Atari 2800

Atari 2800

Atari 2800 on display
Manufacturer Atari Inc.
Generation Second generation
Retail availability
Media ROM cartridge
CPU MOS 6507 @ 1.19 MHz
Controller input 8 direction joystick/paddle
Best-selling game Pac-Man, 7 million (as of September 1, 2006)[1][2]
Predecessor Atari 2600
Successor Atari 7800

The Atari 2800 is the Japanese version of the Atari 2600, released in 1983. It was the first release of a 2600 designed specifically for the Japanese market, despite companies like Epoch distributing the 2600 in Japan previously.

The 2800 never captured a large market in Japan. It was released a short time after the Nintendo Famicom, which became the dominant console in the Japanese video game market of the time.

Design

Codenamed "Cindy", and designed by Atari engineer Joe Tilly, the Atari 2800 had four controller ports instead of the standard two on the Atari 2600's. The controllers are an all-in one design using a combination of an 8-direction digital joystick and a 270-degree paddle, designed by John Amber. [3]

The 2800's case design departed from the standard 2600 format, using a wedge shape with non-protruding switches.

Around 30 specially branded games were released for the 2800. Their boxes are in Japanese and have a silver/red color scheme similar to the packaging of Atari's 2600 branded games of the time. The cartridges themselves had identical labels as their 2600 branded counterparts.

Legacy

References

  1. ^ Jeremy Reimer (2006-09-01). "EA's Madden 2007 sells briskly, but are games gaining on movies?". Ars Technica. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060901-7652.html. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
  2. ^ Kent, Steven (2001). The Ultimate History of Video Games. Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4. 
  3. ^ a b c The Atari 2800 System