The Atari 2600, originally branded as the Atari Video Computer System, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari. Released in September 1977, it popularized the use of microprocessor-based hardware and of games stored on swappable ROM cartridges, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F the year before. The VCS was bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge – initially Combat and later Pac-Man.Photograph credit: Evan Amos