Do you think Nintendo started in home video gaming with the Famicom? The Game & Watch?
It actually all started in 1977 with this, the Color-TV Game 6.
Pre-dating the Famicom by six years, The Color-TV Game 6 was a Pong clone, offering six variations on the basic light tennis formula. Above is the first edition, CTG-6S, which came in a creamy white colour. Subsequent releases were orange, below right is the most common variant, the CTV-6V.
You can play a classic Pong type game, plus variations with half sized paddles, and a mode with four paddles.
It runs off six C batteries, and connects via RF as per all consoles of the era.
The orange re-releases also added the ability to use an external power adapter.
The orange ones also had improved dials. They rotate more smoothly, have less ‘give’ before they star registering, and stop rotating when your paddle is off the screen. CTG-6S dials just keep rotating, and your paddle comes back from the top of the screen after moving off the bottom, and vice versa.
It’s pretty primitive but works perfectly 38 years later. The simple circuitry is pretty sturdy and will likely outlast most consoles easily.
It was followed up by the Color TV-Game 15 which featured more pong versions, Color TV-Game Racing which played a car game, Color TV-Game Block Breaker which was a Breakout clone, the Computer TV-Game which played Othello, and finally the Family Computer.
But it all started here.
Nintendo Sega Japan! 