Have You Played the Atari VCS Today?

Image of the box for the Video Computer System, a home video game system by Atari 1977

Box for the Atari Video Computer System, revised 1980 version of console

Atari’s infamous entry in the programmable home video game system race, known as the Atari VCS or Video Computer System, begins in the latter part of 1975, as the company’s PONG (and its myriad knock-offs) are ruling the arcade and home TV’s. The first prototype the soon-to-be-famous device begins development this year by Steve Mayer and Ron Milner, of the Atari consulting firm Cyan Engineering. Cyan is part of the company’s far-out Grass Valley, CA think tank, located northeast of Sacramento. It is from this wellspring of innovative thinking that the basic design of what will be known as the VCS, Atari’s 8-bit computers and the QuadraScan vector monitor seen in games like Asteroids will be born, among other marvels. A further prototype of the programmable system is then further refined by Cyan employee Joe Decuir, with Jay Miner (who later designs the ground-breaking Amiga computer) further refining the hardware at Atari’s Los Gatos plant. When Decuir is developing software for the system, he is required to create a password for the time-sharing computer Atari is leasing time on to compile the code. Thinking of his trusty bicycle with the label of its French bike manufacturer Stella printed upon it, he uses that for the password. This is then co-opted by Miner as the name of the chip that is the centre of the system, and then used for the overall project name, and thus solidifies a long tradition of naming Atari systems with women’s names (never mind that it was really Joe Decuir’s bike). Miner would eventually rename the chip the TIA or Television Interface Adapter. It is responsible for generating on-screen graphics, sound effects, and handling joystick control inputs. Miner would also lead design on the chipset for the Atari 400 and 800 computers, as well as the groundbreaking Amiga computer sold by Commodore.

Ron Milner, of Cyan Engineering, one of the conceivers of the Atari VCS/2600 programmable video game system — Ron Milner, here at Cyan Engineering in 1982, one of the conceivers of the Atari VCS/2600 programmable video game system

Jay Miner, creator of the chip for the Atari VCS 2600 video game console — Jay Miner led design of the chip for the Atari 2600. He's seen here in an undated photo

Jay Miner of Atari and Amiga — Jay Miner, architect of the VCS chipset, 1985 image

Joe Decuir of Atari — Joe Decuir, one of the creators of the Atari VCS, 2019 image

Wire-wrapped prototype of the Atari VCS/2600, a video game machine by Atari — Wire-wrapped VCS prototype with Combat! controllers, image from 1997

Ad for the 800 computer, by video game maker Atari — Atari 800 computer. Jay Miner led development of the chipset for this and the Atari 400

Speedway IV video game console in Sears Christmas Wishbook — Speedway IV, dedicated video game about to be obsoleted by the VCS, 1977 Sears Christmas Wishbook

Motocross Sports video game console in Sears Christmas Wishbook — Another dedicated video game console the VCS is about to obsolete, 1977 Sears Christmas Wishbook

Pinball/Breakaway video game console in Sears Christmas Wishbook — Pinball/Breakaway, another dedicated video game about to be obsoleted by the VCS, 1977 Sears Christmas Wishbook

Super Pong video game console in Sears Christmas Wishbook — Super Pong, a dedicated video game about to be obsoleted by the VCS, 1977 Sears Christmas Wishbook

TV video games made in the wake of Atari's PONG video game — Dedicated TV games made in the wake of PONG are about to get obsoleted by the VCS. Ad from OCt. 1977.

A colourful Atari Logo

Image of the prototype for the Atari VCS/2600, 1977

First VCS prototype, assembled in 1975

The finished casing holding all this hardware for Stella measures 23.5″ by 13.45″, constructed of plastic with a simulated wood grain panel on the front to help the machine fit in next to family TV console sets. Two banks of three silver toggle switches perch near the top of the device, controlling power, B&W or colour display, difficulty levels for each player, game select to navigate through the various modes offered by some games and a reset switch to restart an inserted game. Named the Video Computer System (VCS), it barely arrives in stores in time for the 1977 Christmas season.

Atari VCS, later known as the Atari 2600 video game system

The 1978 2nd version of the Atari VCS, lighter than the original known as the “Heavy Sixer” due it its 6 front-mounted switches, as well as maximum thick case plastic and heavy RF shielding…. to protect consumers from not exactly refined RF components that are improved upon in this redesign

Click the button to play Combat on the Atari VCS

The Atari VCS comes with the pack-in cartridge Combat, designed by programmer Larry Kaplan, along with DeCuir and Larry Wagner. Under the initial design of the console, Combat had been planned to be integrated right into the ROMs of the machine as a built-in game. The included cartridge combines two early Atari arcade games, Tank by the Kee Games subsidiary, as well as Atari’s Jet Fighter, released to the arcades in 1975. A dedicated home version of Tank, the name of which vacillates between just Tank and Tank II, is also announced by Atari for release in 1977. The console comes with two joysticks, rounder variations of the controllers that will eventually ship with the VCS, with a single fire button and a flared tip. These sticks can be placed into two holders in the Tank II unit, allowing one player to control the left and right treads of the tank separately. In two-player mode, the sticks can be taken out for each player. Tank II is quietly canceled by Atari after the release of the VCS and its Combat game.

