Atari 2600
Developer: Atari
Year Released: 1977
Generation: 2nd
Atari starting working on the 2600 in 1976 under the codename Stella. When it was released it was given the name The Video Computer Systems (VCS) but later remanded to the Atari 2600 when the Atari 5200 was released in 1982. Sales were poor at launch, partly due to the state of the industry at the time. The market had been saturated with dozens of Pong Based systems, many of which were of a low quality. Many game developers left the market because of poor sales.
In 1980 Atari released Space Invaders, a licensed version of the hugely popular Taito arcade game. Atari focused their advertising budget and marketing efforts to sell Space Invaders the game, rather than the console itself. As a result, sales of the 2600 spiked and Space Invaders became the first “killer app”
The Atari 2600 became a wildly successful console. “Atari was synonym for this model in mainstream media and , by extension, for video games in general. The 2600 is said to have been the console behind both the first video game boom and the video game crash of 1983. It saw many ups and downs but overall was a commercial success. It is fondly remembered by gamers all over the world.
