Atari: 2600 Game System

Combat? Pacman? Remember playing them? The 2600 Atari game system is the platform which made these games such a successful part of the video gaming world. These certainly were the best Atari 2600 games ever to be launched. With over 100 million dollars spent onin research, development and production in as early as 1977, what exactly did the 2600 Atari have to offer to the gaming public?

When purchased, the 2600 Atari game system came with a pair of joysticks, 2 paddle controllers and a game cartridge. Initially, the cartridge came with combat came with it andbut later on the game was changed to pacman. Pacman was the best Atari 2600 game, selling approximately 7 million copies! Inside 2600 Atari game system, it had a MOS 6507 CPU that possessed 1.19 MHz of processing power.

Atari 2600 was produced at a time when the market was saturated withby its predecessor ‘pong’. This seemed the right time to launch Atari 2600. When delivered initially in 1977, the results were disappointing. With only 250,000 units being sold, covering the 100 million dollar development cost seemed impossible; making a profit was certainly out of the equation.question.

In 1978, the production was moved from California to Hong Kong where a slimmer version of the Atari 2600 was made. During this year, sales were at 550,000 units, pushing the overall sales figure to 800,000 units. As programmers learnt that 2600 Atari game system could do much more than what it currently was, slighter modifications were made to it and also better games were released. With titles such as ‘space invaders’, the popularity of the console rocketed. Shooting to 1 million units in 1979, the sales doubled every year for the next three years. In 1982 alone, 8 million Atari 2600 were purchased by the gaming public!

The Atari 2600 stayed in the production lines for 14 years-from 1977 to 1991! With 25 million units being sold at an average price of 200 dollars! 2600 Atari game system left behind a legacy that a console has yet to challenge.

2600 Atari game system found hard core fans that, to date, continue to enjoy playing the best Atari 2600 games. Needless to say, it is sure to leave your parents in nostalgia! Many gamers today have a huge collection of Atari 2600 games. What can I say; 2600 Atari surely injected an addictiveness that is yet to lose effect!