Activision co-founder Larry Kaplan reminices in front of the Los Gatos Atari plant, 1984

First Atari consumer division programmer Larry Wagner, image circa 2024

Atari launch titles for the VCS, 1977

Box art for Combat, a video game by Atari 1977 — Combat, pack-in game for Atari VCS. The first game you played in 1977

Star Ship, a game for the Atari VCS home video game console — Star Ship, a launch title for the Atari VCS, 1977

Air-Sea Battle, a game for the Atari VCS video game console — Air-Sea Battle launch title for the Atari VCS, 1977

Indy 500, a game for the Atari VCS, a home video game console — Indy 500, a launch title for the Atari VCS, 1977

Street Racer, a launch title for the Atari VCS video game console — Street Racer, launch title for Atari VCS, 1977

Video Olympics, for the Atari VCS home video game console — Video Olympics, a launch title for the Atari VCS

Surround, a video game for the Atari VCS game console — Surround, launch title for Atari VCS, 1977

Blackjack, a gambling home video game for the Atari VCS game console — Blackjack, launch title for Atari VCS, 1977

Basic Math, a game for the Atari VCS home video game console — Basic Math, a launch title for the Atari VCS, 1977

With the VCS setup, there are two rheostat paddle controllers included, to facilitate comfortable play of the various PONG-type games to be sold for the console. Along with the included Combat, the library of nine launch titles to accompany the console is composed of: Air-Sea Battle, Indy 500, Star Ship, Street Racer, Video Olympics, Blackjack, Surround, and Basic Math. The VCS is also sold by huge department store chain Sears, as the Sears Video Arcade.

retail display for the Sears Video Arcade, their version of the Atari VCS video game system

Kids of all ages enjoy the Sears Video Arcade, their version of the Atari VCS, at an in-store demo kiosk, 1981

Atari VCS sold as Sears Telegames Video Arcade in 1977 Sears Christmas Wishbook

Introducing the Atari VCS, aka Sears Tele-Games Video Arcade, and the six other cartridges available alongside it, in the 1977 Sears Christmas Wishbook

‘Tank’/’Tank II’ home game, replaced by VCS pack-in game ‘Combat’

Box cover for the Atari VCS paddle controllers

An illustration of the Atari VCS, original 1977 ‘Heavy Sixer’ version with included joysticks and paddle controllers

Your nine launch titles for the Atari VCS, 1977

The heavy sixer Atari VCS console with simulated Combat! game on-screen, 1977

Nolan Bushnell, Here’s Your Hat, What’s Your Hurry?

Running a 1.19 MHz 8-bit MOS Technology 6507 microprocessor, the designers of the system initially figure that it would only be playing tank battle games and PONG–esque titles, so the allocated ROM memory for the programs is 2K. It is eventually decided to bump that to 4K, even though pack-in game Combat itself is only 2K and there is little hope that any program would ever need as much as the allowed maximum. Upon release, nine cartridges are introduced along with the system. With an initial suggested retail price of $249.95, and even less at Sears at $178.95 for their store branded Tele-Games Video Arcade system, there is very little markup on the machines due to the high price of the components, although the game carts cost very little to produce and sell between $20 – $40 each. Sound is sent through the speakers of the television hooked up to the device, allowing users to hear the action as loud or as soft as they like.

Under the hood of the Atari 2600, Summer 1982 image

Controllers for the Atari 2600 video game console

Exploded view of the Atari VCS controllers

Spurred on by the money injected into the company from new owners Warner Communications to the tune of about $120 million, Atari mass produces about 800,000 VCSs in 1977, and manages to sell 400,000 of them. For two years the VCS struggles to reach sales goals in comparison to the budget for marketing the device, and Atari profits drop precipitously, substantially dragging down Warners stock price. There are major production problems, including defective chips and cases, and the easy-going Zen attitude of Atari co-founder and CEO Nolan Bushnell, who describes himself as “a bizarre manager”. This extends to, as a reward for when projected production numbers are met, throwing big “kegger” or “backlot beer busts” drinking parties for employees, in the company parking lot. Considering Atari’s explosive growth and demand for their products, this equals a LOT of parties. This even goes so far as having an oak beer tap in Bushnell’s office. The Coors would flow freely everyday after work, during informal manager meetings where the gang would peruse the latest game prototypes. In addition, Bushnell has recalled, heavens forfend, cannabis being used freely during Atari planning sessions, perhaps all the better for the facilitating of creative brainstorming, where no idea is considered too outlandish or out of reach.

Atari-made games for the VCS, 1978-1979

Really more of a maze-based car combat game than a slot racing game by Warren Robinett, who would go on to greater fame as author of Atari's Adventure. The title of Slot Racers was a marketing ploy as a play on the popular 70's pastime. (1978)

Basketball, designed by Alan Miller, was a million-copy plus seller for Atari, and Miller's lack of recognition or payment for this success led him to found third-party VCS game publisher Activision, with other disgruntled Atari employees (game released in 1978)

Touch Me, one of the game modes in this cartridge for the Atari VCS video game system, is based on the Atari arcade game and handheld game of the same name, which inspired Ralph Baer to create the massively successful handheld music game Simon for Milton Bradley. Cartridge from 1978

Based on the MIT mainframe computer game from 1962, Space War also influenced Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell to make his first video game in 1971, titled Computer Space. The Atari home game was released in 1978.

