Playing the Atari 2600 as a very young child was one of the perks of having a techie grandfather who started writing computer programs in the late 1950's and has had the need to own every new gadget that comes along. The Atari 2600 comes fully equipped with a snazzy wood-laminated console and two joysticks. Each joystick controller also features a single red button. This system is best used with the bulkiest television that you can find, perhaps the giant wood-paneled crate of a television known as a Zenith console with Chromacolor.

The Atari 2600 system represents a relatively uncharted venture into home gaming technology. Keep in mind that this is the Atari 2600 -- the graphics, gameplay and sound effects are very simple compared to today's standards, but represent a great stride in technology and arguably these games are the pioneers of the whole video gaming industry.

I am unable to remember which game that I played first, but I had access to both Video Olympics and Space Invaders, along with Pitfall, Freeway, Donkey Kong Jr. Pac-Man and Asteroids, but I will only discuss Video Olympics and Space Invaders in this review.



Pong was previously released as a home console game sold exclusively in Sears stores, but all games for the Atari 2600 utilize cartridge technology giving you the versatility to play many different games. Pong comes in a variety of flavors for the Atari 2600 in the form of the Video Olympics cartridge.

Video Olympics contains eight varieties of Pong: Pong, Soccer, Foozpong, Hockey, Volleyball, Quadrapong, Handball and Basketball. This number of sports all on the same cartridge sounds exciting, especially for a game released in 1977, but then you realize that it is all Pong-based. Instead it's just rectangle-shaped paddles, a square dot that represent a ball and various obstacles combined in different ways.

You can play these games against a computer opponent or against other people. The paddles move back and forth or up and down depending on the game. The object of each game is quite similar -- outwit your opponent and score points against them by getting the ball into their goal or by their failure to return the ball.


Space Invaders is the popular Japanese arcade game brought into your home without all the bulk of an arcade machine. Originally manufactured by the Japanese company Taito and licensed to Midway for production in the USA, Space Invaders was so popular in Japan that it caused a shortage of the 100 yen coin.

Space Invaders was incredibly popular in the United States as well and is credited with quadrupling the sales of the Atari 2600 system. The Space Invaders game itself features a single laser canon, aliens and some bunkers. The laser canon is located under the bunkers and is limited to moving horizontally across the bottom of the screen and only fires upwards. The player is able to shoot through their bunkers.

The invaders move in a grid-based cloud back and forth and then progressively descend towards the laser canon. Each step down causes the aliens to move at an increasing rate of speed. The invaders fire back at you as you try to destroy them. A special flying saucer sometimes appears and flies above the cloud of invading creatures. Shooting this flying saucer gives you a bonus.

The game is quite simple since you get three lives to shoot as many invaders as you can and each successive level is more difficult to defeat.


These two iconic Atari games are still referenced in pop culture and are still available to be purchased in various forms on multiple platforms. Despite their low quality graphics and lack of story line, they still have great replay value.