This meant the VCS was able to play an unlimited number of different games, unlike the limited Pong-style consoles. The actual game was stored on the cartridge's ROM, not in the system itself. The VCS, unlike most other home videogames of the time, had a CPU and enabled users to play different games simply by sticking in another cartridge. Warner expected Stella (now dubbed the Video Computer System, or simply VCS) to be a huge success, since they knew Atari could make lots of money selling software for the new system. Warner wanted Atari to rule the videogame world, so they enthusiastically sunk over $100 million into their new acquisition. Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari) needed capital, so he sold the company to Warner Communications for $28 million in October 1976. So, in 1976, Atari frantically started working on project 'Stella,' a new cartridge-based home videogame system.Īs the project drew nearer to completion, Atari realized that they didn't have the money to finish the project and get it into production. It’s relatively easy to find emulations of retro games, but the hunt for original copies is really a game in and of 'Have you played Atari today?'Īs Pong's popularity started to decline (coupled with the introduction of the Fairchild Channel F, the first system to have programmable 'ROM' cartridges), Atari realized that the market for home videogame consoles that could only play one game was fading fast. Super ultra rare - Retro gaming is just as popular as ever in 2021 - perhaps even more so, given how very unwilling most companies are to port older classics to newer consoles. And we thought PS5 resale prices were rough. Juarez listed the copy he found for auction on Goodwill’s website after just a week of bidding, it sold for $10,590.79. Air Raid is up there with the rarest games in existence - only five copies have ever been sold as collector’s items, according to a list kept by GameRant.

Sure enough, his father responded with excitement.

Juarez is an e-commerce processor for Goodwill he recognized the game’s T-shaped handle and sent his father a message to confirm its value. So you can imagine Alex Juarez’s surprise when he found a third-party Atari 2600 game called Air Raid in an unsorted bin of games and toys in Texas. Finding games for the classic console (sometimes called the Atari Video Computer System) can be like hunting for a white whale, though. The Atari 2600 is one of the original hits of home console gaming, with more than 30 million units sold between its launch in the late 1970s and its discontinuation in 1992.

Original atari games value