Second generation of video game consoles
In the history of video games, the second-generation era refers to computer and video games, video game consoles, and handheld video game consoles available from 1976 to 1992. Notable platforms of the second generation include the Fairchild Channel F, Atari 2600, Intellivision, Odyssey², and ColecoVision. The generation began in November 1976 with the release of the Fairchild Channel F. This was followed by the Atari 2600 in 1977, Magnavox Odyssey² in 1978, Intellivision in 1980 and then the Emerson Arcadia 2001, ColecoVision, Atari 5200, and Vectrex, all in 1982. By the end of the era, there were over 15 different consoles. It coincided with, and was partly fueled by, the golden age of arcade video games. This peak era of popularity and innovation for the medium resulted in many games for second generation home consoles being ports of arcade games. Space Invaders, the first arcade game to be ported, was released in 1980 for the Atari 2600. Coleco packaged Nintendo's Donkey Kong with the ColecoVision when it was released on August 1982.
Built-in games, like those from the first generation, saw limited use during this era. Though the first generation Magnavox Odyssey had put games on cartridge-like circuit cards, the games had limited functionality and required TV screen overlays and other accessories to be fully functional. More advanced cartridges, which contained the entire game experience, were developed by Jerry Lawson for the Fairchild Channel F, and most video game systems soon adopted similar technology. The first system of the generation and some others, such as the RCA Studio II, still came with built-in games while also having the capability of utilizing cartridges. The popularity of game cartridges grew after the release of the Atari 2600. From the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, most home video game systems used cartridges until the technology was replaced by optical discs. The Fairchild Channel F was also the first console to use a microprocessor, which was the driving technology that allowed the consoles to use cartridges. Other technology such as screen resolution, color graphics, audio, and AI simulation was also improved during this era. The generation also saw the first hand-held game cartridge system, the Microvision, which was released by toy company Milton Bradley in 1979.
In 1979, gaming giant Activision was created by former Atari programmers and was the first third-party developer of video games. By 1982, the shelf capacity of toy stores was overflowing with an overabundance of consoles, over-hyped game releases, and low-quality games from new third-party developers. An over-saturation of consoles and games, coupled with poor knowledge of the market, saw the video game industry crash in 1983 and marked the start of the next generation. Beginning in December 1982 and stretching through all of 1984, the crash of 1983 caused major disruption to the North American market. Some developers collapsed and almost no new games were released in 1984. The market did not fully recover until the third generation. The second generation officially ended on January 1, 1992, with the discontinuation of the Atari 2600.
Home systems
Fairchild Channel F
The Fairchild Channel F, also known early in its life as the Fairchild Video Entertainment System, was released by Fairchild Semiconductor in November 1976 and was the first console of the second generation. It was the world's first CPU-based video game console, introducing the cartridge-based game code storage format. The console featured a pause button that allowed players to freeze a game. This allowed them to a break without the need to reset or turn off the console so they did not lose their current game progress. Fairchild released twenty-six different cartridges for the system, with up to four games being on each cartridge. The console came with two pre-installed games, Hockey and Tennis.Atari 2600 & 5200
In 1977, Atari released its CPU-based console called the Video Computer System, later called the Atari 2600. Nine games were designed and released for the holiday season. Atari held exclusive rights to most of the popular arcade game conversions of the day. They used this key segment to support their older hardware in the market. This game advantage and the difference in price between the machines meant that each year, Atari sold more units than Intellivision, lengthening its lead despite inferior graphics. The Atari 2600 went onto to sell over 30 million units over its lifetime, considerably more than any other console of the second generation. In 1982, Atari released the Atari 5200 in an attempt to compete with the Intellivision. While superior to the 2600, poor sales and lack of new games meant Atari only supported it for two years before it was discontinued.Early Atari 2600 cartridges contained 2 kilobytes of read-only storage. This limit grew steadily from 1978 to 1983: up to 16 kilobytes for Atari 5200 cartridges. Bank switching, a technique that allowed two different parts of the program to use the same memory addresses, was required for the larger cartridges to work. The Atari 2600 cartridges got as large as 32 kilobytes through this technique. The Atari 2600 had only 128 bytes of RAM available in the console. A few late game cartridges contained a combined RAM/ROM chip, thus adding another 256 bytes of RAM inside the cartridge itself. The Atari standard joystick was a digital controller with a single fire button released in 1977.
