The Unofficial History of the Atari 2600

The Atari 2600 is the video game console credited with popularizing video game systems at home. The Atari 2600 used catridges that can be switched out. The first game console to use cartridges was the Fairchild Channel F. While the Fairchild Channel F was first, it was the Atari 2600 that made the plug-in concept popular among the game-playing public. The 2600 was originally known as the Atari VCS (Video Computer System). It was wildly successful, and during the early to mid-1980's "Atari" was a synonym for video games. The 2600 usually came with 2 joysticks and a pair of paddles. Originally, the 2600 came packaged with the game Combat; later it also came with Pac-Man.

The Atari 2600 / Video Computer System

Joystick	Paddles

 

Development

In 1973, Atari purchased an engineering think-tank called Cyan Engineering to research the next-generation video game systems. They had been working on a protoype known as "Stella" for some time. "Stella" later became the Atari 2600. Originally, the design did not allow for the use of catridges, but after seeing a "fake" catridge system on another machine, the engineers realized they could place the games on removable catridges for little change in cost.

In August 1976, Fairchild Semiconductor released the Video Entertainment System. "Stella" was still not ready for, but it was clear it needed to be soon before other products started filling the market. To have the cash flow necessary to complete the "Stella" project, Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, eventually turned to Warner Communications. He sold the company to them in 1976 for $26 million on the promise that "Stella" would be produced as soon as possible. By the time the Atari 2600 was released in 1977, the development had cost $100 million.

Launch

The initial price of the Atari 2600 was $199 and 9 games were available. The 2600 was also sold through Sears as the "Sears Video Arcade." In 1977, Atari sold only 250,000 2600s. In 1978, only 550,000 out of a production run of 800,000 we sold. This required further funding from Warner Communications to cover the losses. This led directly to the disagreements that caused Atari founder Nolan Bushnell to leave the company in 1978.

Once the public realized it was possible to play video games other than Pong, and programmers learned how to push its hardware's capabilities, the 2600 gained popularity. By this time, Fairchild had given up, thinking video games were a fad whose time had passed. This basically gave the entire growing home video game market to Atari. By 1979, the Atari 2600 was the best-selling console, mainly because of its exclusive content. More than a million were sold that year.

When Space Invaders was released for the Atari 2600 in January 1980, sales of the Atari 2600 doubled to more than 2 million units. Atari grossed more than $2 billion in profits in 1980. Sales then doubled again for the next two years, with almost 8 million units selling in 1982.

 

During this period, Atari continued to grow until it had onoe of the largest research and development divisions in Silicon Valley. They spent much of their R&D budget on projects that seemed out of place at a video game company. Most of the projects never saw the light of day. Even though a large amount of R&D money may have been wasted, Warner Communications was more than happy, as it seemed to have no end to the sales of the 2600.

Decline

The programmers of many of Atari's biggest hits grew disgruntled with the company for not crediting game developers. For example, Rick Mauer, the programmer of Atari 2600 Space Invaders , received no credit and made only $11,000 for his efforts, in spite of the cartridge grossing more than $100 million in sales. Most notably, Warren Robinett, the lead programmer of Adventure , in protest against Atari's anonymity policy, hid his name in a secret room within the game. This was one of the first " Easter eggs "—a hidden treat or in-joke—a practice which continues in software development to this day. Many other programmers left the company and formed their own independent software companies. The most prominent and longest-lasting of these third-party developers was Activision , founded in 1980, whose titles quickly became more popular than those of Atari itself. Atari attempted to block third-party development for the 2600 in court but failed, and soon other publishers, such as Imagic and Coleco, entered the market.

 

Atari continued to scoop up licenses during the shelf life of the 2600, the most prominent of which included Pac-Man and E.T. Public disappointment with these two titles and the market saturation of bad third-party titles are cited as big reasons for the video game crash of 1983. Suddenly, Atari's growth meant it was losing massive amounts of money during the crash, at one point about $10,000 a day. Warner quickly grew tired of supporting the now-headless company, and started looking for buyers in 1984.

 

The Console that Refused to Die

Although not formally discontinued, the 2600 was de-emphasized for two years after Warner's 1984 sale of Atari's Consumer Division to Commodore Business Machines founder Jack Tramiel, who wanted to concentrate on home computers. In 1986, a new version of the 2600 was released (although it was planned for release two years earlier). The new redesigned version of the 2600, unofficially referred to as the 2600 Jr., featured a smaller cost-reduced case with a modernized appearance. The redesigned 2600 was advertised as a budget gaming system (under $50) that had the ability to run a large collection of classic games. With its introduction came a resurgence in software development both from Atari and from a few third parties (notably, Activision, Absolute Entertainment, Froggo, Epyx, and Exus). The Atari 2600 continued to sell in the USA and Europe until 1990, and in Asia until the early 1990s. Its final Atari-licensed release was KLAX in 1990. Over its lifetime, an estimated 40 million units were shipped, and its video game library reportedly numbers more than 900 titles with commercial games released for this system all the way until 1991. In Brazil, the console became extremely popular in the mid-1980s. The Atari 2600 was officially retired by Atari on January 1, 1992, making it the longest-lived home video game console in US game history. It had a lifespan of 14 years and 2 months, nearly three times the typical lifespan of a console.

At the turn of the millennium, 25-years-plus after the launch of the Atari 2600, new homebrew games for the system are still made and sold by hobbyists with several new titles available each year. The console and its old and new games are very popular with collectors because of its significant impact on video game and consumer electronics history and also due to its nostalgic value for many people. In addition, modern Atari 2600 clones remain on the market. One example is the Atari Classics 10-in-1 TV Game, manufactured by Jakks Pacific , which simulates the 2600 console, and includes converted versions of 10 games into a single Atari-brand-look-a-like joystick with composite video outputs for connecting directly to modern televisions or VCRs. Another is the TV Boy , which includes 127 games in an enlarged joypad.

Additionally, Benjamin Heckendorn has created several different versions of a portable 2600, created by cutting apart full-sized vintage units, adding screens and putting them into new enclosures.

The Atari Flashback 2 console, released in 2005, contains 40 games (with four more 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 compatible with original 2600 controllers.

The Atari insignia has become an iconic pop cultural logo.

 

*Content source: Wikipedia.org and AtariAge.com