List of best-selling Atari 2600 video games

Last updated

An award plaque for River Raid selling over one-million copies for Activision given to Carol Shaw Platinum River Raid Cartridge.jpg
An award plaque for River Raid selling over one-million copies for Activision given to Carol Shaw

The Atari 2600 (previously known as the Atari VCS) was the most successful home system of its generation, and it was home to many popular games that sold millions of copies (a figure unheard of before). The best-selling video game on the console is Pac-Man , a port of the arcade game of the same name programmed by Tod Frye. [1] Originally created by Toru Iwatani and released in 1980, Pac-Man was later ported to many home video game consoles, beginning with the Atari 2600 in 1982. [2] Within months it became the best-selling home video game of all time, with more than 1.5 million units pre-ordered by customers before its release. [2] Pac-Man went on to sell over 8 million units worldwide.

Contents

The second best-selling Atari 2600 game is Space Invaders , [3] a port of the 1978 Taito arcade video game that was programmed by Rick Maurer, which was released in 1980 and became the first video game to sell a million copies. [4] It went on to sell over 6 million copies, was the best-selling game on the system (until Pac-Man), and is credited with increasing the VCS’s sales and popularity. [3] The other three titles among the top five best-selling Atari 2600 games are Pitfall! (designed by David Crane for Activision), Donkey Kong (a port of the 1981 Nintendo arcade game programmed by Garry Kitchen for Coleco), and Frogger (a port of the Konami and Sega arcade game programmed by Ed English for Parker Brothers), each having sold over 4 million units.

26 video games released on the Atari 2600 sold at least one million copies, of which 14 were developed and/or published by the console's manufacturer, Atari, Inc. Other publishers with multiple entries in the top 26 are Activision (six titles), Imagic (three titles) and Parker Brothers (two titles). Three of the games in the top 26 were programmed by David Crane, three by Howard Scott Warshaw, three by Rob Fulop, and two by Bradley G. Stewart.

