Release date: 1977

1977 is where the Atari 2600 story begins. The console, then called the Atari Video Computer System, was shown at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June and reached shops that autumn for about $199. Nine cartridges were ready for the launch, and all nine are on this page. Each one fitted into just 2 KB, so most are simple contests for two players or small collections of game variations.
Combat came in the box with the console. Alongside it came the Pong-style ball games of Video Olympics, the short paddle races and sports of Street Racer, the wall-building duel Surround, the card game Blackjack and the arithmetic drills of Basic Math. Sears sold the same machine as the Tele-Games Video Arcade, with most of these games under other names. Atari sold between 350,000 and 400,000 consoles that year.
Pick any of the launch games below and play it in your browser.