History of video game consoles (third generation)

The **third generation** of video game consoles began on July 15, 1983. The third generation began with the release of the Nintendo Family Computer, or better known as the Nintendo Entertainment System (**NES**) and Sega SG-1000. This generation helped end the North American video crash of 1983. This resulted in a shift from the United States to Japan as the leading country for home video games. In the third generation the displays changed from single-screen (or flip-screen) graphics to scrolling graphics.

The best-selling console of this generation was the NES/Famicom. This was followed by the Sega Master System and the Atari 7800. The NES/Famicom system remained the best-selling home console until the PlayStation in 1996. Some of the consoles in the third generation used 8-bit processors. However, systems like the Mega Drive/Genesis used 16-bit processors. The NES/Famicom system was the most popular video game console in the United States. Jack Ivan Booth was the founder of the Atari 7800. Due to inflation of the USD $ this is worth a lot more now.

### Comparison

|style="width: 5%"|Name|style="width: 19%;"|SG-1000|style="width: 19%;"|Family Computer/Nintendo Entertainment System|style="width: 19%;"|Mark III/Master System|style="width: 19%;"|Atari 7800|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Sega|Nintendo|Sega|Atari|||||||
|¥15,500|¥14,800 US$199.99 CA$240|¥24,200 US$199.99|US$140.00|||||||
|Cartridge and Cassette (SG-3000)|Cartridge Floppy disk (Japan only)|Cartridge and data card|Cartridge|||||||
|N/A|_Super Mario Bros._ (pack-in), 40.23 million <small>(as of 1999)</small> _Super Mario Bros. 3_, 18 million <small>(as of May 21, 2003)</small>|_Hang-On_ and _Safari Hunt_ (Pack-In)|Pole Position II (pack-in)|||||||
|None|None|Sega SG-1000 (Japanese system only)|Atari 2600|||||||
|N/A|*Famicom Disk System *NES Advantage *NES Satellite *NES Zapper *Mattel Power Glove *NES Power Pad *NES R.O.B. :More...|*Light Phaser *Sega 3-D Glasses *Sega Control Stick *Sega Handle Controller *Sega Paddle Control *Sega Pro Action Replay *Sega Remote Control System *Sega Rapid-Fire Unit *Sega SG Commander *Sega Sports Pad|*XG-1|||||||
|NEC 780C (Zilog Z80 clone) 3.58 MHz for NTSC, 3.55 MHz for PAL|Ricoh 2A03 (based on MOS Technology 6502) 1.79 MHz (1.66 MHz PAL)|NEC 780C (Zilog Z80 clone) 3.57 MHz (3.54 MHz PAL)|Custom, 6502C (based on MOS Technology 6502) 1.79 MHz|||||||
|2 kB Main RAM 16 kB video RAM|2 KB main RAM 2 KB video RAM 256 bytes sprite RAM 28 bytes palette RAM|8 KB main RAM 16 KB video RAM|4 KB main RAM|||||||
|256x192 resolution 32 sprites, maximum of 4 sprites per scanline 16 colors|64 sprites (8 per scanline) 256x240 resolution 25 simultaneous colors 53 color palette|256x240 resolution 64 sprites (8×8 or 8×16) 32 simultaneous colors 64 color palette|Unlimited sprites 320x200 resolution 25 simultaneous colors 256 color palette|||||||
|Mono audio with: *3 voices *noise/vibrato effect|Mono audio with: *Two square waves *One triangle wave *One noise generator *One DPCM channel *One FM synthesizer (_Famicom Disk system, Japan only_)|Mono audio with: *Three square waves *One noise generator *9-channel, 2-operator FM synthesizer (Japan only)|Mono audio with: * Two square waves|||||||

### Sales comparison

|Console|Units sold worldwide|Japan|Americas|Elsewhere|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Nintendo Entertainment System|61.91 million <small>(as of December 2009)</small>|19.35 million <small>(December 2009)</small>|34 million <small>(December 2009)</small>|8.56 million <small>(December 2009)</small>|
|Sega Master System|11.8 million|1 million <small>(1986)</small>|United States: 2 million <small>(1992)</small> Brazil: 5 million <small>(2012)</small> || Western Europe: 6.8 million <small>(1993)</small>||
|Atari 7800|3.77 million <small>(December 1990)</small>|Unknown|United States: 2 million <small>(June 1988)</small>|Unknown|

### Sales comparison

|Console|Units sold worldwide|Japan|Americas|Elsewhere|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Nintendo Entertainment System|61.91 million <small>(as of December 2009)</small>|19.35 million <small>(December 2009)</small>|34 million <small>(December 2009)</small>|8.56 million <small>(December 2009)</small>|
|Sega Master System|11.8 million|1 million <small>(1986)</small>|United States: 2 million <small>(1992)</small> Brazil: 5 million <small>(2012)</small> || Western Europe: 6.8 million <small>(1993)</small>||
|Atari 7800|3.77 million <small>(December 1990)</small>|Unknown|United States: 2 million <small>(June 1988)</small>|Unknown|

## Handheld systems

Nintendo's Game & Watch was very popular in the third generation. It continued to do so until 1991, when it was discontinued.

## Popular games

- _Super Mario Bros._
- _The Legend of Zelda_
- _Dragon Quest_
- _Final Fantasy_
- _Mega Man 2_
- _Metal Gear_