Yes that's right, 30 years ago this month, the Atari VCS, aka the 2600 was released to the masses and ushered in a new era of video gaming to a public that at first wasn't too enthusiastic about this little console that, back then, cost $200.

In 1977, $200 for a video game system that had all of 9 games to play at the time was similar to paying $600 for a PS3 today!

The market was already flooded with the simple handheld gaming systems such as Simon and really didn't quite grasp the concept that was being offered after Pong had made such a smash hit.

It took 2 years for the Atari to gain traction.  In 1980, the first arcade game to be ported to the Atari 2600 was Space Invaders.  As soon as it hit shelves in January of 1980, sells began sky rocketing and the rest my friends is history.

Head on over to classicgaming.com for a more in-depth history of one of the most defining consoles of our generation. 

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