Atari 2600

History

Atari, Inc. was founded by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in 1972. Their first major product was Pong released in 1972, the first successful coin-operated video game.^[7] While Atari continued to develop new arcade games in the years that followed, Pong gave rise to a number of competitors to the growing arcade game market. The competition along with other missteps by Atari led to financial problems in 1974, though they were able to recover by the end of the year.^[8] By 1975, Atari had released a Pong home console, competing against Magnavox, the only other major producer of home consoles at the time. Atari engineers recognized, however, the limitation of custom logic burned onto the circuit board, permanently confining the whole console to only one game.^[9] Atari found the dedicated home console model became risky due to increasing competition, similar to its past experience from arcade games. Both arcade and dedicated consoles were built from integrating discrete electro-mechanical components into circuits rather than programmed as on a mainframe computer. Because of this, development of a console had cost at least $100,000 (equivalent to about $481,000 in 2020) and time to complete, but due to competition, the final product only had about a three-month shelf life before becoming outdated.^[8]

By 1974, Atari had acquired Cyan Engineering, a Grass Valley electronics company founded by Steve Mayer and Larry Emmons, both former colleagues of Bushnell and Dabney from Ampex, who helped to develop new ideas for Atari's arcade games. Even prior to the release of the home version of Pong, Cyan's engineers, led by Mayer and Ron Milner, had started to envision the idea of a programmable home console system that would be capable of playing Atari's current arcade offerings using microprocessors. The programmable microprocessors would significantly reduce the complexity of the design of the home console, and would make it more powerful than any dedicated game unit.^[10] However, at that time, such microprocessors cost $100–300 at the time, far outside the range that their market would support.^[9] The company had, however, opened negotiations with Motorola about the use of its recently introduced Motorola 6800, for future systems.^[11]

MOS Technology 6502/6507

In September 1975, MOS Technology debuted the 6502 microprocessor for $25 at the Wescon trade show in San Francisco.^[12][10] Mayer and Milner attended and met with the leader of the team that created the chip, Chuck Peddle, and presented the idea of using the 6502 in a game console, and offered to discuss it further at Cyan's facilities after the show.^[11]

Over two days, MOS and Cyan engineers sketched out a game console system based on Meyer and Milner's envisioned specifications based on the 6502.^[13] Financial models showed that even at $25, the 6502 would be too expensive, and Peddle offered them a planned 6507 microprocessor, a cost-reduced version of the 6502, as well as their RIOT chip for input/output. Cyan and MOS negotiated to buy the 6507 and RIOT chips at $12 a pair.^[11][14] MOS also introduced Cyan to Microcomputer Associates, who had separately developed debugging software and hardware for MOS Technology, and had developed the JOLT Computer for testing the 6502, which Peddle suggested would be useful for Atari and Cyan to use while developing their system.^[10] Milner was able to demonstrate a proof-of-concept for a programmable console by implementing Tank, an arcade game by Atari's subsidiary Kee Games, on the JOLT.^[10]

As part of the deal, Atari wanted a second source of the chipset. Peddle and Paivinen suggested Synertek whose co-founder, Bob Schreiner, was good friends with Peddle.^[9] In October 1975, Atari informed the market that it was moving forward with MOS. The Motorola sales team had already told its management that the Atari deal was finalized, and Motorola management was livid. They announced a lawsuit against MOS the next week.^[11]

Building the system

The first Stella prototype on display at the Computer History Museum

By December 1975, Atari hired Joe Decuir, a recent graduate from University of California, Berkeley who had been doing his own testing on the 6502. Decuir began designing the first prototype, which he gave the code name "Stella" after the name of his bicycle. Decuir's prototype included a breadboard-level design of the graphics interface to build upon.^[8][10] A second prototype was completed by March 1976 with the help of Jay Miner, who created a chip called the Television Interface Adaptor (TIA) to send graphics and audio to a television.^[15] The second prototype included a TIA, a 6507, and a ROM cartridge slot and adapter.^[8]

As the TIA's design was refined, Al Alcorn brought in Atari's game developers to provide input on features.^[10] There are significant limitations in the 6507, the TIA, and other components of the system, and the programmers became creative with their games to get the most out of the console.^[13] The console lacks a framebuffer and requires games to instruct the system to generate graphics in synchronization with the electron gun in the cathode-ray tube (CRT) as it scans across rows on the screen. The programmers found ways to "race the beam" to perform other functions while the electron gun scanned outside of the visible screen.^[16]

