10 Amazing Atari 2600 Jr. Facts
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- Опубліковано 5 лис 2021
- This video features ten amazing pieces of trivia and fascinating facts about the later re-model of the best-selling Atari 2600 console known as the Jr.
Video Links & References:
Atari Video Computer System - • Atari 2600 Video Compu...
Atari 2600 Jr. Review - • Atari 2600 Jr. - Revie...
Atari Flashback Review - • Atari Flashback 8 Gold...
Flashback Portable Review - • Atari Flashback Portab...
Atari 2600 Catalogues - • Vintage Atari Catalogu...
Atari User Club Retrospective - • Atari Owners Club Retr...
Atari 7800 Review - • Atari 7800 ProSystem -...
Atari 2600 Prototypes - • The Story of 5 Unrelea...
Atari 2600 Tiny Arcade - • Atari 2600 Tiny Arcade...
The Evolution of the Atari 2600 - • The Amazing Evolution ...
Every Atari 2600 Game Playlist - • Every Atari 2600 Game
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#retrogaming #atari #atari2600 - Ігри
“It’s the 2600 from Atari” is quite possible burned into my memory forever. Lol
It's terrible...
I've been singing it out loud for three days now....
I got new neighbors on Saturday, nice couple....
Got awkward when the husband kept calling my dog Atari.
I was 4 when that commerical came out and don't remember it.
@@BKNewrd Oh Lordy.
It's the most so-bad-it's-good ad ever
Oh yes sir eee
My grandparents had a 2600 jr. Well, they had several 2600s over the years, but the Jr. was their last. I think it's still in the basement. As I recall, it had a problem with Tigervision games like Polaris being a tight fit in the cartridge slot. They worked, but it was much harder to get them plugged in than with the older models.
The Atari 2000’s design reminds me a lot of some first-generation Pong clone consoles, that has preceded the VCS.
I had the wood atari and for some reason my dad bought the Jr. And later my brother got the 7800. Did not realize the B&W switch would pause some games. Cool to know!
My first video game console was the Atari 2600 Jr. My parents must have bought it in 1986 and held onto it for a bit.
I remember opening up the box and all the wrapping and looking inside. It was a small system with a silver finish and a neat rainbow stripe.
The buttons were all plastic but it looked neat and played every game I threw at it.
I have lots of memories of playing missile command, bowling, Ms PAC man, ET, sky diver, adventure and haunted house.
The 2600 jr was my first ever console. I still remember picking it up new for £10 at toy and hobby when they were clearing out their 2600 stock. It must have been 89/90
And there was time in the 90s too.
This was a blast from the past! I remember seeing Atari 2600 Jnr's still being sold in ToysRus alongside the Megadrive for not a lot of money. Man, I should have picked a couple up :-) Great video. Thanks for sharing!
My 2600 Jr. came from Toys R Us!
@@TheLairdsLair Small world :-)
The year was...I have no idea but I had both the Nes and Master System by the time I saw that Atari 2600 commercial. If there was ever a reason for me to run in the other direction it was that commercial. I was such a gamer (still am) had they just done something normal I would have checked them out. My very first Atari was the Jaguar in 1994 and I loved it for its FPS's.
Mine too. Loved the Jag and have a soft spot for Atari. Enjoying the Atari 50th Anniversary collection and I've ordered a 2600 Jr because the games are relatively cheap to collect.
I recently picked one of these up from goodwill. Did the composite mod on it, works really well. Very slick design.
Ah, I remember so well seeing the Jr in those weighty Freemans/Grattan mail order catalogues that every UK home seemed to have back then :)
Yeah that was where I first saw it, but mine actually came from Toys R Us.
That and Kay's!
Then everything is clear: According to @Leonard Tramiel, his father intended to dedicate himself only to computers, but when he arrived at Atari and saw the sales of the games part, he decided to keep it and continue with it (5200, 7800, Lynx, Jaguar ...). The question would be how long has it been since Jack and family entered Atari and realized that it was worth it.