Video games

List of best-selling video games on the Atari 2600
TitleDeveloper / Publisher Arcade port LicensorProgrammer(s)Release dateSalesRef.
Pac-Man Atari, Inc. Yes Namco Tod Frye March 16, 19828,095,586 [a]
Space Invaders Atari, Inc. Yes Taito Rick MaurerMarch 19806,252,229 [b]
Donkey Kong Coleco [c] Yes Nintendo Garry Kitchen July 19824,180,523 [d]
Pitfall! Activision No— David Crane April 20, 19824,000,000 [7] [8]
Frogger Parker Brothers Yes Sega Enterprises Ed EnglishAugust 19824,000,000 [9]
Asteroids Atari, Inc. Yes—Bradley G. StewartJuly 19813,832,886 [e]
Defender Atari, Inc. Yes Williams Electronics Bob Polaro19823,040,684 [f]
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Atari, Inc. No Universal Pictures Howard Scott Warshaw December 19822,740,232 [g]
Ms. Pac-Man Atari, Inc. Yes Midway Manufacturing Mike Horowitz, Josh LittlefieldFebruary 19832,311,428 [h]
Demon Attack Imagic No— Rob Fulop March 19822,000,000 [11]
Night Driver Atari, Inc. Yes—Rob FulopJune 19801,990,643 [i]
Berzerk Atari, Inc. Yes Stern Dan HitchensAugust 19821,870,642 [j]
Centipede Atari, Inc. Yes—Douglas B. Macrae, Josh LittlefieldMarch 19821,815,661 [k]
Warlords Atari, Inc. Yes— Carla Meninsky 19811,788,462 [l]
Breakout Atari, Inc. Yes—Bradley G. StewartNovember 19781,678,965 [m]
Adventure Atari, Inc. No— Warren Robinett July 19801,000,000 [12]
Laser Blast Activision No— David Crane March 19811,000,000 [13]
Freeway Activision No— David Crane July 19811,000,000 [13]
Kaboom! Activision No— Larry Kaplan July 19811,000,000 [13]
Yars' Revenge Atari, Inc. No— Howard Scott Warshaw May 19821,000,000 [14]
Atlantis Imagic No—Dennis KobleJuly 19821,000,000 [1]
Cosmic Ark Imagic No— Rob Fulop August 19821,000,000 [11]
Megamania Activision No— Steve Cartwright October 19821,000,000 [1]
Raiders of the Lost Ark Atari, Inc. No Lucasfilm Howard Scott Warshaw November 19821,000,000 [14]
River Raid Activision No— Carol Shaw December 19821,000,000 [13]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ 7,271,844 in 1982. 684,569 in 1983. [3] 37,063 in 1986. 61,685 in 1987. 3,885 in 1988. 34,374 in 1989. 2,166 in 1990. [5]
  2. ↑ 1,318,655 in 1980. 2,964,137 in 1981. 1,373,033 in 1982. 435,353 in 1983. [3] 17,523 in 1986. 65,148 in 1987. 29,717 in 1988. 36,308 in 1989. 12,355 in 1990. [5]
  3. ↑ Published by Atari Corporation from 1987 [5]
  4. ↑ 4 million in 1982. [6] 27,516 in 1987. 109,125 in 1988. 40,147 in 1989. 3,735 in 1990. [5]
  5. ↑ 3.8 million up until 1982. [10] 7,503 in 1986. 8,558 in 1987. 12,120 in 1988. 11,558 in 1989. 4,705 in 1990. [5]
  6. ↑ 3,006,790 in 1982 (with at least 68,993 returned in 1983). [3] 2,298 in 1986. 6,160 in 1987. 24,741 in 1988. 695 in 1989. [5]
  7. ↑ 2,637,985 in 1982 (with at least 669,733 returned in 1983). [3] 1,138 in 1986. 88,338 in 1987. 3,131 in 1988. 9,586 in 1989. 54 in 1990. [5]
  8. ↑ 1,963,078 in 1983. [3] 35,719 in 1986. 138,400 in 1987. 125,266 in 1988. 38,597 in 1989. 10,368 in 1990. [5]
  9. ↑ 161,352 in 1980. 779,547 in 1981. 457,058 in 1982. 580,959 in 1983. [3] 84 in 1986. 7,227 in 1987. 4,416 in 1988. [5]
  10. ↑ 1,798,773 in 1982 (with at least 20,314 returned in 1983). [3] 2,046 in 1986. 54,444 in 1987. 15,170 in 1988. 209 in 1989. [5]
  11. ↑ 1,475,240 in 1982. [3] 49,774 in 1986. 150,572 in 1987. 107,168 in 1988. 21,973 in 1989. 10,934 in 1990. [5]
  12. ↑ 936,861 in 1981. 420,924 in 1982. 372,454 in 1983. [3] 11,412 in 1986. 6,370 in 1987. 38,504 in 1988. 1,865 in 1989. 72 in 1990. [5]
  13. ↑ 256,265 in 1980. 838,635 in 1981. 242,764 in 1982. 312,672 in 1983. [3] 7,060 in 1986. 1,680 in 1987. 19,889 in 1988. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atari 2600</span> Home video game console

The Atari 2600 is a 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atari 7800</span> Home video game console

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 joystick than the 2600-standard CX40 and included Pole Position II as the pack-in game. The European model has a gamepad instead of a joystick. Most of the early releases for the system are ports of 1981–1983 arcade video games. The final wave of 7800 cartridges are closer in style to what was available on other late 1980s consoles, such as Scrapyard Dog and Midnight Mutants.

The video game crash of 1983 was a large-scale recession in the video game industry that occurred from 1983 to 1985 in the United States. The crash was attributed to several factors, including market saturation in the number of video game consoles and available games, many of which were of poor quality. Waning interest in console games in favor of personal computers also played a role. Home video game revenue peaked at around $3.2 billion in 1983, then fell to around $100 million by 1985. The crash abruptly ended what is retrospectively considered the second generation of console video gaming in North America. To a lesser extent, the arcade video game market also weakened as the golden age of arcade video games came to an end.

