Atari 2600 game count

[HatefulGravey]

Does anyone know off the top of their head how many Atari 2600 games there are not including prototypes and homebrews? It might be easier to say from R1-R10 how many games are there? I find this information hard to track down without counting them all in the AA list, which I don't want to do, because there are different labels and such and every number I find doesn't say if it includes the different labels or not.

 

Also, if you were going to put a number on the games, would you include things like Atlantis II? We have it on the list but does it really count as a standard game as there was no point where you could just go buy it? That even splits hairs with some games that were mail order only... its a complicated thing when you really think about it.

 

So, anyone have any answers?

[toiletunes]

I tried this once, but gave up. It's hard to decide what to count and what to exclude.

 

Many Sears games were just Atari games with different names (Air-Sea Battle vs Target Fun) do these count?

 

Some games (Othello, Asteroids, Superman etc) had 2 different versions- not label variations, but changes to code

 

Stargate and Defender II are the same game with a different titlescreen.

 

Atari Video Cube and Rubik's Cube are almost identical, do they count as one or two games?

 

Then there's Harbor Escape, a hack of River Raid.

 

and what about PAL vs NTSC?

 

Air Raid shares code with Space Jockey, where do you draw the line?

 

Does the monitor cart count as a game? How do you define game?

 

What about Basic Math / Fun with Numbers?

 

Pepsi Invaders is a hack of Space Invaders, and it's unbelievably rare. do you count games you'll probably never own?

 

just say there were somewhere between 400-600 games and leave it at that.

[Rom Hunter]

just say there were somewhere between 400-600 games and leave it at that.

Why leave it at that?

 

Exactly 475 known to exist original releases (not counting proto's).

 

[Schizophretard]

I count every game, rom variation, label variation, manual variation, box variation, TV format, pirates, homebrews.... My guess would be somewhere around 10,000 but that guess isn't based on facts but on how many it feels like there are. That is a big reason I enjoy collecting for Atari. It is a hobby that will last a life time.

[atari181]

When I first started collecting in 1998 I printed a list of games off the internet. It had 1463 games listed, separated by company. Obviously many are the same ROM under a different name. I still use the list to keep track of my collection and have to add some titles that I have that weren't on the list. If you are looking at titles and multiple company releases it is well over 1500 with all the different companies releases.

 

I have never been able to find a list like it again and have looked everywhere. It may have been the old atarilandfill website but I'm not sure.

[Schizophretard]

just say there were somewhere between 400-600 games and leave it at that.

Why leave it at that?

 

Exactly 475 known to exist original releases (not counting proto's).

 

 

Does that count rom differences and pirates?

[atarigal]

I would love to see a list that comprises only carts that were mass released and still relatively easy to track down and not $$, say for under $40.

[HatefulGravey]

I would narrow it to NTSC for sure. I have no interest in PAL at this point, mostly because I couldn't play them on my TV to my knowledge.

 

Lets go back to the drawing board a little here and ask a question that might just help. Again, excluding Pepsi Invader style hacks and prototypes, does AA have a complete list of commercial 2600 games? If I went to the 2600 section of this site and counted them all would I get a complete number? If that is the case I could get an idea by counting how many games in each company listing. Then we could combine our knowledge and subtract from the list to account for the name changes and such and get a number. Hell I have little to do at work right now so I could spend 5 hours counting tomorrow if it has a chance of getting a real number of commercial NTSC game...

[accousticguitar]

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=279&showentry=5704

[HatefulGravey]

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=279&showentry=5704

 

I found that in a google search too actually. We have two answers already in this thread and they are different numbers. Someone has to have an answer to this question.

 

How about if I wanted to have a complete collection of commercial games, including all the labels and name changes, does anyone know that answer?

 

Hell, does anyone know anything about this? lol Seems like a bunch of collectors here, and some big time collectors, and we don't know how many there are of the things we collect. Pretty funny.

[keithbk]

I was not aware there were 2 versions of Superman with different code...can someone elaborate?

[Schizophretard]

I was not aware there were 2 versions of Superman with different code...can someone elaborate?

 

My link

 

There are also two versions of Asteroids.

[atarigal]

There are also two versions of Asteroids.

 

What are the differences in the Asteroids versions? I didn't know that either.

[toiletunes]

How about if I wanted to have a complete collection of commercial games, including all the labels and name changes, does anyone know that answer?

 

Philfound maintains a list of label variations, here is a sample:

 

http://www.videogamevariations.com/AtariCompanies/AtariGames/Combat/combat_cartridges.htm

 

26 different versions of Combat

 

Where do you draw the line?

[toiletunes]

There are also two versions of Asteroids.

 

What are the differences in the Asteroids versions? I didn't know that either.

 

One has a copyright screen, one doesn't.

