Before PlayStation And Xbox, ’80s Kids Played On These Consoles – BGR

There’s plenty of dead tech from the 1980s that can stir up emotions, and old video game consoles are one of them. It was a simple time, when the graphics were pixelated, the controllers were wired, the TVs were bulky, and many consoles didn’t do too much. There were no lengthy installs, load screens, online distractions, or microtransactions that the kids of today are used to. Many of the consoles back then made such a lasting impression that merely mentioning them will trigger a nostalgia bomb in the minds of those who grew up during that era.

In the ’80s, the video game industry was still in its infancy, and manufacturers were in a sort of gold rush to dominate the home console market with the next best home entertainment system. But this era is also known for something more sinister — the video game industry crash of 1983. One console in particular is remembered for revitalizing the games industry after the crash, paving the way for the PlayStation and Xbox to exist.

The Nintendo Entertainment System (also known as the NES) is the console that saved the gaming industry from the crash of 1983. It was released in North America in October 1985, despite being around for two years as the Family Computer (Famicom) in Japan. It offered great 8-bit graphics, an intuitive controller, and launched many iconic franchises that are still going strong today, including “Super Mario Bros,” “The Legend of Zelda,” “Metroid,” and “Castlevania.” By the end of the 1980s, the NES was in 30 million homes in the U.S.

How did the NES win the hearts of ’80s kids when so many failed back then? The Nintendo Seal of Quality. It was a badge that appeared on licensed NES cartridges as a guarantee that the games were of the highest quality. The 1983 crash is attributed to an influx of low-quality games. Nintendo believed it was due to manufacturers like Atari giving third-party developers too much freedom (even a dog food company made a game for the Atari 2600). That’s why Nintendo made sure that every game it licensed back then was personally approved by the president, Hiroshi Yamauchi.

In 1986, Sega released an 8-bit console called the Master System. It was meant to be a direct competitor to the NES, but failed to beat it in North America because Nintendo had that market cornered. Europe was another story, though, as teenagers loved it for bringing the experience of Sega’s arcade games to the living room. Sega made the smart move of porting its arcade games like “Space Harrier,” “OutRun,” “Hang-On,” and “After Burner” to the system, making it distinct from what the NES was offering at the time.

Sega would not become a serious contender to Nintendo until the release of the Sega Genesis in 1989. It’s widely considered to be the console that popularized the 16-bit generation and forced Nintendo to play catch-up with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1991, a legendary gadget from the ’90s. Sega even had a slogan for being ahead of Nintendo at the time: “Genesis does what Nintendon’t.” These days, kids know Sega as a company that publishes multi-platform games for Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC after it exited the console market due to the failure of the Sega Dreamcast.

Atari made the Video Computer System in 1977, but later rebranded it to the Atari 2600 in 1982. However, it’s very much considered a video game console of the ’80s. Games like “Pitfall,” “Space Invaders,” “Pong,” and “Asteroids,” with their blocky graphics and simple sound effects, defined childhoods for millions of kids. Many consoles had their games built-in during the time the Atari 2600 came out. That’s why it’s fondly remembered for popularizing cartridges, allowing kids to build a game library at home (their very own arcade). Other games kids from that time remember include “Adventure,” “Breakout,” and “Pac-Man.”

During its lifetime, the Atari 2600 sold over 30 million units, and it will forever be known as the console that made video games mainstream. Unfortunately, the Atari 2600 was a major contributor to the video game crash of 1983. It was filled with so many low-quality titles that many gamers lost trust in it. It became so bad that Atari had to dump hundreds of thousands of cartridges, including copies of the massive flop that was “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” in a landfill.

While the Atari 2600 was dominating living rooms, Mattel Electronics released the Intellivision in 1979 as a direct competitor. Before Sega vs. Nintendo and PlayStation vs. Xbox, people remember this to be the start of the console wars, and the debate still rages on today over which one was better. What Intellivision was most known for was its library of sports games like “Major League Baseball,” “NFL Football,” “Basketball,” and “Boxing” that made for a fun and competitive afternoon with friends.

Unfortunately, the Intellivision brand was heavily impacted by 1983’s video game crash. Mattel Electronics would shut its doors in 1984 as a result. Fast forward to 2024, Atari would purchase the Intellivision brand and several of its IPs. The Mattel rival recently brought it back with the Intellivision Sprint, as it did with the Atari 2600 Plus, ensuring that a new generation can experience games that defined the ’80s for many kids.

The ColecoVision was another video game console that defined the 1980s because it also tried to bring arcade gaming into the home. It was released in August 1982, and despite being an 8-bit console, it managed to achieve near-arcade graphics thanks to being the first video game console to use a computer chip. It actually looked better than the Atari 2600 and Intellivision, even though those consoles were more popular. So Coleco, the company that made the console, knew it had to come out swinging if it was going to make an impact.

Coleco partnered with Nintendo to create a port of its popular 1981 arcade game, “Donkey Kong.” The port was considered a near-perfect clone of the arcade version and  became a pack-in game for the ColecoVision. This made the console a hit when it launched. Coleco went on to successfully port arcade titles from other game companies. But its console didn’t last long on the market because the games industry crashed the next year after its launch.