88-511: Super Sprint (known as Sprint Master on the Atari 2600 ) is a racing video game released by Atari Games and Midway Games in 1986. Up to three players drive Formula One -like cars on a circuit that is viewed from above. The game is a successor to Gran Trak 10 and the Sprint series, which were black-and-white games from the 1970s. A sequel, Championship Sprint , was released later in
176-476: A $ 425 million loss reported in the second quarter. By mid-1984, software development for the 2600 had essentially stopped except that of Atari and Activision. Warner, wary of supporting its failing Atari division, started looking for buyers in 1984. Warner sold most of the assets of Atari's counsumer electronics and home computer divisions to Jack Tramiel , the founder of Commodore International , in July 1984 in
264-462: A DVD-ROM or CD-ROM . Techniques such as bank switching were employed to be able to use cartridges with a capacity higher than the amount of memory directly addressable by the processor. As video games became more complex (and the size of their code grew), software manufacturers began sacrificing the quick load times of ROM cartridges in favor of greater storage capacity and the lower cost of optical media. Another source of pressure in this direction
352-442: A floppy drive in a home computer; in a video game console, the cartridges are standalone. At the time around their release, ROM cartridges provided security against unauthorised copying of software. However, the manufacturing of ROM cartridges was more expensive than floppy disks, and the storage capacity was smaller. ROM cartridges and slots were also used for various hardware accessories and enhancements. The widespread usage of
440-517: A mainframe computer . Therefore, development of a console had cost at least $ 100,000 (equivalent to about $ 566,000 in 2023) plus time to complete, but the final product only had about a three-month shelf life until becoming outdated by competition. 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
528-690: A 2600, 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 previously released the 2800 in the US during late 1982 as the Sears Video Arcade II, which came packaged with two controllers and Space Invaders . Around 30 specially branded games were released for
616-500: A 50 Hz format, is limited to 8 colors, each with only a single brightness level. The first VCS bundle has 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
704-601: A November 1983 article in InfoWorld magazine. An August 1984 InfoWorld magazine article says more than 15 million Atari 2600 machines were sold by 1982. A March 1983 article in IEEE Spectrum magazine has about 3 million VCS sales in 1981, about 5.5 million in 1982, as well as a total of over 12 million VCS systems and an estimated 120 million cartridges sold. In Europe, the Atari VCS sold 125,000 units in
792-552: A deal valued at $ 240 million , though Warner retained Atari's arcade business. Tramiel was a proponent of personal computers , and halted all new 2600 game development soon after the sale. 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
880-443: A game console, and offered to discuss it further at Cyan's facilities after the show. Over two days, MOS and Cyan engineers sketched out a 6502-based console design by Meyer and Milner's specifications. 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, and MOS's RIOT chip for input/output . Cyan and MOS negotiated
968-525: A home console. Atari sold 1.25 million Space Invaders cartridges and over 1 million VCS systems in 1980, nearly doubling the install base to over 2 million, and then an estimated 3.1 million VCS systems in 1981. By 1982, 10 million consoles had been sold in the United States, while its best-selling game was Pac-Man at over 8 million copies sold by 1990. Pac-Man propelled worldwide Atari VCS sales to 12 million units during 1982, according to
SECTION 10
#17327876084051056-486: A landfill in the New Mexico desert, later labeled the Atari video game burial . 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. Atari reported a $ 536 million loss for 1983 as a whole, and continued to lose money into 1984, with
1144-531: A living room environment". Landrum recommended it include four to five dedicated games in addition to the cartridges, but this was dropped in the final designs. 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
1232-675: A native controller. Third-party controllers include Wico's Command Control joystick. 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. Atari introduced the CX50 Keyboard Controller in June 1978 along with two games that require it: Codebreaker and Hunt & Score . The similar, but simpler, CX23 Kid's Controller
1320-509: A number of advantages over other methods of storage like floppy disks and optical media . As the ROM cartridge is memory mapped into the system's normal address space, software stored in the ROM can be read like normal memory; since the system does not have to transfer data from slower media, it allows for nearly instant load time and code execution. Software run directly from ROM typically uses less RAM, leaving memory free for other processes. While
1408-542: A standard-size two-player cabinet instead of Super Sprint's wide 3P cabinet. It was ported to the ZX Spectrum , Amstrad CPC , and Commodore 64 . A Game Boy Advance version was released along with Spy Hunter in a dual-game pack in 2005. Super Sprint is included in the compilation Midway Arcade Treasures for the GameCube , PlayStation 2 , Xbox , and Microsoft Windows . Its sequel, Championship Sprint ,
1496-649: Is commonly referred to by fans as the "Vader" model, due to its resemblance to the Star Wars character of the same name. Atari continued its OEM relationship with Sears under the latter's Tele-Games brand, which started in 1975 with the original Pong . This is unrelated to the company Telegames , which later produced 2600 cartridges. Sears released several models of the VCS as the Sears Video Arcade series starting in 1977. The final Sears-specific model
