atari 2600 atari vcs redirects here for the upcoming console using the same name see atari vcs 2019 console atari 2600atari vcs fourswitch wood veneer version dating from 1980 to 1982also known asatari vcs before november 1982manufactureratari inctypehome video game consolegenerationsecond generationrelease datena september 11 1977eu 1978jp october 1983 atari 2800retail availability19771992introductory priceus199 equivalent to 80365 in 2017discontinuedjanuary1199219920101predecessoratari pongsuccessoratari 8bit family atari 5200 the atari 2600 or atari video computer system or atari vcs before november 1982 is a home video game console from atari inc released on september 11 1977 it is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessorbased hardware and games contained on rom cartridges a format first used with the fairchild channel f in 1976 this contrasts with the older model of having dedicated hardware that could play only those games that were physically built into the unit the 2600 was bundled with two joystick controllers a conjoined pair of paddle controllers and a game cartridge initially combat entering 1975 atari was already successful with its arcade games and dedicated home consoles that recreated these games such as pong but there were increasing costs and risks in these adaptations the company wanted to push for a home console that could play multiple games necessitating a microprocessor which were still costly breadboard development of this system nicknamed stella coincided with the release of the mos technology 6502 microprocessor one of the first lowcost processors to hit the market atari worked with mos technology and established the use of their lesspowerful mos technology 6507 for the platform further ataris jay miner led development of the television interface adapter tia chip which performed all the graphics and audio output to the television display necessary for the platform these were coupled with the necessary inputoutput ports with a rom cartridge reader and joystick controllers to complete the system ataris system was still in development when the fairchild channel f was announced leading ataris owner nolan bushnell to sell atari to warner communications in 1976 in exchange for a cash infusion to speed up development initial production for the consoles november 1977 release was made at ataris sunnyvale california location while future units were produced in hong kong and taiwan the atari 2600 sold moderately well in its first few years relying principally on ports of arcade games both from atari and titles licensed from others disagreements over sales potential of the 2600 led bushnell to leave atari in 1978 following the release of ataris licensed version of space invaders from taito in 1980 the 2600 became widely successful leading to the creation of thirdparty game developers notably activision and competition from other home console makers such as coleco and mattel electronics by 1982 atari invested heavily in two games for the 2600 pacman and et the extraterrestrial that would become commercial failures for atari and contributed to the video game crash of 1983 the 2600 was shelved as the industry recovered while warner sold off the home console division of atari to commodore ceo jack tramiel the new atari corporation under tramiel rereleased a lowcost streamlined version of the 2600 in 1986 as well as the atari 7800 that boasted backwards compatibility with the 2600 ultimately production of the atari 2600 and other home consoles ended in 1992 with an estimated 30 million units of the 2600 sold as of 2004 history atari was founded by nolan bushnell and ted dabney of which their first major product was pong in 1972 one of the first successful arcade games in 1974 atari had acquired cyan engineering an electronics company founded by steve mayer and larry emmons both former colleagues of bushnell and dabney from ampex and started ataris grass valley think tank where they were involved with coming up with new ideas for arcade games based on bushnells concern about singlegame consoles the grass valley team started working on how to achieve a home console with multigame support mayer and emmons recognized that to achieve a home console with multiple game functionality they would need newlyinvented microprocessors within the console but at that time such microprocessors costed from us100300 far outside the range that their market would support by december 1975 atari hired joe decuir to help design the first prototype around the 6502 which was codenamed stella the name of decuirs bicycle fairchild semiconductor introduced its fairchild channel f home console in november 1976 which including rom cartridge technology beating atari to the market the company was pressured to finish the unit as fast as possible but lacked the funds to do so bushnell had considered taking atari public but instead decided to sell the company to warner communications for us28 million and subsequently warner provided around us100 million into atari allowing them to prioritize and fasttrack stella the unit was showcased in mid1977 at the summer consumer electronics show with plans for retail release in october launch and success the second vcs model has lighter plastic molding and shielding and a more angular shape than the 1977 launch model beginning in 1980 the vcs had only four front switches at release in september 1977 the unit was originally priced at us199 804 adjusted for inflation and