This is a list of games for the Atari Video Computer System, a console renamed to the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocesso ...

in November 1982. Sears licensed the console and many games from Atari, Inc., selling them under different names. A few cartridges were Sears exclusives. The list contains games, divided into three sections: #Games published by Atari and Sears #Games published by third parties # Hobbyist-developed games after the system was discontinued. The Atari VCS was first released in North America on September 11, 1977 with nine cartridges: ''

Air-Sea Battle ''Air-Sea Battle'' is a game developed by Atari, Inc. for the Atari VCS (renamed to the Atari 2600 in 1982), and was one of the nine original launch titles for that system when it was released in September 1977. It was published by Sears as ...

'', '' Basic Math'', '' Blackjack'', '' Combat'', ''

Indy 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianap ...

'', '' Star Ship'', '' Street Racer'', ''

Surround Surround sound is a technique for enriching the fidelity and depth of sound reproduction by using multiple audio channels from speakers that surround the listener (surround channels). Its first application was in movie theaters. Prior to sur ...

'' and '' Video Olympics''. The final licensed Atari 2600 games released in North America were ''

Ikari Warriors ''Ikari Warriors'', known as in Japan, is a vertically-scrolling, run-and-gun shooter arcade video game released by SNK in 1986. It was published in North America by Tradewest. The game was released at the time when there were many ''Commando' ...

'', ''MotoRodeo'', ''Sentinel'', and '' Xenophobe'' in early 1991, and the final licensed games released in Europe were '' Klax'' and ''Acid Drop'' in 1990 and 1992 respectively.

Games published by Atari and Sears

All of the initial era of Atari 2600 games were developed and manufactured by

Atari, Inc. Atari, Inc. was an American video game developer and home computer company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. Atari was a key player in the formation of the video arcade and video game industry. Based primarily around the Sunny ...

These games were published by Atari, and many were also licensed to

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

, which released these games under its Tele-Games brand, often with different titles. Sears's Tele-Games brand was unrelated to the company Telegames, which also produced cartridges for the Atari 2600 (mostly re-issues of

M Network M Network was a video game division of Mattel that, in the 1980s, produced games in cartridge format for the Atari 2600 video game system. History In the early 1980s, Mattel's Intellivision video game console was a direct competitor to Atar ...

games.) Three games were also produced by Atari Inc. for Sears as exclusive releases under the Tele-Games brand: '' Steeplechase'', ''Stellar Track'', and '' Submarine Commander''.

Games published by third parties

As the Atari 2600 console grew in popularity, in 1980 other game developers, such as

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...

and

Imagic Imagic ( ) was an American video game developer and publisher that created games initially for the Atari 2600. Founded in 1981 by corporate alumni of Atari, Inc. and Mattel, its best-selling titles were ''Atlantis'', ''Cosmic Ark'', and ''Demo ...

, entered the market and published more than 380 of their own cartridges for the Atari 2600. Many of the most popular Atari 2600 games, such as ''

Pitfall! ''Pitfall!'' is a platform video game designed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released by Activision in 1982. The player controls Pitfall Harry and is tasked with collecting all the treasures in a jungle within 20 minutes. The world con ...

'' and '' Demon Attack'', are third-party games.

Homebrew games

The Atari 2600 has been a popular platform for homebrew projects, with games publicly released. Unlike later systems, the Atari 2600 does not require a

modchip A modchip (short for modification chip) is a small electronic device used to alter or disable artificial restrictions of computers or entertainment devices. Modchips are mainly used in video game consoles, but also in some DVD or Blu-ray player ...

to run cartridges. Many games are clones of existing games written as programming challenges, often borrowing the name of the original. In 2003,

selected several games for inclusion in the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...

version of their '' Activision Anthology'', as indicated below.

Additional titles (publisher unknown)

Included with Atari Flashback 9 / Flashback 9 Gold

# Adventure II # Aquaventure # Asteroids Deluxe # Atari Climber # Burnin’ Rubber # Championship Soccer # Chase It! # Combat Two # Decathlon # Escape It! # Fun with Numbers # Miss It! # Realsports Basketball # Return to Haunted House # Saboteur # Save Mary # Shield Shifter # Space Raid # Strip Off # Tempest # Wizard # Yars’ Return

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

Atari 2600 Rarity Guide
* - Dozens of games freely playable from within the web browser. {{Video game lists by platform *