1584-529: Is the only major company to exclusively use cartridges for their consoles and handhelds, as others such as Sony and Microsoft continue to use optical disc -based media for their consoles. In 1976 , 310,000 home video game cartridges were sold in the United States. Between 1983 and 2013, a total of 2,910.72 million software cartridges had been sold for Nintendo consoles . ROM cartridges can not only carry software, but additional hardware expansions as well. Examples include various cartridge-based chips on
1672-430: The Atari 2600 released the following year. From the late 1970s to mid-1990s, the majority of home video game systems were cartridge-based. As compact disc technology came to be widely used for data storage, most hardware companies moved from cartridges to CD-based game systems. Nintendo remained the lone hold-out, using cartridges for their Nintendo 64 system; the company did not transition to optical media until
1760-663: The Atari Video Computer System ( Atari VCS ), it popularized microprocessor -based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridges , a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F in 1976. The VCS was bundled with two joystick controllers , a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge—initially Combat and later Pac-Man . Sears sold the system as the Tele-Games Video Arcade . Atari rebranded
1848-428: 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, left and right 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 input. The Atari 2600
SECTION 20
#17327876084051936-577: The 1980s, such as the DX1 , DX5 and DX7 and their PSR keyboard lineup in the mid-1990s, namely the PSR-320, PSR-420, PSR-520, PSR-620, PSR-330, PSR-530 and the PSR-6000 . These keyboards use specialized cards known as Music Cartridges , a ROM cartridge simply containing MIDI data to be played on the keyboard as MIDI sequence or song data. Casio has also used similar cartridges known as ROM Pack in
2024-471: The 2600 in 1986, supported by an ad campaign touting a price of "under 50 bucks". 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 and Fatal Run . By 1986, over 20 million Atari VCS units had been sold worldwide. The final Atari-licensed release is the PAL-only version of
2112-461: 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. Later European versions include a joypad. The Atari 2700 was a version of the 2600 with wireless controllers. The CX2000, with integrated joystick controllers,
2200-512: The 2600. Mattel used the M Network brand name for its cartridges. Third-party games accounted for half of VCS game sales by 1982. 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 arcade game Donkey Kong (1981), which was bundled with every ColecoVision console. Coleco gained about 17% of
2288-413: 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. The 2800's case design departed from the 2600, using a wedge shape with non-protruding switches. The case style is the basis for the Atari 7800 , which
2376-542: The 6507 and RIOT chips at $ 12 a pair. MOS also introduced Cyan to Microcomputer Associates , who had separately developed debugging software and hardware for MOS, 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. 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
2464-459: The 6507, the TIA, and other components, so the programmers creatively optimized their games to maximize the console. 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
2552-535: The Extra-Terrestrial , a game programmed in about six weeks. Atari produced an estimated four million cartridges, but the game was poorly reviewed, and only about 1.5 million units were sold. Warner Communications issued revised earnings guidance in December 1982 to its shareholders, having expected a 50% year-to-year growth but now only expecting 10–15% due to declining sales at Atari. Coupled with
2640-471: The JOLT. As part of the deal, Atari wanted a second source of the chipset. Peddle and Paivinen suggested Synertek whose co-founder, Bob Schreiner, was a friend of Peddle. 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
2728-459: The ROM cartridge in video gaming applications has led it to be often colloquially called a game cartridge . ROM cartridges were popularized by early home computers which featured a special bus port for the insertion of cartridges containing software in ROM . In most cases the designs were fairly crude, with the entire address and data buses exposed by the port and attached via an edge connector ;
Super Sprint - Misplaced Pages Continue
2816-771: The Super NES , the SVP chip in the Sega Genesis version of Virtua Racing , and a chess module in the Magnavox Odyssey² . Micro Machines 2 on the Genesis/Mega Drive used a custom " J-Cart " cartridge design by Codemasters which incorporated two additional gamepad ports. This allowed players to have up to four gamepads connected to the console without the need for an additional multi-controller adapter . Storing software on ROM cartridges has
2904-548: The United Kingdom during 1980, and 450,000 in West Germany by 1984. In France, where the VCS released in 1982, the system sold 600,000 units by 1989. The console was distributed by Epoch Co. in Japan in 1979 under the name "Cassette TV Game", but did not sell as well as Epoch's own Cassette Vision system in 1981. In 1982, Atari launched its second programmable console, the Atari 5200 . To standardize naming,
2992-528: The VCS as the Atari 2600 in November 1982, alongside the release of the Atari 5200 . Atari was successful at creating arcade video games , but their development cost and limited lifespan drove CEO Nolan Bushnell to seek a programmable home system. The first inexpensive microprocessors from MOS Technology in late 1975 made this feasible. The console was prototyped under the codename Stella by Atari subsidiary Cyan Engineering . Lacking funding to complete
