JGC Feature-The Atari 2800

Despite its Asian-sounding name, Atari was as American as apple pie. Released in 1977, Atari's VCS brought the company millions of dollars in the pre-crash era of 1977-1982/83. Selling millions of units in North America and Europe, the company would try and expand its growing home console market to Japan in the early 1980s. This move would be the first high-profile failure of an American console in Japan.

Released in the Fall of 1983, the Atari VCS/2600 was rebranded as the Atari 2800 in Japan. Eschewing the wood-grain finish of the original 1977 model, the 2800 resembled its bigger brother, the Atari 5200. Later, pretty much the same design was used for the Atari 7800. The design of the 2800 would also be used by chainstore Sears when they released their Telegames II console around the same time.

Only a small library of the hundreds of 2600 games would make it to Japanese shores. Luckily, E.T. was one of them (not!). Besides E.T., Atari classics such as Centipede, Missile Command, Joust, and Yars Revenge would be released in Japan. All in all, about 30 games were released in Japan. American computer and electronic companies have struggled for many years to make a dent in the Japanese market. Like the Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, the 2800 was an American console that the Japanese buying public was not ready to welcome. This technological "xenophobia" has continued until today, with the notable exception of the Japanese success of Apple. Another factor compounding the early death of the 2800 was its late release. By 1983, the immensely popular Famicom had been released by Nintendo. In addition, the Sega SG-1000 was also on the market. Both consoles (especially the Famicom) offered far superior sound and graphics for almost 100 dollars less. With the explosion of the Japanese 8-bit computers at the same time, there was no room for the over-priced 2800.

There is no real reason to seek out an Atari 2800 today. For all intents and purposes, the game carts and game selection is identical besides the unique game boxes, which do contain Japanese text and the 2800 logo. The system faded away very quickly, and Atari would retreat and avoid releasing the 5200 and 7800 in Japan, at least officially. The Atari Jaguar would be released in the early 1990s, however, it would suffer an equally dismal fate. Today, Japanese 2800 units are almost impossible to find. Reserved for hardcore Atari collectors, it is hard to imagine someone with a casual interest in Atari wanting one of these units.