Where did modern day gaming really come from?

Shadow1980 said:

Consoles as we know them today actually started in the second generation.

...

It was the Atari 2600, released the following year, that really established console gaming as a major sales force in America.

 

I don't know if you saw my earlier comments but that's basically what I thought.

Having said that, I came across something unexpected regarding the following...

 

Shadow1980 said:

The Fairchild Channel F, released in 1976, was the first console to have interchangeable ROM cartridges...

 

I was also under the impression that the first generation were all dedicated consoles with no removable media.  But on the Odyssey's Wiki entry, I came across this...

 

The Odyssey uses a type of removable printed circuit board, called a game card, that inserts into a slot similar to a ROM cartridge slot; these do not contain any components but have a series of jumpers between pins of the card connector. These jumpers interconnect different logic and signal generators to produce the desired game logic and screen output components respectively.

 

Now, I realize it's not talking about an actual ROM cartridge here, but what exactly is it talking about?  The way I read it, I think it's saying that the game isn't on the card itself; it's still built into the platform, but the card... "unlocks" it?  Kind of like a key?

Am I interpreting this correctly?  That is, the card isn't a form of removable media as such because nothing is actually stored on it.  Instead, the console is hardwired to perform certain tasks, and the card simply... what?  Closes the loop?  Completes the necessary circuits?

Is that what it's saying?