Breakout, a home version of the famous arcade game developed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, 1978

Atari created the 12-numbered Keyboard Controller to justify the 'computer' part of the name "Video Computer System" (VCS), and Codebreaker, a video game version of the famous number-guessing game Mastermind, took advantage of those controllers (1978)

Designed by Jim Huether, Flag Capture for the Atari VCS video game console was a run-up for the famous "Minesweeper" game found in Microsoft Windows. (1978)

Designed by future Activision founder Alan Miller, while called Hangman, the game actually drew a monkey hanging by its arm as you guessed wrong letters. (1978)

Home Run was another Atari VCS sports game that was mercilessly compared to the much more advanced sports games of the Mattel Intellivision in advertisements for that system (1978)

You'll need the 12-key Keyboard Controllers to play Hunt & Score for the Atari VCS video game console, essentially a version of Concentration (1978)

David Crane's Outlaw was pretty much Midway arcade game Gun Fight/Boot Hill brought home to the Atari VCS video game console, 1978

Knock a square ball around the course without getting messed up by a bigger moving block in Tom Reuterdahl's Miniature Golf for the Atari VCS video game system, 1979 — Knock a square ball around the course without getting messed up by a bigger moving block in Miniature Golf for the Atari VCS video game system, 1979

You could actually have 4 players in front of the Atari VCS console playing the Casino cartridge by using the paddle controllers included in early version of the system, 1979

Essentially a version of computer game genre artillery duel, for the Atari VCS console (1979)

Pitched to designer David Crane as an upside-down version of Breakout, he also included a remarkable physics model for falling blocks. (1979) — Pitched to designer David Crane as an upside-down version of Breakout, he also included a remarkable physics model for the falling blocks. (1979)

Designer Larry Kaplan used so much of the paltry 128 bytes of memory in the Atari VCS video game console on the vagaries of bowling scoring, he had no more room left for a 2nd opponent! (1979)

Locked on a single screen with only 6 flickering players, Football for the Atari VCS was regularly maligned by Mattel's advertisements for their competing Intellivision game system. (1979)

People didn't trust computers to impartially roll die electronically, so designer Craig Nelson allowed players to use the console switches to activate a manual mode where you rolled actual physical die and input the resulting numbers using the paddle controllers (1979)

Jim Huether promoted defying death in his game Sky Diver, awarding the most points for waiting to open your chute at the very last second, for the Atari VCS video game console, 1979

Atari was sued for not having a chess game like they promised on the box for the Atari VCS. Future Activision designer Bob Whitehead then created a programming trick to allow the VCS to show 8 chess pieces in a row, and Video Chess was born! (1979)

Not a lot of fruit to be found in David Crane's Slot Machine for the Atari VCS video game, since fruits are round and hard to render as smaller icons on the system, 1979

Superman for the Atari VCS video game console has surprisingly deep gameplay, and was built on early code for Warren Robinett's popular VCS game Adventure (and Superman was released first, in 1979)

Bushnell’s antics at Atari starts to wear out his welcome even with Warner head Steve Ross, himself a chairman noted for having a laissez-faire management style. Things get so rough with sales numbers for the VCS that Bushnell dramatically stands up during an Atari/Warner board meeting and suggests that the console has its price slashed, in order to increase market share and enlarge the market for the games the company also sells. Dismayed by the direction the company has decided to take, and himself increasingly absent from Atari offices as he loses interest in running things the way they are, Bushnell steps down from formal duties as chairman in late 1978, with a multimillion-dollar package. Former Burlington textile executive Raymond Kassar is tagged as president and CEO of the video game company, having been hired as a consultant to Atari since March of 1978. Joe Keenan, company veteran and former Atari president, is named as chairman, but would soon leave the company as well. At the time Atari announces that Bushnell will “continue to serve Atari in the development of coin-operated games,” but that he also will “devote more time to his personal affairs, investments and other interests, including politics.” His ultimate exit package comes with strings attached: a 5-year “no-competition” clause that prevents Bushnell from operating within the video game space. This aspect of his agreement with Atari is later cited by the company for a lawsuit launched against Bushnell and Sente Technologies, a video game company he introduces to the public in October of 1983 (covered below). Atari and Bushnell eventually reach an agreement in the fall of that year, with his former company gaining the consumer rights to any arcade games released by Sente.

Joe Keenan, former Atari president, image from 1982

Ray Kassar named as president and CEO of Atari, undated photo

Atari, now under ownership of Warner Communications, sells the VCS in 1978

“King Pong” Nolan Bushnell Atari Chairman, with Outlaw video game, 1978

Atari VCS video game system and controllers, 1978

After Bushnell’s exit from Atari, the work atmosphere changes perceptively as disciplinarian Ray “The Czar” Kassar cracks down on the relaxed attitude towards dress and work hours that the ‘hippies’ at Atari had previously enjoyed. Their video game console is selling; Atari moves over a million units between 1977-1979. Still, that’s only on the cusp of the kind of mass-market penetration Atari is looking for to be a real success. Indicating his allegiance to marketing over technical innovation, Kassar quickly halts funds for R&D and pours $6 million into an advertising campaign to help move VCS consoles off the shelves. As a whole, 1979 sees about 1-1.5 million U.S. homes with some kind of game console. These systems require games, so somewhere between 3-4 million cartridges are sold for them this year. The projected explosive growth of the VCS market also spawns an industry for third-party video games for the system, starting with Activision in 1979. Founded by disgruntled former Atari game programmers Alan Miller, Bob Whitehead, David Crane and Larry Kaplan, their venture is quickly followed by others entering the lucrative market, including Imagic in 1981.

