Warner sold off the home console division of Atari to Commodore CEO Jack Tramiel. the Extra-Terrestrial, the latter being a commercial failure that contributed to the video game crash of 1983 which ended the market relevance of the 2600.
The 2600 was bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge: initially Combat, with significantly more advanced visuals and gameplay than the system was designed for, such as Pitfall! and its scrolling sequel Pitfall II: Lost Caverns.Ītari invested heavily in two games for the 2600, Pac-Man and E.T. Released on September 11, 1977, it is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on ROM cartridges (a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F in 1976) instead of dedicated hardware with games physically built into the unit. The Atari 2600, originally branded as the Atari Video Computer System or Atari VCS for short until November 1982, is a home video game console from Atari, Inc.