3080-503: 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. 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. All six console switches on
3168-660: The VCS was renamed to the "Atari 2600 Video Computer System", or "Atari 2600", derived from the manufacture part number CX2600. By 1982, the 2600 cost Atari about $ 40 to make and was sold for an average of $ 125 (equivalent to $ 390 in 2023). The company spent $ 4 .50 to $ 6 to manufacture each cartridge, plus $ 1 to $ 2 for advertising, wholesaling for $ 18.95 (equivalent to $ 60 in 2023). Activision , formed by Crane, Whitehead, and Miller in 1979, started developing third-party VCS games using their knowledge of VCS design and programming tricks, and began releasing games in 1980. Kaboom! (1981) and Pitfall! (1982) are among
3256-439: The VCS would render the console obsolete. However, the board stayed committed to the VCS and ignored Bushnell's advice, leading to his departure from Atari in 1979. Atari sold about 600,000 VCS systems in 1979, bringing the installed base to a little over 1.3 million. 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
3344-469: The arcade game KLAX in 1990. After more than 14 years on the market, 2600 production ended in 1992, along with the Atari 7800 and Atari 8-bit computers . In Europe, last stocks of the 2600 were sold until Summer/Fall of 1995. The Atari 2600's CPU is the MOS Technology 6507 , a version of the 6502 , running at 1.19 MHz in the 2600. Though their internal silicon was identical, the 6507
3432-525: The basis for the Magnavox Odyssey . In mid-1976, Fairchild announced the Channel F, planned for release later that year, beating Atari to the market. By October 1976, Warner and Atari agreed to the purchase of Atari for $ 28 million . Warner provided an estimated $ 120 million which was enough to fast-track Stella. By 1977, development had advanced enough to brand it the "Atari Video Computer System" (VCS) and start developing games. The unit
3520-553: The black areas around the screen to extend the game code's processing time. Regional releases of the Atari 2600 use modified TIA chips for each region's television formats, which require games to be developed and published separately for each region. All modes are 160 pixels wide. NTSC mode provides 192 visible lines per screen, drawn at 60 Hz , with 16 colors, each at 8 levels of brightness. PAL mode provides more vertical scanlines, with 228 visible lines per screen, but drawn at 50 Hz and only 13 colors. SECAM mode, also
3608-510: The cartridge was memory mapped directly into the system's address space such that the CPU could execute the program in place without having to first copy it into expensive RAM. The Texas Instruments TI-59 family of programmable scientific calculators used interchangeable ROM cartridges that could be installed in a slot at the back of the calculator. The calculator came with a module that provides several standard mathematical functions including
Super Sprint - Misplaced Pages Continue
3696-439: The code to the screen on the part of the programmer was labeled " racing the beam "; the actual game logic runs when the television beam is outside of the visible area of the screen. Early games for the system use the same visuals for pairs of scan lines, giving a lower vertical resolution, to allow more time for the next row of graphics to be prepared. Later games, such as Pitfall! , change the visuals for each scan line or extend
3784-536: The company's shift away from their own proprietary optical disc -based media after last using them in the Wii U in favor of small cartridge-based media. These cartridges are known as Game Cards like previous Nintendo handhelds, and are much smaller and thinner than previous cartridges for consoles as well as Nintendo's own Game Cards for their DS/3DS handhelds. It uses a form of flash memory technology similar to that of SD cards with larger storage space. As of 2024 , Nintendo
3872-419: The contacts with an isopropyl alcohol solution typically resolves the problems without risk of corrosion. ROM cartridges typically have less capacity than other media. The PCjr-compatible version of Lotus 1-2-3 comes on two cartridges and a floppy disk. ROM cartridges are typically more expensive to manufacture than discs, and storage space available on a cartridge is less than that of an optical disc like
3960-486: The delay in shipping the units and consumers' unfamiliarity with a swappable-cartridge console that is not dedicated to only one game. In 1978, Atari sold only 550,000 of the 800,000 systems manufactured. This required further financial support from Warner to cover losses. Bushnell pushed the Warner Board of Directors to start working on "Stella 2", as he grew concerned that rising competition and aging tech specs of
4048-571: The electron gun scans outside of the visible screen. 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 a living room aesthetic, with a wood grain finish, and the cartridges must be "idiot proof, child proof and effective in resisting potential static [electricity] problems in
4136-438: The front and replacing the previous all lowercase font for the switch labels to fully capitalized wording. Otherwise, these four-switch consoles look nearly identical to the earlier six-switch models. In 1982, to coincide with the release of the Atari 5200, 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. This all-black model
4224-428: The front panel. Production of the unit was moved to Taiwan in 1978, where a less thick internal metal shielding was used and 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, referencing the six front switches. In 1980, the difficulty switches were moved to the back of the console, leaving four switches on
4312-446: The hardware market in 1982 compared to Atari's 58%. 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 7 million copies were sold. Heading into the 1982 holiday shopping season, Atari had placed high sales expectations on E.T.