Activision games for the VCS/2600, 1980-1989

Dragster was the first third-party video game sold for the Atari VCS/2600, 1980

The initial release of Larry Kaplan's Bridge had a bug that would cause the game to crash. Activision did a rare re-issue fixed version of the game (1980)

The Atari VCS was not well known for its scrolling playfield ability. Designer Bob Whitehead used the trick of keeping the skier static at the top of the screen, and all the objects would move upwards on a white void to create the feeling of velocity (1980)

Fishing Derby started out as a "virtual aquarium" program by designer David Crane, who later added a fishing mechanic and even the pesky roaming shark (1980)

Activision designer Bob Whitehead did a real tour-de-force technical achievement in Boxing by drawing the large boxer sprites line by line as the TV scanned the screen (1980)

Due to the extreme memory limitation on the Atari video game console at just 128 bytes, on the highest difficulty level the game Checkers would take up to 5 minutes to make its move! (1980)

Designer Alan Miller's ingenious use of the tennis ball's shadow gave the Tennis video game a feeling of depth, and helped orient players on the court (1981)

Activision games were known for neat little gameplay layers, and Bob Whitehead's Stampede doesn't disappoint with the nudging ability to keep cattle on the screen longer to rope, and will actually slow down the cattle if they get "tired" from being nudged too many times (1981)

A neat aspect of Alan Miller's Ice Hockey is that the puck automatically slides along the blade of the stick, and where the puck is located when the button is pushed determines the angle of the shot or pass (1981)

Designer David Crane got the idea for Freeway while attending the CES trade show in Chicago, and trying to cross the busy Lake Shore Drive to get to the venue (1981)

A neat aspect to designer Larry Kaplan's Kaboom! is that by reaching certain point thresholds, you can see the face of the "Mad Bomber" become shocked and then angry (1981)

Laser Blast, by David Crane, reversed the script of Space Invaders and has players act as invading space ships against armed ground emplacements (1981)

Designer Carol Shaw gave players a lot of control over the direction and speed of their attacking plane, over what was a procedurally generated river landscape (1982)

Like Tennis before it, Sky Jinks used shadows to indicate direction and depth to players (1982)

Apparently the story here with Steve Cartwright's Megamania is that a spaceman has fallen asleep after eating too much, and therefore is dreaming all the crazy items players are blasting (1982)

Pitfall! was David Crane's open-ish world action adventure game magnum opus, and Activision's best-seller of the era at around 4 million copies sold! (1982)

David Crane developed the multi-coloured, shaded design of the race cars for Grand Prix first, and then built a game around it. (1982)

Very similar in concept to Atari's own Star Raiders, Alan Miller's Starmaster required using a physical switch on the face of the Atari VCS video game console to bring up the Galactic Chart and navigate your ship around the galaxy (1982)

Bob Whitehead's Chopper Command for the Atari VCS video game console had the gameplay concept of hit Williams' game Defender, and the helicopter flight physics from Dan Gorlin's Choplifter (1982)

Acitivison sent designer Steve Cartwright down the Las Vegas strip in a crop-duster biplane (with a pilot driving) during CES to promote this game. (1982)

Enduro, by Larry Miller, features a full day-night cycle and varying weather patterns that affect how your car drives (1983)

Gamers used audio cues and a friendly ink-squirting squid to score the much-coveted "Friends of the Dolphin" patch from Activision (1983)

Spider Fighter, by Larry Miller, was a blisteringly fast and flicker-free game on the Atari 2600 video game system (1983)

Throwing pots in Crackpots in order to kill bugs climbing a building seems a bit drastic (1983) — Throwing pots in Dan Kitchen's Crackpots in order to kill bugs climbing a building seems a bit drastic (1983)

In order to fill a cavity in their game release lineup, Activision had Steve Cartwright re-tooth his Megamania code into Plaque Attack (1983)

Keystone Kapers, by Garry Kitchen, featured some very fluid and flicker-free animation (1983)

Designer Steve Cartwright was influenced by the gameplay of Frogger while making Frostbite (1983)

Game mode 3 in Oink!, by designer Mike Lorenzen, let 2-players game at the same time: one as the little pig trying to rebuild his house, and one as the wolf trying to blow it down (1983)

The food assembly and serving mechanic of designer Garry Kitchen (apropos name) and his Pressure Cooker presaged games like Overcooked (1983)

So many events in The Activision Decathlon, perhaps even more so than others like Track & Field or Summer Games, had the players waggling the joystick like mad, was known as the joystick-killer by gamers, 1983 — So many events in The Activision Decathlon, perhaps even more so than others like Track & Field or Summer Games, had the players waggling the joystick like mad, that it was known as the joystick-killer by gamers, 1983

While Alan Miller's Robot Tank borrowed its concept from Atari's famous arcade game Battlezone, it expanded things by having a day-night cycle and a sophisticated damage model (1983)

Rescue six divers from the ocean floor and return them safely to the surface in Steve Cartwright's Seaquest for the Atari 2600 video game console, 1983

In order to successfully complete the mission cycle in Steve Kitchen's complicated Space Shuttle: A Journey Into Space, you needed to use every switch on the face of the Atari VCS console, guided by an included control template (1983)

Bob Whitehead's Private Eye was an item scavenger hunt that could span up to 248 different screens (1984)

Beamrider designer David Rolfe helped create the Mattel Intellivision game console, which makes sense since Beamrider was developed for that console first (2600 version released in 1984)

The repeating background music for David Crane's Pitfall II: Lost Caverns was possible by including a special chip inside every cartridge for the Atari 2600 video game console (1984)

Designer John Van Ryzin created Cosmic Commuter first, but gameplay issues caused it to be delayed and he made the classic game H.E.R.O. in the meantime (1984)

One of the great things about designer John Van Ryzin's classic H.E.R.O. is the ability to destructively open up new paths using dynamite (1984)