Yes, correct. A lot of people have said there is an argument here, there is no argument for me. I relayed a story that was told to me first hand by somebody who was there at the time in Mike Katz (not 3rd hand as some have stated). He told me how Jack contacted him specifically to run a planned Entertainment Division, so to me that sounds like it was always planned. There is also a common story that was repeated over and over about Jack supposedly throwing an Atari 7800 in a bin, slamming his hand on his desk and saying we are a computer company now. But according to eminent Atari historians Marty Goldberg and Curt Vendel (RIP) that story was debunked by several sources and said to be completely false. They wrote about this in various publications including their own book and stated that it was always Jack's intention to sell video games and consoles too.
However Leonard says that his dad wanted Atari to be a computer company. He would know better than anybody as he was there and it was his family's company. I already accepted his version of events and thanked him for explaining it, so I don't see where I argued with him at all. There is a good chance that Jack either changed his mind upon the takeover of Atari or simply told Mike Katz what he wanted to hear to get him on board, I know I have been lied to in plenty of job interviews.
But either way it's a very minor point for me and not a key point of this video either. But it's always good to clarify these stories anyway.
I bought 2 of these months ago, one of them is completely refurbished too, followed by this review and many others. I'm 25 years old, and I sincerely love the aeshetic and neon color graphics on the 2600. 2600 lives on with me. Thank you for sharing 🌈
Great stuff. Subscribed (amazed I wasn't already). It's great how it extended the system's life.
Ok, had to come back and tell you that I watched the video before work today and I just spent an entire shift with.....
--"2600 from A-tar-I"-- eating a hole in my brain..
In the US the system might have appeared in the Sears or JC Penney catalogs but it was most certainly readily available anywhere that sold videogames locally. Also that commercial was all over US television in 1986.
I remember the launch of Game Boy and TurboGrafx-16 in 1989 but I never saw 2600jr at Walmart or K-Mart, which were the only local game retailers for me. I remember going straight to electronics to ogle the NES for years earlier and still never saw Atari 2600jr. Never saw Sega Master System either. Maybe I was just oblivious to it because I already had my woody 2600? Dunno, but I distinctly remember when the store “Everything’s $1” got Atari 2600 games a year later (mostly Space Jockey… which I already owned).
@@emmettturner9452 - Space Jockey! Oh what a disappointment!! I remember buying a copy in 1982 or '83, at Revco Drug Store, for 12 or 13 bucks. I wanted a good Activision or Atari game, but couldn't wait until I saved $30 to $40. That took entirely too long, back then! Anyway, Space Jockey was so repetitive and boring! Playing outside was always a better option!
Nichol's, a competitor to Kmart, carried the 2600 j.r. and 7800. The Nichol's near my home possessed quite a display. It was 1986, if I remember correctly. Anyway, I was embarrassed for Atari, that the best they could do (I knew about the sale of Atari) was to reintroduce the 2600. To me, the 2600 was a dead console. I also remember seeing 7800's displayed. I didn't check the system out, because I figured it would be a disappointment. Too bad! I wish I had looked.
Incredible job, Keirin!
Thanks young lad. Brilliant stuff!!
My favorite fact is how atari did pushed the hardware to it’s ultimate limit😁👍
15:40
80s actor - "so how do you wanna do this?"
80s director - "well, we're going to use this relatively new black american art form but we need you to act as white & goofy as possible."
80s actor - "..."
They could have put the same game on one cartridge and whichever system its in serted it plays the relevant rom.
Wait the Atari 2600 Junior actually sold well in Europe? Really?! Man, I remember when it came out over here and we didn't want anything to do with it. I absolutely hated the "Under 50 Bucks" commercials that would air constantly on TV. "It's the 2600 from Ah-ta-ri 🎶." ;) Note- I was only 6 years old during this time.
Addendum- You forgot to mention the Sega Master System. You talked about industry leaders Nintendo (with the Nes) and Atari (with the 7800) but no Sega. I got my Nes and Master System on Christmas of 1986 (diving parents).
I didn't mention Sega because it was Nintendo that took the market from Atari.
@OP
The advert with the song you mention (ah taaa reeeee) was much later on in the 2600's life, well past it's inception. It did very well in the USA in the earlier days.
