<P> In 1983, Nintendo released the Family Computer (or Famicom) in Japan . The Famicom supported high - resolution sprites, larger color palettes, and tiled backgrounds . This allowed Famicom games to be longer and have more detailed graphics . Nintendo began attempts to bring their Famicom to the U.S. after the video game market had crashed . In the U.S., video games were seen as a fad that had already passed . To distinguish its product from older game consoles, Nintendo released their Famicom as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) which used a front - loading cartridge port similar to a VCR, included a plastic "robot" (R.O.B.), and was initially advertised as a toy . The NES was the highest selling console in the history of North America and revitalized the video game market . Mario of Super Mario Bros. became a global icon starting with his NES games . Nintendo took a somewhat unusual stance with third - party developers for its console . Nintendo contractually restricted third - party developers to three NES titles per year and forbade them from developing for other video game consoles . The practice ensured Nintendo's market dominance and prevented the flood of trash titles that had helped kill the Atari, but was ruled illegal late in the console's life cycle . </P> <P> Sega's Master System was intended to compete with the NES, but never gained any significant market share in the US or Japan and was barely profitable . It fared notably better in PAL territories . In Europe and South America, the Master System competed with the NES and saw new game releases even after Sega's next - generation Mega Drive was released . In Brazil where strict importation laws and rampant piracy kept out competitors, the Master System outsold the NES by a massive margin and remained popular into the 1990s . Jack Tramiel, after buying Atari, downsizing its staff, and settling its legal disputes, attempted to bring Atari back into the home console market . Atari released a smaller, sleeker, cheaper version of their popular Atari 2600 . They also released the Atari 7800, a console technologically comparable with the NES and backwards compatible with the 2600 . Finally Atari repackaged its 8 - bit XE home computer as the XEGS game console . The new consoles helped Atari claw its way out of debt, but failed to gain much market share from Nintendo . Atari's lack of funds meant that its consoles saw fewer releases, lower production values (both the manuals and the game labels were frequently black and white), and limited distribution . Additionally two popular 8 - bit computers, the Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC, were repackaged as the Commodore 64 Games System and Amstrad GX4000 respectively, for entry into the console market . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> </Th> <Th> Japan </Th> <Th> North America </Th> <Th> Europe </Th> <Th> Units sold </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Famicom / NES </Th> <Td> </Td> <Td> 1985 </Td> <Td> 1986 </Td> <Td> 61,910,000 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Mark III / Master System </Th> <Td> 1985 </Td> <Td> 1986 </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 13,000,000 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Atari 7800 </Th> <Td> none </Td> <Td> 1986 </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 3,770,000 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Atari XEGS </Th> <Td> none </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> 100,000 </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> </Th> <Th> Japan </Th> <Th> North America </Th> <Th> Europe </Th> <Th> Units sold </Th> </Tr>

Where was the first video game console made