X-Nico

2 unusual facts about Atari 2600


Carla Meninsky

Carla Meninsky was a video game designer during the early years of the Atari 2600 video game console.

Rob Fulop

Rob Fulop is a writer and game programmer who was chiefly responsible for some of the Atari 2600's biggest hits, such as 1982's enormously successful Demon Attack.


Aztec Challenge

A version named A-VCS-tec Challenge including the modified-first-person 3-D style was developed from 2002 to 2006 by Simon Quernhorst for the Atari 2600 (Sears VCS).

Gametraders

Gametraders accepts trade-ins of any game, regardless of what console it was designed for, and is the only retail chain in Australia that sells games from any gaming console, including the Atari 2600, Commodore 64, Amiga, NES, Game Boy and many other consoles that are now unsupported by most stores.

Megamania

The rock and roll group The Tubes performed a Megamania theme song in a 1982 television commercial advertising this game for the Atari 2600 system.

Multicart

Although most commonly associated with NES and SNES, multicarts, both authorized and unauthorized, have appeared for many cartridge-based systems, among them the Atari 2600, Intellivision, Odyssey 2, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Game Boy.

Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System

Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System is a book by Ian Bogost and Nick Montfort describing the history and technical challenges of programming for the Atari 2600 video game console.

Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle

Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle is a video game for the ColecoVision and Atari 2600 in which the player must brave a series of obstacles to rescue Smurfette from Gargamel's castle.

Video Chess

Video Chess is a video game released by Atari in 1979 for the Atari 2600, based on the rules of chess.

Video game conversion

Later, other third-party developers and publishers such as Activision and Coleco became involved producing, among others, games like Donkey Kong for the Atari 2600.

Wii Balance Board

Due to the similarities between the two products, the Wii Balance Board has been compared to the Joyboard, a peripheral released for the Atari VCS in 1982 by Amiga Corporation.


see also

Basic programming

BASIC Programming, cartridge for the Atari 2600 console, released in 1979

Dedicated console

Of the latter, Jakks Pacific's line of TV Games is among the most famous, which includes re-releases of many vintage games, from arcade classics to Atari 2600 games, as well as games based on currently-popular characters, such as SpongeBob SquarePants.

Medieval Mayhem

The game was inspired by Atari's 1980 arcade game Warlords, which was first ported to the Atari 2600 in 1981 by game designer Carla Meninsky.

Tooth Protectors

Released in 1983, Tooth Protectors is one of the earliest "advergames" or "promogames" – games with overt tie-ins to retail products – and one of several released that year for the Atari 2600 platform (others included M Network's Kool-Aid Man and Purina's Chase the Chuck Wagon.

Video Chess

For example, Atari had to overcome sprite limitations; the Atari 2600 was only capable of displaying three sprites in a row, or six (such as in Space Invaders) with the right programming.