The first Pong coin-op was play tested in a bar named Andy Capps.  The bar keeper was not very interested in new electronic things, but Nolan persuaded him to install the machine.  Later the bar keeper phoned Bushnell telling him that the machine was defective.  When Bushnell came to remove the coin-op, he saw that there was indeed a problem.  There were too many coins in the coin box!  He removed the coins and the machine began working hard.

The Pong arcade game became a smash sensation. This was the beginning of a new era of entertainment.  Atari set up assembly facilities in a former roller skating rink, hired local hippies for labor, then began manufacturing Pong coin-ops for mass distribution.
 
 

Bushnell formed Kee Games (named after and managed by friend Joe Keenan) to provide "competition" for Atari. The presence of two game companies allowed Bushnell to circumvent the existing distributor exclusivity networks and sell more games as a result.  Atari reaped $3.2 million in earnings for the year.
 
 

Al Alcorn created Home Pong, a dedicated home console to play Pong.

In response to Fairchild's Channel F programmable home video game console (Which was released in 1975, and was truly the worlds first video game console accepting game cartridges and the weirdest joysticks.),  Atari began to develop "Stella," a prototype console that accepted cartridges, under the supervision of Jay Miner.

Nolan Bushnell hired Steve Jobs to create Breakout, a PONG variant.  Jobs joined with Steve Wozniak and designed the game in five days.  Bushnell pays Jobs $5,000; Jobs pays $350 to Wozniak, and took sole credit for Breakout.

Seeking funds to finish Stella for manufacturing, Nolan Bushnell sold Atari Inc. to Warner Communications for $28 million.  Bushnell was named Chairman of the Board, and Joe Keenan remained as President.

Jobs & Wozniak while still working at Atari, designed and built (with Atari components) the original Apple computer.   Atari management, when shown the computer was not interested in the device.  The Steves moved on and started the Apple Computer Company.
 
 

Hand-held electronic games cut into the Christmas sales, but Atari Inc. survived with financial support from Warner Communications, although it was deep in debt.
 
 

Atari launches its home computer division.  The home video game console and home computer divisions are deliberately kept separate.

Atari releases Football for the arcades, the first commercial game to use a track-ball controller.
 
 

Atari premiered the Atari 400 "Candy"

and Atari 800 "Colleen" home computers

at the Winter CES.  Each machine had 4 (!!!!) controller (I/O !!!!) ports, which in theory allowed up to 8 simultaneous players when using the paddle controllers (knobbed potentiometers) used with the earlier PONG and variant games.

Atari quits the pinball business.

Taito's Space Invaders arrived in America.  Interest in video games skyrocketed.

Ray Kassar dismisses Atari's engineers as "high-strung prima donnas,"  angering the remaining staff.

Atari released Lunar Lander for the arcades.  It was Atari's first game with vector graphics.

Atari released the Asteroids coin-op.  It becomes a major hit, eventually selling 70,000 units, and dethrones Space Invaders in arcades.

Atari sells 400,000 VCS consoles.

Gross income was marked at over $200 million, operating income at $19 million.
 
 

Atari released Space Invaders for the Atari VCS, the first home license of an arcade game.  Atari released Adventure for the VCS, the first commercial game to include a hidden "Easter Egg" (credit for the programmer, Warren Robinett).

Activision was founded. Founded by four former Atari employees -- David Crane, Alan Miller, Bob Whitehead, and Larry Kaplan -- it became the first third party video game developer.  Atari sued Activision, alleging its founders with violating non-disclosure agreements.

Atari released the Battlezone coin-op.  It was the first arcade game from Atari to feature a first person view.  Atari eventually sells 75,000 units.

Atari's gross income was marked at $415 million, operating income at $77 million.  Atari forms one third of Warner Communication's total annual income and becomes the fastest growing company in the history of America.
 
 

To avoid a shortfall of games and increase profits, Atari asked distributors to commit to ordering games for all of 1982.  Not wanting to be caught short, distributors placed huge orders for the next year.

Atari's annual sales were $35 million.  Peripherals and software were in demand.

Atari home computers were enhanced with the GTIA graphics chip, enabling more colors and additional screen resolutions.

IBM entered the personal computer market.  Initially they wanted to buy a company, and were very interested in Atari.  That was not to be.  But if it had happened think about the possibilities.  In 1981 IBM buys ATARI, the ATARI Computers are the IBM PC.   IBM gets the OS from Digital Research (GEM, Graphic Environment Manager), no Microsoft involved, IBM the first computer with a GUI, no "Macintosh revolution". Recent history would be very different.
 
 

Atari won its lawsuit against Magnavox for its K.C. Munchkin video game, a copy of Pac-Man.

