fact that the Sega MD became very popular, and the first prefix from Nintendo began to lose ground in front of 16-bit systems. The SNES ran on a 16-bit Ricoh 5A22 processor clocked at 3.58 MHz. New console from Nintendo was a success from the very beginning and quickly began to force competitors out of the Japanese market. Many considered this console to be much more powerful than its direct competitor from Sega, but this is still a moot point. But it's safe to say that the Super Nintendo has given us a lot of hit games.

Fifth generation of game consoles (times of 32 and 64-bit game consoles).

The times of the fifth generation, in our opinion, is the period of the birth of three-dimensional polygonal graphics and the emergence of new game series.

3DO Interactive Multiplayer or Panasonic 3DO - although this gaming system was produced by many companies, such as Sanyo, Creative and Goldstar (now LG), in Russia this set-top box is best known as Panasonic 3DO. The start of sales began in 1993, but the price for it was quite high. It is believed that it was the fact of high cost that prevented this console from becoming quite popular in the world before the advent of more powerful gaming systems, which cannot be said about Russia. If you want to play 3DO games, you can download the Panasonic 3DO emulator.

Sega Saturn is a 32-bit console from Sega. The console was released in November 1994. The prefix worked on two Hitachi SuperH-2 7604 central processors with a frequency of 28.63 MHz and 6 coprocessors. The Sega Saturn was a powerful enough console, it was believed that it was even more productive than its main competitor from Sony. However, the console's complex architecture made it difficult for developers to take full advantage of its performance. Today, there are several emulators with which you can play games created for Saturn, but they are quite complicated in settings.

Sony PlayStation, also known as PS or PS1. The first console from Sony, thanks to which the company was able to oust Nintendo and Sega in the gaming market. The console was developed by Sony Computer Entertainment and released in Japan in December 1994. It is the PlayStation that is considered the gaming system that influenced the decline of cartridge games. The game library of this console has more than 8,000 games. It was reborn and born many of the now popular game series, such as: Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy, Crash Bandicoot, Tekken, resident evil other. You can buy a Sony PlayStation console today, but for those who do not want to buy it, but still would like to play games created for it, you can download the Sony PlayStation emulator.

The Nintendo 64, also known as the Ultra 64, is a 64-bit game console released in 1996 by Nintendo. The set-top box was much more productive than its competitors, inside the console there was a central processor with a frequency of 93.75 MHz, and a graphics processor with a frequency of 62.5 MHz. Graphically, Nintendo's system was head and shoulders above the rest, with goodies like texture smoothing, mip-mapping, and more. Believe me, if you saw Super Mario 64 in those days, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire or Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, you would freeze. Weak point the console turned out to be a carrier. As before, the company used cartridges, which limited the volume of released games, and the complexity of programming for this platform was also noted.

Today you can download the Nintendo 64 emulator, which runs almost all games.

The sixth generation of game consoles (many call the consoles that came out at this time - 128-bit).

This era begins with the release of Sega's Dreamcast in November 1998. It is also worth noting the emergence of a new player in this market, it has become Microsoft. Well, we can say that the most unfortunate event is the death of Sega as a manufacturer of game consoles.

The Sega Dreamcast is the first console of the sixth generation, the fifth in a row, and the last set-top box from Sega to date. Why do we write, the latest to date? Because personally, I hope that Sega will come to their senses and release at least one more console. At the time of launch, game system from Sega produced superb graphics, made possible by a 200 MHz Hitachi SH4 RISC CPU and a PowerVR2 CLX2 (Series II), 100 MHz graphics coprocessor. To the best games released on the Dreamcast include Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio. of course, Sonic Adventure and, perhaps, the most amazing project of those times on Shenmue video game consoles. I can say with full responsibility that Shenmue is a real masterpiece. Although the start of the console was very good, due to financial difficulties that arose from the company due to the irrational actions of its financial specialists, the company was unable to compete with Sony and its PlayStation 2 due to insufficient financial support for its console and was forced to stop supporting it.

