Genre: Educational

Educational games were part of the Atari 2600 from the very beginning. Basic Math was one of the nine cartridges on sale when the console launched in 1977, drilling addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with the joystick used to enter answers. The idea was simple: if a family owned a video game console, it could also help with homework.
The standard joystick is awkward for typing letters and numbers, so Atari made special controllers for this kind of game. The Keyboard Controllers, a pair of 12-key pads, were used by Brain Games (1978) and by Warren Robinett’s Basic Programming (1979), which let you write and run tiny programs in the console’s 128 bytes of RAM.
In 1983 Atari worked with the Children’s Computer Workshop, the software side of the Sesame Street team, on a series for young children. Alpha Beam with Ernie teaches letter matching and could be played with a joystick or the large-button Kid’s Controller. Cookie Monster Munch and Big Bird’s Egg Catch belong to the same line. For older players, Math Gran Prix (1982) turns arithmetic into a race, where right answers move your car forward.
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