Launch and success: Tarted up; called it VCS until the point where it officially became the 2600
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| - | The initial price was US$199 and shipped with two joysticks and Combat cartridge.<ref>{{cite book |last=Forster |first=Winnie |authorlink=Winnie Forster |title=The encyclopedia of consoles, handhelds & home computers 1972 - 2005 |year=2005 |publisher=GAMEPLAN |isbn=3-00-015359-4|pages=27}}</ref> In a move to compete directly with the [[Fairchild Channel F|Channel F]], Atari Inc. named the machine the Video Computer System (or VCS for short), as the Channel F was at that point known as the '''VES''', for ''Video Entertainment System''. The 2600 was also rebadged as the '''Sears Video Arcade''' and sold through [[Sears, Roebuck and Company]] stores. When Fairchild learned of Atari Inc.'s naming, they quickly changed the name of their system to become the Channel F. However, both systems were now in the midst of a vicious round of price-cutting: Pong clones made obsolete by these newer and more powerful machines sold off their boxes to discounters for ever-lower prices. Soon many of the clone companies were out of business, and both Fairchild and Atari Inc. were selling to a public that was completely burnt out on Pong. In 1977, Atari Inc. sold only 250,000 VCSs. For the first year of production, the 2600 was manufactured in [[Sunnyvale, California]]. The consoles manufactured here had thick internal [[RF shielding]], and thick plastic molding around the sides and bottom. These added weight to the console, and because all 6 switches were on the front, these consoles were nicknamed "Heavy Sixers". After this first year, production moved to [[Hong Kong]], and the consoles manufactured there had thinner plastic molding. In 1978, only 550,000 units from a production run of 800,000 were sold, requiring further financial support from Warner to cover losses. This led directly to the disagreements that caused Atari Inc. founder [[Nolan Bushnell]] to leave the company in 1978.<ref>Steve Fulton, [www.gamasutra.com] "Atari: The Golden Years -- A History, 1978-1981"], ''Gamasutra'', 21 August 2008, pg. 6</ref> | + | The unit was originally priced at US$199, and shipped with two joysticks and a ''[[Combat (video game)|Combat]]'' cartridge.<ref>{{cite book |last=Forster |first=Winnie |authorlink=Winnie Forster |title=The encyclopedia of consoles, handhelds & home computers 1972 - 2005 |year=2005 |publisher=GAMEPLAN |isbn=3-00-015359-4|pages=27}}</ref> In a move to compete directly with the [[Fairchild Channel F|Channel F]], Atari Inc. named the machine the Video Computer System (or VCS for short), as the Channel F was at that point known as the '''VES''', for ''Video Entertainment System''. The VCS was also rebadged as the '''Sears Video Arcade''' and sold through [[Sears, Roebuck and Company]] stores. |
| - | Once the public realized it was possible to play video games other than Pong and programmers learned how to push its hardware's capabilities, the 2600 gained popularity. By this point, Fairchild had given up, thinking video games were a passing fad, thereby handing the entire quickly growing market to Atari Inc. By 1979, the 2600 was the best-selling [[Christmas]] gift (and console), mainly because of its exclusive content, and 1 million units were sold that year.{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}} | + | When Fairchild learned of Atari Inc.'s naming, they quickly changed the name of their system to become the Channel F. However, both systems were now in the midst of a vicious round of price-cutting: ''Pong'' clones that had been made obsolete by these newer and more powerful machines were sold off to discounters for ever-lower prices. Soon many of the clone companies were out of business, and both Fairchild and Atari Inc. were selling to a public that was completely burnt out on Pong. In 1977, Atari Inc. sold only 250,000 VCSs. |
| - | Atari Inc. then licensed the smash [[video arcade|arcade]] hit ''[[Space Invaders]]'' by [[Taito Corporation|Taito]], which greatly increased the unit's popularity when it was released in January 1980, doubling sales again to over 2 million units. The 2600 and its cartridges were the main factor behind Atari Inc. grossing more than $2 billion in 1980. Sales then doubled again for the next two years, with almost 8 million units selling in 1982. | + | For the first year of production, the VCS was manufactured in [[Sunnyvale, California]]. The consoles manufactured there had thick internal [[RF shielding]], and thick plastic molding around the sides and bottom. These added weight to the console, and because all six switches were on the front, these consoles were nicknamed "Heavy Sixers". After this first year, production moved to [[Hong Kong]], and the consoles manufactured there had thinner plastic molding. In 1978, only 550,000 units from a production run of 800,000 were sold, requiring further financial support from Warner to cover losses. This led directly to the disagreements that caused Atari Inc. founder [[Nolan Bushnell]] to leave the company in 1978.<ref>Steve Fulton, [www.gamasutra.com] "Atari: The Golden Years -- A History, 1978-1981"], ''Gamasutra'', 21 August 2008, pg. 6</ref> |
