Blogs of Deep Thought: Competition and Generation Analysis Part 2

This blog will focus on the competition during the second generation of gaming.

Generation Two
Contender One:

You can easily assume a semiconductor company would enter the market, especially when it is their components are critical to the development of a console.
That's exactly what Fairchild Semiconductor (1957-Present) did in 1976, with the assistance of Robert Noyce. Robert Noyce was an employee of Fairchild and was the creator of the Fairchild F8 CPU. When Noyce left Fairchild, he allowed Fairchild to base their new system, the Fairchild Channel F, around this CPU. Although even with Noyce's leaving of Fairchild, he isn't remotely erased from the history books. You may not know him by name, but you know his company. No? Robert Noyce was the founder of the company known as Intel.
The only company to come close to having competition with Fairchild was Atari Inc., with the shock of Pong slowly fading away (Not permanently however) causing them to have to come up with something new. Until the mistake was made. Fairchild wanted to update the system and rename it the Channel F System II. This was the Achilles heel of Fairchild, for when the update was done, 6 games were made before the system was purchased by Zircon International, and made into dirt.
Fairchild Channel F Lifetime: 1976-1979

Contender Two

At this time Atari Inc. is still in the industry, barely. Fairchild Semiconductors had released their system, known as the Fairchild Channel F, and Atari Inc. was suffering from the dwindling sales of Pong. Atari Inc. strove to create a better system, but the money just wasn't there. The company was failing, and they needed to come up with a system that could compete with the Fairchild and their strong reputation. In 1976, Atari Inc. sold the rights of Pong to Warner Communications, commonly known as TimeWarner. The decision allowed Atari Inc. to create a milestone in gaming, known as the Atari 2600.
Considered by most to be one of the most influential gaming systems in history, the Atari 2600 set a benchmark that other companies couldn't reach without extreme effort. In the 1980s, if you said "Atari" this is what people would assume you were talking about. This system has had an amazing lifetime, and still lingers in the homes of those who still have them.
Though few have the Atari Jr. a budget remake of the Atari 2600.
Atari 2600 Lifetime: 1977-1992

Contender Three:

Both Magnavox and Phillips played the competition card with the other companies with the Odyssey 2. It was a big beast that took up the same amount of desk space as the Atari 2600 but was mediocre. The system was only a slight increase in relation to the previous console, although the accessories released later on it its life boosted up the reputation and income for the system. Good luck trying to find one now though, because it almost seems as if they disappeared from history.
Odyssey 2 Lifetime: 1978- Presumed Gone/ Extremely Rare

Contender Four:

Mattel Electronics a subsidiary of Mattel Inc.(1945-Present) was one of the many companies to challenge Atari Inc. for its rank in the gaming industry. Their weapon? The Intellivision! My mother had an Intellivision when she was growing up, and she agreed with everything that the AVGN stated, especially when it came to jamming your nail on the disk button/controller thingy. Mattel knew what they were doing, because the system was actually pretty strong in the market. Although it was found goofy when the Voice Synthesis Module came into play.
Intellivision Lifetime: 1980-1990

Contender Five

Twice in a generation, surely Atari Inc. was going strong with revenue and competition. Wrong! The release of the Atari 5200 took money that could have saved them when the crash came in 1983. The system was basically a component update of the Atari 2600, which isn't very apparent, because half of the time they don't work. Although the design was more convienient, such as the four controller ports on the side. The size was still monstrous! The nail in the coffin for the 5200 was the software incompatability, which caused a strong disagreement between consumer and producer, and it was found to have been a rushed system.
Atari 5200 Lifetime: 1982-1984

Contender Six:

Coleco returned with a play off of Mattel Electronic's Intellivision with a creation known as the Colecovision. The idea was brilliantly played in favor of Coleco, but the sales were only one million before the crash, and the only true competition for the Colecovision was the Atari 5200, which if you ask me isn't saying to much. Numerous expansion modules were released for the system, such as a steering wheel and a super controller that fit great in your hand.
Colecovision Lifetime: 1982-1984

Contender Seven:

Emerson Radio Corporation (1948-Present) is a wholesale company that specializes in the distribution of electronics. Released in 1982, the Emerson Arcadia 2001 was a, well.. Let's just say the Arcadia failed as soon as it entered the Golden Shores of America. Because the Atari 5200 and the Colecovision where also released at this time. Due to the massive gaming rights that Atari Inc. had, Emerson was never able to develop any games as remotely close to Atari's.
Emerson Arcadia 2001 Lifetime: 1982-1984

Contender Eight:

Smith Engineering, also known as Western Technologies, was created by Jay Smith, a former employee of Mattel. The product created by this company was known as the Vectrex. The product was then purchased by Milton Bradley, whom the system was named for.
The Vectrex used overlays as well as 3D imaging.
Vectrex Lifetime: 1982-????/ Presumed Defunct

Contender Nine:

A subsidiary of Sega Sammy Inc., Sega is a multinational video game and hardware developer. They developed the SG-1000, which was released in 1983 (During the crash.) in Japan. The Japanese release was a hit, and following the initial release, a secondary release was planned and executed in New Zealand just a few months later. This resulted in another successful release.
Soon after the crash of 1983, Sega came across an updated version of the SG-1000. Sega referred to this as the "Mark II". It had an updated shell and was backwards compatible. Of course people might be familiar with the Mark III, also known as the Sega Master System.
SG-1000 Lifetime: 1983-1985

The Crash of 1983

Victims of the Crash (Companies):

Atari Inc., suffered $500 million dollars in losses.

Financial problems continued to grow and Ray's replacement, James J. Morgan, had less than a year to try and tackle his predecessor's problems before he too was gone. In July 1984, Warner sold the home computing and game console divisions of Atari to Jack Tramiel, the recently ousted founder of Atari competitor Commodore International, under the name Atari Corporation for $240 million in stocks under the new company. Warner retained the arcade division, continuing it under the name Atari Games and eventually selling it to Namco in 1985. Warner also sold the fledgling Ataritel to Mitsubishi.

Factors of the Crash

At the time of the crash, multiple systems had already entered the industry. This included the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Bally Astrocade, Colecovision, Coleco Gemini, Emerson Arcadia 2001, Fairchild Channel F System II, Magnavox Odyssey II, Mattel Intellivision (as well as the invention of the updated system the Intellivision II), numerous clones, Tandyvision, VTech CreatiVision, Vectrex. However, most of these companies planned another generation release. Magnavox planned the Odyssey III and Atari Inc. was working on the Atari 7800.

Also most people might be familiar with the Atari port of Pac-Man. This was done by Tod Frye, and was a crucial hindrance in the reputation of the industry. One of the most despicable games would have to be E.T. the Extra-Terrestial, which wasn't a game, but a waste of time. Also, personal computers where on the rise and most families began to move towards the personal computer fields. The sale of the Commodore 64 brought a solid wall of competition.

Logically, I think the crash was over exaggerated. Obviously Atari Inc. was in danger because of the release of the nuclear warhead of a game called ET, and the numerous under the table creations of games for cheesy commercials only lowered the standards for gaming. Of course, as stated earlier, the personal computers began to enter the arena, and they caught the eyes of families and friends all across the nations.

Generation Two Review:

With the newcomers ambitious ways to release and enter the market, consoles were being released left and right. This gave consumers to much to choose, which was a downfall of this generation. Of course the Atari 2600 was the building block, the golden brick, the foundation of gaming as we know it. But the fate of Atari Inc. was sealed solid.

Peace,

Ruston