Today there are several emulators that will allow you to at least run games on the Sega Dreamcast. If you're willing, you can browse the internet and download Sega Dreamcast emulators such as Chankast alpha, DEmul, nullDC, and Makaron.

Sony PlayStation 2 again Sony and again PlayStation, but this time at number 2. PlayStation 2, or PS2, today it is the most popular set-top box that has been produced for almost 13 years, starting in 2000, the last console left the assembly line in 2013. A huge plus of this system was the ability to run PS1 games on it. The system was powered by a 64-bit "Emotion Engine" CPU at 294 MHz and a "Graphics Synthesizer" graphics coprocessor. On the Internet, you can find a PS2 emulator that can run some games tolerably well.

Nintendo GameCube - another console from a veteran of the console industry was released in 2001. The technical characteristics of the console were quite good, it was equipped with a PowerPC "Gekko" CPU with a frequency of 485 MHz and an ATI "Flipper" video processor with a frequency of 162 MHz. Unfortunately, this gaming system was not very popular in Russia, most likely, this is due to the fact that it was not sold in our "broken line".

Microsoft's Xbox is the software giant's first attempt to break into the gaming console market, and, admittedly, a successful one. The prefix was released in 2001, and, thanks to the company's financial capabilities, it quickly gained the support of game manufacturers. From the point of view of the filling of this console, this is a home computer that is well adapted for games. Here is the Intel processor Celeron/PIII Custom Hybrid and Nvidia NV2A video processor. This architecture gave a plus to this console in relation to developers. It was easy enough to transfer computer games to the console. And also, thanks to this game system, we got to know Halo.

The seventh generation of game consoles.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 was the first seventh generation console. As in its previous gaming system, the company took as a basis an architecture similar to a computer. The set-top box worked on a central tri-core Xenon 3.2 GHz processor, and ATI Xenos with a frequency of 500 MHz was responsible for the graphics. The Xbox 360 was the first home console to support a high resolution up to 1080p.

Nintendo Wii - although from a technical point of view, this console was much weaker than its competitors. However, it was she who was sold in the largest quantity. The system ran on an IBM "Broadway" processor with a frequency of 729 MHz, and the graphics chip "Hollywood" from ATI was responsible for the video. The main popularity of the Wii was due to its Wii Remote controller and games made for it.

The PlayStation 3 from Sony is a real multimedia center. On it you can play, chat on the Internet, watch movies and much more. It also implemented backward compatibility with previous generations of consoles. This console was the most powerful in terms of performance among the seventh generation consoles. The heart of the console was an octa-core Cell Broadband Engine clocked at 3.2 GHz, while the graphics was the RSX Reality Synthesizer at 550 MHz. Sony claimed that its gaming system produced 1.8 TFLOPS, which was almost twice as much as its closest competitor, the Xbox 360. But the complex architecture made it difficult to get the most out of this console.

Well, that's all for now. Today, eighth-generation prefixes rule the market, we will write about them separately. It is also worth noting that some consoles were not included in our review due to low distribution, such as CD-i. Apart from brief information About consoles past and present, we have posted several emulators with which you can play consoles from your childhood or the childhood of your parents. On this, perhaps, I take my leave, and may the force be with you!

The game console is able to give a sea of emotions to absolutely any person. Even ardent opponents computer games, picking up a gamepad, willingly and recklessly play shooters, strategies, races. Choice console type directly depends not only on your financial capabilities, but also on what game genres you prefer. If you want more sports, cars, alien monsters or a variety of simulators - your way to the ranks of owners Xbox. Love all kinds of cuts, fights, battles, battles (and further down the list of epithets), treasure hunting and overcoming dangers - focus on prefixes Sony. Of course, this division is very conditional, insofar as you can run on the PlayStation in FIFA 19, and on Xbox One shoot Call Of Duty. Microsoft consoles have some advantage of backward compatibility with games released for previous generations of xboxes. Plus, in favor of the Playstation, there is a richer choice of exclusives. Only a really big TV will allow you to feel the beauty of 4K. Don't forget that it must be able to play high dynamic range (HDR10).

