1. Atari 2600, 1977
This is in all probability the first Atari 2600 commercial message to vent in the U.S. , just before Christmas 1977 . Poor George leaves empty - handed , but we ’re uncoerced to calculate he got his hands on an Atari eventually : 30 million other masses did .
2. Nintendo Game & Watch, 1981
“ Neentendo ” illustrates an other version of the cinematic game trailer here ; when your artwork do n’t hold up , just hire vitaliser . The Game & Watch go on 43 million kids occupied through the 80s and early ninety .
3. ColecoVision, 1982
Coleco released just over two million of the “ most advanced television plot system you could bribe ” into the world in the former eighty .
4. Nintendo Entertainment System, 1985
In these kids ’ defensive structure , Legend of Zelda was pretty rad . The NES sell just over 61 million units during its lifetime .
5. Sega Genesis, 1990
Sega ’s merchandising plan was n’t subtle . The Genesis ( or Mega Drive for everyone outside of the US ) sell about 40 million units .
6. Super NES, 1990
Nintendo ’s reply was a bit more cultured . It paid off eventually : the SNES made its way into 49 million homes .
7. Game Boy, 1990
Nintendo one - upped itself by sending the Game & Watch wad to make room for Game Boy , which would liberate in coloration the next year . Nearly 120 million handheld scheme flooded the market and school buses .
8. Game Gear, 1991
Sega ’s program to ( sidelong ) talking smack about Game Boy ’s lack of color ended up being a bad idea . When the Game Boy Color released , Game Gear ’s sharpness was gone . no matter , it still ended up being one of the well - selling early portable systems ; whether or not those 11 million nestling really want a Game Boy is debatable .
9. PlayStation, 1994
We ’re not sure if humiliation was the force back force out for sales agreement or just a fringe benefit , but Sony ’s PlayStation go gangbusters , totaling more than 102 million consoles sold .
10. Xbox, 2001
Right from the start , Xbox commercial message were weird . But Microsoft did well for themselves , though : the original Xbox now resides in 24 million noodle .