Atari released Pac-Man for the Atari VCS.  Poor game play, bad graphics, and crappy sound crippled Atari's credibility.

Atari settled a lawsuit from Activision, and allowed the development of third party video games in return for royalties.  Dozens of companies began making games for the Atari VCS.

Atari's upper management suffered severe turnover rates.  Ray Kassar's autocratic management style was blamed, but Kassar was not held accountable.

Atari released E.T. for the Atari VCS.  Confusing game play and bad design further disillusioned the public on Atari.  Game sales plummeted and Atari's reputation was diminished further.  Distributors were stuck with excess games due to their commitments from the previous year.

Atari released Earthworld for the Atari VCS, the first title in a planned four part adventure series, along with an accompanying contest.  The series was never completed.

Atari released the Atari 1200XL home computer.  Incompatibility problems causes the public to rush out and buy Atari 400 and Atari 800 computers before they're discontinued.

December 7 (Pearl Harbor Day), 2:41 p.m. EST -  Ray Kassar sells 5,000 shares of Warner stock, with a net worth of $250,000 and a profit of $81,000.
December 7, 3:04 p.m. EST - Warner Communications reports a 10% increase in earnings from the fourth quarter.  Lower Atari sales -- due to unsold games and increased competition -- are blamed. Stock analysts, previously promised a 50% earnings increase, are enraged.
December 8 - Warner's stock drops 33% in one day. Warner closes the quarter with profits down 56%.  Dealers cancel orders en masse. Warner's stock drops another 7% the next day.
December 14 - CEO Ray Kassar and vice-president Dennis Groth are investigated for insider trading.  Wall Street investors shy away from Atari and Warner.

Under pressure from the Mattel Intellivision and the Colecovision, Atari released the Atari 5200 (and renamed the Atari VCS to the Atari 2600).

Though the 5200 was essentially an Atari 400 computer in a new case, inter division rivalry caused the 5200 to be incompatible with the Atari 400 computer.

Atari's annual sales reached $203 million, but profits were low.

Rumors of a video game market crash began.
 
 

A decline of video game sales combined with irresponsible spending by Atari Inc., resulted in record losses of $536 million.

Sales of the Atari 5200 were lower than expected.  Because it was incompatible with the Atari 2600, many consumers decided to buy the Mattel Intellivision or the Colecovision instead.

Atari announced My First Computer, a keyboard/computer attachment to the Atari 2600, along with peripherals and software.  It was never released.

Atari announced plans for the formation of Ataritel, a division to develop integrated computer/phone/video systems.

Atari layed off 600 employees and moved its manufacturing facilities to Hong Kong and Taiwan.  Atari closed its El Paso manufacturing plant.  Fourteen trailer trucks filled with unsold games were dumped in an Alamorgordo, New Mexico landfill and buried in concrete.  Atari claimed the games were defective.

Warner reported second quarter losses of $283.4 million, the worst quarter in the company's history.

The market for Atari VCS games became over saturated.  New games were dumped on the market at unprofitable prices, which cut into the sales of other titles and prevented new games from being developed.

CEO Ray Kassar resigned over mounting allegations of illegal insider trading activity.  The Securities and Exchange Commission accuse Kassar of trading stock with illegal insider knowledge.  Kassar settled, returning his profits without acknowledging guilt or innocence.

James Morgan was named CEO of Atari Inc.

Atari announced the formation of AtariSoft, a division to make games for competing video game and computer systems.

Atari replaced the 400/800/1200XL line of home computers with the slightly redesigned but cheaper to manufacture 600XL and 800XL.

Atari posted losses of $536 million.

Warner Communications divided Atari Incorporated into 2 divisions.

CEO James Morgan announced that henceforth Atari will only announce new products that can be delivered in three months' time.

Atari announced plans to release the Atari 7800, a game console for $140.  Peripherals and games are also announced.

Rumors circulated that Warner Communications was looking to sell Atari Inc.

Atari announced the Mindlink, a "mind control" peripheral for the Atari VCS, and killed the Atari 5200.

Jack Tramiel bought Atari Inc.'s home computer and home video game division.  The new company was called Atari Corporation.  The Tramiel clan owned 51% of Atari Corp. stock, 25% was kept by Warner Communications, with the remaining 24% offered to the public.  Atari Inc.'s arcade division was retained by Warner Communications and renamed Atari Games.

Jack Tramiel fired over one thousand Atari Corp. employees, including CEO James Morgan.  Jack Tramiel was elected as CEO of Atari Corp., and his son Sam Tramiel became president.  Atari Corp. restructured again, and moved most operations overseas.

For the first time ever, Atari Corp. skips the summer Consumer Electronics Show.  The Ataritel project was canceled.

