When was atari first released

What was the first Atari game? When was Atari first released? What is Ataris most popular game? Which is the best selling Atari console? What caused the crash in video games from two billion sales to only million? When did the first Atari video game console come out? Who was the creator of the Atari ? Warner Communications bought Atari in When a market glut crashed the game industry in , Atari tried to cope by shifting its focus to home computers, a stopgap on the road to declining profits and further mergers.

Chapter Menu 1. Friction with Warner. The primitive video hardware gave it a reputation as one of the most complex machines to program. The hot tub in his office helped too.

Cheese game and pizza chain. In short, whether using the real hardware or emulation of the system and many of its options on another device such as a PC -- which even supports original controllers via USB with the use of a converter such as the Stelladapter from Pixels Past -- the choices are vast. The most desirable VCS model is the original heavy sixer, which tends to sell for a bit more than other versions of the hardware.

Besides all the variations Atari itself produced, there have been many clones and add-ons for other systems, most commonly from Sears and Coleco. As was their corporate sales policy at the time, Sears rebranded Atari hardware from the original heavy sixer right through a sleek custom unit with a unique case and combination joystick and paddle controllers.

Sears sold them under the Video Arcade name, also rebranding games: Indy became Race , for instance. Steeplechase , a paddle controller-based horse racing game, Stellar Track , a shooting game set in space, and Submarine Commander , an undersea target game were the only cartridges released with the Sears branding that didn't also have an Atari counterpart.

Coleco released both the stand-alone Gemini console, which also featured a single joystick and paddle combination -- one above the other -- and its popular Expansion Module 1 for the ColecoVision console and Adam computer. Each allowed for high VCS game compatibility.

Resulting lawsuits forced Coleco to pay royalties to Atari for every system and expansion module sold. Since many of the same titles received different text and graphical label variations over the years, this can factor into a game's price, as there are collectors who like to get all variations.

Besides color variations especially Atari's with silver and red , most box types were generally the same, save for the earliest Atari and Sears cartridges, which came in gate-fold boxes for a short time and are subsequently worth a bit more. Like nearly every system, there are prototype games that were either finished and not released or only partially completed.

However, because of the popularity of the system and the timing of The Great Videogame Crash, the has a particularly large collection of unreleased games, with new prototypes occasionally discovered to this day.

Once recovered, the homebrew community often makes these lost titles available in some manner, even on cartridge. With the VCS being the first breakout success in home videogames, there was little precedent for developers and publishers to learn from, which naturally led to lots of experimentation. This experimentation particularly applied to the add-ons, such as the limited release Compumate from Spectravideo, which consisted of a flat membrane keyboard, additional memory, and the ability to load and save from cassette, turning the VCS into a simple computer system.

Some peripherals, such as GameLine -- which featured an oversized cartridge hooked into a phone line that allowed the user to download games for short-term use from a subscription service -- are more for show than actual use these days. Countless others such as the Starplex Game-Selex -- an external expansion box that allowed instant switchable access to multiple cartridges -- are still useful today.

What also helped in this area was that the joystick ports on the VCS were what many other companies used as standards on their systems -- for instance, Commodore with many of its popular 8- and bit computer lines -- so manufacturers were able to develop to one specification. In fact, although it usually wasn't practical to use single-button joysticks on later systems such as Sega's Master System SMS or Genesis, multi-button gamepads from those consoles often work fine on the VCS as well.

Besides the standard joysticks, paddles, and other controllers already mentioned, a few others are worth pointing out. Obscure releases such as the Foot Craz from Exus, which was a foot mat with five colored buttons that came packaged with Video Jogger and Video Reflex , contrasted with the more pedestrian options such as the Booster Grip from CBS Electronics, which added extra fire buttons to a standard joystick a stock ColecoVision controller is also a suitable alternative.

Atari released wireless controllers that looked similar to their standard joysticks, just with thick antennas and much larger bases. Atari also released different variations on their keypad controllers, which supported overlays and were originally for use with titles such as BASIC Programming and Codebreaker , but were later restyled and repackaged for use as the Video Touch Pad for Star Raiders and as the Kid's Controller for educational games such as Big Bird's Egg Catch , further demonstrating the system's amazing software range.

There's no doubt that Atari fans will continue to proudly proclaim "Yes! Programmer 4A Games Malta Sections Close Back. Blogs Close Back. Write for Game Developer. Blog Now. Connect Close Back. Register for a. Get daily Game Developer top stories every morning straight into your inbox. About Us. Advertise With Us.

Report An Issue. Subscribe Login. A minimum of 3 characters are required to be typed in the search bar in order to perform a search. Gamasutra to Game Developer link redirects are currently experiencing issues. We're working to restore them ASAP! Bill Loguidice. Box, cartridge and manual styles from Atari changed dramatically over the years, as demonstrated by the manuals shown here with the version of Combat on the left and the version on the right.

Gate-fold boxes were only used on the early software releases, like Air-Sea Battle , shown open here with its cartridge and instructions. One of Atari's Driving Controllers, which was packed in with Indy Did Atari become Nintendo? Which Atari console has Pac Man? What is Atari logo? What was the first Atari console?