Alongside the electronics development, Bushnell brought in Gene Landrum, a consultant who had just prior consulted for Fairchild Camera and Instrument for its upcoming Channel F, to determine the consumer requirements for the console. In his final report, Landrum suggested that the console be designed for a living room aesthetic, with a wood grain finish, and the cartridges themselves must be "idiot proof, child proof and effective in resisting potential static problems in a living room environment".^[10] Landrum recommended it include four to five dedicated games in addition to the cartridges, but this was dropped in the final designs.^[10] The cartridge design was done by James Asher and Douglas Hardy. Hardy had been an engineer for Fairchild and helped in the initial design of the Channel F cartridges, but he quit to join Atari in 1976. The interior of the cartridge that Asher and Hardy designed was sufficiently different to avoid patent conflicts, but the exterior components were directly influenced by the Channel F to help work around the static electricity concerns.^[10][17]

Atari was still recovering from its 1974 financial woes and needed additional capital to fully enter the home console market, though Bushnell was wary of being beholden to outside financial sources.^[10] While Atari obtained smaller investments through 1975, it was not at the scale they needed, and they began considering a sale to a larger firm by early 1976.^[10] Atari was introduced to Warner Communications, who saw the potential for the growing video game industry to help offset declining profits from their film and music divisions.^[10] Negotiations took place during 1976, during which Atari cleared itself of liabilities, including settling a patent infringement lawsuit with Magnavox over Ralph H. Baer's patents that were the basis for the Magnavox Odyssey.^[10] In mid-1976, Fairchild announced the Channel F, planned for release later that year, beating Atari to the market.^[17]

By October 1976, Warner and Atari agreed to the purchase of Atari for $28 million.^[10] Warner provided an estimated $120 million which allowed Stella to be fast-tracked.^[8][18] By 1977, development had advanced enough to brand it the "Atari Video Computer System" (VCS) and start developing games.^[8]

Launch and success

The second VCS model has lighter plastic molding and shielding, and a more angular shape, than the 1977 launch model.

From 1980, the VCS has only four front switches and a capital-letters logotype.

The unit was showcased on June 4, 1977 at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show with plans for retail release in October. The announcement was purportedly delayed to wait out the terms of the Magnavox patent lawsuit settlement, which would have given Magnavox all technical information on any of Atari's products announced between June 1, 1976 and June 1, 1977.^[10] However, Atari encountered production problems during its first batch, and its testing was complicated by the use of cartridges. Ultimately, the consoles were shipped to retailers in November 1977.^[8]

The Atari VCS was launched in September 1977 at $199 (equivalent to about $850 in 2020), with two joysticks and a Combat cartridge; eight additional games were sold separately.^[19] Most of the launch games were based on arcade games developed by Atari or its subsidiary Kee Games; for example, Combat was based on Kee's Tank (1974) and Atari's Jet Fighter (1975).^[8] Atari sold between 350,000 and 400,000 Atari VCS units during 1977, attributed to the delay in shipping the units and consumers' unfamiliarity with a swappable-cartridge console that is not dedicated to only one game.^[20]

In 1978, Atari sold only 550,000 of the 800,000 systems manufactured. This required further financial support from Warner to cover losses.^[20]

Atari sold more than 1 million consoles over the 1979 holiday season, but there was new competition from the Mattel Intellivision and Magnavox Odyssey², which also use swappable ROM cartridges.^[21]

Atari obtained a license from Taito to develop a VCS conversion of its 1978 arcade hit Space Invaders. This is the first officially licensed arcade conversion for a home console.^[22] Its release in March 1980 doubled the console's sales for the year to more than 2 million units, and was considered the Atari 2600's killer application. Sales then doubled again for the next two years; by 1982, 10 million consoles had been sold, while its best-selling game was Pac-Man^[23] at over 7.9 million copies sold by 1983.^[3] By 1984, 450,000 consoles had been sold in West Germany.^[24]

In 1982, Atari launched its second programmable console, the Atari 5200. To standardize naming, the VCS was renamed to the "Atari 2600 Video Computer System", or "Atari 2600", derived from the manufacture part number CX2600.^[25] By 1982, the 2600 cost Atari about $40 to make and was sold for an average of $125 (equivalent to $340 in 2020). The company spent $4.50 to $6 to manufacture each cartridge, plus $1 to $2 for advertising, wholesaling for $18.95 (equivalent to $50 in 2020).^[26]

