Graphics
160×192
- Resolutions
- 160×192 · 160×228
- Colors on screen
- 128
- Palette
- 128 colors
- Sprites
- 5
Atari 2600
Also known as Atari Video Computer System · Atari VCS · Tele-Games Video Arcade (Sears) · Atari 2800 (Japan)
- Atari, Inc.
- Home console
- Second generation
462 Atari 2600 games, all playable free in your browser.
The Atari 2600 is a home video game console from Atari, Inc., released in North America around September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (VCS) and renamed in November 1982. It helped popularize microprocessor-based consoles with games on interchangeable ROM cartridges, and shipped with two joysticks, a pair of paddle controllers and a game cartridge.
- First released · North America
- 1977
- Units sold
- 30M
- Games in the library · all playable
- 462
TIMELINE
1977–1992
- NANorth America
- EUEurope
- BRBrazil
- JPJapan
- ENDDiscontinued
Games per release year
| Year | Games |
|---|---|
| 1977 | 6 |
| 1978 | 20 |
| 1979 | 3 |
| 1980 | 16 |
| 1981 | 19 |
| 1982 | 116 |
| 1983 | 157 |
| 1984 | 13 |
| 1985 | 1 |
| 1986 | 3 |
| 1987 | 6 |
| 1988 | 7 |
| 1989 | 4 |
| 1990 | 2 |
| 1992 | 1 |
| 1995 | 1 |
| 1996 | 1 |
| 1997 | 4 |
| 1998 | 4 |
| 1999 | 1 |
| 2000 | 5 |
| 2001 | 6 |
| 2002 | 8 |
| 2003 | 6 |
| 2004 | 3 |
| 2005 | 14 |
| 2006 | 7 |
| 2007 | 10 |
| 2008 | 4 |
| 2009 | 6 |
| 2010 | 3 |
- Atari 2600Atari 2600: Sep 1977 – 1992
- SpectrumZX Spectrum: Apr 23, 1982 – 1992
- ColecoColecoVision: Aug 1982 – 1985
- Atari 5200Atari 5200: Oct 1982 – May 21, 1984
- VectrexVectrex: Oct 1982 – Feb 1984
All 36 systems
- Atari 2600Atari 2600: Sep 1977 – 1992
- SpectrumZX Spectrum: Apr 23, 1982 – 1992
- ColecoColecoVision: Aug 1982 – 1985
- Atari 5200Atari 5200: Oct 1982 – May 21, 1984
- VectrexVectrex: Oct 1982 – Feb 1984
- NESNintendo Entertainment System: Jul 15, 1983 – Sep 25, 2003
- SG-1000Sega SG-1000: Jul 15, 1983 – Oct 1985
- MSXMSX: Oct 21, 1983 – 1993
- Amstrad CPCAmstrad CPC: Jun 21, 1984 – 1990
- Master SystemSega Master System: Oct 20, 1985 – 1996
- Atari 7800Atari 7800: May 1986 – 1992
- X68000Sharp X68000: Mar 28, 1987 – end not recorded
- PC EnginePC Engine / TurboGrafx-16: Oct 30, 1987 – Dec 16, 1994
- CPS-1Capcom CPS-1: May 13, 1988 – May 11, 1995
- GenesisSega Genesis / Mega Drive: Oct 29, 1988 – 1997
- PCE CDPC Engine CD / TurboGrafx-CD: Dec 4, 1988 – end not recorded
- Game BoyGame Boy: Apr 21, 1989 – Mar 31, 2003
- LynxAtari Lynx: Sep 1, 1989 – 1995
- Neo GeoNeo Geo: Apr 16, 1990 – 2004
- Game GearSega Game Gear: Oct 6, 1990 – Apr 30, 1997
- SNESSuper Nintendo: Nov 21, 1990 – Sep 25, 2003
- Sega CDSega CD / Mega-CD: Dec 12, 1991 – 1996
- CPS-2Capcom CPS-2: Sep 10, 1993 – Dec 22, 2003
- Neo Geo CDNeo Geo CD: Sep 9, 1994 – 1997
- 32XSega 32X: Nov 1994 – 1996
- PS1PlayStation: Dec 3, 1994 – Mar 23, 2006
- N64Nintendo 64: Jun 23, 1996 – 2002
- CPS-3Capcom CPS-3: Nov 21, 1996 – end not recorded
- NAOMISega NAOMI: 1998 – end not recorded
- GBCGame Boy Color: Oct 21, 1998 – Mar 31, 2003
- NGPCNeo Geo Pocket Color: Mar 19, 1999 – Oct 30, 2001
- PS2PlayStation 2: Mar 4, 2000 – Jan 4, 2013
- WonderSwanWonderSwan Color: Dec 9, 2000 – 2003
- GBAGame Boy Advance: Mar 21, 2001 – 2010
- OpenBOROpenBOR: 2004 – today
- TIC-80TIC-80: Mar 22, 2017 – today
A bar that fades out means the end date is unknown. Fantasy consoles and game engines are still available.
UNDER THE HOOD
Technical specifications
Processor
1.19MHz
- CPU
- MOS Technology 6507
- Core
- MOS Technology 6502
- Television Interface Adaptor (TIA) — video and audio
- MOS Technology 6532 RIOT — RAM, I/O and timer
Above: Vectrex 1.5 MHz
Cut-down 6502 package with 13 address pins; the cartridge interface limits addressable ROM to 4 KB
Memory
128bytes
- Main RAM
- 128 bytes
Above: Coleco 1 KB
Sound
2channels
- Chip
- Television Interface Adaptor (TIA)
2 channels of 1-bit mono sound with 4-bit volume control
Sales
30million
- Scope
- Lifetime estimate
- Best-selling game
- Pac-Man · 8 million
Media
Cartridge
Launch price
$189.95
- North America
- $189.95
Family line
- Before
- Atari Home Pong / Atari Video Pinball
- This system
- Atari 2600
- After
- Atari 5200
THE STORY
About the Atari 2600
To keep costs down it uses a MOS Technology 6507 processor, just 128 bytes of RAM and no frame buffer: the Television Interface Adaptor (TIA) builds the picture one scan line at a time, so programs must update the graphics in step with the television beam, a practice known as 'racing the beam'. Launch games fit in 2 KB, while later titles used bank switching to reach 8 KB to 32 KB.
The 2600 was the leading game system in North America by 1982, although the rushed releases of Pac-Man and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial are cited among the causes of the 1983 video game crash. Atari Corporation launched a cost-reduced model in 1986, and production ended in 1992 with an estimated 30 million units sold.
- Only 128 bytes of RAM and no frame buffer: games 'race the beam' to draw each scan line.
- Up to 128 colors (NTSC) and a maximum resolution of 160 × 192 pixels.
- Space Invaders (1980) was the first VCS game to sell a million copies and became its killer app.
- Pac-Man was the system's best-selling game, at about 8 million copies.
- Inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in 2007.
THE LIBRARY
462 Atari 2600 games on Back2OldGames
462
games, all playable right in your browser
Release years 1977–2010
<p class="lib-span">121 developers</p>Genres
Top developers
Players
381 games with a known number of players.
Regions
THE GAMES
The Atari 2600 library
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Sources
Specifications and history from the sources below (Wikipedia text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; facts summarized in our own words). Library numbers come from the Back2OldGames catalog.
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