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Toys & Games · died 1992

Atari 2600

1977 — 1992 · Atari, Inc.
retired Reported · 1992

“Fifteen years, one joystick, and a cartridge slot that never said die.”

The Atari 2600 began life in 1977 as the Atari VCS, a home console that popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games on swappable ROM cartridges. It arrived bundled with two joysticks, a conjoined pair of paddles, and a cartridge — Combat at first, Pac-Man later — while Sears quietly sold it as the Tele-Games Video Arcade. Born from arcade success and CEO Nolan Bushnell's hunt for a programmable home system, i

Renamed the Atari 2600 in November 1982 alongside the 5200's debut, it kept going long after newer machines arrived, until Atari quietly discontinued it in 1992. It left behind the template for everything that followed: swappable cartridges, home ports of arcade hits, and fifteen years of proof that a good console doesn't age out — it just finally sits down.

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