4400-522: The licensing model that continues to be used by console manufacturers for game development. Activision's success led to the establishment of other third-party VCS game developers following Activision's model in the early 1980s, 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 games for
4488-462: The most successful with at least one and four million copies sold, respectively. 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
SECTION 50
#17327876084054576-448: The new Atari Corporation under Tramiel released a revised, low-cost 2600 model, and the backward-compatible Atari 7800 , but it was Nintendo that led the recovery of the industry with its 1985 launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System . Production of the Atari 2600 ended in 1992, with an estimated 30 million units sold across its lifetime. Atari, Inc. was founded by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in 1972. Its first major product
4664-430: The next week. 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 debugging the first prototype designed by Mayer and Milner, which gained the codename "Stella" after the brand of Decuir's bicycle. This prototype included a breadboard -level design of the graphics interface to build upon. A second prototype
4752-477: The only other major producer of home consoles at the time. Atari engineers recognized, however, the limitation of custom logic integrated onto the circuit board, permanently confining the whole console to only one game. The increasing competition increased the risk, as Atari had found with past arcade games and again with dedicated home consoles. Both platforms are built from integrating discrete electro-mechanical components into circuits, rather than programmed as on
4840-431: 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 . Many of the third-party developers formed prior to 1983 were closed, and Mattel and Coleco left the video game market by 1985. In September 1983, Atari sent 14 truckloads of unsold Atari 2600 cartridges and other equipment to
4928-432: The player goes to higher levels, more and more obstacles appear on the track, like oil puddles and tiny moving tornadoes. If the car touches them, the player loses control over the car for a short time while it is sliding and spinning. Driving into a wall with high speed or falling from one of the bridges destroys the car, but a helicopter will appear to replace it. The car can be customized by collecting wrenches that lie on
5016-471: The project, Bushnell sold Atari to Warner Communications in 1976. The Atari VCS launched in 1977 with nine games on 2 KB cartridges. Atari ported many of their arcade games to the system, and the VCS versions of Breakout and Night Driver are in color while the arcade originals have monochrome graphics. The system's first killer application was the home conversion of Taito 's arcade game Space Invaders in 1980. Adventure , also released in 1980,
5104-518: The release of the GameCube in 2001. Cartridges were also used for their handheld consoles, which are known as Game Cards in the DS/3DS line of handhelds. These cartridges are much smaller and thinner than previous cartridges, and use the more modern flash memory for game data rather than built-in ROM chips on PCBs for the same purpose. The release of the Nintendo Switch in 2017 marked
5192-402: The release of the home version of Pong , Cyan's engineers, led by Mayer and Ron Milner, had envisioned a home console powered by new programmable microprocessors capable of playing Atari's current arcade offerings. The programmable microprocessors would make a console's design significantly simpler and more powerful than any dedicated single-game unit. However, the cost $ 100–300 of such chips
5280-477: The same colors as the players; and a 1-pixel ball , which shares the background color. The 1-bit sprites all can be controlled to stretch to 1, 2, 4, or 8 pixels. The system was designed without a frame buffer to avoid the cost of the associated RAM . The background and sprites apply to a single scan line , and as the display is output to the television, the program can change colors, sprite positions, and background settings. The careful timing required to sync
5368-408: The same year. Up to three players drive simultaneously on a circuit against opponents controlled by the computer. The circuits are viewed from above and always fit on the screen, so the game never scrolls . After three laps the winner advances to the next circuit. There are eight circuits in total, but the game only ends if gamers can get to race 85 where the bonus Super Speedway circuit is played. As
SECTION 60
#17327876084055456-451: The scale it needed, and began considering a sale to a larger firm by early 1976. Atari was introduced to Warner Communications , which saw the potential for the growing video game industry to help offset declining profits from its film and music divisions. 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
