Detailed Images of Retro Classic Video Game Consoles!

Have You Played Atari Today?

8-Bit Central wants to preserve & promote retro gaming. We provide a blog featuring original news as well as detailed images of video game consoles & handhelds. Our images include multiple angles, ports & connections, and some of the more interesting accessories. Our goal is inspiring anyone passionate or curious about retro gaming to delve farther into 8-bit games and 1980's arcade gaming!

We try to keep a sense of humor about video games because most folks in our demographic are involved in their school PTA, volunteer work, and climbing the corporate ladder...
We're conquering the Qotile!





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Retro Video Gaming & Our Factual Lunacy

I still own the Atari 2600 I bought when I was 12 and have collected several more Atari consoles as well as ones from Coleco, Mattel, NEC, Nintendo, Ouya, RCA, Sega, SNK Playmore, Sony, and a few miscellaneous ones. My buddy & I built arcade-quality joysticks for our early Atari (and controller-compatible) consoles.

Atari 2600 VCS

When we encounter something bizarre or interesting we'll stash it in our Retro Gaming Blog, make a Video Rant, write a Retro Game Review or conjure up something for our Pixel'd insights.

We like to be topical and stay on top of things, but are often found buried beneath them. Help keep us on top by suggesting sites for our Video Game Links area. Thanks!

Retro Video Games Age Well

Between the photo-realistic gaming of today and the blocky 8 bit world of the late 70's and 80's lies paradise - 8 bit Gaming! Here at 8-Bit Central, we'll be playing Galaga while others are busy shouting at their opponents on a cheap headset. :)

Growing up with Atari gives me great memories of those simplistic 8 bit games and the many game consoles they appeared on. I still love those 8 bit games and get stoked whenever I find them retrofitted and/or rebooted for modern consoles. I'll never be able to get enough of Space Invaders or Wizard of Wor on my PS2 or Super Mario All Stars, Rampage and Burger Time on my Wii. Timeless classics will always resonate with retro gamers regardless of the latest tech evolutions.

Video gaming has made enormous strides, as technology improves and consumer expectations surge. Few arcade fanatics playing Missile Command back in 1980 imagined being able to play it at home on an Atari 2600 VCS the following year. These days, kids with a PS4 probably can't imagine playing something as primitive as Missile Command. Maybe one day they'll realize what they're missing! It's a great history Lesson!!

About 8-Bit Central Retro Gaming

We're all about the promotion and preservation of retro games and gaming culture. We want to include anyone who loves old games or wants to explore titles from gaming's fascinating history.

About 8-Bit Central & Retro Gaming





Printed:

Retro Video Game
Console Timeline
How Old Is Your Favorite
Video Game Console?*
DATE CONSOLE AGE
first generation
5-1972 Odyssey
11-1975 Pong (TG)
?-1976 Telstar
second generation
8-1976 Fairchild Ch. F
1-1977 Studio II
?-1977 Astrocade
10-1977 Atari 2600
?-1978 Odyssey2
?-1978 Merlin
11-1979 Atari 800
12-1979 Intellivision
4-1982 ZX Spectrum
8-1982 Commodore 64
8-1982 Colecovision
?-1982 Arcadia 2001
11-1982 Atari 5200
11-1982 Vectrex
6-1983 Atari 600XL
10-1983 Atari 800XL
11-1983 Intellivision II
third generation
10-1985 NES
1-1986 Atari 7800
6-1986 Master System
?-1987 Atari XEGS
fourth generation
4-1989 Game Boy
6-1989 Atari Portfolio
8-1989 Genesis
9-1989 TurboGrafx-16
9-1989 Atari Lynx
8-1990 TurboGrafx-CD
10-1990 Game Gear
?-1991 Neo Geo AES
8-1991 SNES
?-1991 TurboExpress
fifth generation
9-1993 CD 32
10-1993 NES 101 TL
10-1993 3DO
11-1993 Atari Jaguar
5-1995 Sega Saturn
8-1995 Virtual Boy
9-1995 Pipin
9-1995 PlayStation
9-1996 N64
sixth generation
11-1998 GB Color
3-1999 Nuon
8-1999 NG Pocket Color
9-1999 Dreamcast
7-2000 PS One
10-2000 Sony PS2
6-2001 GB Advance
11-2001 Xbox
11-2001 GameCube
— 20 Year mark —
seventh generation
11-2004 Nintendo DS
3-2005 Sony PSP
12-2005 Xbox 360
6-2006 DS Lite
11-2006 PS3
11-2006 Wii
8-2010 Caanoo
eighth generation
3-2011 Nintendo 3DS
10-2011 Wii Family Ed.
2-2012 Vita
11-2012 Wii U
12-2012 NeoGeo X
6-2013 Ouya
10-2013 2DS
11-2013 PS4
11-2013 Wii Mini
11-2013 Xbox One
10-2014 PlayStation TV
1-2015 Analogue Nt
10-2016 PlayStation VR
11-2016 PS4 Pro
11-2016 NES CE
1-2017 Analogue Nt Mini
ninth generation
3-2017 Switch
7-2017 2DS XL
9-2017 SNES CE
2-2018 Super Nt
3-2019 Mega SG
9-2019 Switch Lite
5-2020 Evercade
11-2020 Xbox Series X/S
11-2020 PS5
12-2020 New Atari VCS
11-2021 Evercade VS
11-2023 Atari 2600+
*Based on North American release dates. This list is a work-in-progress and is not meant to be comprehensive.
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View Arcade Game Timeline
 


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