The second generation of video game consoles dates from approximately 1977 to 1983, or from the Fairchild Channel F to approximately the ColecoVision, although the years of release can vary slightly from country to country. In this blog post, we will explore what makes a game console second generation, along with who won, who lost, and why.
Another way to define the second generation is a console that used plug-in game cartridges but was older than the Nintendo Famicom/NES. The problem with the second generation is that while its beginnings are clear, the end is somewhat fuzzy. Most people consider the ColecoVision a second generation console, but the ColecoVision is very similar to, and only slightly less powerful than the Sega Master system, which is a third generation console. Another way to define it is as consoles interrupted by the 1983 video game crash in North America.
It’s also surprising how many consoles appeared in this generation. I count at least 12. It’s also a fascinating generation, full of great stories and evolutionary dead ends.
APF MP1000
This second-generation console sometimes draws comparisons to the Fairchild Channel F, because its principal designer, Edward Smith, like Jerry Lawson, was African American.
The MP1000 was designed to be a little bit better than the Atari 2600, a little bit cheaper than the Atari 2600, and most critically, it was designed to be expandable into a full-fledged home computer, the Imagination Machine. But it only lasted about 3 years on the market before losing its funding. Smith estimates they sold about 50,000 units.
Even though the APF MP1000 didn’t succeed in the market and APF the company went out of business along with it, Smith’s story is one of the best stories on this list. Smith grew up in public housing in Brooklyn, and the game industry helped lift him out of poverty. He went on to have a successful career even as the product he created failed. If you don’t read any other story on this list, please read the story of Ed Smith and his MP1000.
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 was the winner of this generation, selling approximately 30 million units and amassing a library of around 450 game cartridges. It also accidentally attracted the first third party game publisher, Activision.
The Atari 2600 was really designed to play simple games like Breakout and Combat, games just a step or two forward from Pong. But creative developers kept finding ways to push the limits of the machine even as competing consoles with better capabilities appeared on the market.
The Atari 2600 was neither the first nor the best console on this list. And its library of launch titles isn’t impressive by modern standards. But Atari was the first to license a popular arcade game, Space Invaders. Between that and creating home versions of its own arcade games, its formula won the day. It also defined the way subsequent generations would go forward. The third generation of game consoles was all about who could come up with the best refinements to Atari’s formula.
Atari never replicated the 2600’s success, but its success cemented it as a legend in the field.
Sears Video Arcade
Atari produced a private-label version of the Atari 2600 for Sears, which Sears sold as the Sears Video Arcade. It looked like a clone, but was a real Atari 2600 with a different woodgrain pattern on it and a different name on the front. The only difference was the printing on the case and on the box it came in. Sears also sold a version in the ill-fated Atari 2800 case. It looked different but was completely compatible.
Atari 5200
In 1982, the Atari 2600 was showing its age, so Atari recycled an old idea, finally building a game console based on its home computer technology. Like some of the others on this list, it was a second-generation console trying to be a third-generation console.
Infighting within Atari led to a myriad of questionable design decisions. That left the door open for Coleco to come in the same year with its own take on what a successor to the Atari 2600 console should look like. As a result, the 5200 ended up only selling a million units. It was a poor showing from the market leader and proved that Atari was vulnerable. Half the consoles on this list didn’t sell a million units, but the Atari 5200 is generally regarded as a failure.
Bally Astrocade
The Bally Astrocade was another 1970s console, announced in 1977, but delays kept it from reaching the market unitl 1978. It was also expensive at $299, so by the time it reached the market, there were several less expensive alternatives, including Atari.
Bally was a leading producer of arcade games, so if they had created home versions of arcade games like Atari did, video game console history could have been very different. That’s because Bally owned Midway, the producer of various popular arcade games. Midway also owned the US rights to Pac-Man. It’s fun to speculate how things might have turned out if Bally had gone head to head with Atari with its portfolio of arcade hits rather than licensing them to companies like Atari and Commodore.
Instead, Bally lost interest and sold the rights to the machine in 1979. The Astrocade carried on under different names until 1985, generally as a budget console. It’s one of the great missed opportunities of the second generation game consoles.
Coleco Gemini
The Coleco Gemini was one of the last consoles on the list to appear, released in 1983. It was also one of the least ambitious, being an outright clone of the Atari 2600. Since it was based on the compatibility module for the Coleco Vision, it was a low risk move for Coleco to make, but releasing a clone console the same year the video game market took a major turn for the worse meant this one wasn’t terribly successful.
Coleco Vision
The Coleco Vision was arguably good enough to be a third generation console. It used a Zilog Z-80 CPU, one of the more popular CPUs for home computers, along with sound and graphics by Texas Instruments. The Sega Master System used a very similar formula, using the same CPU, and Yamaha-made derivatives of the Texas Instruments chips. Coleco entered the market in August 1982 with an ambitious collection of launch titles. The overall formula worked well. In spite of being on the market barely a year when the video game market crashed, it ended up being one the best selling consoles of its generation. Whether it ended up outselling Mattel or fell just short seems to depend who you ask, but it didn’t miss Mattel by much if it did.
