Second Gen (21 дек 1977 г. – 1 дек 1984 г.)

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The second generation of video game consoles began with the Fairchild Channel F, the first video game console in the world to make use of programmable ROM cartridges. This lead to the Atari 2600, Magnavox Odyssey² and Intellivision to be created, and start the first true console war. Focus shifted onto software, and though these games were still often very simple in design, the major difference this time was they weren't all variations of Pong. Around this time some of the first video game developers would be established, both in the home and the arcade. The Atari 2600 sold the most units, and was so popular that some rival consoles even had adapters to play Atari 2600 games.

As Pong was no longer the focus, developers had to experiment with control schemes and styles. Atari went for an eight-way joystick and one digital button, a design that proved to be successful, however other consoles went for strange designs such as number pads, trackballs and analogue control methods adopted from the various Pong clones. Many controllers were hard-wired into the system and could not be removed, which was a problem as some controllers were weak and would break very easily, or the leads were very short in length. Some consoles were bundled with entire QWERTY keyboards or even separate monitors.

Graphics were also a subject for debate in the second generation. At the time, consoles were only able to produce low resolution images with very few on-screen colors. Many went for higher resolution graphics with less colors, some took the opposite route. The Vectrex is a notable system as rather than going for raster graphics like its rivals, it went for vector graphics, which had proved to be a success in arcades. The problem with the Vectrex however is that it can't omit color, and so screen overlays had to be used.

Sega's SG-1000 debuted towards the end of this generation, being Sega's first console. It was somewhat unsuccessful and saw limited release outside of Japan, but it did give Sega experience needed later for releasing the Sega Master System.

The first handheld console, the Milton Bradley Microvision was released in 1979. It wasn't very sturdy but it did help to inspire all later handhelds.

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