What was the first gaming console and what year was it introduced?

Answer 1

Not a simple question, but this is what we have:

• 14 December 1948 - Thomas Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Mann receive a patent for their cathode ray tube entertainment device, a missile simulator game using analog circuits and screen overlays for targets.
• 1958 - William Higinbotham builds the interactive computer game named Tennis for Two (the forerunner of Pong) for the Brookhaven National Laboratory. It is the second recorded analog gaming platform, but uses the vector display from an oscilloscope.
• 1957-1961 - Programmers at MIT develop a collection of graphic programs on the TX-0 (Transistorized Experimental computer zero). The games include Mouse in the Maze and Tic-Tac-Toe.
• 1961 - Martin Graetz, Steve Russell, and Wayne Wiitanen, students from MIT, program the game Spacewar for the Digital Equipment Corp. PDP-1. Computer historian claim Spacewar to be the first shooter game.
• 1966-1972 - Ralph Baer develops The Odyssey for Magnavox. Odyssey represents the first commercially available gaming platform for home use.