Bally Astrocade
The Bally Astrocade was released in 1977 and was available only through mail order. It was originally referred to as the Bally Home Library Computer. Delays in the production meant that none of the units shipped until 1978. By this time, the machine had been renamed the Bally Professional Arcade. In this form, it sold mostly at computer stores and had little retail exposure, unlike the Atari VCS. The rights to the console were sold to Astrovision in 1981. They re-released the unit with the BASIC cartridge included for free; this system was known as the Bally Computer System. When Astrovision changed their name to Astrocade in 1982 they also changed the name of the console to the Astrocade to follow suit. It sold under this name until the video game crash of 1983 when it was discontinued.Magnavox Odyssey 2
In 1978, Magnavox released its microprocessor-based console, the Odyssey 2, in the United States and Canada. It was distributed by Philips Electronics in the European market and was released as the Philips G7000. A defining feature of the system was the speech synthesis unit add-on which enhanced music, sound effects and speech capabilities. The Odyssey² was also known for its fusion of board and video games. Some titles would come with a game board and pieces which players had to use in conjunction to play the game. Although the Odyssey² never became as popular as the Atari consoles, it sold 2 million units throughout its lifetime. This made it the third best selling console of the generation. It was discontinued in 1984.Intellivision
The Intellivision was introduced by Mattel to test markets in 1979 and nationally in 1980. The Intellivision console contained a 16-bit processor with 16-bit registers and 16-bit system RAM. This was long before the "16-bit era". Programs were however stored on 10-bit ROM. It also featured an advanced sound chip that could deliver output through three distinct sound channels. The Intellivision was the first console with a thumb-pad directional controller and tile-based playfields with smooth, multi-directional scrolling. The system's initial production run sold out shortly after its national launch in 1980. Early cartridges were 4 kilobyte ROMs, which grew to 24 kilobytes for later games.The Intellivision introduced several new features to the second generation. It was the first home console to use a 16-bit microprocessor and offer downloadable content through the PlayCable service. It also provided real-time human voices during gameplay. It was the first console to pose a serious threat to Atari's dominance. A series of TV advertisements featuring George Plimpton were run. They used side-by-side game comparisons to show the improved graphics and sound compared with those of the Atari 2600. It sold over 3 million units before being discontinued in 1990.
Vectrex
The Vectrex was released in 1982. It was unique among home systems of the time in featuring vector graphics and its own self-contained display. At the time, many of the most popular arcade games used vector displays. Through a licensing deal with Cinematronics, GCE was able to produce high-quality versions of arcade games such as Space Wars and Armor Attack. Despite a strong library of games and good reviews, the Vectrex was ultimately a commercial failure. It was on the market for less than 2 years.Comparison
Sales standings
The best-selling console of the second generation was the Atari 2600 at 30 million units. As of 1990, the Intellivision had sold 3 million units. This is around 1 million higher than the Odyssey² and ColecoVision sales and eight times the number of purchases for the Fairchild Channel F, which was 250,000 units.| Console | Units sold worldwide |
| Fairchild Channel F | 0.25 million |
| Atari 2600 | 30 million |
| Magnavox Odyssey² | 2 million |
| Intellivision | 3 million |
| ColecoVision | 2 million |
| Atari 5200 | 1 million |
| Bally Astrocade | Unknown |
| Emerson Arcadia 2001 | Unknown |
| Vectrex | Unknown |
Other consoles
Handheld systems
Microvision
The Microvision, manufactured and sold by Milton-Bradley. was released in 1979. It was the first handheld game console that used cartridges that could be swapped out and that contained their own processor as the console itself had no on-board processor. It had a small game library which was prone to damage from static electricity and the LCD screen could also rot. These two factors contributed to its discontinuation two years after release.Entex Select-A-Game & Adventure Vision
Entex released two handheld systems in the second generation, the Select-A-Game and the Adventure Vision. There were 6 games available for the Select-A-Game but it was only available for a year until focus shifted to the Adventure Vision which was released in the following year.The Adventure Vision was released only in North America in 1982 by Entex and was the successor to the Select-A-Game. It was unique among the consoles as it used a spinning mirror system for its built-in display and had to be used set down on a surface due to its size and shape. It was discontinued one year later in 1983 after selling just over fifty thousand units.
