Public domain ↗
Atari Video Computer System
- Year
- 1977
- Creator
- Steve Mayer, Ron Milner, and Atari engineers
- Company
- Atari, Inc.
- Location
- California
- Room
- Homebrew ↗
Description
The Atari Video Computer System is a home game console that connects to a television and plays games from plug-in cartridges. Atari released it in 1977, and the company later gave it the name Atari 2600.
Importance
Warner Communications bought Atari from Nolan Bushnell in 1976 for $28 million, one year before the console went on sale. The VCS was the first widely successful video game system, with sales of more than 20 million units in the 1980s. It followed Pong, the arcade game that Atari released in 1972.
Interesting fact
The VCS used an 8-bit MOS 6507 microprocessor, and companies released more than 900 games for Atari 8-bit consoles by 1990.
Acquisition
Warner Communications · 1976 · $28,000,000
Sources
- 1977 | Timeline of Computer History ↗Computer History Museum
- Chronology of the video game business (STS 145 course notes) ↗Stanford University
- Atari's Roller-Coaster Ride (CHM Revolution exhibition) ↗Computer History Museum
- Play Becomes Profitable (CHM Revolution exhibition) ↗Computer History Museum
- The Battle for Survival at Warner ↗The New York Times (Leslie Wayne) · 1984-01-08