Console Review: Atari 2600

Console: 2600
By: Atari
Release Date: 11th September 1977 (US)

The most popular home console of the second generation, the Atari 2600 (originally called the Atari VCS) stood apart somewhat from its competitors. For a start there were far more games released for the system than other consoles of the time by far. Both Atari and third-party titles featured interesting concepts and conversions of popular arcade games of the time. Games such as 1977's Combat (which was initally the pack-in game for the system) distanced video games from the pong style consoles of the past 5 years.

The console itself has an interesting wooden look to it, with switches to change between black and white, difficulty levels and to reset the console/game. The game cartridges are rather large by today's standards, almost like the larger non-Sega Mega Drive cartridges. At the back on the console, there's the controller inputs and power input. Due to this, it's easier to play the Atari 2600 facing away from you, as the switches are still accessible.

(Combat; The original pack-in game for the Atari 2600)

Graphically the system keeps things fairly basic with pixel based sprites and objects, as well as simple sounds in games if there are any at all. The library of games on the 2600 is a little hit and miss however, comprising of fun to play, original ideas such as Combat, and Tennis which hold fun for gamers of today even, and titles that it's incredibly difficult to enjoy such as Casino, and Outlaw which have more flaws than can be overlooked.

When games acknowledge the limitations of the system, and use clever ways to get around them, such as combat's innovative missile control system/ tank-pong mode it's easy to forget about the graphical shortcomings and get lost in the gameplay. Even mediocre arcade conversions like Space Invaders and Asteroids benefit from the many game modes featured on the cartridges, such as two player and harder challenge modes.

(Asteroids for the Atari 2600)

On Atari game boxes it's common to see "66 games" or "27 games" and think that you've hit the jackpot with a multicart, but really what these mean is that there's a number of different playable modes. Taking Space Invaders as an example, there's faster invaders, invisible invaders, 2 player modes and more which give more replay value to the cartridge and make for an interesting journey of discovery as to what each game mode entails.

The worst type of games on the Atari 2600 are things that can easily be done outside of a console. Tic-Tac-Toe, Checkers and Reversi are the worst offenders since they're best played as board games anyway. The computer takes a long while to think about its moves and flickers on and off to reveal what it is actually going to do. Even the choice of games modes amongst these is poor since there's only a certain number of ways of playing each.

(Checkers for the Atari 2600)

Reviving interest in the gaming market after a slew of Pong consoles and becoming an almost universal word for any videogame at the time, the Atari sat atop its throne for around 5 years until the infamous port of Pac-man and E.T. the Extra Terrestrial were released to massive disappointment from Atari owners everywhere. Having massively overcalculated how many copies of the game would sell, legend has it that Atari buried 5 million E.T. carts in the New Mexico desert.

As the Atari 2600 was the best selling console of the generation, selling 10 times the amount of units as the Intellivision which was 2nd, these two games massively damaged consumer confidence in the industry as a whole. Not only were they rushed and of terrible quality but they are widely regarded as some of the worst games of all time. In 1983 the video game crash seriously impacted sales of games and consoles in America and Europe until the release of the NES.

(ET for Atari 2600)

Overall the Atari 2600 is a fun console if you're able to get hold of some of the best games for it. There's a lot of innovation, particularly distancing videogaming from being just several types of Pong. Unfortunately corporate greed put a stop to its popularity and that of videogames in general for a while, but having almost singlehandedly popularised the new breed of videogames in the beginning, you can't take off too many points from its tally. Lasting until 1992 when the last official game was released for it, the 2600 had a spectacular 14 year lifespan which rivals that of the Playstation, NES and Playstation 2.