1975: PONG

There's no way we could start this list without the granddaddy of all video games, home PONG. The arcade version of the iconic ball and paddle game hit bars and amusement houses a few years earlier, jump starting the entire electronic gaming industry. Now, to the delight of gamers everywhere, a home version that could be played on the living room TV was coming out!

This wasn't the first home video game console. Magnavox had released the Odyssey a few years prior, but it never caught on enough to become popular. However, PONG had already established it's popularity with it's arcade version, so the success of the home version was almost guaranteed.

If you wanted the home version of PONG in the winter of '75, there was only one place to get it. Sears department stores had been the only major retailer who had agreed to carry Atari's game (The failure of the Odyssey had made stores wary of carrying "television games"). Sears ordered 150,000 PONG units, to be sold under their Tele-Games label. PONG quickly became the hit of the holiday season, easily besting the previous champ, the Adidas sneaker. Of course, this wasn't the last time that Atari, or the home video game, would rule the holiday season.

1980: The Atari 2600

From the granddaddy of home video games to the granddaddy of game consoles. Soon after Atari released PONG to major acclaim and success, many other companies saw the potential of home video games and released TV games of their own. These "PONG clones" quickly saturated the market, stealing market share from Atari. Even worse, the lack of innovation of these clones started to turn the majority of gamers away from home video games and back to the arcades, where new and exciting titles were being released constantly.

In 1976, Fairchild released the Video Entertainment System. The VES, later known as the Channel F, revolutionized home video games. Previously, the systems only played a small amount of pre-programmed games. However, the Channel F played games that came loaded on programmed cartridges. This innovation meant that gamers only had to buy a game cartridge to play something new, instead of a whole new console.

Atari saw that this was the future of video games and quickly released a cartridge based system of their own. The Atari Video Computer System, later known as the 2600, was released in 1977 to much fanfare. Unfortunately for Atari, the VCS did not sell very well, thanks to a declining home game market. 1978 also brought sluggish sales for the 2600, and in 1979, Atari's new parent company, Warner Communications, fired Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.

Under their new leadership, Atari realized that having an advanced console meant nothing unless they had advanced games to go along with it. They pursued the licensing rights to popular Arcade hits like Asteroids and released 2600 versions. Third party software companies like Activision also released excellent titles like Kaboom and River Raid. All of the sudden, the 2600 was turning heads. The final straw came when Atari gained the home console rights to the hottest arcade title of them all, Space Invaders.

The 2600 version of Space Invaders was considered gaming's first "killer app". Tens of thousands of people bought 2600's just to be able to play Space Invaders at home. With a lineup of hot games and cool peripherals, the Atari 2600 was definitely a must have for early 80's holiday shoppers.

Early 1980's: Pac-Man Fever

In the beginning of the gaming era, all games were incredibly simple. Programmers worked their magic and created worlds using only a few assorted dots and pixels. In their first decade of existence, video games were about the player vs the computer in a game of skill. As technology progressed and computer memory increased, gamers no longer took control of a nameless paddle, starship or race car. The emotionless blocky pixels were replaced with real characters with real personalities.

The first video game character to take the world by storm didn't look like much, a yellow circle with a wedge missing from the side that represented a mouth. This yellow critter ran around a giant maze, eating dots while being chased by "ghosts". This character, known as Pac-Man, ruled the gaming world thoughout the early half of the 80's.

Pac-Man's memorable characters, both hero and villains, and addictive gameplay made it the most popular game in the short history of the industry. Namco, Pac-Man's creators, knew they had not only a popular game on their hands, but also gaming's first real mascot. And what better way to spread the gospel of gaming's newest star then by that wonderful capitalist standby, shameless merchandising!

Pac-Man albums, Pac-Man action figures, even Pac-Man underwear! Everything was Pac-Man and children everywhere were eating it up. Of course, what better way to spread the Pac-Love than with a home video game version of the arcade hit. In 1982, Atari gained the exclusive home console rights to Pac-Man and released it for the 2600 on National Pac-Man Day! (Don't tell us that you forgot! Every April 3rd is Pac-Man Day. How are you going to celebrate this year?)

If you had a kid in the early 80's who needed a Christmas gift, you couldn't go wrong with Pac-Man. But, as always, the novelty wore off and kids were soon looking for something newer and cooler. What will the hottest holiday gifts of the mid 1980's be? Join us in an few days as we dig up some more Ghosts of Christmas Past!