The video game industry effectively collapsed entirely.
There were something like 14 major console systems on the market, all incompatible with each other. None had decent quality control for the games. At the same time home computers were starting to be a thing so the hobby money started going in that direction.
In sum that caused an effectively total collapse of the industry in the USA. It took until the late 80s for the market to start to recover when Nintendo released a new console. Notably, this console was not marketed as a game console – it was the Family Computer in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System (with a shell deliberately styled like a VCR) in the West.
Several major companies left the market (like Magnavox or Coleco) or were unable to compete when the market recovered (Atari).
There were something like 14 major console systems on the market, all incompatible with each other. None had decent quality control for the games. At the same time home computers were starting to be a thing so the hobby money started going in that direction.
In sum that caused an effectively total collapse of the industry in the USA. It took until the late 80s for the market to start to recover when Nintendo released a new console. Notably, this console was not marketed as a game console – it was the Family Computer in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System (with a shell deliberately styled like a VCR) in the West.
Several major companies left the market (like Magnavox or Coleco) or were unable to compete when the market recovered (Atari).