What was the first game console to use backwards compatibility?

Currently there is a lot of talk about backwards compatibility in the world of video games due to the recent news covering this topic, among them we can find everything about the Xbox Series X, which ensures that your console will be backwards compatible with all previous Microsoft platforms.

However, the most recent gamers are not aware that backwards compatibility is something that has covered a lot of ground in the area of video games, starting with consoles that were launched in the 80s, which were the driving force for subsequent generations, reaching what we all know today.

One of the consoles that popularized this concept was the PlayStation 2, due to the amount of consoles that were sold. You could run the entire PlayStation 1 catalogue on it, simply insert the disc and the console would automatically run it. In addition, all the peripherals of its predecessor could be used.

From Nintendo's side you could also see the use of backwards compatibility in several of its consoles, as an example we have the Nintendo Wii, which was natively compatible with the GameCube in the same way as the PlayStation 2 did.

The Game Boy SP was another outstanding system in this respect because it could run all the previous generations of Nintendo's handheld systems - Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance - allowing you to use any video game in your library.

If we go back a bit more in the past, specifically in the 90s, we can find the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive, that through a device called Master System Converter we could play the whole catalogue of the Master System and cards of the Sega Mark III, giving the possibility to have several consoles for the price of one.

At that time, there was no backward compatibility for Nintendo's desktop systems at that time, so if we had a Super Nintendo, we couldn't play any games from its NES predecessor, so we had to have both systems if we wanted to enjoy the previous generation's titles.

But many people today will wonder what was the first console to use backwards compatibility? The first company to do this was Atari. Remember that it was one of the most famous companies to sell huge amounts of consoles between the late 1970s and mid-1980s.

Due to their capital they could afford different consoles, the most successful being the Atari 2600, however, among them there was one that used backward compatibility, becoming the first one to be able to perform such function, this was the Atari 7800, launched in 1986.

This console allowed you to play any game natively to the Atari 2600, as well as use all its peripherals, something very new that had never been seen in the world of game consoles. Despite this feature, the Atari 7800 was not as successful as the 2600, selling only 4 million units.

But this doesn't take away from the fact that it is the first of its kind, serving as a reference for future companies, giving birth to a way of being able to play the games of a previous generation on a new game console.

Did you know that the Atari 7800 was the first console to use backwards compatibility? Tell me your opinion in the comments section.

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