+DamonicFury Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 I've been trying to figure out just how many games Atari, Inc. released for the VCS/2600 in North America from 1977 to 1984 when it closed up shop and was reborn as Atari Corp. (which didn't release any new games until 1986, I believe.) Below is the list of 100 games I came up with using the sources listed at the bottom of this post. Please note that the three games that were renamed with the exact same program contents aren't counted as separate releases (Basic Math/Fun with Numbers, Championship Soccer/Pele's Soccer and Hunt&Score/A Game of Concentration), but the two games that had at least some of the contents changed are counted (Atari Video Cube/Rubik's Cube and Taz/Asterix) One could reasonably count the unique three games released by Sears as well (Stellar Track, Steeplechase, and Submarine Commander), as they were developed by Atari, Inc., but I have chosen not to do so here. 1977: 1. Combat 2. Air-Sea Battle 3. Star Ship (dropped around Fall 1980) 4. Indy 500 5. Street Racer 6. Video Olympics 7. Surround (dropped around Fall 1981) 8. Blackjack (dropped around Fall 1981) 9. Basic Math (re-released as Fun With Numbers around Summer 1980, then dropped around Fall 1981) 1978: 10. Hangman 11. Space War 12. Codebreaker 13. Home Run 14. Hunt & Score (re-released as A Game of Concentration around Summer 1980) 15. Outlaw 16. Slot Racers 17. Brain Games 18. Flag Capture (dropped around Fall 1981) 19. Breakout 20. Basketball 1979 21. Sky Diver 22. Football 23. Bowling 24. Canyon Bomber 25. Casino 26. Human Cannonball 27. Miniature Golf (dropped around Spring 1981) 28. Slot Machine (dropped around Fall 1980) 29. Video Chess 30. Backgammon 31. BASIC Programming 32. Superman 1980 (Note: Prior to 1980, no games were renamed or dropped.) 33. Space Invaders 34. Adventure 35. 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe 36. Circus Atari 37. Golf 38. Night Driver 39. Championship Soccer (re-released as Pele's Soccer around Summer 1981) 40. Dodge 'Em 41. Maze Craze 42. Video Checkers 1981 43. Othello (last of the "text labels", I believe) 44. Video Pinball 45. Asteroids 46. Warlords 47. Missile Command 1982 48. Super Breakout 49. Haunted House 50. Pac-Man 51. Yar's Revenge 52. Defender 53. Demons to Diamonds 54. Math Gran Prix 55. Berzerk 56. Star Raiders (last of the colored boxes) 57. RealSports Baseball 58. RealSports Volleyball 59. SwordQuest EarthWorld 60. Raiders of the Lost Ark 61. E.T. 62. RealSports Football 63. Vanguard 1983 64. Phoenix 65. Ms. Pac-man 66. SwordQuest Fireworld 67. Centipede 68. Crazy Climber (AtariAge magazine exclusive game) 69. Galaxian 70. RealSports Soccer 71. RealSports Tennis 72. Atari Video Cube (AtariAge magazine exclusive game) 73. Jungle Hunt 74. Kangaroo 75. Battlezone 76. Pole Position 77. Alpha Beam with Ernie 78. Krull 79. Dig Dug 80. Gravitar (AtariAge magazine exclusive game, later re-released by Atari Corp.) 81. Joust 82. Moon Patrol 83. SwordQuest WaterWorld (AtariAge magazine exclusive game, later sold in stores) 84. Big Bird's Egg Catch 85. Cookie Monster Munch 86. Pigs in Space 87. Snoopy and the Red Baron 88. Mario Bros. 89. Sorcerer's Apprentice 90. Obelix 91. Quadrun (AtariAge magazine exclusive game) 1984 92. Millipede 93. Oscar's Trash Race 94. Crystal Castles 95. Taz 96. Asterix (in Canada and Mexico, nearly the same program as Taz) 97. Pengo 98. Gremlins 99. Stargate 100. Rubik's Cube (nearly the same program as Atari Video Cube) Thanks to Random Terrain for his site that lists his best researched guesses for release dates ( http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-history-1977.html) and the AtariAge archive of catalogs ( http://atariage.com/system_catalogs.php?SystemID=2600) and Rarity Guide ( http://atariage.com/software_list.php?SystemID=2600 ) If anyone has any corrections, please let me know! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+hunmanik Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 Not exactly a correction, just pointing out that the summer 1984 transition was messy, making Gremlins and Stargate questionable for your list. There are versions labeled Atari, Inc., but those of us who have tried hard to pin down release dates seem to come up with release dates after July 1, which would mean they were released under Atari, Corp. But perhaps they had been manufactured earlier? Or, perhaps they were manufactured under Atari, Corp. with labels unchanged from their design by Atari, Inc.? Or, perhaps software production continued under Warner for a while before Atari, Corp. really completed the takeover of all manufacturing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatWithGravy Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 Aw, yeah! It's really cool to see all the Atari releases organized chronologically--well, by year anyway. I love this! I gotta ask, is there a particular reason you're going through the trouble, sdamon? Whatever it might be, thanks for posting! You know, it would also be cool to see all releases by all manufacturers organized chronologically by exact date. At least, I think so anyway. Obviously, that'd be a tonnn of work though. From there, it would be amazing to see the complete chronological list of all carts released in conjunction with the list of top pop/rock radio hits for that year! Also listed chronologically, of course. Then maybe sitcoms, same way. Then maybe movies. Then maybe cars. Then maybe we'd have basically built a functioning time machine. WHEEE! Sorry. Off the rails. As you were. