Asteroids is a space-themed multidirectional shooter arcade game designed by Lyle Rains and Ed Logg released in November 1979 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a single spaceship in an asteroid field which is periodically traversed by flying saucers. The object of the game is to shoot and destroy the asteroids and saucers, while not colliding with either, or being hit by the saucers' counter-fire. The game becomes harder as the number of asteroids increases.
The Atari 2600, originally branded as the Atari Video Computer System until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released on September 11, 1977, it is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on ROM cartridges. The VCS was bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge: initially Combat and later Pac-Man.
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 is able to run almost all Atari 2600 cartridges, making it the first console with built-in backward compatibility. It shipped with a different model of joystick from the 2600-standard CX40 and Pole Position II as the pack-in game. Most of the announced titles at launch were ports of 1980–83 arcade games.
Star Raiders is a first-person space combat simulator for the Atari 8-bit family of computers. It was written by Doug Neubauer, an Atari employee, and released as a cartridge by Atari in 1979. The game is considered the platform's killer app. It was later ported to the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, and Atari ST.
Adventure is a video game developed by Warren Robinett for the Atari 2600 and released in 1980 by Atari, Inc. The player controls a square avatar whose quest is to explore an open-ended environment to find a magical chalice and return it to the golden castle. The game world is populated by roaming enemies: three dragons that can eat the avatar and a bat that randomly steals and hides items around the game world. Adventure introduced a number of new game elements to console games, including a playing area spanning several different screens and enemies that continue to move offscreen.
Pitfall! is a video game designed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released by Activision in 1982. The player controls Pitfall Harry and is tasked with collecting all the treasures in a jungle within 20 minutes. The world consists of 256 screens which are horizontally connected in a flip screen manner. Each screen has one or more hazards: quicksand, tarpits, rolling logs, crocodiles, snakes, scorpions, campfires, and swinging vines.
Tempest is a 1981 arcade game by Atari Inc., designed and programmed by Dave Theurer. It takes place on a three-dimensional surface, sometimes wrapped into a tube, which is viewed from one end and is divided into either 15 or 16 lanes, depending upon whether the tube's shape was closed or open, respectively. The player controls a claw-shaped "blaster" that sits on the edge of the surface, snapping from segment to segment as a rotary knob is turned.
Phoenix is a fixed shooter video game released in arcades in 1980. According to Centuri's Joel Hochberg, the game was licensed from "a smaller Japanese developer." Hiraoka and Amstar Electronics licensed the game to Centuri for manufacture in the United States. Taito released the game in Japan. Atari, Inc. released a port of Phoenix for the Atari 2600 in 1982.
Starmaster is a video game written for the Atari 2600 by Alan Miller and published in June 1982 by Activision. The game is similar to Atari 8-bit family game Star Raiders. Starmaster was not ported to other systems, but has been re-released in collections such as Activision Anthology.
Atari Flashback is the name of a series of dedicated video game consoles designed, produced, published and marketed by Atari, Inc. from 2004 to 2011. Since 2011, the consoles have been designed, produced, published and marketed by AtGames under license from Atari. They are "plug and play" versions of the classic Atari 2600 and Atari 7800 consoles; rather than using ROM cartridges, the games are built-in.
Air-Sea Battle is a game developed by Atari, Inc. for the Atari VCS, and was one of the nine original launch titles for that system when it was released in September 1977. It was published by Sears as Target Fun and was the pack-in game with the original Sears Tele-Games version of the Atari VCS.
Basic Math is an educational cartridge for the Atari Video Computer System developed by Gary Palmer of Atari, Inc.. The game was one of the nine launch titles offered when the Atari 2600 went on sale in September 1977.
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.
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 hit arcade game of the same name. The player controls the title character, who attempts to consume all of the wafers while avoiding four ghosts that pursue him. Eating flashing wafers at the corners of the screen will cause the ghosts to turn blue and flee, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points.
Omega Race is a shoot 'em up arcade game designed by Ron Haliburton and released in 1981 by Midway. It is the only arcade game with vector graphics that Midway created.
Video Chess is a chess game for the Atari VCS programmed by Larry Wagner and Bob Whitehead and released by Atari in 1979. Both programmers later developed games for Activision.
Atari 2600 homebrew is a term describing hobbyist-developed games for the Atari 2600 video game console. The first such game 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 many were written for the technical challenge. There are also ROM hacks and some original games. Several games have received attention outside the hobbyist community. Some have been included in a game anthology by Activision.
Street Racer is a racing video game developed for the Atari Video Computer System, later known as the Atari 2600. It was programmed by Larry Kaplan and released by Atari, Inc. in September 1977 as one of the nine Atari VCS launch titles. The game was also published by Sears for their Tele-Games product line as Speedway II.
Atari VCS is a microconsole produced by Atari SA. The system was first revealed in June 2017 and pre-orders began on May 30, 2018. After several delays, the console was expected to ship in March 2020, but was delayed again to that December due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Space Jockey is a horizontally scrolling shooter designed by Garry Kitchen for the Atari VCS. It was published under the Vidtec brand of U.S. Games in 1982—the initial release from the company. It was the first video game Kitchen wrote.