shipped with two joysticks and a combat cartridge eight additional games were available at launch and sold separately production for 1978 was outsourced to hong kong producing about 800000 units however sales of the vcs were still seen as slow with only 550000 sold by years end this required further financial support from warner to cover losses ultimately leading bushnell to leave the company in 1978 despite bushnells retirement in 1978 warren robinetts invention of the first actionadventure game adventure was developed the same year and changed the fundamentals of gaming as it unlocked a game with a virtual space bigger than the screen atari then licensed the arcade hit space invaders by taito which greatly increased the units popularity when it was released in january 1980 doubling sales to over 2 million units the vcs and its cartridges were the main factor behind atari grossing more than 2 billion in 1980 in 1982 atari launched its second home console which it named the atari 5200 to standardize its naming the vcs was renamed to the atari 2600 video computer system or atari 2600 for short with the 2600 being derived from the manufacture part number cx2600 third party development activision formed by four former atari vcs programmers started developing thirdparty games to be used on cartridge systems including the vcs starting in 1979 atari attempted legal action to block sale of the activision cartridges but failed allowing other third party game developers for the vcs to flourish another similar situation was around rob fulop who had developed the vcs version of missile command that went on to sell over 2 million copies decline and redesign atari continued to acquire licenses for the 2600 the most prominent of which included pacmanwhich critics slammed as flickerman an event later labeled the atari video game burial warner quickly grew tired of supporting atari and started looking for buyers in 1984 by mid1984 most software development for the 2600 had stopped except by atari and activision the 2600 was deemphasized for two years after warners 1984 sale of atari incs consumer division to commodore founder jack tramiel who wanted to concentrate on home computers he ended all development of console games in 1986 atari corporation released a redesigned model of the 2600 supported by an ad campaign touting a price of under 50 bucks the final atarilicensed release is the palonly port of the arcade game klax in 1990 after over 14 years on the market the 2600 line was formally discontinued on january 1 1992 along with the atari 7800 and atari 8bit computers hardware console atari 2600 hardware the atari 2600s cpu is the mos technology 6507 a version of the 6502 the console has only 128 bytes of ram for scratch space the call stack and the state of the game world the top bezel of the cast included either six or four in later revisions switches which included the power switch tv type selection game selection player difficulty switches and game reset switches the difficulty switches were moved to the back of the top bezel in later revisions the back bezel also includes the ports for controllers television output and power adapter outlets graphics television interface adapter the 2600 did not use a frame buffer instead the video device uses two bitmapped sprites two 1pixel missile sprites a 1pixel ball and a 40pixel playfield that is drawn by writing a bit pattern for each line into a register just before the television scans that line as each line is scanned a game must identify the nonsprite objects that overlaps the next line assemble the appropriate bit patterns to draw for those objects and write the pattern into the register similar to its predecessor pong the right side of the screen is a mirrored duplicate of the left to control it separately the software may modify the patterns as the scan line is drawn after the controller scans the last active line a slower vertical blanking interval begins during which the game can process inputs and update the positions and states of objects in the game world any mistake in timing produces visual artifacts a problem that programmers call racing the beam activisions pitfall the consoles most popular thirdparty game the 2600s video hardware is therefore highly flexible but also challenging to program one advantage the 2600 has over more powerful contemporary competitors such as the colecovision is that the 2600 has no protection against altering settings in midline for example although each sprite nominally has only one color it is possible to color the rows differently by changing the sprites color as it is drawn if the two hardware sprites are not enough for a game a developer may share one sprite among several objects as with the ghosts in pacman or draw software sprites which is only a little more difficult than drawing a fixed playfield the pitfall screenshot demonstrates some of these tricks the player is a multicolor sprite one sprite is multiplexed for the logs and the scorpion and the swinging vine is drawn by shifting the position of the ball on each scan line atari established their system design in order to be compatible with the cathoderay tube television sets in the late 1970s and early 1980s a side effect of how graphics work on the 2600 is that all games are required to run at either 60 frames per second ntsc or 50 frames per second pal controllers standard cx10 joystick the vcs originally shipped with two types of controllers a joystick part