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The Atari 2600 was designed in Grass Valley, California and launched in 1977. The original concept was to design a console ‘system’ that would offer multiple, interchangeable games and have a longer sales life. Most video games at the time were single title consoles.
This almost prescient ‘App store’ type approach (where the console and game titles were sold separately) lead to massive success for Atari. Thousands of titles ultimately became available to the market as demand grew.
Atari also introduced the first home licensed version of popular arcade games. The likes of Space Invaders, Missile Command, Asteroids, and Pac Man sent sales sky-rocketing ( 7.7 million Pac Man cartridges lone were sold).
Whilst contemporary consoles such as the X-Box and Sony Playstation have significantly more processing power and offer more immersive experiences, the Atari 2600 is still seen as the worlds most popular Video Game System.
