22 replies to this topic

[Mark T]

So I always wondered where did the '2600' number come from?

I understand with the later systems by doing simple math:
5200 = 2600 * 2

7800 = (5200 * 2) - 2600

From doing a Wikipedia search on Atari 2600 they state it came from the serial number...but I feel that they came up with the name first before they came up with the serial number.

Any ideas?

[Ransom]

Well, originally it was the Atari Video Computer System. The model was CX2600. IIRC, when they were producing their next-gen gaming system, they retroactively renamed the VCS the 2600, while their new system would be the 5200 (implying it's twice as powerful, I guess).

As to why the model number for the VCS was CX2600 and not, for example, CX1000 -- or even what the CX stands for (ConXumer product??) -- I dunno.

[Dauber]

Maybe a tribute to phreakers?

[Ransom]

I wondered about that. It's a distinct possibility.

[Emehr]

The first time I saw a 2600 mag in the book store I thought it was about the Atari. Naturally, I was disappointed (although intrigued) when I opened it up. I always thought they named it in honor of the Atari. Now, which came first?

EDIT: Just Googled, named in the '60s after the 2600 hertz tone. Innnteresting....

EDIT AGAIN: Since Woz was connected to Atari (via Steve Jobs) and he also built blue boxes, maybe he came up with the designation? The rumor starts here folks!

Edited by Emehr, Thu Dec 29, 2011 2:56 PM.

[Dauber]

heh...I too picked up 2600 in a store, probably around 1996, thinking it had something to do with Atari...but I'm enough of a nerd that I enjoyed it anyway. A year ago they published an article of mine, too.

[Inky]

Dauber, on Thu Dec 29, 2011 3:47 PM, said:

A year ago they published an article of mine, too.

Why would they publish an article about garden ponds? (inside joke)

[KeizerGhidorah]

Mark T, on Thu Dec 29, 2011 10:39 AM, said:

7800 = (5200 * 2) - 2600

Well, that or:
7800 = 2600 * 3 (so I guess they're saying it's three times as powerful as the 2600?)

Edited by KeizerGhidorah, Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:16 PM.

[lushgirl_80]

What about the Atari 400?? and 800 and so on lol

[Rybags]

400/800 was derived from the intended RAM sizes on release, 4K or 8K.
By the time they came out, memory was cheap enough such that they doubled the standard memory sizes.

Maybe 2600 was the initial wholesale cost ($26) of the unit. 6507 was fairly cheap, IIRC $25 was the initial price of the 6502 so it probably dropped somewhat after a while.

Or maybe it just happened to be the product code and no special meaning was intended since VCS was the official name.

[Pioneer4x4]

Maybe it was Stella's house number.

[yell0w_lantern]

STELLA!

[Mark T]

Pioneer4x4, on Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:03 AM, said:

Maybe it was Stella's house number.

Stella -> Named after one of the engineers' bicycles

hmm...I guess it could be that engineers house who's bike belonged to?

[yell0w_lantern]

Maybe it was the number of the streetcar.

You know, the one named, desire.


STELLA!

[AtariDude]

Wikipedia mentions that it was named the Atari 2600 after the Atari part number cx2600.

[Atariman]

Actually, if I remember correctly, I believe it meant 5200 graphics + 2600 compatibility = 7800.

[Rybags]

I reckon the bike story's a politically correct crock.

Plus, the secretary with big jugs is a much better story.

[Keatah]

Maybe it's the bike's serial number?

[Ransom]

Or maybe that's how many doobies Nolan & crew smoked the weekend before they put together the product catalog.

[Cynicaster]

Well, we know that the moniker “Atari 2600” was a retronym applied to the VCS in order to distinguish it from its successor, the 5200. The logic in introducing the number names, I’m sure, was nothing more than simple marketing (i.e., higher numbers = MOAR BETTER!!1!1!!).

We also know that the “2600” digits come from the VCS model number CX2600 or whatever it was.

I reckon that’s about as much as we’ll ever know. They had to call the machine something internally. The CX2600 code probably means something to some Atari engineer involved in the early stages of the project, but only he’d be able to say exactly what (if he even remembers).

At the company I work for, we have all kinds of products whose names consist of numbers, and I know there are very few (if any) folks in my office who could tell you with authority where those numbers actually came from. We just get so used to referring to those products by those names that we don’t even think about it.

[Random Terrain]

Cynicaster, on Tue Jan 3, 2012 8:56 AM, said:

I reckon that’s about as much as we’ll ever know. They had to call the machine something internally. The CX2600 code probably means something to some Atari engineer involved in the early stages of the project, but only he’d be able to say exactly what (if he even remembers).

Did it have that number when Beardy McHot-tub was in charge? If it did, someone should ask him and see if he knows.

[AtariNerd]

Yep, the dial tone on older phones was 2600HZ (maybe still is?). It used to be that you could hack phones and get free phone calls (and other potentially subversive things) by having special boxes that generated various tones in the proper sequence.

Edited by AtariNerd, Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:28 PM.

[kroogur]

Perhaps because the system was 2600 times cooler than the Fairchild Channel F? Plus easier to say, and more asthetically pleasing, and had better games,etc,,,,,,