Monthly Archives: September 2025

The Atari 2600, initially known as the Video Computer System (VCS), wasn’t an instant hit when it launched in 1977. With a hefty price tag of $199 (nearly a thousand dollars in today’s money), it struggled to compete with cheaper, simpler consoles. However, its true “killer feature” was the ability to play interchangeable game cartridges, a revolutionary idea that meant you didn’t need to buy a whole new console to play a different game. Early pack-in titles like Combat showcased this potential, and it was a feature that would go on to define the industry.

By the early 1980s, the Atari 2600 had become a household name. The console’s popularity skyrocketed, largely thanks to popular arcade game ports like Space Invaders, which quadrupled sales in 1980. Other classics like Pac-Man and Pitfall! became staples of the growing video game culture. This period also saw the birth of the third-party developer industry, sparked by a group of disgruntled Atari programmers who left to form Activision. This move proved that successful games could be made outside the main console manufacturer, paving the way for a new era of competition and innovation.

Despite its success, the Atari 2600’s reign was short-lived. A flood of low-quality games, many of them poor clones of popular titles, oversaturated the market and led to the infamous video game crash of 1983. The crash’s most enduring symbol was the commercial failure of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, a rushed game that sold so poorly millions of cartridges were famously buried in a New Mexico landfill. This collapse opened the door for Nintendo to later revive the industry, but the Atari 2600’s legacy was already set. It laid the groundwork for modern gaming, shifting the focus from arcades to the living room and pioneering the cartridge system that would become an industry standard for decades to come. Continue reading →