Do you have the UK version of that 2600 Jr advert? One I remember.
Sadly not, I've tried to find it many times but never come across it anywhere. I remember that advert very clearly too!
Probably a bit late, but if you search UA-cam for Atari VCS/2600 "The Fun Is Back" TV commercial - version 3, it will come up. I'd add a link but I don't think it's allowed these days.
@@gibbie80s61 nah you can add links to most channels
I think the Sega Master System, which has never created official production in Brazil, is now the current record holder, not the Atari 2600. Unless you don’t count that, for some reason?
The SMS was produced under license in a specific region, so if you include that then yes. The 2600 was produced by Atari until the end and discontinued worldwide on the same date.
I wonder how successful the Jr. would have been had it been released in 1983 alongside the 5200?
Yeah, it's an interesting question, I bet it would have helped lessen the impact of the crash had it still had the same low price.
Atari had the 2600,7800 and ST all for sale at the same time. As a kid i was confused. They should have stuck with the more advanced ST and game development to compete. But even the ST had a bizare look to it.
They also had the Lynx, XE Games System, Portfolio and 65XE/130XE too.
Not to mention other specialised computers like the ABC PC, Mega ST, TT etc.
Nothing bizarre about how the ST looks though, easily one of the best looking computers ever IMO.
Has any "Jr." computer line ever done well?
In terms of consoles, plenty like this one and the Mega Drive and Master System II for example. In terms of computers there have also been lots of redesigns that have gone well, for example the C64C or Atari XL computers.
I am not the slightest bit of an Atari hater, as I own and love an 800xl (and a ProSystem), but if one is honest, EVERYTHING Atari did after the 2600 was a mistake of one magnitude or another, but usually of great magnitude imo. It's an unpopular view, but the entire Atari computer line was a mistake to me. I think Atari should never have gone after the "lucrative" PC market at all - they got Apple ][ profit envy for sure. Yes, they made superb home computers, and yes they probably raked in some good profits for a few years, but at what cost? Their entire gaming legacy/reputation in the eyes of Joe Public (not us geeks) was the final cost in my humble opinion. It's obvious to me that there wasn't enough talent to go around back in those days and by moving their best minds over to the PC side, they left a noticeable vacuum on the gaming side. As a result, we got the afterthought known as the 5200 (untested(?) controllers and no backward compatibility...two things I know the Atari engineers were capable of foreseeing and delivering) and then a series of lackluster consoles that were at best sad, and at worst offensively bad (I remember being a kid at the time and thinking how buffoonish Atari looked with each passing year, despite having been the undisputed king of gaming at my birth - 1978). I actually had NO idea Atari made anything BUT game consoles, save for the occasional arcade cabinet, until I was an adult...and I was a pretty nerdy kid. So to me, Atari sold out their gaming mojo for "not much" in return as the IBM compatibles obliterated their entire computer line anyway by say 1987, for all intents and purposes. I think that if you poll passersby in the US, very, very few will even know/remember that Atari "also" made computers. But they will remember Atari as that video game company that had the ball in their hands and dropped it. Had Atari delivered a decent 5200 and then immediately responded to the Nintendo threat with a Master System level competitor, I personally believe that the 16-bit generation may have been a three-way race (pure and utter speculation of course!) I just think it was a bad trade-off, and shortsighted brand management, but as I say, mine is a very unpopular opinion :-). Superb video as always.
Interesting point of view and I can certainly understand what you are saying, even if I don't totally agree with all of it.
The 5200 should have either been fully compatible with the 400/800, basically a XEGS several years earlier, or not happened at all. The 7800 was the console they needed, but with a POKEY chip and a bit more RAM. They also should have gone ahead with the Super XEGS as their 16-bit offering, instead of chasing the Mega Drive/Genesis option.
It's also obvious you are American, because you don't mention the ST, which was very popular in Europe and the best selling home computer here for a while.