Third party development

Activision, formed by Crane, Whitehead, Kaplan, and Miller in 1979, started developing third-party VCS games using their deep knowledge of VCS design and programming tricks, and began releasing games in 1980. Kaboom! (1981) and Pitfall! (1982) are among the most successful with at least one and four million copies sold, respectively.^[27] In 1980, Atari attempted to block the sale of the Activision cartridges, accusing the four of intellectual property infringement. The two companies settled out of court, with Activision agreeing to pay Atari a licensing fee for their games. This made Activision the first third-party video game developer and established the licensing model that continues to be used by console manufacturers for game development.^[28]

Activision's success led to the establishment of other third-party VCS game developers following Activision's model in the early 1980s,^[29][30][31] including U.S. Games, Telesys, Games by Apollo, Data Age, Zimag, Mystique, and CommaVid. The founding of Imagic included ex-Atari programmers. Mattel and Coleco, each already producing its own more advanced console, created simplified versions of their existing 2600 games. Mattel used the M Network brand name for its cartridges. Third-party games accounted for half of VCS game sales by 1982.^[32]

Decline and redesign

In addition to third-party game development, Atari also received the first major threat to its hardware dominance from the Colecovision. Coleco had a license from Nintendo to develop a version of the smash hit arcade game Donkey Kong (1981), which was bundled with every Colecovision console. Coleco gained about 17% of the hardware market in 1982 compared to Atari's 58%.^[33] With third parties competing for market share, Atari worked to maintain dominance in the market by acquiring licenses for popular arcade games and other properties to make games from. Pac-Man has numerous technical and aesthetic flaws, but nevertheless more than 10 million copies were sold.^[34] Heading into the 1982 holiday shopping season, Atari had placed high sales expectations on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, a game programmed in about six weeks, to capture the strong interest in the film.^[34] Atari produced an estimated four million cartridges, expecting the game to sell well.^[35] The game was poorly reviewed, leading to only about 1.5 million units sold.^[36]

Warner Communications reported weaker results than expected in December 1982 to its shareholders, having expected a 50% year-to-year growth but only obtaining 10–15% due to declining sales at Atari.^[34][37] Coupled with the oversaturated home game market, Atari's weakened position led investors to start pulling funds out of video games, beginning a cascade of disastrous effects known as the video game crash of 1983.^[34] Many of the third-party developers formed prior to 1983 were closed, and Mattel and Coleco left the video game market by 1985.^[38]

In September 1983, Atari sent 14 truckloads of unsold Atari 2600 cartridges and other equipment to a landfill in the New Mexico desert, later labeled the Atari video game burial.^[39] Long considered an urban legend that claimed the burial contained millions of unsold cartridges, the site was excavated in 2014, confirming reports from former Atari executives that only about 700,000 cartridges had actually been buried.^[40] Atari reported a $536 million loss for 1983 as a whole,^[41]:ch14 and continued to lose money into 1984, with a $425 million loss reported in the second quarter.^[42] By mid-1984, software development for the 2600 had essentially stopped except that of Atari and Activision.^[43]

Warner, wary of supporting its failing Atari division, started looking for buyers in 1984. Warner sold most of Atari to Jack Tramiel, the founder of Commodore International, in July 1984 for about $240 million, though Warner retained Atari's arcade business. Tramiel was a proponent of personal computers, and de-prioritized further 2600 development following the sale.^[42]

The North American video game market did not recover until about 1986, after Nintendo's 1985 launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America. Atari Corporation released a redesigned model of the 2600 in 1986, supported by an ad campaign touting a price of "under 50 bucks".^[44] With a large library of cartridges and a low price point, the 2600 continued to sell into the late 1980s. Atari released the last batch of games in 1989–90 including Secret Quest^[45] and Fatal Run.^[46] The final Atari-licensed release is the PAL-only version of the arcade game KLAX in 1990.

After more than 14 years on the market, the 2600 line was formally discontinued on January 1, 1992,^[1] along with the Atari 7800 and Atari 8-bit family of home computers.

