Atari

video games · 1970s · arcade · pioneer

Started in 1972. Two friends named Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney founded Atari in Sunnyvale, California, and they wanted to make electronic games that people could play.

Pong was huge. Atari created Pong, one of the first arcade games ever, and it became so popular that it helped start the whole video game industry.

Home games at last. The Atari 2600 was a game console you could connect to your TV at home, which let families play games without going to arcades.

Computer pioneer too. Atari didn't just make game consoles, they also made home computers that helped bring computing into regular people's houses in the 1970s and 1980s.

Changed entertainment forever. Atari's games and systems were so groundbreaking that they shaped what video games and electronic entertainment would become for decades to come.