Atari 2600

Atari 2600

Atari 2600 Specifications

Processor: MOS Technology 6507
Processor Speed: 1.19 MHz
System RAM: 128 Bytes
GPU: Television Interface Adapter (TIA)
Resolution: 160 x 192 pixels
Max Colors 128
Playfield Resolution: 40 x 192 pixels
Player Sprites: 8 x 192 pixels
Ball and missile sprites: 1 x 192 pixels

The Atari 2600 was released back in September 1977 by Atari. It has been recognized as the console for popularizing the use of the microprocessor hardware and ROM cartridges. The Atari 2600 wasn’t always under that name it was also sold as the Atari VCS butt was later renamed.
The console was released with nine games this included some classics such as Outlaw, Space War and Breakout. Throughout the consoles lifetime many games were developed for it by Atari. The game also had many hits such as pong, Pacman and many others that are still well known today.

The Atari 2600 came typically was bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers and a cartridge game that was firstly Combat and then later was changed to Pacman.
The console due its large game library and a low price continued to sell well into the late 1980s and wasn’t discontinued until 1992.
The console has sold over 30 million units with the bestselling game for the console being Pacman sitting at 7 million copies.

There is still a strong demand for the Atari 2600 but not easily accessible so many people have moved to emulators to be able to relive their childhood growing up with this fantastic console.

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Atari 2600 Emulators

Stella Thumbnail

Stella is an open-source Atari 2600 emulator. It is one of the only Atari 2600 emulators that have remained in active development and is the best emulator for the Atari 2600 available.

z26 Thumbnail

z26 is a capable emulator for the Atari 2600 system. z26 makes use of an OpenGL rendering engine and supports and offers high compatibility for the system.

EMU7800 Thumbnail

EMU7800 is a highly capable Atari 2600 emulator. It also has support for the Atari 7800, so if you need support for both systems, it’s hard to go past EMU7800.

PC Atari Emulator Thumbnail

PC Atari Emulator was one of the very first Atari 2600 emulators. It is a highly optimized emulator with a very easy to use interface.