Hardware

Console

The Atari 2600's CPU is the MOS Technology 6507, a version of the 6502,^[47] running at 1.19 MHz in the 2600.^[48] Though their internal silicon was identical, the 6507 was cheaper than the 6502 because its package included fewer memory-address pins—13 instead of 16.^[49] The designers of the Atari 2600 selected an inexpensive cartridge interface^[50] that has one fewer address than the 13 allowed by the 6507, further reducing the already limited addressable memory to 4 kiB (2¹² = 4096). This was believed to be sufficient as Combat is itself only 2 kiB.^[51] Later games circumvented this limitation with bank switching.^[52]

The console has 128 bytes of RAM for scratch space, the call stack, and the state of the game environment.

The top bezel of the console originally had six switches: power, TV type selection (color or black-and-white), game selection, player difficulty, and game reset. The difficulty switches were moved to the back of the bezel in later versions of the console. The back bezel also included the controller ports, TV output, and power adapter outlets.

Graphics

The 2600 does not have a frame buffer. Instead the video device provides two 8-pixel bitmapped sprites, two 1-pixel "missile" sprites, a 1-pixel "ball", and a 40-pixel "playfield" that is drawn by writing a bit pattern for each line into a register just before the television scans that line. As each line is scanned, a game must identify the non-sprite objects that overlap the next line, assemble the appropriate bit patterns to draw for those objects, and write the pattern into the register. Similar to its predecessor Pong, the right side of the screen is a mirrored duplicate of the left; to control it separately, the software may modify the patterns as the scan line is drawn. After the controller scans the last active line, a vertical blanking interval begins, during which the game can process inputs and update the positions and states of objects in the game world. Any mistake in timing produces visual artifacts, a problem that programmers call "racing the beam".^[53][16]

Activision's Pitfall!, the console's most popular third-party game. The black area to the left of the screen is intentional, designed to give more a few more computational clock cycles to the game's programming before having to display the graphics.

The 2600's video hardware is therefore highly flexible, but also challenging to program. One advantage the 2600 has over more powerful contemporary competitors such as the ColecoVision is that the 2600 has no protection against altering settings in mid-line. For example, although each sprite nominally has only one color, it is possible to color the rows differently by changing the sprite's color as it is drawn. If the two hardware sprites are not enough for a game, a developer may share one sprite among several objects (as with the ghosts in Pac-Man) or draw software sprites, which is only a little more difficult than drawing a fixed playfield. The Pitfall! screenshot demonstrates some of these tricks: the player is a multi-color sprite, one sprite is multiplexed for the logs and the scorpion, and the swinging vine is drawn by shifting the position of the "ball" on each scan line.^[54] Further, the black area on the left of the screen is intentional, designed to give a few extra clock cycles on each scanline to the game's updates.^[16]Warren Robinett, the programmer for Adventure, described numerous tricks that he had to do to complete Adventure to both fit it within the memory limitations of the Atari 2600, as well as creatively use the graphics capability to create a multi-screen maze for players to navigate, using the "missile" sprite to create the maze's walls.^[55]

The Atari 2600 was designed to be compatible with the cathode-ray tube television sets produced in the late 1970s and early 1980s,^[56] and uses different color palettes depending on the television signal format.^[57] With the NTSC format, a 128-color palette was available;^[58] while in PAL, only 104 colors;^[57] in SECAM, only 8.^[57]

A side effect of how graphics work on the 2600 is that all games are required to run at either 60 frames per second (NTSC) or 50 frames per second (PAL).

Controllers

CX40 joystick

The VCS originally shipped with two types of controllers: a joystick (part number CX10) and pair of rotary paddle controllers (CX30). Driving controllers, which are similar to paddle controllers but can be continuously rotated, shipped with the Indy 500 launch game. After less than a year, the CX10 joystick was replaced with the CX40 model^[59] designed by James C. Asher.^[60] Because the Atari joystick port and CX40 joystick became industry standards, 2600 joysticks and some other peripherals work with later systems, including the MSX, Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari 8-bit family, and Atari ST. The CX40 joystick can be used with the Master System and Sega Genesis, but does not provide all the buttons of a native controller. Third-party controllers include Wico's Command Control joystick.^[61] Later, the CX42 Remote Control Joysticks, similar in appearance but using wireless technology, were released, together with a receiver whose wires could be inserted in the controller jacks.^[62]

Atari introduced the CX50 Keyboard Controller in June 1978 along with two games that required it: Codebreaker and Hunt & Score.^[59] The similar, but simpler, CX23 Kid's Controller was released later for a series of games aimed at a younger audience.^[63] The CX22 Trak-Ball controller was announced in January 1983 and was compatible with the Atari 8-bit family.^[64]

There were two attempts to turn the Atari 2600 into a keyboard-equipped home computer: Atari's never-released CX3000 "Graduate" keyboard,^[65] and the CompuMate keyboard by Spectravideo which was released in 1983.^[66]

Console models

The all-black model that first used the Atari 2600 name (released in November 1982)

Sears rebranded the VCS as the "Video Arcade" for its Tele-Games line.

