The First Video Game War,called among other things,was a market war consisting of 6 different American video game consoles trying to dominate the United States video game market. The competition lasted from 1983 to 1992 and ended with a large victory for Atari.
Consoles[]
Sega Master System[]
American video game company,Sega,headquartered in Northern New Jersey,decided to release their 2nd home video game console,the Master System,in March of 1983. It was the first to be released,although that didn't mean it was the winner.
Among it's unique features were a selection of video games that were praised by many critics. It's ambitious market strategy made it look like a win for Sega.
However,the Master System did not perform well in sales,selling only 7.4 million units in the United States(figures from outside the United States are not included for all of these). It failed to catch on the with ever growing video game market,mostly of teenagers and young adults. It was also a critical flop. While a handful of games were praised,a large majority of games were slammed by critics for their poor quality and bugs,and had a tendency to break easily. Also,the Master System was instantly panned for it's outdated specifications,notably,a lack of memory behind it's era. With sales failing and gamer outrage at Sega after the promising Mark console,Sega announced that after 4 years of poor sales,the Master System would be disconnuited.
Nintendo Entertainment System[]
Nintendo,a company that had moved to the states in 1979 after Japan became increasingly tense with the west,promoted their first game console,the Nintendo Entertainment System. The console was advanced for it's time,it used CDs instead of cartridges,had more memory storage than any other console at the time,and so on. It was released in July of 1983.
While very advanced for it's time,it also sold poorly. Much of the technology was much too far out for most Americans. In fact,CDs would not gain mainstream popularity until 1998. It only sold 7.2 million units. However,it was well liked by gamers and the press,with many praising it's far ahead tech features. It wouldn't be discontinued until 2003,by which very little games were released.
Atari 7600[]
While entering halfway through the market campaign,the Atari 7600 was the leader in the First Video Game War in sales. In fact,it sold over 89.1 million units in it's lifespan. Entering the market in October of 1983,the 7600 had better graphics than the other video game systems,and had more games compared to the other systems.
The console was well liked,and production lasted until 1995,by which it wasn't in the top 10 selling video game consoles.
Apple Home[]
The Apple Home,also entering in October of 1983,had potential as the next big thing for Apple. With the console also acting as a personal computer,the console was to be a bestseller.
However,the Apple Home did extremely poorly in sales,with only 4,000 units being sold in the United States. By the end of 1983,Apple Home disappeared from the market and most of its games have been lost to time. The huge financial loss for Apple resulted in them quitting the video game industry until 20 years later.
Microsoft Genius[]
The Microsoft Genius was released in October of 1983,like most of the consoles of this era were. Like the Apple Home,it also acted as a personal computer.
However,like the Apple Home,it sold poorly,with 12,000 units being sold. In 1985,Microsoft announced they would stop producing the console and development of new games.
Toshiba Hub[]
Like Nintendo,Toshiba was a Japanese company that moved to the states after Japan became intolerant of the outside world in 1979. By this time,Toshiba was working on a new console,the Toshiba Hub. Like the NES,it used CDs.
However,the Toshiba Hub flopped. It sold 2.7 million units within 4 years,and by 1988,the console was pulled from the market. The console also garnered mixed reviews,with many criticizing it's game library of being kid oriented.
End[]
By 1992,the Atari 7600 won,and the First Video Game War was over. The 7600 did continue to be on the market until 1995 and the Nintendo Entertainment System until 2003. The First Video Game War is credited to the rise of video games in the United States,and would lead to 4 more market campaigns like this.