Finally, simple retro consoles are also quite capable of delivering a lot of positive emotions to an older gamer and are good option game console for kids.

Happy shopping!

Let's talk about game consoles or consoles. Unlike a computer, the main priority is on games, and the TV is used as the main output device. More recently, each console had a unique set of games distributed as exclusives. Now many projects are multi-platform, which is welcome.

In 2019, the 8th generation of set-top boxes is already underway, which have certain similarities and differences with their direct competitors - computers. Note that in this moment on consoles, online projects have become especially popular due to the optimization and improvement of the hardware of gaming stations.

Nothing needs to be collected. Plug and play.
Portability. Compactness has always been considered a plus of consoles.
No fiddling with device configuration.
Ease of disassembly and cleaning.
High-quality factory thermal paste with a service life of up to 5 years.

Subscription. Very often you can’t just buy the game, you will need a subscription.
Worse picture quality than on a computer. The frame rate is at the lowest level of playability, usually 30 fps.
If left unmaintained, the thermal paste may boil.

We have selected for you the 10 best game consoles in the world.

The best stationary game consoles

Let's start with the consoles most familiar to a large circle of players. These devices are used exclusively at home paired with a TV. Their dimensions are too large for transportation, but this allows you to install the most productive hardware inside and good system cooling for a consistently smooth and beautiful picture, which is what consoles are famous for. In this category, we have pitted two main market rivals - PlayStation and Xbox.

5 Sony PlayStation 4 1 TB

The largest number of discounts and bonuses when buying
Country: Japan
Average price: 24690 rubles
Rating (2019): 4.5

We begin the review of home game consoles with a very popular old man in the world - the usual PlayStation 4. The model, at first glance, can do little to attract buyers. 1.82 teraflops of performance is enough for comfortable game in FullHD resolution, but you can’t rely on PS4 Pro-level graphics or a powerful gaming computer. The design is more angular than the new comrades, which many will like. Of the relative shortcomings, we note the lack of Wi-Fi of the latest generation (802.11ac) and a fairly high average cost.

Why, despite these shortcomings, is the model included in the rating? It's simple, the base PlayStation 4 is gradually being retired, which is why sellers often make big discounts. Also, the set-top box almost always comes with games that are sold separately for at least 2 thousand rubles, a PS Plus subscription and even additional DualShock 4 gamepads. Finally, this version of the “curling iron” has already acquired a large number of accessories that can be bought for a penny.

4 Sony PlayStation 4 Slim 1 TB

The most compact fixed console on the market
Country: Japan
Average price: 22899 rubles.
Rating (2019): 4.7

The Slim version has become a "lighter" version of the classic PS4, featuring slightly smaller dimensions, quieter operation and a lower price. The good news is that the HDMI cable is now included in the kit by default and does not need to be purchased separately. We have not forgotten about the DualShock with pleasant tactile sensations, but slightly worse ergonomics than the Xbox.

The console looks decent. In terms of dimensions, it turned out to be smaller than the 3rd generation. The graphics chip, although average, is based on modern architecture, while the 3rd generation had a powerful graphics core, but it was obsolete. The processor operates at a frequency of 1.6 GHz, RAM is only 8 GB of GDDR5 format. There is no port for reading memory cards, but Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are fully present. I was upset by the fact that it will not work to connect external audio peripherals to it like speakers. You will have to choose between connecting headphones to a gamepad or being content with sound via an HDMI channel.

3 Microsoft Xbox One S

Lowest Cost
Country: USA
Average price: 22990 rubles.
Rating (2019): 4.8

The first representative of Microsoft game consoles hurts competitors with several features at once. First of all, you pay attention to the significantly lower cost. Some stores offer the device for only 16-17 thousand rubles. True, this will be a version with a 500 GB hard drive, which will not be enough for an avid gamer. For 23-24 thousand you will find One S with a 2 TB HDD - this is the best indicator on the market.

