If the Fairchild VES or Channel F was responsible for introducing many new and significant features, the Atari VCS (renamed the Atari 2600 in 1982) cemented these features in more than just another fad. Atari took everything that Fairchild did well, and improved on it. The VCS is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware with games stored on separate ROM cartridges, (a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F in 1976) instead of dedicated hardware with games physically built into the unit.

Atari was not new to the gaming industry, having been big players in the arcade business since 1972. By as early as 1973, but definitely by 1974, they were already looking to the future and a way to give consumers the arcade experience in their own homes. To help with this project, Atari purchased a think-tank called Cyan Engineering, that was already researching next generation video games. During its developmental stage it was given the codename ‘Stella’.

The VCS was the result of this research and was launched on the 11th of September 1977. (1978 for the UK and Europe). The unit was originally priced at $199 & £199 ($840 & £1100 in today’s (2020) money allowing for over 40 years of inflation), and came with two joysticks (CX-10), a pair of paddles CX-30) and the Combat cartridge. (The CX-10 was replaced with the CX-40 model within the first 12 months of release). Eight additional games were available at launch and sold separately. Atari sold between 350,000 and 400,000 Atari VCS units during 1977, It would have been many more but there was delay in shipping and at the time consumers were unfamiliar with non-dedicated consoles. It followed the Fairchild VCS by less than a year and very quickly surpassed it in terms of sales. The MOS Technology 6507 CPU at its heart, 128bytes of RAM and custom sound and display chips out muscled the Fairchild and created new level of experiences that easily attracted the attention of consumers who were eager to have their own bit of this exciting new phase of home video gaming.

Its game cartridges offered completely different games and, more importantly at the time, the promise of arcade style games and ports of the all the big arcade games of the era. The VCS could output 128 colours in NTSC regions and 104 in PAL regions, such as the UK and Europe. To maximize the arcade feel of the console had arcade style joysticks instead of the number pad style controllers of its later competitors. These felt like big improvement over often clunky and developmental feeling of earlier efforts and so creating a true in-home arcade feel.

These reasons alone are why the VCS became the behemoth of early video gaming, and why it’s often referred to as the first true home video game console even though it was preceded by many. The Atari was by far the most successful console of its generation and remains one of the most successful consoles of all time. Atari and the 2600 were instigated and had a part to play in the video game crash of 1983. Atari, unlike many other games console manufactures, were able to survive the crash but it ended the market relevance of the 2600 although it carried on in various guises for the best part of a decade. Warner sold off the home console division of Atari to Jack Tramiel and In 1986, the new Atari Corporation (under Tramie) released a lower-cost version of the 2600, (and the backwards-compatible Atari 7800, but these were not enough to turn things around, and ultimately it was Nintendo that led the recovery of the industry). Atari finally ended production of the Atari 2600 on January 1, 1992. During the system's lifetime, an estimated 30 million units were sold.


Reinventing itself over and over...

Atari VCS 6 Switch models

The initial manufacture of the VCS was made in Sunnyvale, California, using thick heavy plastic for the casing, and with all six console switches on the front panel. This production was moved to Hong Kong in 1979 to save money, where a different and thinner plastic was used for the outer casing, reducing the system's weight considerably. These two versions are commonly known as ‘Heavy Sixers’ and ‘Light Sixers’ respectively, ‘Sixer’ representing the six front switches. The ‘light sixer’ is the most common in the UK.

Atari VCS & 2600 4 Switch models

In 1980, the difficulty switches were moved to the back of the console, leaving four switches on the front. Other than this, the four-switch consoles looked nearly identical to the earlier six-switch models. These models as well as the 6 switch models are affectionately called ‘Woody’s’ due to the wood grain effect on the front panel of the console. In 1982 Atari re-branded the console as the ‘Atari 2600’, a name first used on a version of the four-switch model without wood grain, giving it an all-black appearance. This new black model is known as the ‘Vader’ after Darth Vader of Star Wars fame.


Sears Video Arcade

Atari continued their OEM relationship with Sears, in America, under the latter's Tele-Games brand, which started in 1975 with the original Pong. (The company Telegames, which later produced cartridges for the 2600, is completely unrelated.) Sears released several models of the VCS as the Sears Video Arcade series starting in 1977. In 1983, the previously Japan-only Atari 2800 was re-branded as the Sears Video Arcade II.

Sears released their own versions of Atari's games with Tele-Games branding, usually with different titles and art work. Three games were produced by Atari for Sears as exclusive releases: Steeplechase, Stellar Track, and Submarine Commander.

Atari 2800

The Atari 2800 is the Japanese version of the 2600 released in October 1983. It was the first release of a 2600 designed specifically for the Japanese market, though companies like Epoch had distributed the 2600 in Japan previously. It was released a short time after Nintendo’s Family Computer, which became the dominant console in Japan, and the 2800 did not gain a significant share of the market. Sears released the 2800 in North America in 1983 as the Sears Video Arcade II packaged with two controllers and Space Invaders. Around 30 specially branded games were released for the 2800.

Atari 2600 Jr

The 1986 model, unofficially referred to as ‘the 2600 Jr. features a smaller, cost-reduced form with a modernized Atari 7800-like appearance. The redesigned 2600 was advertised as a budget gaming system (priced at £49.99 in the UK) with the ability to run a large collection of classic games. Though released after the video game crash of 1983, and after the North American launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System, the 2600 was supported with new games and television commercials promoting "The fun is back!" The later UK version of the 2600 Jr. included a joypad, which is also featured with the UK 7800. Atari released several minor stylistic variations of the 2600 Jr. design: the ‘large rainbow’, ‘short rainbow’, and an all-black version sold only in Ireland.

Incredibly the 2600 outlasted its own replacement the 5200 (A console that was never released out side of North America) and was officially discontinued at exactly the same time as the third generation 7800 and XEGS on 1st January 1992!