In order to meet the tight deadline of the movie's release, David Crane used game mechanics from a previous programming experiment to create Ghostbusters for the Atari 2600 video game system (1985)

Designer Dan Kitchen amazingly mapped the many moves of the classic arcade game Kung-Fu Master to joystick directions and a single fire button on the Atari 2600 video game (1987)

Released very late in the Atari 2600 production cycle, River Raid II added a lot of complexity to the formula, including altitude adjustments and a fuel consumption rate scheme (1988)

With Commando by designer Mike Reidel, Activision was pushing the technical limits of the Atari 2600 video game console as far as they could go (1988)

One of the last games officially released for the Atari 2600 video game console, designer Dan Kitchen somehow managed to map all the moves onto the Atari joystick in his version of Double Dragon, AND include a mode with simultaneous 2-player action (1988)

A graphically amazing game based on the popular arcade game Rampage, released near the very end of the Atari 2600 production cycle. Designer Bob DeCrescenzo managed to keep third monster Ralph the Wolf in the lineup, while the more well-known NES version cut him from the game's design (Atari version 1989)

Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller, David Crane, Steve Cartwright and Bob Whitehead, programmers a video game company Activision

The Gang of Five: L.-R.: Larry Kaplan, Alan Miller, David Crane, Steve Cartwright and Bob Whitehead of Activision, 1982

Warner chairman Steve Ross with his ever-present pencils, 1982

Box art for ‘Pele’s Soccer’, an early celebrity sports tie-in

Bob Whitehead on an Activision game development system, 1982

Screenshot of Space Invaders, a video game for the Atari VCS/2600 1980

Space Invaders for Atari VCS/2600

Space Invaders on the Atari VCS

By 1980, there are 36 cartridges available for the Atari VCS, including a simplified version of soccer featuring three players to a side, plus goalies. After signing Brazilian football superstar Pele in 1980 to a five-year contract as spokesman, Atari quickly changes the name of the game from Soccer to Pele’s Soccer, resulting in one of the earliest celebrity athlete video game endorsements. But the company is about to make a move that will truly blow the lid off the home videogame industry: Atari becomes the first home videogame company to license an arcade game. It is Warner executive Manny Gerard who realizes the enormous home potential for arcade hit Space Invaders, originally made by Japanese game maker Taito and then licensed for North American release by Midway.

An “Invader House” cafe filled with many Space Invaders cocktail tables, circa 1978

Space Invaders cocktail tables fill ‘Invaders House’ in Japan, 1979

Warner exec Manny Gerard (left) with Masaya Nakamura when Namco bought 60% of Atari Games, 1985

Gerard persuades Kassar to enter into an agreement with Taito for exclusive non-coin-operated, personal computer and handheld video game licenses for Space Invaders, and the January 1980 release of Atari’s home video game version becomes the killer app for the VCS; people rush out and buy the system just to play the game. There are 112 different variations on gameplay available, including invisible aliens, moving bunkers and simultaneous two-player action.

Game manual showing game variations of Atari Space Invaders home video game

Game Matrix from the Atari Space Invaders manual showing the myriad of game variations, 1980

The original coin-op Space Invaders, 1978

Space Invaders port, hugely popular on the Atari 2600, 1980

Space Invaders and the Atari VCS for sale in the 1980 JC Penney Christmas catalog

Rick Maurer, designer of home ‘Space Invaders’, circa 1997

The best electronic games for the 1980 xmas season, according to Omni magazine. Including the mighty VCS and Space Invaders cartridge

Selling over a million cartridges in its first year, the arcade adaptation rakes in over $100 million for Atari, as well as moving tonnes of VCS consoles to people who want to play the game. The designer of the game, Rick Maurer, was one of a few, if not the only, early programmer for the VCS with previous video game design experience: he had created Pinball Challenge, Hangman and Pro Football for the Fairchild Channel F game console. As an Atari employee, he only earns his $11, 000 salary that year in the wake of Space Invaders. He eventually moves to the Atari arcade division and their more favourable bonus program. Looking at the market overall, dealers buy 1.7 million video games in 1980.

Graphic rendering of the Atari VCS and controllers, 1980

Under Ray Kassar, Atari leans into marketing, less into innovation, 1980 trade ad

Space Invaders. Only Atari has it at home, in this 1980 ad for the Atari VCS

Atari’s attitude towards the authors making all these games for their company is that they should remain anonymous and that the games are identified as a corporate creation rather than the effort of individual employees. In a response to that, Warren Robinett hides his name within his VCS game Adventure, a graphical version of Will Crowther and Don Woods’ text adventure Colossal Cave, aka Adventure. This is widely recognized as the first hidden “Easter Egg” within a video game, and it initially attract the ire of upper management. Eventually, however, Atari relents and understands the possible draw of hidden features of video games. In 1981 Software Development Director Steve Wright invites gamers to keep an eye out for a plethora of easter eggs the company will hide in its games, and even floats the idea of a contest to find them, perhaps inspiring the idea for Atari’s later Swordquest games and related treasure hunting contest. Robinett would leave Atari and, with Leslie Grimm, design the educational program Rocky’s Boots for The Learning Company. The program teaches kids simple boolean logic circuitry by having them manipulate circuits and complete tasks within a simulated world.

