Super Mario Bros., Contra, Pacman, Space Invaders – these titles bring on a flood of nostalgia. Over the last two or three decades, gaming has seen a tremendous shift, with handsets being traded in for home consoles like the Sony PlayStation and the Xbox One. Even smartphones have gotten in on the action.

Let’s take a quick jaunt through time and see how video games have transformed over the years.

The Spacewar Era
Spacewar was the first ever computer-based video game, back in the 50s. This game was developed on mainframe computers and was mostly confined to digital laboratories.

Although Spacewar is credited with being the first video game ever, this era also saw the rise of many iconic games like STAGE, Mouse in the Maze, and a tennis game, which later became the base for Pong.

The Pong Era
As technology developed, video games saw new changes and were now ready to be introduced into homes for everyday entertainment. The first ever home console was the Magnavox Odyssey, which was first released in 1972.

The Odyssey could be connected to a standard television set and was the first console that made use of cartridges for each game. It wasn’t until Atari’s official release of Pong that this console became a common household name.

Pong was a simple 2D replica of table tennis, or Ping Pong. The game play is fairly simple, and you’ve almost definitely come across it, or one of its descendants, at least once in your life. Each player had to use the paddle to rally the ball back and forth to rack up a total of 11 points. Every time a return was missed, a point would be earned. The game could be played by two players, or a single player could choose to play against an AI opponent.

This era is also called the golden age of arcade video games as more and more people took to amusement arcades to play video games.

The Super Mario Era
The 80s brought out some of the most well-known retro games, with Nintendo releasing the family computer console, FamiCom.

The iconic Super Mario Bros was launched in 1985 as a sequel to Mario Bros. This was the turning point for video games, and developments since then have happened in leaps and bounds. Gameplay gradually increased in complexity, graphics were improved and consoles were made more powerful.

The 80s were ushered in by games like Pacman, Donkey Kong, Tetris, Duck Hunt, E.T., Popeye, and Ikari Warriors, which were widely enjoyed in homes across the globe.

The Resident Evil Era
Nintendo made enhancements in the consoles and released many subsequent makes and models, some of which included handheld Game Boys with games like Pokemon and Kirby taking audiences by storm.

Nintendo released the Playstation, its fifth-generation console, in collaboration with Sony. In addition to 3D gaming, these consoles could also play audio and video CDs.

Gaming was revolutionized in this era with the cutting-edge audio-visual effects.

Many iterations of the Game Boy also came out during this period. But the PlayStation stole the show. Both platforms were constantly upgraded and newer models were marketed over the following years. Sony PlayStation continued to reign supreme till the end of the millennium.

The Assassin’s Creed Era
The seventh generation consoles, Xbox were designed by Microsoft to compete with Sony’s PlayStation.

This console was well-received by kids and adults alike, and soon became a common household gadget. With games like Call Of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Fallout, Halo, and their extraordinary visual effects and audio quality backing it up, the Xbox 360 ranks among the top ten consoles.

With the competition getting tougher, Sony also released successive PlayStation models. The rivalry is still seen with the launch of Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PS4. Both are undoubtedly at par with each other in terms of quality and experience, and the comparison between the two is always a subject of heated debate among fans.

With the best gaming consoles available out there, you are spoiled for choice when it comes to that ultimate gaming experience. So, head to your nearest video game store or even better, simply choose your favorite console online and get your game on!