Atari 2600

Pros: Expansive game library; rights to virtually all major arcade hits; fun for the whole family
Cons: Zip, zilch, nada

A four-bit processor. Generally simplistic, one-dimensional games. The heights of “realism” being a hat on top of a boxy-looking stick figure representing Indiana Jones.

Comparing the Atari 2600 to today’s world of 3-D games so realistic...

Pros: Loads of cool and easy to play arcade classics to pick from.
Cons: Very out of date and many games are just too simple or too boring.

ATARI 2600 VIDEO COMPUTER SYSTEM (September 1977-1984) I have written reviews of almost every gaming system out there but I never reviewed the Atari 2600 on Epinions yet because of it's huge history. Now here it is and hopefully I can help you ...

Pros: Good controller, variety of games
Cons: Bad graphics...like that's a surprise!

This is the video game system that began the dedicated gaming unit revolution. Looking back, it's no wonder. It was simple, fun, and durable. It set standards that are only now being matched in some categories.

The biggest asset of this...

Pros: Lots of titles. Redefined the world.
Cons: None

The Atari 2600 has forever changed the way that, we, as a society live. It made the availability and popularity of home-based video game systems widespread and EVERY kid (and adult) simply had to have one.

The 2600 system has very simple...

Pros: Some classic great games that kids would still enjoy today.
Cons: Like most classics it died many years ago for bigger and better things.

This was the hottest thing on the market in the late 70's early 80's. I remember begging my parents for this when I was nine. I had my choice of getting the Intellivision game system or this Atari 2600. Well I picked Atari because I had played many of...

Pros: Classic games. Classic graphics.
Cons: Only used ones can be found which can mean bad quality. Be careful when purchasing.

My Background with Video Games
I am now the proud owner of an Atari 2600. I never had one as a child, though I was blessed with Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Playstation, and a Nintendo64. As you can tell,...

Pros: Retro-ish, ugly, silly games, and no replay value.
Cons: Retro-ish, ugly, silly games, and no replay value.

What is this thing? This thing that I see at flea markets, thrift stores, retro conventions, garage sales, frat parties, attics, trash bins, old-folks homes, ghettos, WEIRD STUFF, the internet, EBAY, and just about anywhere you can find useless old ...

Pros: It's a classic that lasts forever
Cons: None

I remember when I was about 7 years old wanting an Atari 2600 more than anything else in the world.

Well, my sister and I had a plan on how to get one. No, we weren't going to go to Wal-Mart and steal one. Our grandfather grew strawberries...

Pros: Hundreds of games, good controllers, addicting gameplay
Cons: Rudimentary graphics, poor sound, expensive games (at the time)

I’ve now written about two home consoles I have owned and enjoyed as a youngster, and now I feel it’s time to introduce the origin of it all. Much like Lucas started with Episode IV and worked back, I started with chapter two, the Colecovision,...

Pros: Titles still available all over the place; some of the most addictive games ever run on this machine
Cons: Graphics never were the best; the sound wasn't, either

What can one say about the Atari 2600? I got mine when I was a kid, took it through college and graduate school with me, and only "retired" it when I got an Atari 7800 that plays 2600 cartridges. This is one fine system, and there's a very good...

Pros: Wide variety of titles. Great entertainment value
Cons: for the standards of the time...none

The First??

Okay...so there may have been a few consoles prior to the Atari 2600, but its predecessors usually only offered one or two games and didn't offer the range of titles and quality of games that the 2600 did. If you ask today's...

Pros: Some excellent translations brought great games to your T.V.
Cons: Many poorly-programmed games brought the game industry to it's knees in the early 80s

If your a collector, this review doesn't matter because you do need one of these babies in your collection at one time or another because it basically jump started the mutli-game home video game console as we know it. But if your interested in...

Pros: great sounds and hours of fun.
Cons: becomes repetitive.

The Best Atari 2600 games

I have played and own over 100 different Atari games, and these are my favorites that I keep with the system at all times..

Yar's Revenge- (Atari)
It feels so good to beat that evil mothership-alien...

Pros: Large amount of software; solid joystick; first home versions of arcade games
Cons: Functional (at best) graphics and sound

The Atari 2600 was the first truly successful home video game system to hit the marketplace. The system gained popularity as arcade games such as Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Missile Command, Asteroids, and others were coming into prominence, predominantly...

Pros: Replayability and fond memories of misspent youth
Cons: Poor graphics

This, my friends, is a long overdue love letter to my beloved Atari 2600. Dare I say no system has ever been loved, or will ever be loved again like our precious Atari’s.

I defy you to find anyone from our so called “Generation X” that...