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Atari 2600

Home video game console by Atari

Entityelectronic device modelQ206261

Also known as Video Computer System · Sears Video Arcade · Sears Tele-Games Video Arcade · 1977 Atari VCS

Instance of: electronic device model
Subclass of: home video game console

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released c. September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System, 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 the VCS as the Atari 2600 in November 1982, alongside the release of the Atari 5200.

Overview

All data

65 statements · 11% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

CPU: MOS 6507
Manufacturer: Atari, Inc.
Followed by: Atari 7800(1986)
Atari 5200(1982)
Follows: Atari Home Pong series
Released: September 1977 place of publication: United States
1979 place of publication: West Germany
1982 place of publication: Japan
Units sold: 30M
Different from: Atari VCS
Title: Atari VCS 2600
Nominations: Golden Joystick Awards − Best Gaming Hardware of All Time(2021) statement is subject of: Golden Joystick Awards 2021
1
Sources
1.“Vote now for the Golden Joystick Awards' ultimate game and hardware of all time”pcgamer.com/uk/vote-now-for-the-golden-joystick-awards-ultimate-game-and-hardware-of-all-timeRetrieved 2021-11-24
View statement on Wikidata ↗
Operating system: none

On other databases

42 identifiers linking Atari 2600 across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

11%

externally sourced

Source last edited September 27, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). Atari 2600 (Q206261). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/atari-2600-Q206261