The Atari 2600 is a discontinued home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System, it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridges, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F in 1976. The VCS was bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge—initially Combat and later Pac-Man. Sears sold the system as the Tele-Games Video Arcade. Atari rebranded the VCS as the Atari 2600 in November 1982 alongside the release of the Atari 5200.
The Atari 5200 SuperSystem or simply Atari 5200 is a home video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari, Inc. as a higher-end complement for the popular Atari Video Computer System. The VCS was renamed to the Atari 2600 at the time of the 5200's launch. Created to compete with Mattel's Intellivision, the 5200 wound up a direct competitor of ColecoVision shortly after its release. While the Coleco system shipped with the first home version of Nintendo's Donkey Kong, the 5200 included the 1978 arcade game Super Breakout which had already appeared on the Atari 8-bit computers and Atari VCS in 1979 and 1981 respectively.
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a home video game console officially released by Atari Corporation in 1986 as the successor to both the Atari 2600 and Atari 5200. It can run almost all Atari 2600 cartridges, making it one of the first consoles with backward compatibility. It shipped with a different model of joystick from the 2600-standard CX40 and included Pole Position II as the pack-in game. Most of the announced titles at launch were ports of 1981–1983 arcade video games.
The Fairchild Channel F, short for "Channel Fun", is a video game console, the first to be based on a microprocessor and to use ROM cartridges instead of having games built-in. It was released by Fairchild Camera and Instrument in November 1976 across North America at a retail price of US$169.95. It was launched as the "Video Entertainment System", but when Atari released its Video Computer System (VCS) the next year, Fairchild rebranded their console as "Channel F" while keeping the Video Entertainment System descriptor.
Combat is a 1977 video game by Atari, Inc. for the Atari Video Computer System. In the game, two players controlling either a tank, a biplane, or a jet fire missiles at each other for two minutes and sixteen seconds. Points are scored by hitting the opponent, and the player with the most points when the time runs out wins. Variations on the gameplay introduce elements such as invisible vehicles, missiles that ricochet off of walls, and different playing fields.
Dragonstomper is a video game developed by Stephen Landrum for the Atari Video Computer System and released by Starpath. The game follows the adventures of a dragon hunter who is given a quest by the king to defeat a dragon and reclaim a magical amulet that was stolen. The player makes their way over the countryside, vanquishing various adversaries and gaining gold and experience. After achieving enough strength, the player can enter a shop in an oppressed village where equipment can be purchased, soldiers hired, and special scrolls obtained to defeat the dragon in its lair.
Air-Sea Battle is a fixed shooter developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari VCS. Air-Sea Battle is partially based on the 1975 Atari arcade video game Anti-Aircraft where each player uses a ground-based gun to shoot passing aircraft. The cartridge adds other variants, such as planes dropping bombs on ships and a carnival-themed shooting gallery.
In the history of video games, the second-generation era refers to computer and video games, video game consoles, and handheld video game consoles available from 1976 to 1992. Notable platforms of the second generation include the Fairchild Channel F, Atari 2600, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, and ColecoVision. The generation began in November 1976 with the release of the Fairchild Channel F. This was followed by the Atari 2600 in 1977, Magnavox Odyssey² in 1978, Intellivision in 1980 and then the Emerson Arcadia 2001, ColecoVision, Atari 5200, and Vectrex, all in 1982. By the end of the era, there were over 15 different consoles. It coincided with, and was partly fuelled by, the golden age of arcade video games. This peak era of popularity and innovation for the medium resulted in many games for second generation home consoles being ports of arcade games. Space Invaders, the first "killer app" arcade game to be ported, was released in 1980 for the Atari 2600, though earlier Atari-published arcade games were ported to the 2600 previously. Coleco packaged Nintendo's Donkey Kong with the ColecoVision when it was released in August 1982.
Basic Math is an educational video game for the Atari Video Computer System. The game was developed at Atari, Inc. by Gary Palmer. The game involves a series of ten arithmetic problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. The player can edit different gameplay modes to alter how the numbers in the problem are chosen, or if their questions are timed. The game was released in 1977 as one of the earliest releases for the console.
Blackjack is a video game simulation of the card game blackjack. It was designed by Bob Whitehead for the Atari Video Computer System. The game allows up to three players to play a variation of blackjack. Each player is given 200 chips where they can bet 1 to 25 of each round. The game ends for a player when they either run out of chips or earns 1000 chips or more.
Star Ship is a first-person space combat simulator video game programmed by Bob Whitehead and published by Atari, Inc. for its Video Computer System. The game was one of the nine launch titles offered when the Atari VCS was released on September 11, 1977. Based on the Atari arcade game Starship 1, it was the first space-related game developed for the Atari VCS. The re-branded Sears TeleGames version is titled Outer Space.
Basketball is a sports video game programmed by Alan Miller for the Atari Video Computer System and published by Atari, Inc. in 1978. The cartridge presents a game of one-on-one basketball for by one or two players, one of the few early VCS titles to have a single-player mode with an AI-controlled opponent. Miller wrote a version of Basketball for Atari 8-bit computers with improved graphics, published in 1979. That same year, an arcade version similar to the computer port was released by Atari but in black and white.
Video Olympics is a video game programmed by Joe Decuir for the Atari 2600. It is one of the nine 2600 launch titles Atari, Inc. published when the 2600 system was released in September 1977. The cartridge is a collection of games from Atari's popular arcade Pong series. A similar collection in arcade machine form called Tournament Table was published by Atari in 1978.
The CompuMate SV010 was a home computer peripheral manufactured by Spectravideo International for the Atari 2600 home video game console. It was released on 6 January 1983 at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Indy 500 is a 1977 racing video game developed by Atari, Inc. for its Video Computer System. It is themed around the Indianapolis 500, and is based on Atari's earlier 8-player arcade game, Indy 800.
Surround is a video game programmed by Alan Miller and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari Video Computer System. In the game, players navigate a continuously moving block around an enclosed space as a wall trails behind it. Every time the opposite player hits a wall with their block, the other player earns a single point. The first player to reach ten points is the winner.
Human Cannonball is a non-military variant of an artillery video game released in 1979 by Atari, Inc. for the Atari VCS. The goal is to launch a performer from a cannon so they land in container of water supported by a tower. The game was in the first wave of Atari VCS games after the original nine launch titles. It was also among the first games for the console to be discontinued by Atari.
Backgammon is a video game adaptation of the board-game backgammon developed by Atari, Inc. for the Atari Video Computer System and released in 1979. The game was one of the earliest electronic versions of Backgammon.
Home Run is a 1978 sports video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for the Atari Video Computer System. It was the first baseball-themed game released for an Atari platform. The game received mostly negative critical reception due to its unrealistic portrayal of the sport. It was one of the games used by console competitor Mattel to show the quality improvement of Intellivision sports games over the Atari VCS.
Othello is a 1980 video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. for its Atari Video Computer System. It is based on the variant of Reversi of the same name, originally created in 1971. The VCS game was programmed by Ed Logg and Carol Shaw.
