When did home video game systems first become very popular?
- in the mid-1970s
The first video games were introduced in the 1960s, but needed extremely large computers and could not connect to television sets. In 1972, Magnavox released the Magnavox Odyssey, which was the first home video game console that could connect to a TV set as a viewing monitor. Then came Atari's home version of Pong, sold through Sears stores in 1975, which made home video game systems extremely popular. Atari's arcade version of Pong had introduced in 1972. Atari's home gaming system, the Atari 2600, became available in 1977.