Atari Alumni

Launched in 1977, the 2600 is considered by many to be the first true programmable home video game system. While this may not technically be true (the Fairchild Channel F and RCA Studio II were released several months earlier), it was certainly the most successful system of its time. Due to its enormous [...]

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The popularity of the Atari 2600 VCS is what really began the video game movement. Developed by Atari and led by Nolan Bushnell, the Atari 2600 was released in 1977 after Atari merged with Warner Communications.

But the story really begins in 1975 when Atari sold about 150,000 Pong units through the Sears sporting goods [...]

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Originally the design of the Atari “PAM” (also known as Super-Stella and Sylvia) was to have built in Atari 2600 compatibility. However, during the development the architecture of that version of the new Atari “SuperSystem” was dropped in favor of a new Atari “PAM” which became the Atari 5200: SuperSystem. [...]

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The Atari Trakball Concepts (A look at the original Designs)

Another superb home version of the trakball. Again Dan Kramer and Levon Mitchell did the electro-mechanicals on this controller and also did a special version (the Dan-Levon version for the Atari home computers that when used with Missle Command and press CTRL-T [...]

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The original Atari 2600 is referred to as “The Heavy Sixer” due to its heavy weight and its 6 selection switches on the front of the console. An interesting note about the Atari 2600 and 2600A is that about 75% of the console case is EMPTY. The motherboard of the Atari [...]

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Perhaps a spin-off from the Atari 2700 remote controlled console, the Atari 2600 remote controlled joysticks allowed players the freedom of setting back away from the console comfortably on the couch and play their favorite games in total confort… (not exactly!) The joysticks were huge! I mean a standard Atari 2600 joystick with [...]

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This must have been one of Atari’s favorite original games. It has been reincarnated several times. Originally as arcade coin-op, then here as a standalone system, then as a cartridge for the Atari Brain Game System, then as a cartridge for the Atari VCS 2600 video game console. [...]

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Atari says goodbye to Pong and Calls Out to “STELLA!”
When Atari released their arcade game Pong as a pre-programmed dedicated home gaming unit, it was a monumental hit and soon mimicked by every electronics manufacturer imaginable. In just a few years shelves were flooded with clones and variations, some even going as far as to [...]

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After conquering homes and arcades with Pong in the early 70s, Atari sought out to reinvent the home gaming market with a console unit capable of a constantly growing library of interchangeable games. This would eventually evolve into the Atari 2600, a system that dominated video gaming and broke records over its 13 year history. [...]

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The Atari 2600jr. was the last version of the Video Computer System to be sold. It was introduced by Atari Corp in 1986. However the Atari 2600jr. was originally designed in 1983. The Atari 2600jr was codenamed “Bonnie” and was designed to be a joystick-less version of the [...]

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