The Atari 2600 changed the world

by Zack Stern { Dec 12th 2006 at 9:45PM }

The Atari 2600 makes Wired's list of the top 10 gadgets that changed the world. This article from Wired Test lists the Walkman, Western Electric rotary phone, microwave, and other gadgets that we take for granted.

The Atari 2600 spurred the home game industry, being the original must-own console. We didn't realize that it was still available until 1992, giving it a 15-year lifespan. Wired Test picks the Wii as today's version of the 2600. Will any of our current systems be as iconic as the classic Atari console?

Tags: 2600, Atari 2600, Atari2600, gadget, list, wired test, WiredTest

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jeff @ Dec 12th 2006 9:56PM

"Will any of our current systems be as iconic as the classic Atari console?"

In a word, no.

I mean yeah, the Wii is doing something a little different. But in the 2600, you're talking about a system that defined an entirely new industry for generations to come. It was not the first console, but it was the first mass-market console in the same way the Ford Model-T was the first mass-market car.

You can never recapture that. What was "the next Model-T"? There never was such a car, and there will never be another console that does what the 2600 did.

Some of this site's users are no doubt too young to remember the era of the 2600 - or the days before it - firsthand. So while it's difficult, imagine a world where *there are no game consoles*. Or at least none that anybody's ever heard of. That was pre-2600. This is the system that changed all that, forever.

Psaakyrn @ Dec 12th 2006 9:57PM

I guess the Gameboy would probably fall short when fighting with the likes of televisions and computers, but in terms of being iconic, it's probably somewhere up there. (and more iconic than televisions and computers, in the sense that it's a single product line, as opposed to many product lines building up to create a revolution)

mietha CAG @ Dec 12th 2006 10:08PM

Without question, no.

Francisco Sainz @ Dec 12th 2006 10:14PM

Ofcourse it changed the world. Just look at youself, if the 2600 was not made, where would millions of people work and where would even more millions of people waste their time on?

Kspraydad @ Dec 12th 2006 11:03PM

I still remember waiting in line to buy PacMan (WTF!) at $80 CDN in 1982.

That would be $134 in today's US dollars.

Yet I still have fond memories of my Atari (actually I still have it downstairs!)

Justin @ Dec 12th 2006 11:24PM

I love how the games played on multiple platforms, like Commodore 64

nick @ Dec 12th 2006 11:54PM

When the 2600 was introduced, there was nothing else remotely like it. Sure there was a console that preceeded it (Channel F), and the countless home versions of Pong, but somehow the VCS contained the right mix at the right time, to capture the hearts of many.

What really made the console successful was the overwhelming number of third party supporters, in addition to the stellar [at the time] first party titles. Many of the titles were multiplayer, which encouraged groups to gather and play together. And I think people forget about how a lot of the earlier titles had multiple versions of their games, so you could replay with different options.

Atari innovated on many levels, and introduced a number of concepts and principles we take for granted today.

I'm not sure the Wii is in the same category, outside of the new methodology for control. And I think it's somewhat bold to make that prediction this early. Of course, only time will tell.

BrianL @ Dec 13th 2006 12:01AM

I loved my Atari, but I don't think it changed the world

mackmack1 @ Dec 13th 2006 12:03AM

atari was the best of the best.

fester @ Dec 13th 2006 12:14AM

It changed my world, I had one as an xmas gift in 1981 (as they were starting to fade out really) and it was a revelation. Combat, Haunted House, Space invaders... simple (and flawed) games but to a 7 year old it was "magic".

Then again so was my ZX spectrum a few years later (then the Amiga, Snes etc after that).

These days the magic is gone, replaced by technology but remove the nostalgiga and the games we have today are a thousand times* better than Atari VCS(2600) games.

