1800's
1900's
1889 - Fusajiro Yamauchi creates the Marufuku Company that creates and distributes Hanafuda, which are Japanese playing cards.
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| Marufuku Company playing cards |
1932 - A Russian immigrant, Maurice Greenberg established The Connecticut Leather Company (later known as Coleco). The company was meant to distribute leather products to shoemakers.
1947 - In the year of 1947, Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. along with Estle Ray Mann filed a patent in the United States for and object in which was called the "Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device" ("CRTAD"). The device is basically an oscilloscope in which you can control where the beam is going on the screen with the knobs.
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| The "CRTAD" |
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| Schematic for "CRTAD" (1948) |
1949 - 1950 - A "Bouncing Ball" program, which was created by Charley Adama, was used on the the MIT Whirlwind computer. The program was not interactive, but it paved the way for whats to come.
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| Whirlwind Computer |
1951 - Christopher Strachey wrote a checkers program for the Pilot ACE, but the program used too much memory, so he recorded it and tried on a larger machine somewhere else.
1951 - Ralph Baer was developing ideas for a electronic company in New York, known as Lorel. Baer had the idea to use lights and patterns on a television screen that could be manipulated by the user, this was quickly shot down because the company was behind schedule.
1951 - The Marufuku Company is renamed to Nintendo, which means "Leave luck to Heaven."
1951 - The United States make new laws that regulate slot machines. A man by the name of Marty Bromley, who works managing game rooms for the military bases in Hawaii, buys machines and opens Service Games (SEGA).
1951 - David Rosen returns from service in the United States Air Force and opens a portrait painting business in Japan.
1954 - David Rosen establishes Rosen Enterprises and ships photo booths to Japan.
1964 - Rosen Enterprises merges with Service Games and becomes SEGA Enterprises.
1966 - Ralph Baer begins work on interactive television games at Sanders Associates.
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| Plans Pg. 1 |
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| Plans Pg. 2 |
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| Plans Pg. 3 |
1968 - Ralph Baer completes his prototype, known as the "Brown Box."
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| Ralph Baer's "Brown Box" |
1969 - SEGA is bought by Gulf & Western.
1970 - Magnavox licenses Ralph Baer's "Brown Box"
1972 - Nolan Bushnell goes to a demonstration of the Magnavox Odyssey on May 24, 1972 in Burlingame, California.
1972 - Al Alcorn, an engineer of Atari creates PONG.
1972 - Magnavox releases the Magnavox Odyssey.
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| Magnavox Odyssey |
1977 - Atari releases the Atari 2600 which eventually came one of the worlds best selling game consoles.
1995 -SEGA releases the SEGA Saturn in North America
1995 - Sony enters game console market in with the release of the Sony PlayStation in North America.
2000's
2001 - SEGA discontinues Dreamcast.
2001 - Microsoft enters the home video game market by releasing the Xbox.
2001 - Nintendo Releases Gamecube in North America
2001 - Microsoft enters the home video game market by releasing the Xbox.
2001 - Nintendo Releases Gamecube in North America
