History of the Atari 2600 – Kennett Classic

The Atari 2600 was the most popular cartridge-based game system in the late 1970’s. Even today, young visitors to Kennett Classic instantly recognize the 2600 and have fun picking out a cartridges that they recognize to play. The Atari 2600 was built around a cost-reduced version of the MOS 6502 microprocessor chip.

The original Atari 2600 (courtesy someone else’s photo)

The 1975 MAI JOLT was the first 6502-based computer

The Atari 2600 prototype was constructed to run on a 6502 CPU single-board computer manufactured by MAI called the JOLT. Our JOLT is on display just above our Atari 2600 in the 8-bit room. We have a number of cartridges available for kids to try for themselves, including Combat, the game that ran on the first JOLT prototype.