*Aprox

FSK405K @ Dec 13th 2006 12:23AM

Wired saying that the Wii is going to be the next Atari 2600 isn't really an honor....will tons of developers pump out inflation-level clumps of worthless clone games, causing the next video game crash of 2008?

driven2sin @ Dec 13th 2006 12:59AM

you all r negative.. it is just a compliment to Nintendo that, yes, they got that magic going.. first the DS and now the Wii.. you still got die hard 'need to be cool' types that are flocking to the 360 since PS3 is just droid junk at the moment, but the truth is, if you really are a pure gamer, Nintendo got the goods. These so called 'hard core gamers' are not really gamers. They are sim-boys. for example.. compare the old Dr j vs Larry Bird on C64 vs the new PS3 basketball games.. it makes these new games feel like you are playing Dragon's Lair

NoBullet @ Dec 13th 2006 1:38AM

@driven2sin: Dont drink and blog.

Anyways, 2600 is the reason why I still play video games to this day. I started with arcades, but 2600 brought them to my house.

Jim @ Dec 13th 2006 7:26AM

No.

cubbiechris @ Dec 13th 2006 7:52AM

I remember getting mine in 1982-83 and it to this day is one Xmas gift I'll never forget. It was magic turning that sucker on. I still remember the worship for anything Activision! Man, I miss those days.

konajinx @ Dec 13th 2006 8:14AM

Ah yes, the great Atari 2600 days. I wanted one so badly that my folks made a deal with me at the time and told me if I saved up 50 bucks - getting paid to do little chores around the house - then they'd get me one for Xmas that year. They wanted to see how bad I truly wanted the thing. Well, it was all I could think of, so I did save up the cash and that was one of the best Xmases ever for me.

Mine was the one that came packed with Combat, and I remember also receiving Night Driver and Defender as gifts, too. It was truly a revolutionary system in that my dad sat and played games with me all the time. He loved Combat, Asteroids, Human Cannonball, Home Run, etc. My mom would play as well, as she liked cartridges like Bowling. It really did bring the whole family together, and that was the last time we all played video games like that. As the consoles got "better," my parents shied away.

You may have a little bit of that with the Wii, but I doubt it will be to the magnitude that it was with the 2600. I wouldn't put any console in the same breath as the 2600 in regards to revolutionizing gaming, save for the Commodore 64 which wasn't technically a console, but everyone and their brother had one, and there were tons and tons of great games for it. Plus, it's the only popular computer I can think of where pirating/cracking programs were actually given ad space in all the popular Commodore 64-related magazines at the time. And sure enough, my friends and I had a bevy of them, such as Fast Hack 'Em, Copy-Q, Super Clone, and the like. I'd say probably 10% of my total software collection for that machine was actually purchased.

strider_mt2k @ Dec 13th 2006 10:15AM

We got one for Christmas as a kid and it was awesome.
I wasn't expecting it at all.

So many killer games. Yep Atari.

Mike @ Dec 13th 2006 10:48AM

Did anyone esle have Sears-tari (sears OEM)? Same thing, diffrent panel and pack-in - Air-Sea Battle except they called it target shoot or something. It was a complex simulation of the War in the Pacific.

Nothing like it before or since. Just like there will never be another Star Wars 1. It's a question of what the world was like before, compared to after.

It's utterly moronic to claim that any of these slightly better consoles could have that impact. In order to have that kind of impact, it will have to be a photorealistic full-vr-headgear Holodeck type experience. And it's going to have to come out of left field. Not just evolve slowly over 5 generations of slight upgrades (which is what we got this gen).

Keil Joy @ Dec 13th 2006 6:44PM

" Wired Test picks the Wii as today's version of the 2600. "

Are you freakin kidding me?!! I mean at least give the console a chance to age a little. Many seem to have forgotten. It's not like Nintendo is entering this 'next gen' war as a return champion. Wii still has time to prove itself.

Ian @ Dec 14th 2006 3:44PM

@#1 (Jeff)

Your right, its like when the Model T came out. If you had a car you pretty much had a model T, no competition. Now that we have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of types of cars all over the road and you can't really single one out as the "avearage" or "icon". I mean the NES could be considered iconic too but, again, no competition. It defined gaming at that point just like the model T defined cars.