{"id":430,"date":"2022-05-26T18:26:45","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T17:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marksvintagecomputers.com\/?p=430"},"modified":"2026-10-29T12:39:37","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T12:39:37","slug":"atari-2600-light-sixer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marksvintagecomputers.com\/?p=430","title":{"rendered":"Atari 2600 (Light Sixer): The Console That Sparked the Home Gaming Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Atari 2600 was produced in several variations. My particular model is known as the Light Sixer, distinguished by its six front-facing switches and lighter construction compared with the earlier Heavy Sixer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Atari&#8217;s downfall was felt by the whole video game industry and resulted in the video game crash of 1983.  Warner sold Atari&#8217;s home division to former Commodore CEO Jack Tramiel in 1984.  The new Atari Corporation released a low-cost 2600 and the backwards compatible 7800 in 1986.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Production of the 2600 stopped in 1992 with an estimated 30 million units sold since 1977.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Hardware Specifications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Processor<\/strong>: MOS Technology 6507 running at 1.19 MHz<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Graphics<\/strong>: 128 colours, with a maximum resolution of 160&#215;192 pixels<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Memory<\/strong>: 128 bytes of RAM<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Storage<\/strong>: Cartridge-based games (up to 4 KB per game)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Audio<\/strong>: 2-channel audio output via TIA (Television Interface Adapter)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Connectivity<\/strong>: Two controller ports, RF output for connection to a television<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Video Output<\/strong>: Standard RF output (composite video modding options available)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Original Release Date:<\/strong> 1977 (Original Design)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Discontinued:<\/strong> 1st January 1992<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Cost (New in 1977):<\/strong> \u00a3199<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Cost (In 2024 Prices):<\/strong> \u00a31200<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Modifications I have performed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Removed and replaced the UHF output, changed to composite video output, cleaned the inside and recapped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Replaced the power supply with a modern equivalent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cost to me for computer \u00a349.99<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cost to me for repairs and upgrades \u00a330.00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Atari 2600 was produced in several variations. My particular model is known as the Light Sixer, distinguished by its six front-facing switches and lighter construction compared with the earlier Heavy Sixer. Atari&#8217;s downfall was felt by the whole video game industry and resulted in the video game crash of 1983. Warner sold Atari&#8217;s home [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1970s"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marksvintagecomputers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marksvintagecomputers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marksvintagecomputers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marksvintagecomputers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marksvintagecomputers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=430"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/marksvintagecomputers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1321,"href":"https:\/\/marksvintagecomputers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430\/revisions\/1321"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marksvintagecomputers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marksvintagecomputers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marksvintagecomputers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marksvintagecomputers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}