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Second generation of video game hardware
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===Atari 2600 & 5200=== {{Main|Atari 2600|Atari 5200}} [[File:Atari2600joystick.jpg|thumb|200px|right|An [[Atari 2600]] game joystick controller]] In 1977, [[Atari]] released its CPU-based console called the Video Computer System (VCS), later called the Atari 2600.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3551/a_history_of_gaming_platforms_.php?print=1|title=A History of Gaming Platforms: Atari 2600 Video Computer System/VCS|last1=Barton|first1=Matt|last2=Loguidice|first2=Bill|date=February 28, 2008|work=[[Gamasutra]]|accessdate=September 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911225503/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3551/a_history_of_gaming_platforms_.php?print=1|archive-date=September 11, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Nine games were designed and released for the holiday season. Atari held exclusive rights to most of the popular [[arcade game]] conversions of the day. They used this key segment to support their older hardware in the market. This game advantage and the difference in price between the machines meant that each year, Atari sold more units than Intellivision, lengthening its lead despite inferior graphics.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3653/a_history_of_gaming_platforms_.php?print=1|title=A History of Gaming Platforms: Mattel Intellivision|last=Barton|first=Matt|last2=Loguidice|first2=Bill|date=8 May 2008|website=Gamasutra|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101020927/https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3653/a_history_of_gaming_platforms_.php?print=1|archive-date=November 1, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=January 21, 2019}}</ref> The Atari 2600 went onto to sell over 30 million units over its lifetime, considerably more than any other console of the second generation.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YVTNBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA30&dq=atari+2600+30+million&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5k9PIw-vjAhVloXEKHX3VDjgQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=30%20million&f=false|title=The Golden Age of Video Games: The Birth of a Multibillion Dollar Industry|last=Dillon|first=Roberto|date=2016-04-19|publisher=CRC Press|year=|isbn=9781439873243|location=|pages=125|language=en}}</ref> In 1982, Atari released the Atari 5200 in an attempt to compete with the Intellivision. While superior to the 2600, poor sales and lack of new games meant Atari only supported it for two years before it was discontinued.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=deBFx7QAwsQC&pg=PA388&dq=Intellivision&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi56qDOsevjAhWxRxUIHZ85D10Q6AEITjAH#v=snippet&q=atari%205200&f=false|title=Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming|last=Wolf|first=Mark J. P.|date=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=|isbn=9780313379369|location=|pages=49|language=en}}</ref> Early Atari 2600 cartridges contained 2 kilobytes of read-only storage. This limit grew steadily from 1978 to 1983: up to 16 kilobytes for Atari 5200 cartridges. ''[[Bank switching]]'', a technique that allowed two different parts of the program to use the same [[memory address]]es, was required for the larger cartridges to work. The Atari 2600 cartridges got as large as 32 kilobytes through this technique.<ref>{{Cite book|title=[[Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System]]|author1=Monfort, Nick|author2=Bogost, Ian|publisher=[[MIT Press]]|year=2009|isbn=0-262-01257-X|location=|pages=88|lastauthoramp=yes}}</ref> The Atari 2600 had only 128 bytes of RAM available in the console. A few late game cartridges contained a combined RAM/ROM chip, thus adding another 256 bytes of RAM inside the cartridge itself. The Atari standard joystick was a digital controller with a single fire button released in 1977.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3551/a_history_of_gaming_platforms_.php?print=1|title=A History of Gaming Platforms: Atari 2600 Video Computer System/VCS|last=Barton|first=Matt|last2=Loguidice|first2=Bill|date=28 February 2008|website=Gamasutra|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911225503/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3551/a_history_of_gaming_platforms_.php?print=1|archive-date=September 11, 2018|url-status=live|access-date=January 20, 2019}}</ref>
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