The Atari 2600, released in 1977, is the first successful video game console to use plug-in cartridges instead of having one or more games built in. The first game console to use exchangeable plug-in cartridges was the Magnavox Odyssey; it was the Atari 2600 console that made the plug-in concept popular among the game playing public, however. Originally known as the Atari VCS—for Video Computer System—the machine's name was changed to "Atari 2600" (from the unit's Atari part number, CX2600) in 1982, after the release of the more advanced Atari 5200. It was wildly successful, and during the 1980s, "Atari" was a synonym for this model in mainstream media. The 2600 was typically bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a cartridge game.

History

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Development and market considerations

Atari had spun off an engineering think-tank in 1975 called Cyan Engineering to research next-generation video game systems, and had been working on a prototype known as "Stella" (named after one of the engineers' bicycles) for some time. Unlike prior generations of machines which used custom logic to play a small number of games, Stella's core was a complete CPU, the famous MOS Technology 6502 in a cost-reduced version, known as the 6507. It was combined with a RAM-and-I/O chip, the MOS Technology 6532, and a display and sound chip of their own design known as the TIA, for Television Interface Adaptor. Beyond those three, the first two versions of the machine contain just one more chip, a standard CMOS logic buffer IC, bringing the total chip count to the very low and cost-effective number of four. Some later versions of the console eliminated the buffer chip. At first the design was not going to be cartridge-based, but after seeing a "fake" cartridge system on another machine they realized they could place the games on cartridges essentially for the price of the connector and packaging.

In August 1976 Fairchild Semiconductor released their own cartridge-based system, the Channel F. Stella was still not ready for production, but it was clear that it needed to be before there were a number of "me too" products filling up the market – which had happened after they invented PONG. Atari simply didn't have the cash flow to complete the system quickly, given that sales of their own PONG systems were cooling. Nolan Bushnell eventually turned to Warner Communications, and sold the company to them in 1976 for $28 million on the promise that Stella would be produced as soon as possible.

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VintageGaming (Vintage Gaming) Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:47:05 -0000
Vintage Atari 2600 Biggest Lot Ever On Ebay 800+ Games! only $255.00 » http://bit.ly/7ZBvjs #classicgames
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VintageGaming (Vintage Gaming) Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:45:58 -0000
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GoNintendoFeed (GoNintendo) Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:00:55 -0000
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GamingGeeker (GamingGeeker) Thu, 24 Dec 2009 07:21:26 -0000
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