number cx10 and pair of rotary paddle controllers cx30 driving controllers which are similar to paddle controllers but can be continuously rotated shipped with the indy 500 launch title after less than a year the cx10 joystick was replaced with the cx40 model atari introduced the cx50 keyboard controller in june 1978 along with two games that required it codebreaker and hunt score console models minor revisions the allblack model that first used the atari 2600 name 1982 the initial production of the vcs was made in sunnyvale using thick plastic for the casing and with all six console switches on the front panel production of the unit was moved to hong kong in 1979 where a thinner plastic was used for the casing reducing the systems weight these two versions are commonly referred to as heavy sixers and light sixers respectively representing the six front switches in 1980 the vcs was given an update in which the left and right difficulty switches were moved to the back of the console leaving four switches on the front other than this these fourswitch consoles looked nearly identical to the earlier sixswitch models in 1982 atari rebranded the console as the atari 2600 a name first used on a version of the fourswitch model without woodgrain giving it an all black appearance sears telegames sears rebranded the vcs as the video arcade for its telegames line atari continued their oem relationship with sears under the latters telegames brand which started in 1975 with the original pong the company telegames which later produced cartridges for the 2600 is unrelated sears released versions of ataris games with telegames branding usually with different titles atari 2800 the design of japanonly atari 2800 was later used in the us for the sears video arcade ii the atari 2800 is the japanese version of the 2600 released in october 1983 it was the first release of a 2600 designed specifically for the japanese market despite companies like epoch distributing the 2600 in japan previously it was released a short time after nintendos family computer which became the dominant console in japan and the 2800 did not gain a significant share of the market sears released the 2800 in the us in 1983 as the sears video arcade ii packaged with two controllers and space invaders around 30 specially branded games were released for the 2800 designed by engineer joe tilly the 2800 has four controller ports instead of the two of the 2600 the controllers are an allin one design using a combination of an 8direction digital joystick and a 270degree paddle designed by john amber atari 2600 jr the atari 2600 in its 1986 costreduced version nicknamed the 2600 jr the 1986 model unofficially referred to as the 2600 jr features a smaller costreduced form factor with a modernized atari 7800like appearance the redesigned 2600 was advertised as a budget gaming system under us4999 that has the ability to run a large collection of classic games games list of atari 2600 games and list of atari 2600 prototype games in 1977 nine games were released on cartridge to accompany the launch of the machine including airsea battle star ship and street racer rick maurers port of taitos space invaders released in 1980 was the first vcs title to sell over a million copieseventually doubling that it became the killer app to drive console sales versions of ataris own asteroids and missile command arcade games released the following year were also major hits two atari published titles both from 1982 et the extraterrestrial are frequently blamed for contributing to the video game crash of 1983 to clear inventory and save money in wake of the crash atari shipped about 700000 atari 2600 games including unsold lots of pacman and et to a landfill in alamogordo new mexico in 1983 until 2014 there was skepticism of how much atari had buried there in some cases estimates of millions of cartridges creating an urban legend of an atari video game burial the legend was proven out in 2014 when interested parties were able to dig up a portion of a landfill confirmed its contents of unsold atari games atari suffered from an image problem when a company named mystique produced a number of pornographic games for the 2600 the most notorious of these custers revenge was protested by womens and native american groups legacy the atari vcs on display at the art of video games exhibit at the smithsonian american art museum in 2012 games shown include pacman top space invaders pitfall and combat the atari vcsand later as the 2600was wildly successful in the late 1970s and early 1980s to where atari was a synonym for the system in mainstream media and by extension for video games in general jay miner directed the creation of the successors to the 2600s tia chipctia and anticwhich were central to the atari 8bit computers released in 1979 the atari 2600 was inducted into the national toy hall of fame at the strong in rochester new york in 2007 clones and reissues modern atari 2600 clones remain on the market the atari classics 10in1 tv game manufactured by jakks pacific emulates the 2600 console and includes converted versions of 10 games into a single ataribrandlookalike joystick with compositevideo outputs for connecting directly to modern televisions or vcrs the tv boy includes 127 games in an enlarged joypad the atari flashback 2 console released in 2005 contains 40 games with four additional programs unlockable by a cheat code the console implements the original 2600 architecture