| - | In 1980, the Atari 2600 was given a minor revision in which the left and right difficulty switches were moved to the back of the console, leaving four switches on the front. Other than this, these four-switch consoles looked nearly identical to the earlier six-switch models. In 1982, another version of the four-switch console was released without woodgrain. They were nicknamed "[[Darth Vader]]" consoles due to their all-black appearance. These were also the first consoles to be officially called "Atari 2600", as the [[Atari 5200]] was released the same year. | + | Once the public realized it was possible to play video games other than ''Pong'', and programmers learned how to push its hardware's capabilities, the VCS gained popularity. By this point, Fairchild had given up, thinking video games were a passing fad, thereby handing the entire quickly growing market to Atari Inc. By 1979, the VCS was the best-selling [[Christmas]] gift (and console), mainly because of its exclusive content, and 1 million units were sold that year.{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}} |
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| + | Atari Inc. then licensed the smash [[video arcade|arcade]] hit ''[[Space Invaders]]'' by [[Taito Corporation|Taito]], which greatly increased the unit's popularity when it was released in January 1980, doubling sales again to over 2 million units. The VCS and its cartridges were the main factor behind Atari Inc. grossing more than $2 billion in 1980. Sales then doubled again for the next two years, with almost 8 million units selling in 1982. | ||
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| + | In 1980, the VCS was given a minor revision in which the left and right difficulty switches were moved to the back of the console, leaving four switches on the front. Other than this, these four-switch consoles looked nearly identical to the earlier six-switch models. In 1982, another version of the four-switch console was released without woodgrain. They were nicknamed "[[Darth Vader]]" consoles due to their all-black appearance. These were also the first consoles to be officially called "Atari 2600", as the [[Atari 5200]] was released the same year. | ||
| During this period, Atari Inc. expanded the 2600 family with two other compatible consoles. They designed the [[Atari 2700]], a wireless version of the console that was never released because of a design flaw.<ref>{{cite web|first=Curt |last=Vendel |url=http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/2700/a2700.html |title=Atari 2700 Wireless VCS |publisher=Atari Museum |accessdate=2009-07-06}}</ref> The company also built a sleeker version of the machine dubbed the [[Atari 2800]] to sell directly to the [[Japan]]ese market in early 1983, but it suffered from competition with the newly released [[Nintendo]] [[Nintendo Entertainment System|Famicom]]. | During this period, Atari Inc. expanded the 2600 family with two other compatible consoles. They designed the [[Atari 2700]], a wireless version of the console that was never released because of a design flaw.<ref>{{cite web|first=Curt |last=Vendel |url=http://www.atarimuseum.com/videogames/consoles/2700/a2700.html |title=Atari 2700 Wireless VCS |publisher=Atari Museum |accessdate=2009-07-06}}</ref> The company also built a sleeker version of the machine dubbed the [[Atari 2800]] to sell directly to the [[Japan]]ese market in early 1983, but it suffered from competition with the newly released [[Nintendo]] [[Nintendo Entertainment System|Famicom]]. | ||
| - | In a survey mentioned by [[Jeff Rovin]] it is reported that more stores reported breakdowns of the Atari 2600 system than any other, and that Atari repair centers seemed to have the most trouble with consoles manufactured in 1980. In one case it is stated that a system was repaired five times before static electricity from a carpet was discovered as having caused the problem. The controllers were also a source of breakage because of the way they could be gripped by a player holding it with their fist, allowing players to get carried away and over control, which was less likely with others systems released at the time, such as the [[Odyssey 2]] with controllers which were nearly half its size.<ref>"The Complete Guide to Conquering Video Games" by Jeff Rovin, [[Collier Books]], 1982 pages 7, 9, 11</ref> | + | In a survey mentioned by [[Jeff Rovin]] it is reported that more stores reported breakdowns of the Atari 2600 system than any other, and that Atari repair centers seemed to have the most trouble with consoles manufactured in 1980. In one case it is stated that a system was repaired five times before static electricity from a carpet was discovered as having caused the problem. The controllers were also a source of breakage because of the way they could be gripped by a player holding it with their fist, allowing players to get carried away and over control, which was less likely with other systems released at the time, such as the [[Odyssey 2]], which had controllers that were nearly half its size.<ref>"The Complete Guide to Conquering Video Games" by Jeff Rovin, [[Collier Books]], 1982 pages 7, 9, 11</ref> |
| === Sears Tele-Games 2600s === | === Sears Tele-Games 2600s === |
![[www.mr-atari.com]](http://www.mr-atari.com/afbeeldingen/systems/2600pacmanblue.jpg){kind=link}