# Atari

> Atari, founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, pioneered arcade games, home consoles and home computers with hits such as Pong and the 2600.

Web page: https://emulationking.com/atari/
Page updated: 2026-09-26

Atari was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Its name comes from a term in the Japanese board game Go, used when a stone is about to be captured. Atari was a pioneer of arcade games, home video game consoles and home computers.

Among Atari's greatest achievements were Pong and the Atari 2600, which helped define the video game industry in the 1970s and 1980s.

Atari suffered heavy losses in the video game crash of 1983, and in 1984 its owner, Warner Communications, split the company. The arcade division became Atari Games, and the consumer electronics division was sold to Jack Tramiel's Tramel Technology, which renamed itself Atari Corporation.

In 1996 Atari Corporation reverse-merged with the hard drive manufacturer JTS, becoming a division within that company.

In 1998 Hasbro bought Atari's assets from JTS and created a new subsidiary, Atari Interactive.
Infogrames bought Hasbro Interactive in 2001 and later took the Atari name, which its successor, Atari SA, still uses today.

## Consoles

- [Atari Jaguar](https://emulationking.com/atari/jaguar/index.md): The Atari Jaguar, released in 1993 and marketed as the first 64-bit console, was a commercial failure that sold around 250,000 units.
- [Atari Lynx](https://emulationking.com/atari/lynx/index.md): The Atari Lynx, released in 1989, was the first handheld console with a colour LCD screen, but it failed to win much market share from the Game Boy.
- [Atari 7800](https://emulationking.com/atari/7800/index.md): The Atari 7800 ProSystem is a console Atari released in 1986. It could play almost every Atari 2600 game but struggled against Nintendo's NES.
- [Atari ST](https://emulationking.com/atari/st/index.md): The Atari ST is a 16-bit home computer launched in 1985. It had a graphical desktop, built-in MIDI ports and a large library of games and music software.
- [Atari 5200](https://emulationking.com/atari/5200/index.md): The Atari 5200 SuperSystem was Atari's 1982 successor to the 2600. Based on its 8-bit computers, it sold poorly but introduced an analogue joystick.
- [Atari 2600](https://emulationking.com/atari/2600/index.md): The Atari 2600, first sold as the Atari VCS in 1977, popularised microprocessor-based consoles and games on interchangeable ROM cartridges.
- [Atari 8-bit Computers](https://emulationking.com/atari/8bit/index.md): The Atari 8-bit computers began with the Atari 400 and 800 in 1979 and ran through the XL and XE ranges, with graphics and sound ahead of their time.