and can be modified to play original 2600 cartridges by adding a cartridge port and is also compatible with original 2600 controllers in 2017 hyperkin announced the retron 77 a clone of the atari 2600 that plays original cartridges instead of preinstalled games the atari vcs microconsole planned for release from atari interactive by 2019 is designed on a miniaturization of the atari 2600 including the option for its faux wood paneling this microconsole is designed to play several atari 2600 games under emulation on a linux operating system as well as potentially other games for computers and other gaming systems unreleased prototypes atari 2700 atari 2700 the atari 2700 was a version of the 2600 using wireless controllers atari 2000 the atari 2000 model number cx2000 was a version of the atari 2600 intended to be released as a cheaper alternative in 1982 although identical in specification to the original 2600 the 2000 included builtin controllers and an unusual case design originally intended to be black but later recolored blue the project was halted in favor of the atari 2600 jr atari 3200 atari started work on a replacement to the 2600 called the atari 3200 it was to be compatible with 2600 cartridges and was rumored to be based on a 10bit processor although design documents show it was to actually be based around the 8bit 6502 it was still unfinished when preliminary game programmers discovered that it was difficult to program atari cloned the atari 3200 into the sears super arcade ii but this was never released computer science portal list of atari 2600 games list of atari 2600 emulators atari 2600 homebrew bibliography perry tekla wallich paul march 1983 design case history the atari video computer system ieee spectrum tim lapetino 2016 industrial design art of atari dynamite isbn9781524101039 wikimedia commons has media related to atari 2600 gamasutras a history of gaming platforms atari 2600 video computer systemvcs inside the atari 2600 a history of the atari vcs2600 batari basic page unreleased prototypes atari 2000 val atari 2500 all in one atari 3200 superstella vteatari 2600games1977 launch titles airsea battle basic math blackjack combat indy 500 star ship street racer surround video olympics bestselling games pacman pitfall asteroids missile command space invaders demon attack et atlantis adventure river raid kaboom game lists list of atari 2600 games list of atari 2600 prototype games atari 2600 games list of cancelled atari 2600 games game developers atari inc activision imagic coleco commavid data age games by apollo m network mystique parker brothers sega spectravideo telesys tigervision us games xonox zimag game programmers steve cartwright david crane tod frye rob fulop larry kaplan garry kitchen carla meninsky alan miller warren robinett carol shaw howard scott warshaw bob whitehead hardware atari 2600 hardware television interface adaptor starpath supercharger coleco gemini compumate gameline atari flashback cuttle cart atari 2700 atari 7800 emulation and ports stella atari anthology atari greatest hits atari vault related articles atari 2600 homebrew atari age magazine racing the beam atari video game burial category vteatari hardwarededicated video game consoles pong stunt cycle video pinball flashback series video game consoles vcs2600 2800 5200 7800 xegs lynx jaguar cd vcs 2019 personal computers 400800xlxe st mega ste tt030 atari transputer workstation falcon portable computers stacy st book portfoliopc folio cancelled prototypes game brain tank ii cosmos 2700 panther sierra other arcade games atari video music atari cx40 joystick vtevideo game consoles second generationtypes home video game console list handheld game console list microconsole list dedicated console list generations first 197280 second 197692 third 19832003 fourth 19872004 fifth 19932005 sixth 19982013 seventh 200517 eighth 2012present secondgenerationhome apfmp1000 arcadia 2001 atari 2600 atari 5200 bally astrocade colecovision epoch cassette vision fairchild channel f interton vc 40001292 advanced programmable video system intellivision odyssey rca studio ii vectrex super vision 8000 vtech creativision handheld milton bradley microvision entex selectagame entex adventure vision palmtex portable videogame system super micro epoch game pocket computer dedicated nintendo game watch first generation third generation emulator game history list manufacturer vtehome video game consolesatari atari 2600 atari 5200 atari 7800 atari xegs atari jaguar atari vcs bandai super vision 8000 arcadia rx78 playdia apple bandai pippin casio pv1000 casio loopy commodore commodore 64 games system commodore cdtv amiga cd32 mattel intellivision hyperscan microsoft xbox xbox 360 xbox one nec turbografx16 pcfx nintendo nes snes n64 gamecube wii wii u switch philips magnavox odyssey odyssey videopac g7400 philips cdi sega sg1000 master system sega genesis sega saturn dreamcast snk neo geo neo geo cd sony playstation playstation 2 psx playstation 3 playstation 4 vtech vtech creativision socrates vsmile vflash others1970s apfmp1000 bally astrocade fairchild channel f rca studio ii interton vc 40001292 advanced programmable video system 1980s action max arcadia 2001 colecovision epoch cassette vision super cassette vision rdi halcyon vectrex viewmaster interactive vision 1990s 3do interactive multiplayer amstrad gx4000 cps changer fm towns marty laseractive super acan 2000s discover evo smart console game wave nuon xavix zeebo list 