The Atari 2600 is a home video game console created by Atari, Inc. It was first released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS). This console helped introduce microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on removable ROM cartridges, a format first used by the Fairchild Channel F in 1976. The VCS came with two joystick controllers, a pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge—initially Combat and later Pac-Man. Sears sold the system as the Tele-Games Video Arcade. In November 1982, Atari renamed the VCS to the Atari 2600, at the same time launching the Atari 5200.

During the mid-1970s, Atari had success making arcade video games. However, the high cost and short lifespan of these games led CEO Nolan Bushnell to search for a home system that could be programmed. In late 1975, affordable microprocessors from MOS Technology made this possible. Atari’s subsidiary, Cyan Engineering, worked on the console under the name Stella. Due to lack of funding, Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications in 1976.

The Atari VCS was released in 1977 with nine games on 2 KB cartridges. Atari adapted many of its arcade games for the system. The VCS versions of Breakout and Night Driver had color graphics, while the original arcade versions had black-and-white visuals. The system’s first major success was the home version of Taito’s Space Invaders in 1980. Also released in 1980, Adventure was one of the first action-adventure games and included the first widely known Easter egg. Starting with the VCS version of Asteroids in 1980, many games used a technique called bank switching to support larger cartridges. By 1982–83, games on the system had more advanced visuals and gameplay than the system was originally designed for, such as Activision’s Pitfall!. The popularity of the VCS led to the creation of Activision and other third-party game developers, as well as competition from consoles like the Intellivision and ColecoVision.

By 1982, the Atari 2600 was the most popular game system in North America, and the word "Atari" became a common term for video games. However, poor decisions by Atari’s leaders harmed the system’s and company’s reputation, especially with the release of two highly expected games: a version of Pac-Man and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Pac-Man became the best-selling game for the 2600 but was criticized for not matching the original arcade version. E.T. was rushed to market for the holiday season and also received negative reviews. These games, along with many low-quality third-party titles, contributed to Atari losing its dominance and the North American video game crash of 1983.

In 1984, Warner sold Atari’s consumer electronics division to Jack Tramiel, former CEO of Commodore. In 1986, the new Atari Corporation released a cheaper version of the 2600 and a backward-compatible Atari 7800. However, Nintendo helped revive the industry with the 1985 launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System. Production of the Atari 2600 ended in 1992, with an estimated 30 million units sold during its lifetime.

History

Atari, Inc. was founded by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in 1972. The first major product was Pong, released in 1972. It was the first successful coin-operated video game. Atari continued to create new arcade games in the years that followed. However, Pong led to many competitors in the growing arcade game market. This competition, along with other mistakes, caused financial problems for Atari in 1974. The company recovered by the end of the year. By 1975, Atari released a Pong home console. This competed with Magnavox, the only other major producer of home consoles at the time. Atari engineers noticed a problem with the console’s design. The custom logic used on the circuit board limited the console to only one game. Increasing competition made it risky for Atari, as it had faced similar issues with arcade games and earlier home consoles. Both platforms used separate mechanical parts in circuits instead of being programmed like a mainframe computer. Creating a console cost at least $100,000 (about $598,000 in 2025) plus time to complete. However, the final product had only about a three-month shelf life before becoming outdated by competition.

By 1974, Atari acquired Cyan Engineering, a Grass Valley electronics company founded by Steve Mayer and Larry Emmons. Both were former colleagues of Bushnell and Dabney from Ampex. They helped develop new ideas for Atari’s arcade games. Even before the home version of Pong was released, Cyan’s engineers, led by Mayer and Ron Milner, imagined a home console powered by new programmable microprocessors. These microprocessors could play Atari’s arcade games. However, the cost of such chips was too high for the market. Atari began talks with Motorola about using its new 6800 microprocessor in future systems.

In September 1975, MOS Technology introduced the 6502 microprocessor for $25 at the Wescon trade show in San Francisco. Mayer and Milner attended and met Chuck Peddle, the leader of the team that created the chip. They suggested using the 6502 in a game console and offered to discuss it further at Cyan’s facilities.

Over two days, MOS and Cyan engineers designed a 6502-based console based on Mayer and Milner’s specifications. Financial models showed the 6502 was still too expensive. Peddle offered a cheaper version, the 6507 microprocessor, and MOS’s RIOT chip for input/output. Cyan and MOS negotiated the 6507 and RIOT chips for $12 each. MOS also introduced Cyan to Microcomputer Associates, who had developed debugging tools for MOS. Milner demonstrated a working example of a programmable console by implementing Tank, an arcade game by Atari subsidiary Kee Games, on the JOLT computer.

As part of the deal, Atari wanted a second source for the chipset. Peddle and Paivinen suggested Synertek, whose co-founder, Bob Schreiner, was a friend of Peddle. In October 1975, Atari announced it would use MOS. Motorola’s sales team had already told its management the deal was finalized, which made Motorola angry. They filed a lawsuit against MOS the next week.

