Atari 2600

Atari launched its Video Computer System in September 1977 with Combat in the box, and the machine later renamed the 2600 became the console that made cartridges mainstream. This is the four-switch woodgrain version sold in the early 1980s, at the height of its fame, with the single-button joystick that became shorthand for video games. The home version of Space Invaders turned it into a must-have, and Adventure and Pitfall! showed how much a tiny cartridge could hold.