The second feature is 4K support. Blu-ray in this quality works fine. Games are more difficult. Firstly, in the settings you need to force the upscale to UltraHD. Secondly, you will not get a smooth and beautiful picture. But with FullHD everything is fine - the picture quality is slightly better than on PS4, PS4 Slim and regular Xbox One. The refresh rate can reach 60 fps. There is support for HDR - high contrast mode, in which the picture looks much more contrast. Finally, let's not forget the look - many reviewers and buyers agree that the Xbox One S is a very beautiful device.

2 Sony PlayStation 4 Pro

Best value for 4K gaming
Country: Japan
Average price: 29999 rubles.
Rating (2019): 4.9

Powerful and silent device. If the original model produces 1.8 Teraflops, then this one immediately 4.2. The Wi-Fi module has been updated, which works stably with 5 GHz networks. The power of the set-top box is enough to display both Full HD and full 4K on the screen. In general, this is still the same PS4, only for large screens. Matte 3 piece monoblock collects a minimum of dust and fingerprints. There are 2 USB 3.0 ports on the front and 1 on the back, which allows you to connect PS VR not from the front, but from the back.

At the same time, power consumption increased to 310 watts. The device is delivered in a voluminous and heavy box of medium presentable appearance. The package also includes a mono earpiece with a microphone, the feasibility of which is currently in question.

The prefix consists of the following components:

controllers or manipulators for navigation;
the main unit, consisting of the motherboard, processor, RAM and other elements;
carriers. this role is mainly played by optical discs;
data cables, including a high-frequency antenna cable for transmitting images to a TV.

1 Microsoft Xbox One X

The most powerful gaming console in the world
Country: USA
Average price: 36350 rubles.
Rating (2019): 4.9

The Xbox One X is officially the most powerful gaming console in the world. Its performance is 6 teraflops! The closest competitor from Sony has a third less power. All thanks to the new Scorpio Engine processor and 12 GB of RAM. Of course, there is support for 4K and HDR10. The picture is excellent. But if you have a simpler TV, don't worry - One X will be relevant for you too, because in FullHD or 2K resolution, the set-top box simply produces a much more beautiful (due to various effects) and smooth picture with a refresh rate of up to 60 frames per second. You also don’t have to worry about the sound - DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1 standards with Atmos TrueHD technology are supported.

On Xbox, compared to PlayStation, there are not so many exclusives. At the same time, purchased games will also be available on a Windows PC on board, making them a smarter purchase in some ways.

The best Nintendo game consoles

Nintendo has always been a special company. They have never seriously competed with the guys from Sony and Microsoft, while having a huge army of fans of the most different ages. At first glance, it may seem that their games are monotonous and boring, but digging deeper, you realize that they all have perfectly polished gameplay. What about consoles? They are just as crazy and unusual as their creators.

3 Nintendo Classic Mini: Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The most "nostalgic" prefix
Country: Japan
Average price: 9490 rubles.
Rating (2019): 4.6

We have already said that Nintendo has a huge fan base. And this army was formed more than one decade ago. In the late 90s, the company that released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (its exact copy, Dendy, is better known in our country) was one of the largest manufacturers. Contra, Donkey Kong, Super Mario World- these and many other games have won the hearts of young gamers.

The novelty, released in 2016, allows you to plunge into childhood. A very compact box with a retro design. A pair of wired joysticks also correspond to it. The design is the same from the 90s, which further immerses you in the atmosphere of retro gaming. The box itself is powered by a regular USB - you can even connect it to the TV connector. The picture is output via HDMI, you definitely won’t have to mess with adapters. There are 21 games preinstalled on the console, but of course, you can download the necessary images yourself. Of the key differences from the original SNES, we note the ability to save and “rewind” the gameplay 40 seconds back.

