Platform archive · Atari
Atari 2600
Released first as the Video Computer System, Atari’s landmark console turned the television into a flexible game platform. Its long life produced multiple Atari shells, regional models, and licensed compatibles.
AtariLaunch information
The platform’s opening chapter
- Hardware era
- 1977
- Launch region
- Worldwide
- Primary physical format
- Cartridge
- First documented physical release
- September 1977 · exact day not documented
- Latest documented physical release
- July 2025 · exact day not documented
- Special editions and variants
- 0
Hardware collector index
Colors, revisions, and special editions
Launch · North America
Heavy Sixer — woodgrain
Revision · North America
Light Sixer — woodgrain
Revision · Worldwide
Four-switch — woodgrain
Color · Worldwide
Four-switch “Vader” — black
Revision · Worldwide
Atari 2600 Jr.
Licensed model · North America
Sears Video Arcade — four-switch
Regional model · Japan
Atari 2800
Licensed model · North America
Coleco Gemini
Best-known releases
Platform-defining collector highlights
July 1982 · exact day not documented
Donkey Kong
September 1983 · exact day not documented
Donkey Kong Junior
July 6, 1983
Mario Bros.
September 1983 · exact day not documented
Star Fox
November 17, 2023
10 Games in 1
July 1980 · exact day not documented
3-D Tic-Tac-Toe
1988 · exact day not documented
32 in 1
November 2023 · exact day not documented
4 Games in 1 Cartridge
Complete physical checklist