<i>Kaboom!</i> (video game) 1981 action game

Kaboom! is an action video game published in 1981 by Activision for the Atari 2600. The game involves a Mad Bomber dropping bombs at increasing speeds as the player controls a set of water buckets to catch them. The gameplay was based on the Atari arcade video game Avalanche (1978). Kaboom! was programmed by Larry Kaplan with David Crane coding the graphics for the buckets and Mad Bomber. It was the last game designed by Kaplan for Activision, who left the company shortly after it was released. The game was later ported by Paul Wilson for the Atari 5200 system.

<i>Pitfall!</i> 1982 video game

Pitfall! is a video game developed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released in 1982 by Activision. The player controls Pitfall Harry, who has a time limit of 20 minutes to seek treasure in a jungle. The game world is populated by enemies and hazards that variously cause the player to lose lives or points.

<i>Demon Attack</i> 1982 video game

Demon Attack is a fixed shooter video game created by Rob Fulop for the Atari 2600 and published by Imagic in 1982. The game involves the player controlling a laser cannon from the surface of a planet, shooting winged demons that fly down and attack the player in different sets of patterns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Crane (programmer)</span> American video game designer and programmer

David Crane is an American video game designer and programmer. Crane grew up fascinated by technology and went to DeVry Institute of Technology. Following college, he went to Silicon Valley and got his first job at National Semiconductor. Through his friend Alan Miller he learned about potential video game design work at Atari, Inc. and began work there in 1977.

1982 was the peak year for the golden age of arcade video games as well as the second generation of video game consoles. Many games were released that would spawn franchises, or at least sequels, including Dig Dug, Pole Position, Mr. Do!, Zaxxon, Q*bert, Time Pilot and Pitfall! The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pac-Man, for the third year in a row, while the year's best-selling home system was the Atari 2600. Additional video game consoles added to a crowded market, notably the ColecoVision and Atari 5200. Troubles at Atari late in the year triggered the video game crash of 1983.

1980 saw the release of a number of games with influential concepts, including Pac-Man, Battlezone, Crazy Climber, Mystery House, Missile Command, Phoenix, Rally-X, Space Panic, Stratovox, Zork, Adventure, and Olympic Decathlon. The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pac-Man, while the best-selling home system was Nintendo's Game & Watch. The Atari VCS also grew in popularity with a port of Space Invaders and support from new third-party developer Activision.

<i>Starmaster</i> 1982 video game

Starmaster is a video game written for the Atari 2600 by Alan Miller and published in June 1982 by Activision. The game involves the player travelling through space attacking enemy starfighters who are invading starbases. The player traverses through a map called the galactic chart to destroy all the enemies and survive against oncoming enemy attacks and crashing with meteors.

<i>Keystone Kapers</i> 1983 video game

Keystone Kapers is a platform game developed by Garry Kitchen for the Atari 2600 and published by Activision in 1983. The game involves a Keystone Cops theme, with the player controlling police officer Kelly, who traverses the many levels of a department store, dodging objects to catch the escaped thief Harry Hooligan.

<i>River Raid</i> 1982 video game

River Raid is a video game developed by Carol Shaw for the Atari Video Computer System and released in 1982 by Activision. The player controls a fighter jet over the River of No Return in a raid behind enemy lines. The goal is to navigate the flight by destroying enemy tankers, helicopters, fuel depots and bridges without running out of fuel or crashing.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garry Kitchen</span> American video game designer

Garry Kitchen is a video game designer, programmer, and executive best known for his work at Activision during the early years of the company's history. He has developed games for the Atari 2600, Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as co-founded Absolute Entertainment with ex-Activision developers. His port of Donkey Kong for the Atari 2600 was a major hit for Coleco, selling over 4 million copies. His other 2600 work includes Keystone Kapers and Pressure Cooker for Activision and Space Jockey for U.S. Games. He also wrote Garry Kitchen's GameMaker and The Designer's Pencil for the Commodore 64.

<i>Pac-Man</i> (Atari 2600 video game) Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man

Pac-Man is a 1982 maze video game developed and published by Atari, Inc. under official license by Namco, and an adaptation of the 1980 arcade game Pac-Man. The player controls the title character, who attempts to consume all of the wafers in a maze while avoiding four ghosts that pursue him. Eating flashing wafers at the corners of the screen causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue and flee, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points. Once eaten, a ghost is reduced to a pair of eyes, which return to the center of the maze to be restored.

