Atari 2600 Original Style Game Joystick

This joystick is from the 1980 release of the Atari 2600. Originally released on September 11, 1977, the Atari 2600 home video game console was developed and produced by Atari, Inc. and used ROM cartridges to allow players to change out games. The 2600 started the trend for at-home video gameplay where players no longer had to go to an arcade to access a library of video games.  

When we think of video games, we think of recent inventions, but one of the earliest prototypes for a cathode-ray tube (used in televisions and computer screens) amusement device was created by Thomas T. Goldsmith (1910-2009) and Estle R. Mann (1904-1965) in the 1940s. 

In the early 1950s, A.S. Douglas (1921-2010), built a simple game of tic-tac-toe and, in 1958, William Higinbotham (1910-1994), who helped develop the atomic bomb, created Tennis for Two. Ralph A. Baer (1922-2014) created the Magnavox Odyssey, the first ever home console in 1972, and Jerry Lawson (1940-2011) invented the first video game cartridge in 1976.   

Video games are not only a billion-dollar industry, but they have changed the way other media is made and distributed. They have furthered technological advances, changed pop culture, and can teach empathy and logic. These controllers represent the best-selling video game consoles of all time and new innovations to make video games more accessible.