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 millions of 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 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 5

True or false: The Atari 2600's joystick had a fire button on the base, not on the top, to prevent accidental presses.

Accepted Answer

False. The classic CX40 joystick has a single red fire button on the top. Base buttons were never standard for the 2600.

Question 6

True or false: The Atari 2600 could play games in black and white only on early color TV sets.

Accepted Answer

True. Early color TVs often had compatibility issues. The 2600 included a B&W switch to force monochrome output for better picture on those sets.

Question 7

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 8

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

Accepted Answer

False. The TIA chip could generate 128 colors on screen, but actual game palettes were limited to 4 colors per scan line due to memory constraints.

Atari 2600 Trivia Questions