Atari

Game Consoles, Home Computers, Peripherals

Game Consoles

• 2600 — The Atari 2600 was not the first home video game console, nor the most advanced of its era, but it became the one that defined the template: cartridge-based, joystick-driven,…
• 2600 Jr — The CX2600JR, sold by Atari Corporation as a 'complete 2600 system', arrived without fanfare, technical disclosures, or design commentary in the surviving documentation.
• 5200 — The 5200 arrived not as a clean break but as a repackaged computer, effectively an Atari 400 without the keyboard or user programming capability.
• 7800 — The 7800 was positioned as a direct response to criticism that Atari had abandoned its core gaming audience in favor of its more expensive ST series computers.
• Jaguar — The Jaguar emerged from Atari Corporation’s Sunnyvale headquarters at 1196 Borregas Avenue as a self-described 64-bit system, though its internal structure defied…
• Jaguar CD — The Jaguar CD was not a standard CD-ROM drive, but a proprietary double-speed compact disc peripheral designed exclusively to attach to the top of the Jaguar 64 console.
• Lynx — The Lynx emerged from a 1987 concept at Epyx, where engineers Dave Needle and R.J. Mical began work on what would become the world's first hand-held color video game system.
• Pong — Atari did not begin with a grand vision of digital entertainment but with a sawed-off plastic milk container overflowing with quarters.

Home Computers

• 1040ST — Atari 1040ST (1986): a full megabyte of RAM and built-in MIDI for $999 — the machine that made the ST the default sequencer platform.
• 1200XL — The 1200XL arrived under strained circumstances. First revealed just after Warner Communications’ stock sharply declined, the machine carried a manufacturer’s suggested list…
• 130XE — The 130XE shipped with 131,072 bytes of RAM, marketed consistently as a 128K machine across multiple period sources.
• 400 — The Atari 400 entered the market as the budget counterpart to the Atari 800, sharing its core architecture.
• 520ST — The 520ST was not a modular experiment but a declaration: a single chassis held the 68000 system, memory, video, and sound circuitry, reducing cabling and boot complexity.
• 600XL — Announced with the expectation of immediate availability in fall 1983, the 600XL began shipping in September of that year.
• 65XE — The 65XE emerged from Atari’s January CES showcase of four new '65' models, all leveraging the 800XL’s success.
• 800 — The Atari 800 was not designed to be a toy. From its inception, it carried the DNA of coin-op video hardware, repurposed for the living room.
• 800XL — The 800XL was positioned as a modernized successor to the Atari 800, integrating the advanced graphics and sound architecture first introduced in the 1979 model that utilized…
• Falcon030 — Atari billed the Falcon030 as a 'Personal Integrated Media System (PIMS),' a designation that, while vague, reflected its ambitions beyond the company’s earlier ST line.
• Mega ST — Atari positioned the Mega ST as 'Das Top-Modell' of its ST line, emphasizing its entry into the professional market.
• Mega STE — The Mega STE emerged not as a radical departure but as a consolidation. Atari’s answer to a user base that had long patched together expansions to keep the ST platform…
• Portfolio — Atari entered the pocket computing market with the Portfolio, a machine designed for mobile productivity.
• STE — The STE designation stood for 'Enhanced,' though the enhancements were incremental rather than transformative.
• XEGS — The XEGS emerged not as a new architecture but as a repackaging of Atari’s earlier 800 computer design, reframed for the living room.

Peripherals

• CX40 Joystick — The CX40 Joystick, formally designated the 'Joystick Controller (Single)', was sold at prices ranging from $7.25 to $10.95 for a single unit according to the Straitline…