5544-573: The solution of simultaneous equations. Other modules were specialized for financial calculations, or other subject areas, and even a "games" module. Modules were not user-programmable. The Hewlett-Packard HP-41C had expansion slots which could hold ROM memory as well as I/O expansion ports. Computers using cartridges in addition to magnetic media are the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 , MSX , Atari 8-bit computers , TI-99/4A (where they were called Solid State Command Modules and were not directly mapped to
5632-405: The standard size of optical media dictates a minimum size for devices which can read discs, ROM cartridges can be manufactured in different sizes, allowing for smaller devices like handheld game systems . ROM cartridges can be damaged, but they are generally more robust and resistant to damage than optical media; accumulation of dirt and dust on the cartridge contacts can cause problems, but cleaning
5720-410: The system bus) and IBM PCjr (where the cartridge was mapped into BIOS space). Some arcade system boards , such as Capcom 's CP System and SNK 's Neo Geo , also used ROM cartridges. Cassettes and floppy disks cost less than ROM cartridges and some memory cards were sold as an inexpensive alternative to ROM cartridges. A precursor to modern game cartridges of second generation video consoles
5808-420: The system was designed for, such as Activision's Pitfall! . By 1982, the Atari 2600 was the dominant game system in North America. Poor decisions by Atari management damaged both the system and company's reputation, most notably the release of two highly anticipated games for the 2600: a port of the arcade game Pac-Man and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial . Pac-Man became the 2600's highest-selling game, but
5896-534: The television's antenna. Atari developed the Television Interface Adaptor (TIA) chip in the VCS to handle the graphics and conversion to a television signal. It provides a single-color, 20-bit background register that covers the left half of the screen (each bit represents 4 adjacent pixels) and is either repeated or reflected on the right side. There are 5 single-color sprites : two 8-pixel wide players ; two 1 bit missiles , which share
5984-538: The track. The player can exchange three of them for improved traction, better acceleration or higher top speed. Super Sprint was ported to the Amstrad CPC , Atari ST , Commodore 64 , and ZX Spectrum . An unlicensed port was released by Tengen , a subsidiary of Atari, for the Nintendo Entertainment System and it was adapted by the Japanese company Altron as a licensed title for the Japanese market. The game
6072-444: Was Pong , released in 1972, the first successful coin-operated video game . While Atari continued to develop new arcade games in following years, 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 recovering by the end of the year. By 1975, Atari had released a Pong home console , competing against Magnavox ,
6160-485: Was a redesign based on human factor analysis by Henry Dreyfuss Associates . ROM cartridge A ROM cartridge , usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge , cart , cassette , or card , is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer , video game console or, to a lesser extent, electronic musical instruments . ROM cartridges allow users to rapidly load and access programs and data alongside
6248-532: Was cheaper than the 6502 because its package included fewer memory-address pins—13 instead of 16. The designers of the Atari 2600 selected an inexpensive cartridge interface that has one fewer address pins than the 13 allowed by the 6507, further reducing the already limited addressable memory from 8 KB (2 = 8,192) to 4 KB (2 = 4,096). This was believed to be sufficient as Combat was only 2 KB. Later games circumvented this limitation with bank switching . The console has 128 bytes of RAM for scratch space,
6336-405: 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. The second prototype included a TIA, a 6507, and a ROM cartridge slot and adapter. As the TIA's design was refined, Al Alcorn brought in Atari's game developers to provide input on features. There are significant limitations in
6424-570: Was complicated by the use of cartridges. The Atari VCS was launched in September 1977 at $ 199 (equivalent to about $ 1,000 in 2023), with two joysticks and a Combat cartridge; eight additional games were sold separately. 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). Atari sold between 350,000 and 400,000 Atari VCS units during 1977, attributed to
6512-404: Was designed to be compatible with the cathode-ray tube television sets produced in the late 1970s and early 1980s, which commonly lack auxiliary video inputs to receive audio and video from another device. Therefore, to connect to a TV, the console generates a radio frequency signal compatible with the regional television standards ( NTSC , PAL , or SECAM ), using a special switch box to act as
6600-516: Was far outside the range that their market would tolerate. Atari had opened negotiations to use Motorola's new 6800 in future systems. In September 1975, MOS Technology debuted the 6502 microprocessor for $ 25 at the Wescon trade show in San Francisco. Mayer and Milner attended, and met with the leader of the team that created the chip, Chuck Peddle . They proposed using the 6502 in
