This timeline charts the evolution of video game consoles released in the North American market from 1972 to today. While many other, more minor, systems were released across various generations, we decided to use just three for each generation for uniformity. We also wanted to feature the consoles most familiar to get a better understanding of that generation.
The dates may seem a bit confusing on this timeline at first and there is a reason for it. Video game consoles aren’t phased out completely once a new generation is released and there tends to be a bit of overlap between competing consoles. Some game systems also are supported for many years after the console has been released, even if there is a new console on the market (Nintendo is a good example of a company that does this). Like human generations, the group doesn’t just end immediately when a descendant comes into the picture and video games are no different!
The Nintendo Switch is not pictured because there is debate about whether it should be considered in the eighth or ninth generation. The timeline will be updated once a consensus has been decided.
The consoles in the timeline above are arranged with design choices in mind and are not intended to show that a certain console came before another. These consoles are solely arranged based on the groupings by generation alone.
To view in more detail, click this link. Feel free to download the free image as well!
This article and graphic were initially created for my blog, The Video Game Conservation, while I was attending the University of Texas at Dallas. You can view the original post here.
All information and images were gathered from Wikipedia.