Nintendo Consoles Trivia Quiz

Color-TV Game (June 1, 1977)

The Color-TV Game, the first home video game console released by Nintendo, was inspired by the appearance of arcade video games in the 1970s. Nintendo's first arcade video game would be released the next year. The Color-TV game was released only in Japan. Unlike later releases where game cartridges were inserted into the console, with the Color-TV Game, the games were built into a series of consoles. For instance, the Color-TV Game 6 (the first one) featured several varieties of "Pong". The series of consoles was successful for several years, with sales in seven digits.

Game & Watch (April 28, 1980)

If you combined features from the Color-TV Game and the Nintendo Gameboy, you might end up with the Game & Watch. These were handheld (and portable) game consoles that had the game in the console rather than on cartridges. A simple LCD screen presented the action. This was the system that really brought Nintendo worldwide attention in terms of the video game market (the Color-TV Game was only released in Japan.) Over the years, a variety of games were released through Game & Watch consoles including "Popeye", "Turtle Bridge", and "Donkey Kong".

Famicom (July 15, 1983)

The Famicom was a console where the player would insert a gaming cartridge to play a particular game, usually an adapted version of a popular arcade game. Nintendo hoped to create a console that would be equal to if not better than the ColecoVision, seen by them as the best home gaming console of the time. With the original Famicom, the controllers were hardwired to the console.

When the modified Famicom was released worldwide in 1985, it was renamed the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Game Boy (April 21, 1989)

Like Game & Watch, the Game Boy was a gaming console, but unlike the former, the inserted cartridges into the Game Boy. The controls at the bottom of the Game Boy would look familiar to someone who had used the controllers for the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom). It is possible for players using different Game Boys to play against each other in the same game. The Game Boy has been a best-seller worldwide with over 100,000,000 sold.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (November 21, 1990)

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) would have more computer power at its disposal than previous releases. The controllers had a more rounded design (compared to previous models) and additional buttons (allowing for more actions). Over the years, over 1,000 games would be released for use on the console, including "Super Mario World" and "Sim City". In Japan, the system was known as the Super Famicom.

Nintendo 64 (July 23, 1996)

The 64 got its name from its 64-bit Computer Processing Unit, which could distinguish between millions of colors. Roughly speaking, it was the Nintendo equivalent to the Sony PlayStation or Sega Saturn. The best-selling game for the 64 was "Super Mario 64". A potential name for the 64 in its early stages of development was the Ultra Famicom. The controller for the 64 was M-shaped and had 10 different buttons.

Game Boy Advance (March 21, 2001)

The handheld Game Boy Advance was designed to be backward compatible with Game Boy. The battery system would last for several hours of play without recharge. The Game Boy Advance was available with external casing in several colors. In 2005, Game Boy Advances began to be released with backlit screens. A wireless adapter released in 2004 allowed multiple Game Boy Advance players to link game playing.

GameCube (September 14, 2001)

"The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Walker" and "Luigi's Castle" were two of the flagship games for the GameCube. Discs rather than cartridges were used to house the games that were played on this console. Memory pod cards were used to save gaming data. The external casing of the GameCube was available in several colors. GameCubes were produced from 2001 to 2007.

Nintendo DS (November 21, 2004)

The Nintendo DS featured two LCD screens. It was backwards compatible with games from the Game Boy Advance. The price of the Nintendo DS at the time of initial release was 15,000 Japanese Yen. Games available for the Nintendo DS at the time of release include "Pokemon Dash" and "The Urbz: Sims in the City". Later editions of the Nintendo DS included a stylus to manipulate things on the screen.

Wii (November 19, 2006)

A feature of the Wii that is highly noticeable are the on-screen "Miis" that represent the game player. Using the wii remote controls, the player is able to replicate his/her real-life action on the screen. For instance, if you swing your arm, the Mii's arm also swings. The Wii's internal flash memory measured in the hundreds of Megabytes of data. One of the initial game releases were "Wii Sports".