Atari 2600 prototype picture

[cdoty]

Here's some info on an early Atari 2600 prototype:

 

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_prototypes/3/

 

Gives new meaning to 'Heavy Sixer'

Edited September 28, 2010 by cdoty

[MitchSchaft]

ha! I'd like to see some covers for that .

[Godzilla]

now thats a HEAVY sixer

[iwan-iwanowitsch-goratschin]

That´s a BEAST of BIG SEXY!

[jhd]

So, where is the original now? In a museum or part of a private collection somewhere?

[Joe Musashi]

So, where is the original now? In a museum or part of a private collection somewhere?

 

I don't know if it is still there, but last year a prototype was on display in the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA.

[tetrode kink]

Can't remember when, but a different picture of that prototype has been posted in these forums before.

 

[edit] It was similar to the top picture, and it was posted within the last year. [/edit]

Edited September 29, 2010 by tetrode kink

[Heavy26R]

Rube Goldberg would be proud!

[OldAtarian]

Here's some info on an early Atari 2600 prototype:

 

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_prototypes/3/

 

Gives new meaning to 'Heavy Sixer'

 

Who other than Curt Vendel holds on to these things?

[GrizzLee]

Here's some info on an early Atari 2600 prototype:

 

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/08/ff_prototypes/3/

 

Gives new meaning to 'Heavy Sixer'

 

Who other than Curt Vendel holds on to these things?

 

I forwarded this article to Joe Decuir.

 

Here is his repsonse:

"The left most board in the photo is a Jolt board, with a 6502 and a pair of 6530s.

I am not sure what the middle board is; probably memory.

The right most board might be a prototype hardware board.

(I remember working on one that was larger.)

 

What happened:

I system like this one was assembled in late fall 1975.

I was hired in December 1975. I then moved to Cyan.

First job: debug the hardware.

Second job: debut the firmware, so it would actually display something interesting.

We then invited Nolan Bushnell and Al Alcore to come look at a demo in mid-February 1976.

That worked, so I got moved down with a prototype to start in March working for Jay Miner."

 

-Lee

[fiddlepaddle]

Cool. I wonder what all the switches and that volume-like control do? Would it actually be able to play 2600 cartridges if a connector was wired in? I wonder how hard it would be to make another one just like it?