The design of the Japan-only Atari 2800 was later used in the US for the Sears Video Arcade II.

The 1986 cost-reduced version, nicknamed "2600 Jr."

Minor revisions

The initial production of the VCS was made in Sunnyvale during 1977, using thick polystyrene plastic for the casing as to give the impression of weight from what was mostly an empty shell inside.^[10] The initial Sunnyvale batch had also included potential mounts for an internal speaker system on the casing, though the speakers were found to be too expensive to include and instead sound was routed through the TIA to the connected television.^[10] All six console switches on the front panel. Production of the unit was moved to Hong Kong in 1979, where a thinner plastic was used for the casing, reducing the system's weight. These two versions are commonly referred to as "Heavy Sixers" and "Light Sixers" respectively, representing the six front switches.^[67][10]

In 1980, the difficulty switches were moved to the back of the console, leaving four switches on the front. Other than this, these four-switch consoles looked nearly identical to the earlier six-switch models. In 1982 Atari rebranded the console as the "Atari 2600", a name first used on a version of the four-switch model without woodgrain, giving it an all-black appearance.

Sears Video Arcade

Atari continued their OEM relationship with Sears 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 unrelated.)^[68][69] 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 rebranded as the Sears Video Arcade II.^[70]

Sears released versions of Atari's games with Tele-Games branding, usually with different titles.^[71] Three games were produced by Atari for Sears as exclusive releases: Steeplechase, Stellar Track, and Submarine Commander.^[71]

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. The 2800 was released a short time after Nintendo's Family Computer (which became the dominant console in Japan), and it did not gain a significant share of the market. Sears released the 2800 in the US in 1983 as the Sears Video Arcade II packaged with two controllers and Space Invaders.^[72] Around 30 specially branded games were released for the 2800.

Designed by engineer Joe Tilly, the 2800 has four controller ports instead of the two of the 2600. The controllers are an all-in one design using a combination of an 8-direction digital joystick and a 270-degree paddle, designed by John Amber.^[72] The 2800's case design departed from the 2600, using a wedge shape with non-protruding switches. The case style was used as the basis for the Atari 7800's case designed by Barney Huang.^[72]

Atari 2600 Jr.

The 1986 model has a smaller, cost-reduced form factor with an Atari 7800-like appearance. It was advertised as a budget gaming system (under US$49.99) with the ability to run a large collection of games.^[73] 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!" Atari released several minor stylistic variations: the "large rainbow" (shown), "short rainbow", and an all-black version sold only in Ireland.^[74] Later European versions include a joypad.^{[citation needed]}

Games

In 1977, nine games were released on cartridge to accompany the launch of the console: Air-Sea Battle, Basic Math, Blackjack, Combat, Indy 500, Star Ship, Street Racer, Surround, and Video Olympics.^[75]Indy 500 shipped with special "driving controllers", which are like paddles but rotate freely. Street Racer and Video Olympics use the standard paddle controllers.

Cover art for Atari's games, such as this cover for Combat illustrated by Cliff Spohn, were aimed to capture the player's imagination and overcome limitations of screenshots.

Atari determined that box art featuring only descriptions of the game and screenshots would not be sufficient to sell their games in retail stores, since most games were based on abstract principles and screenshots gave little information. Atari outsourced box art to Cliff Spohn, who created visually-interesting artwork with implications of dynamic movement that aimed to engage the player's imagination while staying true to the gameplay. Spohn's style became a standard for Atari when they brought in other artists to assist, including Susan Jaekel, Rick Guidice, John Enright, and Steve Hendricks.^[76] Spohn and Hendricks were the largest contributors to the covers in the Atari 2600 library. Ralph McQuarrie, a concept artist on the Star Wars series, was commissioned for one cover, the arcade conversion of Vanguard.^[77] These artists generally sat down with the programmer to learn about the game before drawing the art.^[76]

An Atari VCS port of their Breakout arcade game appeared in 1978. While the original is in black and white with a colored overlay, the home version is in color. In 1980, Atari released Adventure,^[78] the first action-adventure game, and the first home game with a hidden Easter egg.

