The Atari 2800 was Atari's attempt to dominate the Japanese home video game console market in the early 1980s. Although various companies like Epoch had imported and distributed the Atari 2600 in Japan, it was never officially supported nor was it heavily promoted. Essentially a re-styled 2600, the 2800 made its debut in the spring of 1983. Although it's not known why Atari decided to alter the design for Japan, apparently Sears thought enough of the system to rename it the Sears Video Arcade II and sell it in the United States as such. For the concept Atari (当たり) in the board game of Go, see Atari (go term). ... The Nintendo GameCube is an example of a current generation video game console. ... // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... The word epoch can mean either an interval of time, or a particular point in time used as a reference point. ... Atari 2600 (four-switch version). ... 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sears, Roebuck and Company is a retailing division of Sears Holdings Corporation. ...

The 2800's design is reminiscent of the 5200, 7800 and 2600 Jr., which isn't surprising given that at that time Atari seemed to have an infatuation with black plastic and sleek looks that first originated from the unreleased wireless console, the Atari 2700. The controllers are a combination 8-direction digital joystick and 270-degree paddle and up to four of them can be connected to the system at once thanks to additional controller ports on the console. Atari 5200 System The Atari 5200 is a video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari. ... Atari 7800 System The Atari 7800 is a video game console released by Atari. ... Atari 2600 (four-switch version). ... The Atari 2700 (also referred to as the Atari Remote Contol VCS) was an unreleased console by Atari. ... A game controller is an input device used to control a video game. ... For other uses, see Joystick (disambiguation). ... A paddle is a game controller with a round wheel and one or more fire buttons, where the wheel is typically used to control movement of the player object along one axis of the video screen. ...

Around 30 games were released by Atari in Japan. Although the boxes were in Japanese and had a silver/red color that is similar to the packaging of Atari's 1982-1983 games released in the US, the cartidges themselves had identical labels as the ones that were available in America, most likely to reduce costs. In a variety of electronic equipments, a cartridge (in video game terms, cart, game pack, or Game Pak) can be one method of programming different functionality, providing variable content, or a method by which consumables may be replenished. ...

Unfortunately, the 2800 never had a chance in Japan. It was brought to market just months before Nintendo's Famicom (released as the NES in the US), where Japanese gamers quickly snapped up all available Famicom systems as they were brought to stores. Perhaps if Atari had released the system in 1979 or 1980, the 2800 might have had a chance. The Sears Video Arcade II version also suffered from poor sales due to the video game crash of 1983. Nintendo (Japanese: 任天堂; (NASDAQ: NTDOF), (TYO: 7974)) was originally founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards, for use in a Japanese playing card game of the same name. ... The Nintendo Entertainment System (North America, Brazil, Europe, Asia, and Australia) The Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES, is an 8-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Brazil, Europe, Asia, and Australia. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Screenshot of E.T. (Atari 2600 version) The video game crash of 1983 was the sudden crash of the video game business and the bankruptcy of a number of companies producing home computers and video game consoles in North America in late 1983 and early 1984. ...

Trivia

• The 2800 was code-named "Cindy" at Atari before its release.
• Unlike the 2600 and 5200, the 2800 had four controller ports.

References

Atari 2800 at Atari HQ

Atari Museum's 2800 page