[atarigal]

 

Philfound maintains a list of label variations, here is a sample:

 

http://www.videogamevariations.com/AtariCompanies/AtariGames/Combat/combat_cartridges.htm

 

26 different versions of Combat

 

Where do you draw the line?

 

Yeah, wow, that's crazy! I remember in the early 90's I was into collecting records and I would get albums with tiny variations like that. Some years later I came to my senses and sold them on eBay, LOL. I just don't have room in my house (or my bank account!) for collecting things that way anymore.

[Schizophretard]

I would narrow it to NTSC for sure. I have no interest in PAL at this point, mostly because I couldn't play them on my TV to my knowledge.

 

What about the PALs converted to NTSC?

 

If you are interested in coming up with this list to purchase all of them for your NTSC TV then it seems like you could afford a TV that plays PAL. If it is about playing on your TV then just download Rom's collection ,get a Harmony cart, and when you get interested in PAL get a $5 TV that can play the ones already in Rom's collection.

Edited April 26, 2011 by Schizophretard

[Schizophretard]

How about if I wanted to have a complete collection of commercial games, including all the labels and name changes, does anyone know that answer?

 

Philfound maintains a list of label variations, here is a sample:

 

http://www.videogamevariations.com/AtariCompanies/AtariGames/Combat/combat_cartridges.htm

 

26 different versions of Combat

 

Where do you draw the line?

 

You don't. The creators of the variations did.

[HatefulGravey]

I would narrow it to NTSC for sure. I have no interest in PAL at this point, mostly because I couldn't play them on my TV to my knowledge.

 

What about the PALs converted to NTSC?

 

If you are interested in coming up with this list to purchase all of them for your NTSC TV then it seems like you could afford a TV that plays PAL. If it is about playing on your TV then just download Rom's collection ,get a Harmony cart, and when you get interested in PAL get a $5 TV that can play the ones already in Rom's collection.

 

Hold up now, I didn't say I wanted to buy them all. There is no way I'll own them all without a lotto win or something insanely lucky like that. It would just be nice to know what we are up against. I get what I can get my hands on without killing myself or my bank account. Some times I forget not to kill my back account but not very often .

[Rom Hunter]

just say there were somewhere between 400-600 games and leave it at that.

Why leave it at that?

 

Exactly 475 known to exist original releases (not counting proto's).

 

 

Does that count rom differences and pirates?

Nope.

 

In that case, it wouldn't be original releases.

 

However, it does count PAL originals.

 

Finding out how many NTSC originals were released is just as easy.

 

[high voltage]

Does it include Coleco Venture and Atari Venture (and the other Coleco/Parker re-released by Atari)?

Edited April 26, 2011 by high voltage

[+bennybingo]

http://www.atariage....&showentry=5704

 

This is what I've always used as my checklist.

[Rom Hunter]

537 NTSC originals minus 134 NTSC prototypes = 403

 

[accousticguitar]

537 NTSC originals minus 134 NTSC prototypes = 403

 

Do you have a list of those 537 originals?

[Schizophretard]

I would narrow it to NTSC for sure. I have no interest in PAL at this point, mostly because I couldn't play them on my TV to my knowledge.

 

What about the PALs converted to NTSC?

 

If you are interested in coming up with this list to purchase all of them for your NTSC TV then it seems like you could afford a TV that plays PAL. If it is about playing on your TV then just download Rom's collection ,get a Harmony cart, and when you get interested in PAL get a $5 TV that can play the ones already in Rom's collection.

 

Hold up now, I didn't say I wanted to buy them all. There is no way I'll own them all without a lotto win or something insanely lucky like that. It would just be nice to know what we are up against. I get what I can get my hands on without killing myself or my bank account. Some times I forget not to kill my back account but not very often .

 

What you are up against is a hobby that will last a life time which is a good thing. I don't think you will have to win the lotto to eventually have all of them minus the ones so rare that they are all already owned by a collector. The easiest way is to save up and buy a big lot on Ebay to try to get them at around $1 or less each. Take out what you need and then sell the ones you don't need. Save the money from the sales and other money to buy another lot.... Sometimes you'll get lucky and get a rare one in one of the lots. The rarity 8 Guardian I have up on Gamegavel I got in a lot. I already owned Guardian but I bought the lot because I knew that by selling Guardian I would be getting the other games in the lot for cheap. Sometimes you'll even get lucky and be there to place your max bid at the last 10 seconds of an auction and get a rare game for cheap. I recently won a rarity 7 Motocross Racer for $9.01 after shipping. Hopefully it is on it's way and atari181 just forgot to mark it as shipped. Anyway, if you play your cards right you will get all the NTSC titles you possibly can for cheap and sometimes you will be insanely lucky. When your goal is reached by having a complete as possible NTSC collection you can move on to label variations or PAL. To get it all could take a life time and that is how I prefer it. The best things to collect for are things that you never have to say,"My collection is done and now I need a new hobby."