The first game console

Did you know what the first game console ever created?

While it wouldn’t actually be the first cartridge-based home game console, the Atari 2600 would prove to be the first big hit, ushering in the first golden age of home gaming while the golden age of the American arcade scene was in full force. And though its popularity would inevitably decline with the onset of the video game crash of 1983, the console would still have appeal years later.

Background Information

• The Atari 2600 first entered the market in America, October 1977. Though sales would fluctuate and inevitably decrease, its true final end of production was in the early 1990s.
• The Atari 2600 was originally known as the Atari Video Computer System, or Atari VCS. It was renamed in 1982 to fit its part number in the Atari catalog(CX2600), which was the same way the Atari 5200 got it’s name.
• “Stella” was the original project name for the Atari 2600. With Fairchild Semiconductor’s release of the Fairchild Channel F in 1976, Atari allowed itself to be purchased by Warner Communications so it could bring in enough money to commercially release Stella. The name Stella was taken from one of the engineer’s bicycles, and was part of a long history of projects with female names.
• Arguments between Warner Communications and Atari, Inc. would lead Atari founder Nolan Bushnell to leave the company in 1978. But by this time, Busnhell had founded Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza-Time Theater.
• The Atari 2600 remained a major tool of the company until Warner sold Atari’s Consumer Division to Commodore Business Machines in 1984. Consoles were then deemphasized for the next few years as Commodore attempted to push Atari’s computers.

Historical Impact

• Lasting from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, the Atari 2600 had the longest active lifespan of any game console released in the United States. Over 900 games were produced for the console.
• The Atari 2600 proved the viability of console gaming in the American market.
• The Atari 2600 also helped establish the idea of the “killer app” with its port of Space Invaders in 1980. The game would help to quadruple sales of the Atari 2600.
• Space Invaders was also the first officially licensed arcade game, helping to start the trend of porting games from arcade to console as well as licensing from other media. This would also lead to some of the worst games on the Atari 2600, including the likes of it’s Pac-Man port and the game E.T.
• The poor treatment of Atari engineers also lead to several employees leaving the company and forming others, the most successful of which was Activision. This helped bring the rise of third-party developers.
• The Atari 2600 also brought about the first real protests against video games, specifically due to Mystique’s Custer’s Revenge.
• Unfortunately due to controversies like these, the Atari 2600 would help contribute to the video game crash of 1983, which would subsequently lead to the domination of the market by Japanese corporations. American corporations would not again offer a major game console until the release of the Xbox by Microsoft nearly two decades later.