6688-430: Was introduced with the first generation video game console Magnavox Odyssey in 1972, using jumper cards to turn on and off certain electronics inside the console. A modern take on game cartridges was invented by Wallace Kirschner, Lawrence Haskel and Jerry Lawson of Alpex Computer Corporation, first unveiled as part of the Fairchild Channel F home console in 1976. The cartridge approach gained more popularity with
6776-427: Was later Japan's tenth highest-grossing upright/cockpit arcade game of 1987. In 1996, Next Generation listed the arcade version as number 59 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time". They explained that while the massive understeer in the game is highly unrealistic, it adds a sense of urgency to the gameplay. Later in 1986 Championship Sprint was released; it is almost identical, but with different tracks, and with
6864-484: Was one of the first action-adventure video games and contains the first widely recognized Easter egg . The popularity of the VCS led to the founding of Activision and other third-party game developers and competition from the Intellivision and, later, ColecoVision consoles. Games grew to use four or more times the storage size of the launch games with significantly more advanced visuals and gameplay than
6952-432: Was panned for being inferior to the arcade version. E.T. was rushed to market for the holiday shopping season and was similarly disparaged. Both games, and a glut of third-party shovelware , were factors in ending Atari's relevance in the console market, contributing to the video game crash of 1983 . Warner sold the assets of Atari's consumer electronics division to former Commodore CEO Jack Tramiel in 1984; in 1986
7040-429: Was ported to the Atari 2600 under the name Sprint Master , the adaptation was released in 1988. In Japan, Game Machine listed Super Sprint on their August 15, 1986, issue as being the second most-successful upright/cockpit arcade unit of the month. It became Japan's eighth highest-grossing upright/cockpit arcade game during the latter half of 1986, and the ninth highest-grossing upright/cockpit arcade game of 1986. It
7128-562: Was redesigned for the 7800 by Barney Huang. The cost-reduced 1986 model, sometimes referred to as the "2600 Jr.", has a smaller form factor with an Atari 7800 -like appearance. It was advertised as a budget gaming system (under $ 50 ) with the ability to run a large collection of games. Released after the video game crash of 1983, and after the North American launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System ,
7216-759: Was released for the same systems in Midway Arcade Treasures 2 , and as a downloadable game for the PlayStation 3 . Both games are also part of the 2012 compilation Midway Arcade Origins for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 . In 2016, Super Sprint was re-released in the Lego Dimensions Midway Arcade Level Pack. Atari 2600 The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as
7304-539: Was released later for a series of games aimed at a younger audience. The CX22 Trak-Ball controller was announced in January 1983 and is compatible with the Atari 8-bit computers. There were two attempts to turn the Atari 2600 into a keyboard-equipped home computer : Atari's never-released CX3000 "Graduate" keyboard, and the CompuMate keyboard by Spectravideo which was released in 1983. The initial production of
7392-573: Was replaced with the CX40 model designed by James C. Asher. 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 computers , and Atari ST . The CX40 joystick can be used with the Master System and Sega Genesis , but does not provide all the buttons of
7480-642: 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. However, Atari encountered production problems during its first batch, and its testing
7568-443: 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. 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.> Atari obtained smaller investments through 1975, but not at
7656-476: Was that optical media could be manufactured in much smaller batches than cartridges; releasing a cartridge video game on the other hand inevitably includes the risk of producing thousands of unsold cartridges. Besides their prominent usage on video game consoles, ROM cartridges have also been used on a small number of electronic musical instruments, particularly electronic keyboards . Yamaha has made several models with such features, with their DX synthesizer in
7744-481: Was the Video Arcade II, released during the fall of 1982. Sears released versions of Atari's games with Tele-Games branding, usually with different titles. Three games were produced by Atari for Sears as exclusive releases: Steeplechase , Stellar Track , and Submarine Commander . The Atari 2800 is the Japanese version of the 2600 released in October 1983. It is the first Japan-specific release of
#404595