Palmtex Super Micro
Developed and manufactured by Palmtex, the Super Micro was released in 1984 and discontinued later that year. Due to financial problems between Palmtex and Home Computer Software, only 3 games were released for the system despite more being planned. It was criticized for its poor build quality and how easily it would break and went on to sell less than 37,000 units.Epoch Game Pocket Computer
The Epoch Game Pocket Computer was released in Japan in 1984. Due to poor sales, only five games were made for it and was not released outside of Japan.Nintendo Game & Watch
The Game & Watch was a series of 60 handheld consoles that contained a single game in each release. The first, titled "Ball" was released in 1980 and titles were released up until it was discontinued in 1991. Unlike the other handheld consoles in the second generation, the Game & Watch had a segmented LCD screen similar to a digital watch which limited the display to the configuration of the segments. The series sold a combined 43.4 million units making it the most popular handheld of the generation.Comparison
| Console | Microvision | Entex Select-A-Game | Adventure Vision |
| Manufacturer | Milton Bradley | Entex Industries | Entex Industries |
| Image | ' | ' | |
| Launch price | US$49.99 | US$59 | US$79.99 |
| Release date | November 1979 | 1981 |  1982 |
| Units sold | Unknown | Unknown | 50,757 |
| Media | Cartridge | Cartridge | Cartridge |
| CPU | Main: None Cartridge: 100 kHz Intel 8021 | Main: None Cartridge: Hitachi HD38800 | 733 kHz Intel 8048 |
| Memory | 64 bytes RAM | 64 bytes RAM 1 kilobyte | |
| Video | 16 x 16 pixel LCD | 7 x 16 pixel VFD 2 colors | 150 x 40 pixel spinning mirror system Monochrome |
| Audio | Piezo Buzzer | National Semiconductor COP411L @ 52.6 kHz |
Software
Milestone titles
- ' by Mattel Electronics won an award in the "1984 Best Adventure Videogame" category at the 5th Annual Arkie Awards. It was the first Intellivision cartridge to have more than 4K of ROM.
- Adventure by Atari, Inc. was the first action-adventure video game and first console fantasy game. It is considered to be an important role in the advancement of home video games and one of the best Atari 2600 titles.
- Asteroids was the first game on the 2600 to utilize the bank switching technique.
- Baseball by Mattel was the console's best selling title with over one million copies sold.
- Demon Attack by Imagic was released in 1983. It won the 1983 Arcade Award for "Best Videogame of the Year". It was the company's best selling game and is considered a classic of the Atari 2600.
- Donkey Kong by Coleco was praised highly for being very faithful to the original arcade game. Critics considered it the best version out of the ColecoVision, Atari and Intellivision ports.
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial released in 1982 and is often accredited to being one of the worst games of all time. Some believe the game played a significant role in the video game crash of 1983.
- Microsurgeon by Imagic was praised highly for its originality. It was included in "The Art of Video Games" exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution in 2012.
- Missile Command by Atari, Inc. was released in 1981 and went on to sell more than 2.5 million copies. This made it the third best selling game on the console.
- Pitfall! by Activision, released in 1982, was one of the best selling games for the Atari 2600, selling over 4 million copies. Pitfall popularized the side-scrolling platformer genre.
- ' by Activision, released in 1984 was one of the most technically impressive titles for the 2600. It came with a specialized audio chip on the cartridge that allowed for advanced music capabilities where music could be changed dynamically.
- River Raid by Activision was the first video game to be banned for minors in West Germany. Despite this, it was still one of the most popular titles for the Atari 2600 and won an award for "1984 Best Action Videogame".
- Space Invaders by Taito was the first official licensing of an arcade game and was the first "killer app" for video game consoles. Its release saw sales of the Atari 2600 quadruple and was the first title to sell 1 million copies.
- by Parker Brothers was the first officially licensed video game of the Star Wars franchise.
- Utopia by Don Daglow is often credited with being the first real-time strategy that laid the foundation for many games within the genre.
- Zaxxon by Sega was the first home console game to utilize isometric graphics.