By December 1975, Atari hired Joe Decuir, a recent graduate from the University of California, Berkeley, who had tested the 6502. Decuir began debugging the first prototype, which was named “Stella” after his bicycle brand. This prototype used a breadboard-level design for the graphics interface. A second prototype was completed in March 1976 with the help of Jay Miner, who created the Television Interface Adaptor (TIA) to send graphics and audio to a television. The second prototype included a TIA, a 6507, and a ROM cartridge slot and adapter.

As the TIA was refined, Al Alcorn brought in Atari’s game developers to suggest features. The 6507, TIA, and other components had limitations, so programmers optimized their games to work around these issues. The console lacked a framebuffer, so games had to instruct the system to generate graphics in sync with the electron gun in the cathode ray tube (CRT) as it scanned the screen. Programmers found ways to “race the beam” to perform other tasks while the electron gun moved outside the visible screen.

Alongside electronics development, Bushnell brought in Gene Landrum, a consultant who

Hardware

The Atari 2600 uses a CPU called the MOS Technology 6507, which is a version of the 6502 microprocessor. It runs at 1.19 MHz. The 6507 was cheaper than the 6502 because it had fewer memory-address pins—13 instead of 16. The Atari 2600 used a cartridge interface with even fewer pins, reducing the amount of memory that could be accessed from 8 KB (8,192 bytes) to 4 KB (4,096 bytes). This was enough for early games like Combat, which only needed 2 KB. Later games used a method called bank switching to work around this limit.

The console has 128 bytes of RAM for temporary storage, program instructions, and game data.

The front part of the console originally had six switches: power, TV type selection (color or black-and-white), game selection, left and right player difficulty, and game reset. Later models moved the difficulty switches to the back. The back also had ports for connecting controllers.

The Atari 2600 was designed to work with CRT televisions from the late 1970s and early 1980s, which usually did not have inputs for other devices. To connect to a TV, the console created a radio frequency signal that matched the TV's standards (NTSC, PAL, or SECAM) using a special box that acted as the TV's antenna.

Atari developed the Television Interface Adaptor (TIA) chip to handle graphics and convert them into a TV signal. The TIA uses a single-color background that covers half the screen (each bit represents 4 pixels) and repeats or reflects it on the other half. There are five single-color sprites: two 8-pixel wide players, two 1-bit missiles (same color as players), and a 1-pixel ball (same color as the background). The 1-bit sprites can be stretched to 1, 2, 4, or 8 pixels.

The system did not use a frame buffer to save on RAM costs. The background and sprites appear on each scan line, and the program can change colors, positions, or settings as the TV displays each line. Programmers had to carefully time their code to match the screen, a process called "racing the beam." Game logic ran when the TV beam was not visible on the screen. Early games used the same visuals for two scan lines, reducing vertical resolution to save time for preparing the next row of graphics. Later games, like Pitfall!, changed visuals for each

Console models

The first Atari VCS was made in Sunnyvale in 1977. It used thick polystyrene plastic for the casing to look heavy, even though the inside was mostly empty. The first batch made in Sunnyvale had parts for internal speakers, but speakers were too expensive to include. Instead, sound was sent through the TIA to the connected television. All six console switches were placed on the front panel. In 1978, production moved to Taiwan. There, thinner plastic and less thick metal shielding were used, making the system lighter. These two versions are called "Heavy Sixers" and "Light Sixers," named after the six switches on the front.

In 1980, the difficulty switches were moved to the back of the console, leaving four switches on the front. The labels on the switches changed from all lowercase letters to fully capitalized words. These four-switch consoles look similar to the earlier six-switch models. In 1982, the console was renamed "Atari 2600" to match the release of the Atari 5200. The first "Atari 2600" model had no woodgrain and was black. This model is called the "Vader" model because it looks like the Star Wars character of the same name.

Atari worked with Sears to sell the console under the Tele-Games brand, starting in 1975 with the original Pong. This is different from the company Telegames, which later made 2600 cartridges. Sears released several VCS models as the Sears Video Arcade series beginning in 1977. The last Sears-specific model was the Video Arcade II, released in the fall of 1982.

Sears released versions of Atari's games with Tele-Games branding, often with different names. Three games were made only for Sears: Steeplechase, Stellar Track, and Submarine Commander.

The Atari 2800 was the Japanese version of the 2600, released in October 1983. It was the first Japan-specific 2600 model, though other companies like Epoch had sold the 2600 in Japan before. The 2800 came out shortly after Nintendo's Family Computer, which became the most popular console in Japan. It did not sell well. Sears released the 2800 in the U.S. in late 1982 as the Sears Video Arcade II, which included two controllers and Space Invaders. The system launched in May 1983 with 25 specially made games. Around 35 games were released for the 2800.

Designed by engineer Joe Tilly, the 2800 had four controller ports instead of two. The controllers combined an 8-direction digital joystick and a 270-degree paddle, designed by John Amber. The 2800's case had a wedge shape with switches that did not stick out. This design influenced the Atari 7800, which was redesigned by Barney Huang.

The 1986 model, sometimes called the "2600 Jr.," was smaller and looked like the Atari 7800. It was advertised as a budget system (under $50) that could play many games. It was released after the 1983 video game crash and after the Nintendo Entertainment System launched in North America. Atari promoted it with new games and TV ads saying, "The fun is back!" Atari released several versions, including a "large rainbow," "short rainbow," and an all-black model sold only in Ireland. Later European models included a joypad.