@@TheLairdsLair Thanks so much for your reply and comment. Yes, my views are very US-centric (probably even Los Angeles California-centric) and yes, I don't get many takers but I am ok with that :-) My brother and I shared a 2600 in the early 80's (I don't recall anyone having a 5200), then by 1984-85 I distinctly remember NO ONE caring a lick about video games, almost as if the video game "fad" had (eerily) ended (except for the truly geeky who had embraced the commodore 64-type lifestyle, but I personally only knew one such oddball). To this day, I believe the word "crash", when used to describe what happened in 83-84-85, is not an acceptable descriptor. I think that American kids just weren't ready intellectually for the complexity of home computers and as such there was a period of mismatched goals between kids, parents and product makers. Of course 1986 rolled around and my brother got an NES and I chose to be a rebel and got my beloved Master System and it was off to the races, but by that point, Atari was the absolute laughing stock of the playground and no kid would be caught dead with a 7800 on their dresser. I remember almost being angry at Atari for dropping the ball so completely. I did end up getting a 2600 jr at some point but it provided exactly 3 minutes of amusement. I don't think anyone in my age bracket knew or cared what an ST was...which goes back to my belief that I think Atari made a very unfortunate corporate pivot when they tried their hands at computers (and succeeded yes, but only for handful of years if we're honest). I have a whole bunch of other unpopular coulda/woulda/shoulda beliefs....for example, Coleco would probably have been better off with a Super Colecovision than the ADAM disaster. That the Super Nintendo should have been considerably better than it was considering the 2 years that separated it from the Genesis (that one is not too controversial). That the 32X was NOT in and of itself a bad idea and that (even accepting the US/Japan drama) it would have certainly received a GOOD library if not for the 90's moving so fast technologically (as in the 5th generation being literally around the corner). The controversy there being that everyone blames the Japan/US/Saturn debacle for the 32X failing where I blame it more generally on the breakneck speed of hardware advancement of the 90's. I also unsuccessfully argue to many that regardless of how many mistakes SEGA made leading up to the Dreamcast, they had ZERO chance of surviving as a console maker anyway once Microsoft decided they wanted in. They were going to be crowded out no matter what, as I believe that whenever there is an ecosystem involved (incompatible game software) there is always only enough room for two big players, and one oddball (Nintendo always winning the oddball spot). But I digress. Thanks for your videos they have been very informative and entertaining.
Atari had no shortage of talent and creative ideas. You need to thoroughly read , "Atari Inc. Business is Fun". You will gain a better understanding of what happened at Atari and why.
Honestly, I think much of your POV is slanted by hindsight. There was a great deal of competition in the home computer market in the early to mid 80s with few clear winners at any given time, and the IBM PC wasn't one of them. With it's business centric hardware and price, few thought it would make it far outside of the business market. OTOH, Atari already established a foothold in the home market, so it wasn't all that foolish to purse it further. However, Tramiel's approach wasn't all that different from his rivals and didn't standout in the market. Given how the US video game market went, I don't blame Tramiel too much for being sour on it at first. Being late to turn the company around and his lackluster unfocused response effectively tanked any chance of making a comeback.
But in hindsight, it's easier to see the trends that led to the PCs success. The biggest I think were backwards compatibility and "standards" based largely on common hardware. Early on, the home market was flooded by new users who had no ties to any platform or company. There was still room for Atari to grow its brand, if they'd played it smart. It took a few hardware generations before home users gave backwards compatibility much consideration. By then, established users had at least one system they'd invested heavily in and were far more reluctant to jump to yet another incompatible platform, even from the same company. All of those custom chips that gave early home computers their edge had become a liability, making backwards compatibility far more expensive to implement. Few companies addressed that issue head-on.
By the late 80s, the PC was just beginning to catch up with the capabilities of other systems and had a large back catalog of compatible hardware and software at various price points. Those advantages slowly swayed many users to switch from the myriad of propriety platforms to PC. All of the other holdouts were relegated to niche markets that were eventually eclipsed by either PC or Mac. Some level of backwards compatibility is a major reason Mac was the only early proprietary platform that survived. Well...and a huge investment from Microsoft. If Microsoft had that lose longstanding relationship with any of the competitors instead of Apple, the market would be a very different place right now.
No mention of the Jr's with built in games?