Atari video game designer Warren Robinett creator of Atari Adventure game — Warren Robinett, Atari Adventure designer

Warren Robinett, creator of VCS Adventure, 1983 — 1983 image of Warren Robinett, creator of VCS Adventure

Warren Robinett Atari Adventure video game designer, 1984

Cover art for Atari's Adventure video game for the 2600 video game console — Atari's Adventure video game, by Warren Robinett, cover illustration

Rocky's Boots educational video game co-designed by Warren Roninett, 1984

1981 recruiting ad for Atari, a home video game and computer company — Atari video game company is hiring, 1981

Atari magazine ad — Atari advertises its wares all year round, 1979

A poster highlighting games for the VCS/2600, a home video game system by Atari 1977 — Poster highlighting VCS/2600 games

Magazine ad for the VCS/2600, a home video game system by Atari 1977 — 1982 magazine ad touting the many games for the Atari VCS

Promotional image for the Atari VCS video game console — 1982 Atari VCS pamphlet: Family defends cities against nuclear destruction in their Sunday finery

Undated promo photo for the Atari video game system 2600 or VCS — Undated Atari VCS promo shot

Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee regals a group of kids, along with Spider-Man and Green Goblin

Atari-made games for the VCS, 1980-1982

Space Invaders, a game for the Atari VCS home video game system — Space Invaders port, hugely popular on the Atari 2600, 1980

Adventure, by Warren Robinett, was a compelling open-world graphic action-adventure game that helped popularize hidden easter-eggs in video games (1980)

Warren Robinett's Basic Programming was indeed basic; the paltry 128 bytes of memory in the Atari VCS meant a program couldn't exceed 64 characters (1980)

The home version of Atari arcade game Night Driver was designed by Rob Fulop, who would later help found third party VCS game designer Imagic (game from 1980)

3-D Tic-Tac-Toe makes its mark on video game history by being the first commercial video game fully created and released by a full-time female game designer, Carol Shaw (1980)

Mike Lorenzen's Circus Atari was one of many home and arcade games that utilized the gameplay concept of firing clowns at floating balloons from a teeter-totter, in a take on Atari's popular Breakout (Circus Atari released in 1980)

Cramming 9 holes of golf, complete with hazards and a green zoom-in, within the brutal 2K memory limit of the Atari VCS cartridge, was a Herculean task for designer Mike Lorenzen (1980)

Alan Miller, former Atari programmer and a co-founder of Activision, made his own Checkers game for that company. He was so impressed with the advanced AI of Carol Shaw's Video Checkers for Atari that he recruited her for Activision in 1982 (Video Checkers released in 1980)

Maze Craze was developed by Rick Maurer, who also met with a bit of success creating the home port of arcade phenomena Space Invaders for the Atari VCS (Maze Craze released in 1980)

Dodge 'Em, created by Carla Meninsky, was a home version of the Sega arcade game Head On, but featured a 2-player simultaneous mode(1980)

Super Breakout was a big hit, in keeping with the original arcade game Breakout, so much so that designer of the home game, Nick Turner, earned $250,000 dollars in royalties over it (1981)

Ed Logg, perhaps better known as the developer of Atari arcade hit Asteroids, borrowed the graphics routine from Carol Shaw's Checkers game for his version of Othello for the Atari VCS (1981)

Brad Stewart's first attempt at bringing Atari arcade game Asteroids to the home was so janky that he started over again, developing the bank switching technique that effectively doubled cartridge RAM space from 4K to 8K, 1981

Steeplechase for the Atari VCS video game system was one of three games by Atari sold exclusively in Sears stores (1981)

You kind of get the idea that, by thinking about the title Stellar Track, AND the look of the ship AND what looks like the Federation symbol on the label AND how this was a home video game adaptation of the famous computer strategy game Star Trek, that Atari was banking on licensing the Star Trek name and negotiations fell through. Also, one of three game by Atari sold exclusively by Sears (1981)

Carla Meninsky was the designer who made the Atari VCS console version of Warlords, which bucked trends at the time by moving first from a home game to an arcade version, by Norm Avellar and Greg Rivera (home game released in 1981)

Video Pinball programmer Bob Smith used the Superman pinball game located in the Atari offices to familiarize himself with the mechanics of pinball, 1981

The designer of the Atari VCS version of arcade hit Missile Command, Rob Fulop, like other disgruntled Atari game programmers, would go on to leave the company and help form Atari VCS third party game developer Imagic (game from 1981)

If the player's eyes in this game as you move around the darkened Haunted House seem familiar, that's because they're assets taken from the ghosts's eyes in Atari's Pac-Man, 1982

Atari's translation of Pac-Man, while a huge seller on the Atari VCS home video game, was deemed a creative disaster that didn't control nearly as well as the Midway/Namco arcade classic, 1982

Designer Matthew Hubbard added tactical management aspects like a temperature gauge, enemy detectors and limited fuel to the Seawolf II formula in Submarine Commander for the Atari VCS video game console, 1982

Sure, Howard Scott Warshaw made the abominations that were the Atari versions of Raiders of the Lost Ark and E.T., he also made this absolute classic for the Atari VCS video game system, 1982

Not only did the need for multiple fast-moving targets in a game based on the arcade smash Defender make things into a flickering mess in the home version, gamers could also exploit this to render their ship invulnerable to enemy ships when the player fired their weapon (1982)

Demons to Diamonds is a kind of colourful shooting gallery for the Atari VCS video game console, 1982

Using scenario-based "rubber banding" AI, Math Gran Prix designer Suki Lee had the game intentionally messing up when a player fell behind, and getting better when the player was succeeding too much (1982)

Atari VCS owners got a very faithful home version of the hit Stern Electronics arcade game in Atari's Berzerk, 1982

Star Raiders was so complicated a game that it was bundled with the Video Touch Pad to allow players to control their ship on the Atari VCS (1982)

