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Video Game Consoles in Order Quiz

Video Game Consoles in Order Quiz

Put in order
Warm-up
6 rounds
About 2 min
Up to 3 stars

A friendly warm-up. Great for all ages and family game night.

This video game consoles in order quiz gives you four systems per round and asks you to line them up by when they first hit US stores. You'll sort favorites from the big three console makers, classic handhelds and a few retro gems from the cartridge days to today's hardware. It's a fun warm-up for anyone who has ever hoped to find a new console waiting under the tree.

How console generations work

Video game historians group consoles into generations, with a new wave of hardware arriving every several years. Each generation brought a big leap: blocky sprites gave way to detailed 2D art, then to 3D worlds, high-definition graphics and online play. Knowing which generation a system belongs to gets you most of the way to putting it in the right spot.

A few clues help when you're stuck. Start with the name, since a numbered follow-up always comes after the system it's named for. Think about what the games came on, too. Cartridges ruled the early decades, discs took over later, and digital downloads became normal much later still. Built-in internet play is another tell, because it only became standard once home broadband spread.

Release dates also vary by country. Many systems launched in Japan months before reaching American stores, and some arrived in Europe later still. This quiz uses US launch years throughout, so a console that felt brand new to you may have been old news somewhere else. Console makers also love the holiday shopping season, which is why so many systems have debuted in the fall.

Video Game Consoles in Order questions and answers

Show all 6 questions with answers (spoilers!)

Earliest US release first
Answer: Nintendo Entertainment System (1985), then Nintendo 64 (1996), then Wii (2006), then Nintendo Switch (2017)
The NES debuted in a New York City test launch in October 1985 before rolling out nationwide.
Earliest US release first
Answer: PlayStation (1995), then Xbox (2001), then Xbox 360 (2005), then PlayStation 4 (2013)
The original PlayStation grew out of a CD add-on Sony was developing with Nintendo before that deal fell apart.
Earliest US release first
Answer: Game Boy (1989), then Game Boy Color (1998), then Nintendo DS (2004), then Nintendo 3DS (2011)
The Game Boy Color could still play original Game Boy cartridges, often adding a simple color palette to those older games.
Earliest US release first
Answer: Atari 2600 (1977), then ColecoVision (1982), then Sega Genesis (1989), then Sega Dreamcast (1999)
ColecoVision came with Donkey Kong in the box, a big draw for arcade fans in 1982.
Earliest US release first
Answer: Super Nintendo (1991), then PlayStation 2 (2000), then Wii U (2012), then PlayStation 5 (2020)
The PlayStation 2 doubled as a DVD player, a big selling point when DVD players were still pricey.
Earliest US release first
Answer: Sega Saturn (1995), then GameCube (2001), then Xbox One (2013), then Nintendo Switch 2 (2025)
Sega surprised everyone by launching the Saturn in May 1995, months ahead of its announced fall date.

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