List of best-selling Atari 2600 video games explained

The Atari 2600 (previously known as the Atari VCS) was the most successful home system of its generation, and it was home to many popular games that sold millions of copies (a figure unheard of before). The best-selling video game on the console is Pac-Man, a port of the arcade game of the same name programmed by Tod Frye.^[1] Originally created by Toru Iwatani and released in 1980, Pac-Man was later ported to many home video game consoles, beginning with the Atari 2600 in 1982.^[2] Within months it became the best-selling home video game of all time, with more than 1.5 million units pre-ordered by customers before its release.^[2] Pac-Man went on to sell over 8 million units worldwide.

The second best-selling Atari 2600 game is Space Invaders, a port of the 1978 Taito arcade video game that was programmed by Rick Maurer, which was released in 1980 and became the first video game to sell a million copies.^[3] It went on to sell over copies, was the best-selling game on the system (until Pac-Man), and is credited with increasing the VCS’s sales and popularity. The other three titles among the top five best-selling Atari 2600 games are Pitfall! (designed by David Crane for Activision), Donkey Kong (a port of the 1981 Nintendo arcade game programmed by Garry Kitchen for Coleco), and Frogger (a port of the Konami and Sega arcade game programmed by Ed English for Parker Brothers), each having sold over 4 million units.

26 video games released on the Atari 2600 sold at least one million copies, of which 14 were developed and/or published by the console's manufacturer, Atari, Inc. Other publishers with multiple entries in the top 26 are Activision (six titles), Imagic (three titles) and Parker Brothers (two titles). Three of the games in the top 26 were programmed by David Crane, three by Howard Scott Warshaw, three by Rob Fulop, and two by Bradley G. Stewart.

Video games

Title! scope="col"

Developer / Publisher	Arcade port	Licensor	Programmer(s)	Release date	Sales	Reference(s)
Pac-Man	Atari, Inc.	Yes	Namco	Tod Frye
Space Invaders	Atari, Inc.	Yes	Taito	Rick Maurer
Donkey Kong	Coleco	Yes	Nintendo	Garry Kitchen
Pitfall!	Activision	No		David Crane			^[4] ^[5]
Frogger	Parker Brothers	Yes	Sega Enterprises	Ed English			^[6]
Asteroids	Atari, Inc.	Yes		Bradley G. Stewart
Defender	Atari, Inc.	Yes	Williams Electronics	Bob Polaro
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial	Atari, Inc.	No	Universal Pictures	Howard Scott Warshaw
Ms. Pac-Man	Atari, Inc.	Yes	Midway Manufacturing	Mike Horowitz, Josh Littlefield
Demon Attack	Imagic	No		Rob Fulop			^[7]
Night Driver	Atari, Inc.	Yes		Rob Fulop
Berzerk	Atari, Inc.	Yes	Stern	Dan Hitchens
Centipede	Atari, Inc.	Yes		Douglas B. Macrae, Josh Littlefield
Warlords	Atari, Inc.	Yes		Carla Meninsky
Breakout	Atari, Inc.	Yes		Bradley G. Stewart
Adventure	Atari, Inc.	No		Warren Robinett			^[8]
Laser Blast	Activision	No		David Crane			^[9]
Freeway	Activision	No		David Crane
Kaboom!	Activision	No		Larry Kaplan
Yars' Revenge	Atari, Inc.	No		Howard Scott Warshaw			^[10]
Atlantis	Imagic	No		Dennis Koble
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back	Parker Brothers	No	Lucasfilm	Rex Bradford			^[11]
Cosmic Ark	Imagic	No		Rob Fulop
Megamania	Activision	No		Steve Cartwright
Raiders of the Lost Ark	Atari, Inc.	No	Lucasfilm	Howard Scott Warshaw
River Raid	Activision	No		Carol Shaw

See also

• List of best-selling video games

External links

• Atari official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Top 10 Best-Selling Atari 2600 Games . Buchanan . Levi . . . August 26, 2008 . April 22, 2017 . August 31, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180831085300/http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/08/26/top-10-best-selling-atari-2600-games . live .
2. Katz . Arnie . Kunkel . Bill . Bill Kunkel (gaming) . May 1982 . The A-Maze-ing World of Gobble Games: A Guide to Maze-Chase Gamers . . New York City . Reese Publishing Company . 1 . 3 . 62–63 . April 22, 2017 .
3. Book: Weiss, Bret . July 6, 2007 . Classic Home Video Games, 1972–1984: A Complete Reference Guide . Jefferson, North Carolina . . 108 . 978-0-7864322-6-4.
4. Book: Bogost, Ian . Ian Bogost . Montfort, Nick . Nick Montfort. Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System . . 2009 . 978-0-262-01257-7 . Beam. Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System.
5. News: Pitfall! Creator David Crane Is Named Videogame Pioneer . Kohler . Chris . . January 26, 2010 . April 22, 2017 . April 23, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170423151401/https://www.wired.com/2010/01/david-crane-pioneer/ . live .
6. News: Ed English: 2600 (Frogger, Mr. Do!, Roc 'n Rope) . April 19, 2021 . Digital Press . 52 . May–June 2003 . 7 . June 1, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220601173655/https://www.digitpress.com/library/newsletters/digitalpress/dp52.pdf#page=7 . live .
7. Web site: Playing Catch Up: Night Trap's Rob Fulop . Wallis . Alistair . . . November 23, 2006 . April 22, 2017 . February 15, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080215070810/http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=11832 . live .
8. Web site: How One Man Invented the Console Adventure Game . Chris . Baker . March 13, 2015 . March 25, 2016 . . September 13, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210913044553/https://www.wired.com/2015/03/warren-robinett-adventure/ . live .
9. Web site: Activision's James Levy: A software success story . Capparell . James . . June 1984 . April 22, 2017 . January 31, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190131201816/https://www.atarimagazines.com/v3n2/levy.html . live .
10. Web site: DP Interviews... Howard Scott Warshaw . Stilphen . Scott . Digital Press . April 22, 2017 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20070428113249/www.digitpress.com/library/interviews/interview_howard_scott_warshaw.html . April 28, 2007.
11. Book: Wojahn, Ellen . February 1, 2003 . The General Mills/Parker Brothers Merger: Playing by Different Rules . Washington, D.C. . Beard Books . 134 . 978-1-5879818-2-1 . April 22, 2017 .