2 Nintendo New 2DS XL

The most convenient handheld console
Country: Japan
Average price: 10750 rubles
Rating (2019): 4.6

In the segment of portable consoles, officially presented in our country, Nintendo unconditionally dominates. We will consider a relatively simple New 2DS XL model. First of all, the form factor is interesting. This is a folding model in the form of a book, inside which two displays fit at once (the main one is 4.88 inches, the lower one is an additional one - 4.18 ') and control buttons, a cross and a stick. Such dimensions allow you to carry the console all the time, playing at any opportunity. The case has a place for the stylus, which is much more convenient to manage in some cases. Note that the Nintendo 2DS is also on sale - a slightly more compact clumsy model, the cost of which is an average of a thousand rubles less. Otherwise, there are practically no differences.

The battery capacity is only 1300 mAh. Battery life varies greatly. In modern demanding games the console can live only 3.5 hours, in the classics - up to 10-12 hours. Games - typical Nintendo games - pokemon, mario, etc.

If you want your console to serve you for a long time, it also needs to be cleaned. For 4 years of moderate use, tufts of cotton wool may form inside it without proper supervision, and the smell may not be the most pleasant. The good news is that disassembling the console is a relatively simple process and preventive cleaning can be done once a year.

1 Nintendo Switch

Best Gaming nintendo console. The world's only hybrid console
Country: Japan
Average price: 19990 rubles.
Rating (2019): 4.9

The leading position is expectedly occupied by the novelty that has made a noise - Nintendo Switch. This is the world's first hybrid game console. What does it mean? There is the main part, in the form of a tablet with a 6.2 'screen and HD resolution, and "dopa". If you want to play on the go - connect the joycons to the "tablet" and go. A large TV in front of the sofa - the console into a special docking station, and the joycons into a special platform in the form of a gamepad and again play in comfort. You can play alone or with a friend by giving him one of the joy-cons. The games are really interesting and unique. In addition to the traditional Nintendo series, there is a set of 1-2-Switch mini-games and full-fledged third-party projects like TES V: Skyrim, FIFA 18 and Wolfenstein. Battery life is about 6 hours.

You get special pleasure from versatility: you started the game at home in front of a huge TV, then disconnected the console and continued playing on the subway, and at the end of the evening sat down with friends in a cafe, putting the console on the built-in kickstand. Do not part with games anywhere and never - isn't this the dream of a real gamer?

The best retro consoles

For many people, familiarity with game consoles began with 8 or 16-bit games. “Turn it off, otherwise you’ll plant a kinescope”, “don’t hit me, I’ll try something”, “I’ll be the first!” - these phrases sounded from enthusiastic children during the games in Mortal Kombat, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other legendary projects. Returning to childhood as an adult, as it turns out, is easy enough - you just need to spend a little money on a modern version of the classic console. For example, such as in the rating below.

2 Sega MegaDrive Classic

Imperishable classic
A country: Japan (made in China)
Average price: 1968 rubles
Rating (2019): 4.6

The classic Sega is still available for purchase at a ridiculous price of about 2,000 rubles. This is the fourth generation of game consoles, but this particular model was remembered by many players for its graphics and unique games. The prefix has a 16-bit system and was a direct competitor to the legendary Dandy. Compared to her, Sega was able to offer a better picture. The device is made in a minimalistic black case with a pair of joysticks with a rounded shape. The case has 2 ports for joysticks so that you can play both alone and in pairs with a friend.

It is worth highlighting the cartridges. They look quite simple and not very reliable, which is why chips on their cases were a common occurrence. Often, the set of delivery of the console included a collection cartridge, where you could find 62 or 131 games. The deluxe edition included such games as Golden Axe, The Lion King, Aladdin, Mortal Kombat and many more.

1 SEGA MegaDrive Gopher

The most compact retro console
Country: Japan
Average price: 3590 rubles.
Rating (2019): 4.7

Many retro console manufacturers try to copy the original as much as possible. Appearance, controls, system interface. The creators of the SEGA MegaDrive Gopher took a different path - they combined the achievements modern technology and "tube" old games. The device turned out no more than a modern smartphone. In addition to a 2.8 'screen with a resolution of 360x240 pixels, there was a place for a stick and six buttons in front - the layout is familiar from the old joysticks of the original console. There is an AV output and an audio jack for connecting a TV and a headset, respectively. The battery is only 750 mAh, but this is enough for 10 hours of play.

