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Atari Video Computer System
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- The Atari Video Computer System (VCS), first released in 1977, was subsequently renamed the Atari 2600 and became the most popular home game machine of its era.
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In 2009, the Atari 2600 was named the number two console of all time by IGN, which cited its remarkable role behind both the first video game boom and the video game crash of 1983, and called it "the console that our entire industry is built upon".
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- 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
Aug 4, 2023 · Was the Atari 2600 the first video game console? No, that title belongs to the Magnavox Odyssey which launched five years prior to the Atari 2600 in 1972. Was the Atari 2600 the first home console to allow interchangeable game cartridges?
- $199
- September 11, 1977
- 1977-1992
- 30 million
Homebrew games. Stay Frosty by Darrell Spice Jr. The Atari 2600 has been a popular platform for homebrew projects, with 88 games publicly released. Unlike later systems, the Atari 2600 does not require a modchip to run cartridges.
Atari TitleSears TitleDesigner Or Programmer32 in 1-19883-D Tic-Tac-ToeAdventureTarget FunAs Pong's popularity started to decline (coupled with the introduction of the Fairchild Channel F, the first system to have programmable "ROM" cartridges), Atari realized that the market for...
Backed by Warner, Atari released the highly anticipated VCS – the first console that brought video games out of the arcade and into the home. The console was released with nine games, and with close to 400,000 units sold in its first year, the VCS sold out its initial production run and was a smash-hit in holiday sales.
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Why was Atari 2600 renamed Atari 5200?
The original console was renamed Atari 2600 following the release of the more advanced Atari 5200, and a variety of other titles were developed for it, including Adventure, Asteroids, Breakout, Demon Attack, Frogger, Pac-Man, and Pong.