Rick Maurer's port of Taito's Space Invaders, released in 1980, is the first VCS title to have more than one million copies sold—eventually doubling that^[79] within a year^[80] and selling a total of over 6 million cartridges by 1983.^[3] It became the killer app to drive console sales. Versions of Atari's own Asteroids and Missile Command arcade games, released in 1981, were also major hits.

Each early VCS game is in a 2K ROM. Later games like Space Invaders, increased this capacity to 4K.^[6] The VCS port of Asteroids (1981) is the first game for the system to have used 8K via a bank switching technique.^[81] Some later releases, including Atari's ports of Dig Dug and Crystal Castles, are 16K cartridges.^[6] One of the final games, Fatal Run (1990), doubled this to 32K.

Atari, Inc. was the only developer for the first few years, releasing dozens of games.

Two Atari published games, both from the system's peak in 1982, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial^[82] and Pac-Man,^[83] are cited as factors in the video game crash of 1983.

A company named Mystique produced a number of pornographic games for the 2600. The most notorious of these, Custer's Revenge, was protested by women's and Native American groups^[84] because it depicted General George Armstrong Custer raping a bound Native American woman.^[85] Atari sued Mystique in court over the release of the game.^[86]

Legacy

Display at "The Art of Video Games" (2012) at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Games, from top, are Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Pitfall!, Combat.

The system was so successful in the late 1970s and early 1980s that "Atari" was a synonym for the console in mainstream media and for video games in general.^[87]

Jay Miner directed the creation of the successors to the 2600's TIA chip—CTIA and ANTIC—which were central to the Atari 8-bit computers released in 1979 and later the Atari 5200 console.

The Atari 2600 was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, New York, in 2007.^[88] In 2009, the Atari 2600 was named the number two console of all time by IGN, who cited its remarkable role as the console behind both the first video game boom and the video game crash of 1983, and called it "the console that our entire industry is built upon".^[89]

Clones and reissues

Modern Atari 2600 clones remain on the market. The Atari Classics 10-in-1 TV Game, manufactured by Jakks Pacific, emulates the 2600 console and includes converted versions of 10 games into a single Atari-brand-lookalike joystick with composite-video outputs for connecting directly to modern televisions or VCRs. The TV Boy includes 127 games in an enlarged joypad.

The Atari Flashback 2 console, released in 2005, contains 40 games (with four additional programs unlocked by a cheat code). The console implements the original 2600 architecture and can be modified to play original 2600 cartridges by adding a cartridge port, and is also compatible with original 2600 controllers.

In 2017, Hyperkin announced the RetroN 77, a clone of the Atari 2600 that plays original cartridges instead of pre-installed games.^[90]

The Atari VCS microconsole was released by Atari Interactive in 2021.^[91]

Unreleased prototypes

The Atari 2700 is a version of the 2600 which uses wireless controllers.

An Atari 2600 variant, known by its production code "CX2000" and nickname "Val", was found as two 1982 prototypes at the New York and Sunnyvale Atari facilities, respectively.^[92] It was an attempt to make a new version of the aging 2600. Its design, with two integrated joystick controllers, was the result of human factor analysis by Henry Dreyfuss Associates. The project never saw market production.

Atari started work on a 2600 successor called the "Atari 3200". It was to be compatible with 2600 cartridges, and was rumored to be based on a 10-bit processor, although design documents show it was to be based on the 8-bit 6502. It was unfinished when preliminary game developers discovered that it was difficult to program. Atari cloned the Atari 3200 into the Sears Super Arcade II, but this was never released.^[93]

References

Bibliography

• Perry, Tekla; Wallich, Paul (March 1983). "Design case history: the Atari Video Computer System". IEEE Spectrum.
• Tim Lapetino (2016). "Industrial Design". Art of Atari. Dynamite. ISBN 978-1-5241-0103-9. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017.

External links

• A history of the Atari VCS/2600
• Inside the Atari 2600
• Hardware and prototypes at the Atari Museum