Inside, everything is extremely simple. Motorola processor running at 7.61 MHz, slot for memory cards up to 4 GB. However, an old 512 MB flash drive will probably be enough for you, because game images take up only 1-4 MB. In addition to the 20 pre-installed games, you can always find other projects. There are a lot of them on specialized forums, and if necessary, you can independently port the PC version of the game.

The first gaming device in the house. The computer, of course, is better, but the prefix fit into the budget. The kit included a console, peripherals, and several cartridges. Connected to the TV, it was possible to play together free alternative gaming clubs. This meant a queue to the TV, sleepless nights of excitement. The first understanding of the need for self-control.

The first household set-top box was designed back in 1972. Steve Jobs began his career working for a game console company. In Russia, the industry broke through during the period of perestroika.

The most popular consoles of the 90s

NES (Dendy) - third generation

The Dendy prefix was the first to appear on the market. To be precise, it is not the original. The prefix itself was copied by Thais from a similar NES model from the Japanese company Nintendo. The Dendy brand was one of the first franchises in Russia. The proposal immediately gained unprecedented popularity and spawned a whole subculture. The first gaming edition was dedicated to Dendy. The seller, Stepler, released a whole line of similar, generally compatible set-top boxes before they fell into oblivion: Classic I and II, Junior I, II, IIP and IVP. Starting with the second model, a light gun was added to the gamepads.

The cartridges, like the console itself, were unofficial. The games were pirated, but few cared. The graphics left much to be desired, everything consisted of large pixels, but had a peculiar beauty. Unforgettable "Tanks", " Super Mario”, “Tetris”, “Prince of Persia” and numerous fighting games. The first flight simulators, hunting. In fact, the entire main set of games without saving, in the modification of which they still play.

Dendy's competitors. The most common prefix was Dandy, but similar offerings were Kenga and Bitman. The Sega brand began with the same class of consoles, this competitor went further than Dendy.

Sega fourth generation

The Sega brand appeared in America back in the 80s. In Russia, players got acquainted with the company's products in the 90s using the Sega Mega Drive console. In contrast to the SNES (Super Nintendo) games, this console is known as more "adult and serious" due to the fact that when porting to the SNES, gore and violent elements were censored.

Sega did not differ in special characteristics, but it was (especially in Russia) much cheaper and more massive than the SNES. For a long time, the mascot (personification of the brand) of the company was Sonic the hedgehog, created as a character in a game that competes with the Mario series. Same " Mortal Kombat was exclusive to this console. On the other hand, there were no Mario games on Sega and a lot of Japanese RPGs like Final Fantasy and Chrono trigger". Later models were also produced, for example, the Sega Saturn and the failed Dreamcast, which led the company to collapse in the late nineties.

super nintendo

Sega's heyday did not last long. Soon, Nintendo released the Super Nintendo, which became a cherished dream of schoolchildren for a long time. SNES had very high technical performance - 8 channels of sound, 64 kilobytes of sound memory, a hardware alpha channel, more than thirty thousand colors with the simultaneous presence of 256 of them on the screen, as well as Mode 7, which allowed drawing a pseudo-three-dimensional image with a top view.

On the Super Nintendo, the RPG genre arrived at its peak, with gems such as Final Fantasy, Earthbound, and Chrono trigger. The firm also released a number of less popular set-top boxes.

Sony PlayStation

The popular CD set-top box went on sale in the late 90s. Fifth generation with decent 3D graphics, fans will remember PS1 and 2 games: Crash Bandicoot, Final Fantasy VII and VIII. On the basis of the popular and relatively inexpensive PlayStation, enterprising citizens opened video clubs.

The 90s saw the peak of the popularity of game consoles, the sector left advertising media, taking its place in the “amateur” niche. A new generation of gamers have partly moved to PCs that have become more affordable.