TECH COMPANY
APRIL 11, 2021
The rise and fall of atari game consoles
The name Atari has powerful impact for generation of gamers from 1970’s era. It was the brand that pioneering the game console to modern era like today
Atari was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in California. At first they designed arcade games. The first hit was the iconic game called Pong. This game almost represents the DNA of modern video games. They had successes in the video games industry at first. Then Atari quickly expanded to other industry.
In 1975 Atari released its first home game machine, called Home Pong. Two years later in 1977, the company released the legendary game console : the Atari 2600. This is the game console that gamers around the world would automatically think about Atari.
The stylish console used cartridges which was a new technology in the 1970’s. It was the most successful video game console at the time with selling around 30 million units throughout its lifetime. The most popular game on the system was Pac-Man, which sold around 7 million copies.
During 1979 Atari expanded their product lines. They made Atari 400 and 800 home computer machines for average consumers. These models sold about 4 million units and it was not bad considering the Atari 800 was $1.000 USD at the time. Atari then released the Atari 1200 XL which flopped in the market. Mainly because of challenges from numerous competitors such as Commodores and Apple computers.
The successor for 2600 model came out in 1982, but never gained much attention. Moreover, between 1983 and 1985, the Video Game Crash took hold which forced many companies went bankrupt or pushed out of the market. This period marked a drastic change to Atari as it forced them to split into two companies : Atari games and Atari corporation.
The direct successor of Atari 2600 and 5200 model was the Atari 7200. Released in 1986 it had backwards compatibility with older games platforms and significantly better joysticks. But sadly, the 7800 console never gained quite traction of its older brothers – especially the iconic 2600.
During this period Atari also launched the ST computer lines. The Atari 520 ST and Atari 1040 ST were the first micro computers to use the mouse and GUI (Graphical User Interface) for individual users. No more typing commands and complex computer codes to operate the machines.
In 1989, Atari released the Atari Lynx, the dedicated handheld console. It was a great impressive game machine with its advance color display. But the Nintendo’s Game Boy released in the same year and dominating the market and made Lynx hiding in the shadow.
The Atari Jaguar was marketed by Atari as the world’s first 64-bit console. Released in 1993 the console never came close to the success of the company’s previous consoles. Technical problems was the main reason for this machine. Complex architecture, hardware flaws and lack of compelling games made it hard for third-party developers to embrace. It only sold about 250.000 units worldwide.
Sad news came in 1996 when Atari Corporation filed for bankruptcy following Atari Games in 2003. Since then Atari was just a sweet memory for gamers. Atari was a pioneer in video game technology, invented the concept of home video games where we can play games in our living room like today. But some die hard fans are still creating new games for Atari consoles, including the 2600.
The Atari brand is now owned by Infogrames which changed its name to Atari in 2009. This is not the original company but the spirit to reborn the brand is brightly shines.
In the end of 2020, Atari released the Atari VCS, a brand new video game console for consumers. With its latest technology and new concept, this console is currently only available for pre-order in the US. There are about 100 classic games titles ready to entertain the Atari fans. By the summer of 2021, Atari plans to ship the console worldwide.
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