More than 30 years after Atari popularized the interchangeable game cartridge, gaming-software sales top $33 billion annually, with the global industry value greater than $100 billion. As players big and small convene at E3 in Los Angeles to catch a glimpse of gaming’s future, we take a look back at the innovations that got us here.
Infographic: Electronic Entertainment Expo
1972
The Magnavox Odyssey — the world’s first home-gaming console — invades living rooms, selling 300,000 units.
1977
The Atari 2600 brings variety to the home with its game cartridges. Fan favorites like Space Invaders push Atari sales past 25 million units over its lifetime.
1983
Japan is introduced to the Family Computer, or the Nintendo Entertainment System. Two years later, Super Mario Bros. hits U.S. shelves.
1989
Mobile gaming goes mainstream with the advent of Nintendo’s Game Boy. Bundled with addictive digi-drug Tetris, it goes on to sell 118 million units.
1994
Engineered to accommodate rapidly improving graphics, Sony’s PlayStation changes gaming. Released in 2000, PlayStation 2 sells 150 million units.
2003
Second Life‘s avatar-driven 3-D world has no objectives, winners, or losers, but a massive in-game economy: It traded $119 million in virtual goods in 2010.
2004
World of Warcraft opens its virtual fantasy planet of Azeroth to 12 million paying subscribers. A robust black market peddles in-game goods for real-world cash.
2010
In response to Nintendo Wii’s motion-based interface, Microsoft introduces Kinect for Xbox 360, which tracks users’ motions, no controller required.
2011
At just 3.5 inches, Nintendo’s 3DS makes small-screen history by introducing the first mainstream glasses-free 3-D display.