Fairchild Channel F

The first programmable home console, and almost nobody remembers it. Fairchild got there in 1976 — a year before the Atari 2600 — with the first microprocessor console, interchangeable cartridges, and the first pause button. It also had the first joystick with a twist-and-plunge action. Comprehensively out-marketed by Atari, and now a significant and uncommon first.