Question 1

True or false: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600 was so bad that unsold cartridges were buried in a landfill.

Accepted Answer

True. In 1983, Atari dumped unsold E.T. cartridges and other inventory in a New Mexico landfill, confirmed by a 2014 excavation.

Question 2

True or false: The Atari 2600 was sold for nearly 15 years, outlasting many of its competitors from the 1980s.

Accepted Answer

True. Production ran from 1977 to 1992, making it one of the longest-lived consoles. It survived the crash of 1983 and the NES era.

Question 3

True or false: Pac-Man for the Atari 2600 was a huge commercial success, selling over 7 million copies.

Accepted Answer

False. It sold about 7 million, but was a critical failure. Poor port quality damaged Atari's reputation, and many were returned or unsold.

Question 4

True or false: The Atari 2600's joystick had its fire button on the base, not on the joystick itself.

Accepted Answer

True. The standard CX40 joystick for the Atari 2600 features a red fire button on the top of the controller base, completely separate from the joystick handle.

Question 5

True or false: The Atari 2600 was originally called the Atari VCS, which stood for Video Computer System.

Accepted Answer

True. It launched in 1977 as the Atari VCS. The name '2600' came later with the release of the Atari 5200, to differentiate the models.

Question 6

True or false: The Atari 2600 used a Z80 processor, the same chip found in many early home computers.

Accepted Answer

False. It used the MOS Technology 6507, a cheaper variant of the 6502. The Z80 was common in systems like the ZX Spectrum and MSX.

Question 7

True or false: Atari 2600 games could only display 128 colors, making it one of the most colorful consoles of its era.

Accepted Answer

True. The Atari 2600's TIA chip generated a palette of 128 colors (16 hues, 8 luminances each), larger than contemporaries like Intellivision (16 colors) or ColecoVision (16). This made it exceptionally colorful for its time.

Question 8

True or false: The Atari 2600 included a switch to force black-and-white output for compatibility with older TVs.

Accepted Answer

True. The console had a B&W/Color switch; using it could eliminate color artifacts on early color TVs that struggled with the 2600's signal, providing a clearer monochrome picture.

Atari 2600 Trivia Questions