The Atari 2700 was a version of the 2600 with wireless controllers.

The CX2000 had built-in joysticks and was redesigned based on human factor analysis by Henry Dreyfuss Associates.

The Atari 3200, released around 1982, was a newer version of the 2600 with more memory, better graphics, and improved sound.

The Atari 7800, announced in 1984 and released in 1986, was the official successor to the 2600. It could play 2600 games.

After the original Atari 2600 stopped being made, several retro-style consoles and microconsoles were released:

• The TV Boy has 127 games and a larger joystick.
• The Atari Classics 10-in-1 TV Game, made by Jakks Pacific, plays 10 games using an Atari-style joystick and has composite-video output.
• The Atari Flashback 2 (2005) has 40 games and can be modified to play original 2600 cartridges. It uses hardware similar to the original 2600.
• In 2017, Hyperkin released the RetroN 77, a clone of the 2600 that plays original cartridges.
• The Atari VCS (2021) can download and emulate 2600 games from an online store.
• The Atari Flashback 12 Gold (2023) has 130 built-in games.
• The Atari 2600+ (2023) is a smaller replica of the 2600 and supports original 2600 and 7800 cartridges.
• The Atari 7800+ (2024) is a smaller replica of the 7800 and has features similar to the 2600+. Its design honors the original 7800.

Games

In 1977, nine games were released on cartridge to go with the release of the console: Air-Sea Battle, Basic Math, Blackjack, Combat, Indy 500, Star Ship, Street Racer, Surround, and Video Olympics. Indy 500 came with special "driving controllers," which are like paddles but rotate freely. Street Racer and Video Olympics use the standard paddle controllers. Atari, Inc. was the only developer for the first few years, releasing dozens of games.

Atari decided that box art showing only descriptions of the game and screenshots would not be enough to sell games in stores, since most games were based on abstract ideas and screenshots gave little information. Atari hired Cliff Spohn to create box art. Spohn made artwork that looked exciting and showed movement, helping players imagine the game while matching the actual gameplay. Spohn’s style became a standard for Atari when hiring assistant artists, including Susan Jaekel, Rick Guidice, John Enright, and Steve Hendricks. Spohn and Hendricks created most of the covers for the Atari 2600 library. Ralph McQuarrie, a concept artist on the Star Wars series, was hired for one cover, the arcade version of Vanguard. These artists usually talked to the programmer to learn about the game before drawing the art.

An Atari VCS version of the Breakout arcade game was released in 1978. The original version was black and white with a colored overlay, and the home version was in color. In 1980, Atari released Adventure, the first action-adventure game, and the first home game with a hidden Easter egg.

Rick Maurer’s version of Taito’s Space Invaders, released in 1980, was the first VCS game to sell a million copies. It eventually sold more than 6 million cartridges by 1983. This game became a major reason for selling many consoles. Versions of Atari’s own Asteroids and Missile Command arcade games, released in 1981, were also very popular.

Early games used 2K ROMs. 4K became standard with games such as Space Invaders. The VCS version of Asteroids (1981) was the first game for the system to use 8K by switching between two 4K sections. Some games, including Atari’s versions of Dig Dug and Crystal Castles, used 16K cartridges. One of the last games, Fatal Run (1990), used 32K.

Many early VCS games could display in both black and white and full color using the "TV type" switch on the console. This allowed the games to work on both black and white and color televisions. However, after the console was renamed from "VCS" to "2600," support for black and white displays decreased. Most games released after this change only used color, and the TV type switch no longer worked. Later games, such as Secret Quest, used the TV type switch for gameplay functions, like pausing.

Two Atari-published games, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Pac-Man, both released in 1982, were rushed to market. These games are seen as reasons for the video game crash of 1983.

A company called American Multiple Industries made several adult-themed games for the 2600 under the Mystique Presents Swedish Erotica label. The most controversial game, Custer’s Revenge, was protested by women’s rights and Native American groups because it showed General George Armstrong Custer harming a bound Native American woman. Atari sued American Multiple Industries in court over the release of the game.

Legacy

The Atari 2600 was very popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Because of its success, the word "Atari" became a common name for the console and for video games in general. Jay Miner led the development of the next versions of the 2600's TIA chip—CTIA and ANTIC—which were important parts of the Atari 8-bit computers released in 1979 and later the Atari 5200 console.

In 2007, the Atari 2600 was added to the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York. In 2009, the Atari 2600 was ranked as the second-best console of all time by IGN. The website said the console played a key role in the first video game boom and the video game crash of 1983. It also called the 2600 "the console that our entire industry is built upon."

In November 2021, the current version of Atari announced three new games for the 2600. The games, Yars' Return, Aquaventure, and Saboteur, were previously included in Atari Flashback consoles.

In 2022, Lego released a model of the Atari 2600. The model includes the games Asteroid, Centipede, and Adventure. It also includes a minifigure with a bedroom designed to look like one from the 1980s.