What was Nintendo’s first dedicated home video-game system, released in Japan in 1977?

Nintendo’s first dedicated home video-game system was Color TV-Game 6, released in Japan in 1977.

Nintendo had made traditional playing cards and entered electronic entertainment before producing its own home console. The Color TV-Game 6 was developed with Mitsubishi Electric and contained six variations of a simple ball-and-paddle game.

Unlike later Nintendo systems, the Color TV-Game 6 used built-in games rather than interchangeable cartridges. It connected to a television and included controls on the console itself. A second model, Color TV-Game 15, followed in the same year with more control options and game variations.

The system is sometimes confused with the Famicom, Nintendo’s cartridge-based home console released in Japan in 1983. The Famicom became far more influential internationally, but the earlier Color TV-Game line marked Nintendo’s first move into dedicated home video-game hardware.