Atari 2600

The Atari 2600, a second generation home video game console was released in the US in October 1977 and in Europe in 1980. It was the first successful unit to use plug-in cartridges rather than having one or more games built in (the less successful Fairchild Channel F being the actual first). The console was originally released under the name Atari Video Computer System (VCS); however, its name was changed to the Atari 2600 in 1982, after the release of the more advanced Atari 5200. It was also rebadged as the Sears Video Arcade and sold through Sears-Roebuck stores.

The unit was typically bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers and a cartridge game, with a library of 9 further titles. During the video console crash of 1977, where a glut of PONG clones flooded the market, Atari pushed the 2600's hardware capabilities to show the public that it was possible to play video games other than PONG. By this point, many other console manufacturers had withdrawn the market, leaving the entire quickly growing market to Atari. The 2600 became the best selling console, selling over 1 million units in 1979. Its popularity increased even further in 1980, when Atari licensed the smash arcade hit Space Invaders by Taito, doubling the unit's sales to 2 million units. The console's ever-expanding library of games (such as Pac-Man and E.T.) resulted in the doubling of sales for the next two years, with almost 8 million units selling in 1982.

Atari also released a number of versions of the 2600, including the sleeker 2800 in 1983 for the Japanese market. However, the unit suffered from competition with the newly released Nintendo Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System). A wireless version (the 2700) was also designed, but never released.

By 1983, the market saturation of inferior third-party titles helped to cause the second video console crash, and the popularity of the 2600 fell sharply. Although the unit was not formally discontinued, it was 'de-emphasised' until 1986, when it was redesigned and marketed as a budget gaming system that had the ability to run a large collection of classic games. The Atari 2600 was officially retired on January 1, 1992, making it one of the longest-lived home video game consoles; nearly three times the typical lifespan of a unit, and selling over 40 million units over its lifetime.

There are a number of units on sale today that can play Atari 2600 games, such as the Atari Flashback 2 console, released in 2005, which contains 40 games and may also be modified to play original 2600 cartridges by adding a cartridge header. Others include the Atari Classics 10-in-1 TV Game (manufactured by Jakks Pacific), which contained converted versions of 10 games into a single Atari-brand look-a-like joystick that plugged directly in the TV, and the TV Boy, which included 127 games in an enlarged joypad that again, plugged directly into the TV. New games are also made and sold by hobbyists for the original console, with several new titles available each year.

Games

There were a huge number of games available for the Atari 2600, and it is thought that its library may have contained approximately 900 titles. A few of which are listed below: