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The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), it popularized microprocessor -based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridges, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F in 1976.
Hobbyist-developed games after the system was discontinued. The console was released with nine cartridges: Air-Sea Battle, Basic Math, Blackjack, Combat, Indy 500, Star Ship, Street Racer, Surround and Video Olympics. The final licensed Atari 2600 games released in North America were Ikari Warriors, MotoRodeo, Sentinel, and Xenophobe in early ...
Atari TitleSears TitleDesigner Or Programmer32 in 1-19883-D Tic-Tac-ToeAdventureTarget Fun- Press Reset
- The Key to Success
- Riding High
- The Market Splinters
- What Goes Up…Well, You Know
- Atari Forever
Atari was already flying high by the mid-1970s, having launched the coin-op video game industry with Computer Space and Pong. But it had nothing in the home yet—that fell to Magnavox, which was selling Ralph Baer's brilliant Odyssey. Originally designed in 1967 and launched in 1972, the Odyssey played 12 different games on your television; it didn'...
Thanks to the 2600’s cartridge slot, you could never get bored of the system—all you had to do was buy another game, or ask your parents to. Some early cartridges were mediocre (anyone out there love Basic Math?), but other games were fun despite their simplicity. It’s tough to beat two friends shooting up the carriages, and each other, in Outlaw. ...
Mattel tried to compete by launching the Intellivision, a solid system with numerous hardware advantages over the 2600 that especially helped in sports and strategy games. Mattel secured licenses from all the major sports organizations such as the NBA, NFL, and NHL. It eventually sold several million units, but it never threatened the 2600’s lead. ...
Famously, Atari kept its formulas secret—and even its employees, refusing to give them credit in games. In response, the Adventure cartridge contained the first popular Easter Egg, a hidden feature that showed programmer Warren Robinett's name in a special room if you executed exactly the right steps, a wonderful protest in retrospect. Four other k...
Then it all went south. Many people erroneously blame E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial as the reason the market sank. It certainly wasn’t a great game, with its crude graphics and frustrating pits. Anything less than perfection would have made a mockery of Atari’s $20 million deal with Steven Spielberg, but it wasn’t a terrible cartridge. Still, it fuel...
Perhaps the most amazing thing about the 2600 is how much has happened since. The homebrew scene lit up in the 1990s with excellent titles such as Oystron (1997) and Conquest of Mars (2003). All kinds of people began hacking existing titles, such as “fixing” the original 2600 Pac-Man release in various ways, or adding the missing voices to Berzerk ...
- Jamie Lendino
- Editor-In-Chief, Extremetech
The Atari VCS (Video Computer System), later called the 2600, was released in 1977 and became the dominant console in the 1970s. The system boasted amazing specs for its time and amassed a huge library of games. The popularity of the 2600 grew even further when the arcade game Space Invaders was ported for the first time to a console.
History. In 1977, Atari released what is perhaps the most famous of the pre-Nintendo videogame consoles: the Video Computer System (VCS), later known as the Atari 2600. The company had scored an earlier triumph for the burgeoning industry with its Pong console, but the deluge of cheap knockoffs threatened its future.
The Atari VCS is a video game console released in October 1977. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware with separate cartridges containing the game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in.
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Jun 17, 2023 · The Original ATARI VCS (Heavy Sixer) Model #CX-2600 Sunnyvale 1977-1978. Original Model – Sometimes referred to now as the “Heavy Sixer” version. This original model was made by ATARI in Sunnyvale, California, and started out with a thick plastic “heavy” case, making it the heaviest version, of all the versions that were to follow.