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+D Train Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 Then maybe we'd have basically built a functioning time machine. Encyclopedia Chronologica? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DamonicFury Posted November 4, 2018 Author Share Posted November 4, 2018 Not exactly a correction, just pointing out that the summer 1984 transition was messy, making Gremlins and Stargate questionable for your list. There are versions labeled Atari, Inc., but those of us who have tried hard to pin down release dates seem to come up with release dates after July 1, which would mean they were released under Atari, Corp. But perhaps they had been manufactured earlier? Or, perhaps they were manufactured under Atari, Corp. with labels unchanged from their design by Atari, Inc.? Or, perhaps software production continued under Warner for a while before Atari, Corp. really completed the takeover of all manufacturing? Im sure youre right that it was a messy transition that summer! Its certainly possible that Atari Corp. actually released those games, but as the early releases still feature those great silver (not gray!) labels with Atari, Inc. on them, suggesting that they were at least manufactured by Atari, Inc. , thats good enough for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DamonicFury Posted November 4, 2018 Author Share Posted November 4, 2018 Aw, yeah! It's really cool to see all the Atari releases organized chronologically--well, by year anyway. I love this! I gotta ask, is there a particular reason you're going through the trouble, sdamon? Whatever it might be, thanks for posting! Like many of us, I collect this stuff, and I just got curious what the exact number of Atari Inc. 2600 games was. The renamed games and minor hacks complicate things a bit, but I was delighted to find the number was an even 100 when viewed as described above. Please check out Random Terrains site I linked to above... he actually did include many contemporaneous media releases in his lists! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeatWithGravy Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Please check out Random Terrains site I linked to above... he actually did include many contemporaneous media releases in his lists! Oh, holy smoke! You weren't kidding! It's all there! Too bad I didn't check your link before my last post. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edladdin Posted November 5, 2018 Share Posted November 5, 2018 This is great. Thanks for compiling it! I agree with MeatWithGravy - it would be amazing to see a master list of every published cart. In particular, to have the release dates upgraded to that level in the AA database. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhd Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 I think that it is interesting how some of the early releases were dropped from the line-up, while others remained available. For example, who would purchase Home Run or Championship/Pele's Soccer once the Realsports games were available? I question how wide a release Asterix received in Canada. I did not have an Atari 2600 in 1984 (I sold it in 1983, then I bought another in about 1989), but the underlying comic series was not normally translated into English. I only knew one person who read it (in the original French). The Asterix character (and thus the game) would have had minimal mass-market recognition. It may have been more popular in Francophone communities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 Regarding Asterix... Maybe it's just a coincidence, but where I'm from (west coast of Newfoundland) my school had a huge collection (the whole series?) of these 8.5x11 or larger hardcover "graphic novel" style books, each volume in both french and english. Plus the local video store had two Asterix VHS tapes in the kids/cartoon section, one was the one with the Cleopatra, can't remember the other one. Everyone loved the books in my classes (grades 4-6), mainly because it meant a trip to library or any french related thing you could usually squeeze in some comic time instead of just boring old textbooks. Plus with the movies in our local store (small town, only had the one) everyone had that little extra exposure... Anyone in my age range, from my small town, could still tell you who Asterix is I'm sure. I always thought he was a thing here in Canada, mainly because of the french connection... but as I learned in adulthood, it must have just been my little town. Cause no one knows who Asterix is except a handful of french immersion students... if they aren't busy reading les schtroumpfs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 Regarding Asterix... I always thought he was a thing here in Canada, mainly because of the french connection... but as I learned in adulthood, it must have just been my little town. Cause no one knows who Asterix is except a handful of french immersion students... if they aren't busy reading les schtroumpfs. Asterix is known from along the Quebec boarder in Ontario and east to all the coastal provinces. Most people in Centeral Ontario and further west out towards BC won't have a clue who those characters are. It's the heavier European influence on this part of Canada for sure from what I have experienced myself. Especially the French speaking areas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 Looks like the Asterix comic is still going: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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