<b>Color TV-Game </b> <br> <i>June 1, 1977 (JP only)</i><br> The first home video game system that Nintendo ever released was a series of dedicated consoles called the Color TV-Game. The first of the Japan-only series was called the Color TV-Game 6, developed in collaboration with Mitsubishi Electronics. It contained six variations of a Pong-like game called Light Tennis. The follow-up to the first Color TV-Game was the Color TV-Game 15, which launched a week later and, unlike its predecessor, featured wired controllers.<br> Under the leadership of Masayuki Uemura, head of the internal R&D2 division, Nintendo released three more variants of the Color TV-Game up until 1980, including the Color TV-Game Racing 112. This 1978, racing-themed version of the Color TV-Game was distinct for its built-in racing wheel and gear shift — a design choice from none other than Shigeru Miyamoto himself. Miyamoto’s work on the casing of the Color TV-Game Racing 112 was his first project at Nintendo.<br> A year later, in 1979, Miyamoto would go on to design the Color TV-Game Block Breaker, which was notable also for being the very first Nintendo console developed exclusively on its own, without the help of Mitsubishi, who had assisted on the previous Color TV-Game systems up until that point.
<b>Game & Watch </b> <br> <i>April 28, 1980</i><br> Game & Watch was a series of single-game handhelds that Nintendo produced between 1980 and 1991. There were 60 games total if you include a rare version available only as a prize for Nintendo’s F-1 Grand Prix tournament. Game & Watch was among the earliest Nintendo products to gain massive success and served as the inspiration behind the Game Boy nearly a decade later.<br> Mr. Game & Watch first appeared as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee. His visual design and moveset were meant as an homage to all the various Game & Watch games.
<b>Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) </b> <br> <i>July 15, 1983 (JP) / October 18, 1985 (NA)</i><br> The Nintendo Entertainment System, shortened to NES, was Nintendo’s first home video game console to launch outside Japan. Nintendo has revolutionized the video game industry in a number of ways, but granting third-party developers license to create games for its new 8-bit platform was one of the most significant — a business model that eventually became standard.<br> Spearheaded by Nintendo lead hardware architect Masayuki Uemura and released in Japan as the Nintendo Famicom (Family Computer) in 1983, the more adult-oriented videoplayer-like NES redesign in the West, as well as the significant boost in quality of its game library thanks to a stricter approach to licensed development, breathed new life into the video game industry following the crash of 1983. The NES almost single-handedly restored the public’s faith in this exciting and still relatively new medium.
<b>Game Boy </b> <br> <i>April 21, 1989 (JP) / July 31, 1989 (NA)</i><br>The Game Boy was designed by none other than the legendary Gunpei Yokoi, who created Nintendo’s very first handheld system (the Game & Watch), and was the mastermind behind the simple, but iconic plus-shaped control pad — a staple on almost every modern video game controller.<br> Even with early competition from Atari’s Lynx, Sega’s Game Gear, and NEC’s TurboExpress, the Game Boy was hugely successful, thanks especially to its superior battery life and library of popular games like Tetris. It was also widely popular with the female demographic, according to Nintendo, who reported in 1995 that 46% of Game Boy players were women.<br> Nintendo ended up releasing two major variations of the original Game Boy: the smaller and lighter Game Boy Pocket in 1996, and the backlit Game Boy Light in 1998.
<b>Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) </b> <br> <i>November 21, 1990 (JP) / August 23, 1991 (NA)</i><br>Nintendo’s follow-up to the NES was the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, or SNES. The 16-bit console, with its revamped controller and enhanced graphical capabilities, ended up being the most best-selling of that era — even with the competition from Sega’s Mega Drive/Genesis, which was released two years prior, cost less, and had a larger game library.<br> But even with Sega’s initial lead, the SNES continued to go strong in the 32-bit era. Classics like Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario Kart, Star Fox, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, Super Metroid, and more sold millions of copies, earning the SNES its place as one of the most successful and important consoles in history.