The RealSports lineup was spurred on by the brutal ads Mattel would run, comparing Atari sports games like the original Home Run to the more realistic graphics and gameplay of sports games on the Intellivision (1982)

Game designer Bob Polaro had a tough row to hoe while making RealSports Volleyball.... he spent a lot of time at the beach watching and playing volleyball to get the feel and rules right (1982)

Raiders of the Lost Ark, another dense and inscrutable Spielberg movie adaptation (along with the notorious E.T.) by designer Howard Scott Warshaw, 1982

E.T. is such a slog to play, with inscrutable mechanics and extremely annoying collision detection, that it helped cut the legs out from under Atari and thus, helped hasten the collapse of the video game industry (1982)

Swordquest: Earthworld was part of a series of games tied to a contest where Atari awarded valuable treasures like crowns and sceptres to players who most quickly found the clues to their theoretical location (1982)

The box cover of Vanguard features an illustration drawn by the famous Ralph McQuarrie of Star Wars concept art fame, 1982

Over the next two years, the Atari VCS completely dominates the home videogame market, its only rival of any significance being Mattel’s Intellivision unit. Profits for the company jump from $6 million in 1979 to $145 million in 1981, on sales of over $1 billion. In November of 1981, Atari announces a deal with Namco for exclusive rights to license, build and sell their new arcade games for North America and elsewhere, along with home game rights for the company’s Galaxian and Pac-Man. This paves the way for Atari’s dubious version of the latter arcade game for the 2600 in 1982. Bucking industry convention, the idea of keeping toy promotion only to the end-of-year Holiday season is thrown out the window; Atari begins pushing the VCS and all of its games throughout the year, including a $75 million ad campaign through 1982. The company also spends $334,000 for a commercial spot during Super Bowl XVI. Combined with $25 million in cooperative ad dollars spent by Atari dealers, Atari figures this makes them the biggest spender in advertising for a single brand in America.

Atari marketing execs Frank Ballouz (far left), Tom Petit (2nd from right) and Don Osborne (far right), with coin-op head Joe Robbins (centre left) in front of a Battlezone and Asteroids cabinet, 1981

Promo image for the Atari 2600 video game system, 1981

Discover how far you can go with Atari, 1981 ad

Atari was the sole sponsor of the first episodes of PBS series Discover: The World of Science, 1983

1983 also sees Atari provide full sponsorship of a prime-time science education series of TV specials produced by two alumni from the PBS series Nova, Graham Chedd and John Angier. Titled Discover: The World of Science, it is produced in association with science magazine Discover, and airs on around 75 stations across the U.S, covering more than 80% of American homes. Hosting duties for the show are carried out by Peter Graves, of Mission: Impossible and Airplane: The Movie fame. Atari co-produces some episodes at a cost of $1 million each which promote computer use and literacy, a nice bit of synergy with the company’s 8-bit home computer line. After the video game market evaporates in 1983-1984, the science series finds a home at PBS. The VCS monopolizes family use of the television set to such an extent that TV pundits start referring to the “Big Four” networks: CBS, ABC, NBC, and Atari.

What will you be watching on TV tonight?

Third-party games for the Atari VCS/2600, Pt.1

Not a game, but a development tool that allowed users to write programs on the Atari VCS video game console in 6502 machine language code (1981)

Skeet Shoot was the first game released for the Atari VCS video game console by third-party game developer Games By Apollo (1981)

Spacechase was by far the biggest-selling game put out by Games by Apollo, selling over 1 million copies for the Atari 2600, one of only around 25 games out of hundreds released for that system that reached that status (1982)

Space Jockey was the first game released by U.S. Games (aka vidtec), a division of instant oatmeal kings Quaker Oats, was programmed by future Activision employee Garry Kitchen, and a million-seller to boot! (1982)

Open Sesame for the Atari 2600 video game console was a platform game loosely based on Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1982)

To say Rob Fulop's Demon Attack was a popular game is an understatement: it was third-party game developer Imagic's most popular release, and was the 10th biggest-selling game overall on the Atari 2600 video game console (1982)

In Trick Shot, by third-party game maker Imagic, in order to work in the sparse memory confines of the Atari 2600 video game console, there are only 3-balls displayed at a time on the pool table (1982)

Star Voyager, by Bob Smith for third-party game maker Imagic, had the viewpoint of a game like Star Raiders, but lacked the strategy aspect of a galactic map (1982)

Cosmic Swarm is a kind of mash-up of Centipede and Asteroids, and was the first product released by developer CommaVid (1982)

Lost Luggage was a nifty take on the hit Activision game Kaboom!, with the added visual flourish of pieces of clothes spilling out when a suitcase was missed by players (1982)

Space Cavern came about when Games By Apollo chief Pat Roper wanted his company to make a game similar to Imagic's big seller Demon Attack, describing what he wanted to programmer Dan Oliver without revealing his inspiration (1982)

Games by Apollo would have to quickly change the name of this game to Shark Attack after releasing it as Lochjaw, when Universal Pictures, owners of the rights to the blockbuster Steven Spielberg movie Jaws, sent a biting cease and desist letter over the game title (1982)

Programmer Ed Salvo created an amazing 3D space on the Atari 2600 video game console with Racquetball (1982)

Astute gamers will know that the Cosmic Ark, the ship featured in the next Imagic game, is seen escaping when the city of Atlantis is destroyed at the end of this game (1982)

While a bit of a programming marvel on the Atari 2600, Garry Kitchen's adaptation of the hit Nintendo arcade game Donkey Kong only featured two levels from the coin-op version, and the graphics were far from the cartoony original (1982)