<i>Megamania</i> 1982 video game

Megamania is a fixed shooter video game developed by Steve Cartwright for the Atari 2600. It was published by Activision in 1982. In the game, a pilot of an intergalactic space cruiser has a nightmare where his ship is being attacked by food and household objects. Using the missile launcher from their space cruiser, the pilot fends off the attackers. The game was later released for the Atari 5200 and Atari 8-bit computers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atari, Inc.</span> American video game developer (1972–1992)

Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry.

The 1980s was the second decade in the industry's history. It was a decade of highs and lows for video games. The decade began amidst a boom in the arcade video game business with the golden age of arcade video games, the Atari 2600's dominance of the home console market during the second generation of video game consoles, and the rising influence of home computers. However, an oversatuation of low quality games led to an implosion of the video game market that nearly destroyed the industry in North America. Most investors believed video games to be a fad that had since passed, up until Nintendo's success with its Nintendo Entertainment System revived interest in game consoles and led to a recovery of the home video game industry. In the remaining years of the decade, Sega ignites a console war with Nintendo, developers that had been affected by the crash experimented with PC games, and Nintendo released the Game Boy, which would become the best-selling handheld gaming device for the next two decades. Other consoles released in the decade included the Intellivision, ColecoVision, TurboGrafx-16 and Sega Genesis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atari 2600 homebrew</span> Homebrew software on the Atari 2600 system

The first hobbyist-developed game for the Atari 2600 video game console was written in 1995, and more than 100 have been released since then. The majority of games are unlicensed clones of games for other platforms, and there are some also original games and ROM hacks. With only 128 bytes of RAM, no frame buffer, and the code and visuals closely intertwined, the 2600 is a difficult machine to program. and many games were written for the technical challenge. Emulators, programming tools, and documentation are available.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Buchanan, Levi (August 26, 2008). "Top 10 Best-Selling Atari 2600 Games". IGN . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on August 31, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Katz, Arnie; Kunkel, Bill (May 1982). "The A-Maze-ing World of Gobble Games: A Guide to Maze-Chase Gamers". Electronic Games . Vol. 1, no. 3. New York City: Reese Publishing Company. pp. 62–63. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Cartridge Sales Since 1980. Atari Corp. Via "The Agony & The Ecstasy". Once Upon Atari. Episode 4. Scott West Productions. August 10, 2003. 23 minutes in.
  4. ↑ Weiss, Bret (July 6, 2007). Classic Home Video Games, 1972–1984: A Complete Reference Guide. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 108. ISBN   978-0-7864322-6-4.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Vendel, Curt (May 28, 2009). "Site News". Atari Museum. Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  6. ↑ Kitchen, Garry E. (March 5, 2010). "Garry E. Kitchen". Expert Report of Garry E. Kitchen (PDF). United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved November 29, 2021. Designed & programmed Atari 2600 adaptation of hit arcade game Donkey Kong, 1982 wholesale revenues in excess of $100 million on 4 million units.
  7. ↑ Bogost, Ian; Montfort, Nick (2009). Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System. MIT Press. ISBN   978-0-262-01257-7.
  8. ↑ Kohler, Chris (January 26, 2010). "Pitfall! Creator David Crane Is Named Videogame Pioneer". Wired . Archived from the original on April 23, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Ed English: 2600 (Frogger, Mr. Do!, Roc 'n Rope)" (PDF). Digital Press. No. 52. May–June 2003. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 1, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  10. ↑ Urschel, Joe (March 6, 1982). "Gobbling up the home video market". The Day . p. C-6. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  11. 1 2 Wallis, Alistair (November 23, 2006). "Playing Catch Up: Night Trap's Rob Fulop". Gamasutra . UBM TechWeb. Archived from the original on February 15, 2008. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  12. ↑ Baker, Chris (March 13, 2015). "How One Man Invented the Console Adventure Game". Wired . Archived from the original on September 13, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Capparell, James (June 1984). "Activision's James Levy: A software success story". Antic . Archived from the original on January 31, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  14. 1 2 Stilphen, Scott. "DP Interviews... Howard Scott Warshaw". Digital Press. Archived from the original on April 28, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.