Of course you still could use cartridges.
Or were these an Australian only thing?
The Jr.s with built in games were unofficial, I could have made an entire video just talking about bootleg 2600 consoles.
The Atari 2600 was my first. I remember working all holidays and saving for it. One thing not mentioned is a version of the 2600 Jr that I believe was only released in SE Asia/Oceania that had inbuilt 128 games. They are 4 roms internally and instead of the channel changer there was a 4 pole switch which selects which bank of 32 games you wanted to play. Great if you wanted a suite of games at the get go. From what I understand about the serial numbers/country build it was made at the dying days of the Jr, but maybe before the single chip version (?). Also there is mention that it was a bootleg version-though I dont see why they would put proper serial numbers (the numbers being inline with the period), redesign the pcb and case, and it being sold in the major stores in Australia (and maybe other countries)
Fascinating video, it's amazing how they managed to prolong the life of the 2600 as long as they did.
I had this. My family had 5200, but this was my intro to 2600. My idiot parents should have put money into Nintendo. This sucked. I had crystal castles and could not figure out what to do. I liked combat but this was the most basic and ghae system possible.
What’s your title track? A c64 game no doubt
It's the opening music and speech for the Atari Lynx port of STUN Runner
How could they expect to compete with the nez or sms
💪😎👌
i did not know it had more ram?!!
It didn't, not sure where you got that from.
@@TheLairdsLair ok
The Jr. Was a waste. They should of concentrated on the 7800.
Great video dude! Keep up the hard work!
You going to the Clive Sinclair memorial thing?
Not sure yet Nic, I need to check the dates, I'll let you know if I am!
@@TheLairdsLair Cool, if you need a lift give me a shout, just got the car repaired *again*.
Please provide evidence that it was always Jack Tramiel's intention for Atari Corp. to have a "home entertainment division"
Firstly an interview I did with Michael Katz, former president of said division. That interview appears in the Atari 2600/7800 compendium. He told me that Jack recruited him from Epyx specifically to run that division. It has also been stated by Marty Goldberg on numerous occasions with multiple sources in his various works.
If you know different then cool, you are his son so I guess you would know better than anyone. But I find it very hard to believe that Jack would purchase Atari just to sell computers and completely ignore the sector where the company was best known and made most of their money, especially as he was such an astute businessman.
@@TheLairdsLair, what you find "very hard to believe" is really not an issue. My father's original intent was to sell computers. Period. The purchase of Atari was a fantastic opportunity to get brand recognition and lots of infrastructure at an amazing price. The continuing sale of the video game was purely as a revenue source.
Being a very pragmatic person he saw that video games weren't going away so he took advantage of that. There was also the hope that Mr. Katz's efforts with games developers would result in more games on Atari's computers.
The assertion is the video is ... false.
Given how highly respected Michael Katz is in the industry I was happy to take his word for it, just as I am happy to be corrected if you think that story is wrong. As I have said to you before, you can only go on the facts provided, speculation is pointless. Thanks for stopping by to give your version of events, I very much appreciate it.
@@leonardtramiel8704 it actually sounds like his point is mostly correct from what you are saying, that your dad did indeed intend to sell video games too.
Either way it's not a big deal IMO, because the history speaks for itself.
@@TheLairdsLair, the story is wrong. My father's initial intention was for Atari to be a computer company.
I didn't like this at all. Very cheap made, lightweight and extremely loud transformer. And interference
I had to down vote your video as I the non stop replay of the rap song was unbearable, I think it is why there are so few views and so many downvotes.
1. It's a 5 second clip that breaks up the main sections of the video, hardly non-stop.
2. Downvotes? Given you can no longer see these as viewer on UA-cam you are talking rubbish (also there are hardly any!)
3. So few views? Compared to other videos on my channel and the number of subscribers and other analytics its well above average.
Go troll elsewhere.
@@TheLairdsLair I will just write you off as another thin skinned Content creator who will never achieve mainstream success as people like you cannot handle criticism and will never learn .
You are the only one who is trolling .
@@TheLairdsLair
Take no notice, you're always going to get moaning Myrtles like as above 😂