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was the first video game for board game champs Parker Brothers, and it was a massive hit, selling over 1 million copies... one of only 25 games released for the Atari 2600 video game console to reach that milestone (1982)

Their adaptation of the smash arcade hit Frogger was one of the first two video games put out by board game kings Parker Brothers, and both were huge-sellers; the other was the Star Wars game The Empire Strikes Back (Frogger released in 1982)

Check your targets! There's innocent civilians among the possible targets in Spectravision shooting-gallery video game Gangster Alley, for the Atari 2600 video game console (1982)

Planet Patrol, operating under a heavy influence from arcade hit Defender, did that game one better by being one of a handful of Atari 2600 games that offered a day/night cycle that actually affected gameplay (1982)

You'll notice a tiny saucer escaping when the city is eventually destroyed in the previous Imagic game Atlantis... this is the Cosmic Ark from this game (1982)

Threshold, originally published for computers by Sierra On-Line, then ported to the Atari 2600 by Tigervision, was a tough game that gave players on Atari's system a run for their money (1982)

Learn to spell and satisfy your twitchy trigger finger on the Atari 2600 video game console with Word Zapper, from the good folks at Quaker Oats, owner of U.S. Games/Vidtec, 1982

Programmer Ron Surratt used the available "missile" sprites on the Atari 2600 to create highly abstract multiple food stuffs that didn't flicker when appearing on the same line in his home version of Burgertime (1982)

The original Jawbreaker, by John Harris and sold by Sierra On-line initially for the Atari 8-bit computers, was a pretty close clone of Pac-Man, and drew ire from the legal team of Atari, owners of the rights to the Namco/Midway original, so things were changed to a dental theme (1982)

This King Kong game was licensed to Tigervision by the movie studio Universal in order to bolster the studio's lawsuit against Nintendo over Donkey Kong (1982)

Sneak 'n Peek is a hide and seek video game with no single player mode, natch. So you better have a friend who you can trust to keep their eyes closed or turned away or leave the room while the hider player hides (1982)

Early design work on this game was done by the legendary Mark Turmell, who would later have a massive success at Midway with NBA Jam (Beany Bopper released in 1982)

As "China syndrome" was an established colloquial term within nuclear power circles (the 'fanciful' idea that a full out-of-control nuclear meltdown would send the reactor straight down to China), Spectravision could use the term for their game alongside an unrelated Jane Fonda/Michael Douglas/Jack Lemmon movie of the same title (1982)

Cross Force features an interesting game mechanic where players use a beam between two guns to eliminate opponents (1982)

A duck shooting projectiles from its bill fights flying, brick-dropping crabs. Who says video game are abstract?! One of the first games from the video game arm of 20th Century Fox, based on a computer game by developer Sirius (1982)

Another game by game design guru Mark Turmell, of NBA Jam (and many others) fame (1982)

Ironically, Games by Apollo was making its final approach to closing up shop soon after this game was released for the Atari 2600 video game console (1982)

Apropos for third-party game maker Imagic, Riddle of the Sphinx had surprisingly deep gameplay.... so much so that the second Atari 2600 controller was needed by players for inventory management (1982)

You can't really fail in saving the victim in the Imagic game Fire Fighter, you're racing the clock to get the best rescue time (1982)

Both later games Impossible Mission and Elevator Action seem to be taking a cue from the gameplay in Ed Salvo's Infiltrate (1982)

Yet another version of the computer game Snake (1982)

After adapting the treasure-seeking game Venture for the Atari 2600 video game console, programmer Hal Finney eventually helped work on the PGP encryption scheme and was an early pioneer of Bitcoin (1982)

This game is sort of a reverse Sea Wolf.... you drop depth charges down onto targets in the sea (1982)

Pooyan is another "what were they smoking" abstract fantasy game by Konami, for the Atari 2600 video game console (1982)

Canadian department store chain Zellers sold their own licenced (or 'borrowed') versions of games initially released by smaller developers; Inca Gold was originally called Spider Monster (Inca Gold released in 1982)

The only game produced by developer Men-A-Vision, and a rare one at that: in 2012 a complete game, with box and instructions, sold for $33,433 on auction house GameGavel making it at the time the most expensive Atari 2600 game ever sold (game released in 1982)

Adult game Gigolo was sold on 2-1 carts by PlayAround, and like these games is a gender-swapping version of a game sold by infamous adult game company Mystique... the original was called Cathouse Blues (Gigolo released in 1982)

Adult game Knight on the Town was sold on 2-1 carts by PlayAround, and like these games is a gender-swap or re-skin of a game sold by infamous adult game company Mystique... the original was called Bachelor Party (Knight on the Town released in 1982)

Another Sirius computer game released on the Atari 2600 from Fox Video Games (1982)

Over the course of its production run, over 200 games are produced for the VCS/2600 by 40 manufacturers. Approximately 120 million cartridges are sold, and there are 55 different compatible videogame systems eventually released worldwide. Atari, the company that had shrunk Warner Communication’s market share during the early days of the VCS is now responsible for half of the mother corporation’s profits, with sales for Atari in 1981 at over $600 million, and total revenues for Warner amounting to $1.23 billion. But despite this success, perhaps sensing something in the wind, perhaps tired of toiling under Kassar, perhaps just tired… Al Alcorn, hardware designer of the Atari arcade game PONG, in 1981 is one of the last of the originals to leave Atari.

Third-party games for the Atari VCS/2600, Pt.2