The Atari VCS (for Video Computer System) was released in October 1977 as itself as well as it's clone, the Sears Video Arcade under it's "Tele-Games" OEM brand. It is the video game console credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in. The first game console to use this format was the Fairchild Channel F. However, it was the Atari 2600 that made the plug-in concept popular among the game-playing public. The machine's name was changed to "Atari 2600" (from the unit's Atari part number, CX2600) in 1982, after the release of the more advanced Atari 5200.
The Atari VCS was wildly successful, and during the 1980s, "Atari" was a synonym for this model in mainstream media. The VCS was typically bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a cartridge game (initially Combat and subsequently Pac-Man).
There were almost 1,000 unique game cartridges released for this system worldwide, and clones were made for over 20 years.