Emerson Arcadia 2001
It wasn’t the same Emerson that makes garbage disposals, but the Emerson Arcadia 2001’s reception wouldn’t have been any worse if it had been. This budget console from 1982 was designed to be slightly better than the Atari 2600 while beating it in price. It utilized a chipset from Synertek. Emerson had ambitious plans to sell tens of millions of dollars worth of consoles and cartridges per year. But wasn’t able to license any of the big name arcade titles of the early 1980s. Other companies had the idea first, and had secured the licenses to virtually everything Emerson was interested in. This console didn’t meet sales expectations so Emerson pulled the plug in early 1984. Around 35 or 36 international variants of this console exist. It’s clear the same Hong Kong company, UAL, was behind all of them. It was an interesting idea, but it didn’t work out much better anywhere else either.
Fairchild Channel F
Integrated circuit manufacturer Fairchild was the first out of the gate with a second generation console, releasing the Fairchild Channel F, designed by Jerry Lawson, in November 1976.
Jerry Lawson was an African American engineer born in New York City. His father and grandfather both had interest in science but couldn’t pursue it professionally because of the color of their skin. Encouraged by his first-grade teacher to aspire to be like George Washington Carver, he succeeded, inventing the video game cartridge among other accomplishments.
The Fairchild Channel F used a CPU and supporting components produced by Fairchild. Fairchild’s vertical integration could have made them a formidable competitor, since they didn’t have to buy expensive components from someone else. But the software library couldn’t keep up with Atari. Fairchild also didn’t see the game console as core to its Fairchild’s business. In 1979, Fairchild sold the technology to Zircon International. Zircon limped along with it until 1983. With 350,000 units sold, it wasn’t the least successful console of this generation, but didn’t make the leaderboard.
Magnavox Odyssey 2
The Magnavox Odyssey 2 had the second longest lifespan on this list, released in 1978 and being discontinued in 1984. It used an Intel microcontroller and in Intel video display processor. It sold 2 million units, so it was one of the more successful consoles of this generation. But it was slow to attract third party development. It wasn’t until 1983 when Imagic and Parker Brothers started producing titles for it that any third parties released titles for it. The video game crash of 1983 interrupted that, and several titles Parker had in development didn’t see store shelves.
Aside from being one of only four consoles in this generation to sell at least 2 million units, it was also distinctive by having a built-in membrane keyboard. It represents an evolutionary dead end for game consoles, but it sold better than several of the more conventional consoles on this list.
Mattel Intellivision
The toymaker Mattel provided the first serious challenge to Atari in the second generation with its Intellivision console. It featured a CPU, video, and sound chip from General Instrument and an impressive-for-its-time collection of launch titles. Mattel gave Atari a run for its money, and was able to license a few arcade titles once it was clear that was the direction the industry was going. But Atari’s head start made it difficult for Mattel to catch up. It was no worse than the third-best selling console of this generation. But profits were elusive, so Mattel pulled the plug in 1984 and didn’t come back for the third generation.
Milton Bradley Vectrex
The Vectrex was the most unusual of the second generation video game consoles, because it didn’t use pixels. Instead, used vector graphics, made up of lines that traced across the screen in any direction. It was especially adept at wireframe graphics. To accomplish this, it had its own built-in 9-inch CRT, because it wasn’t compatible with conventional raster based CRTs like the ones in 1980s televisions.
Like the Colecovision, it was a victim of bad timing. It sold pretty well because it offered a novelty no other console had, in addition to not tying up the family TV. But the 1983 video game crash hit it hard. As a result, Milton Bradley lost $31.6 million on the Vectrex. This especially hurt because it only acquired the console in early 1983. In desperation Milton Bradley cut prices by 25 percent and then yet another 25 percent. In February 1984, Milton Bradley discontinued it sold the inventory to liquidators.
The Vectrex attracted a devoted following because it’s so different from any other console that appeared before, or since.
Sega SG-1000
With the market for arcade games declining, Sega decided in 1983 to get into another declining market, releasing the SG-1000. Some people consider this a third-generation console. But since it predates the Sega Master System, you could also call it a second-generation console because its hardware was so similar to the Colecovision. Sega themselves only released the SG-1000 in Japan. But rebranded versions appeared in Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and Spain. Sega and its partners skipped the larger markets of the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany. Still, it sold 160,000 units in 1983, more than three times what Sega hoped. The success paved the way for its successful Master System console soon after.
David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.
Wow, I wasn’t aware Colecovision had such visuals, pretty impressive for the time! I had a 2600 (and as a dopey kid, quite liked ET the Extraterrestrial. The government agents were scary.)