Expert: Octane - 6/4/2009

Question
What was the first console of the 4 bit era/ was it Channel F?  Or, was it atari 2600?

Answer
Gday Nick,

Actually nether console is a 4 bit console.  (Technically they are classes as second generation console as well)  Both the 2600 and Channel F are both 8 bit consoles.  The Fairchild Channel F uses a F8 or F3850 processor chip while the Atari 2600 uses a 6507 processor (Which is actually a stripped down version of the processor the NES uses with is a 6502 also 8 bit) so they are both 8 bits.

The Channel F definitely came out before the 2600 but was by far not the first console.

Most of the first generation console like Pong, Coleco Telstar and Magnavox Odyssey uses a AY-3-8500 which is also technically an 8 bit type of processor.  Although there may have been one or 2 entries of first gens that had no processor at all. (It was all contained on the cartridge)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles_(first_generation)

Hope this helps

Octane