Nintendo of Japan had seriously considered selling its Famicom video game console in America.  Nintendo floated the idea of having Atari sell Famicoms under the Atari label.  Jack Tramiel rejected the offer, as it was not in line with his plans to remake Atari into a "legitimate" computer company, and they did not like the alien Nintendo joystick less controllers.  Also Atari was also giving money to a little company called AMIGA (owned by Jay Miner), who was busily creating a next generation 16-bit game console.

Atari Corp. tried to license the Amiga home computer system. CBM interceded with a much better offer and bought Amiga whole.

Atari Corp. announced plans to produce inexpensive 8-bit computers, along with new 16-bit and 32-bit home computers to compete with the IBM PC and Apple Macintosh.  Atari eventually licensed the GEM computer operating system from Digital Equipment Corporation for use in its next generation Atari PC.

The VCS 7800 was ready but not released.
 
 

Atari Corp. released the 520ST just a few weeks before rival Commodore's fabulous Amiga 1000 system.  Atari also produced CDROM drives for the ST.  It was the first personal computer with a designed CD-ROM peripheral, many years before the Wintel computer.

The 65XE and the 130XE, last of the 8-bit Atari series, were released.

Financial difficulties forced Atari Corp. to lay off more employees.  Remaining staffers took pay cuts up to 20%.

Nintendo released the Famicom as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and quickly dominated the American home video game market.
 
 

Atari Corp. released the Atari 7800 console, with just three games: Joust, Ms. Pac-Man, and Asteroids Deluxe.  This machine was generally well received.  Three additional titles were quickly released, but then later titles slipped in release, which prompted suspicion and criticism.

The 1040ST was shipped, the first PC with 1 MB of RAM for less than $1000.  "Power without the Price" was the motto.
 
 

Atari Games created the consumer division, known as Tengen.

Atari Corp. announced the XE Game System (XEGS), a home console version of the Atari 65XE computer.   Critics immediately attacked the system and Atari for recycling games and hardware from five and six years past.

Atari Corp. announced more games for the Atari VCS, most of which are re-releases of earlier games from third party developers.  Critics roundly denounced the move.

Atari Corp. acquired Federated Electronics, a chain of retail electronics stores in California.

Atari announced combined VCS, 7800, and XEGS console sales of 1.5 million units.
 
 

Atari Corp. announced the signing of Nolan Bushnell to develop games for the Atari VCS, along with plans to release 45 titles for the company's three game consoles.

Atari Games/Tengen sued Nintendo over Nintendo's clauses for third party game development.

Tengen also announced the discovery of a way to create NES-compatible games that bypassed Nintendo's lock-out circuitry.
 
 

Atari Corp. filed a $250 million anti-monopoly lawsuit against Nintendo.  The courts found in favor of Nintendo.

Atari Games/Tengen and Nintendo released NES versions of Tetris.  Each company claimed they had the rights to the title.  The courts ruled in Nintendo's favor, and Tengen was ordered to stop selling its version.

Atari Corp. announced the Portable Color Entertainment System, a hand-held color video game console for $149.   The machine, later released as the Lynx, was the world's first color hand-held video game system.  It had a suggested retail price of $180.  Delays and shortages caused it to be released in limited numbers in New York and Los Angeles.  Due to the shortage of Lynxes, Atari missed the Christmas shopping season.   Nintendo's dark gray on light gray Gameboy dominated the portable video game market.

Atari Corp. sold Federated Electronics.
 
 

Atari released the Mega STE and the ST Book.
 
 

Rumors surfaced of an advanced 32-bit game console from Atari, code named "Panther".  Atari Corp. confirmed the existence of the Panther, but did not show it at the summer Consumer Electronics Show.

Atari Games/Tengen was ordered by a preliminary injunction to stop the sale of NES-compatable games.

Atari Corp. announced that work on the Panther was stopped,  and that work had begun on a 64-bit console called the "Jaguar."
 
 

Atari announced that the Jaguar, a 64-bit cartridge based console, will be released in the summer of 1993 with a suggested retail price of $150.

Atari released the Falcon, a DSP based multimedia computer.
 
 

Atari Corp. unveiled the Jaguar, the world's first 64-bit home video game system, to worldwide press coverage.  Atari announced that 50,000 units would be sold in New York, San Francisco, Paris, and London in October, with worldwide release slated in 1994.  The suggested retail price was announced to be $200.

Atari Corp. released the Jaguar in limited distribution for $250.  All available units were quickly bought, but critics questioned if Atari could support the console.

Atari Corp. sued Sega for patent infringements.
 
 

Warner Communications and Time Life Inc. merged to form Time-Warner.  The Atari Games operations were folded into the new Time-Warner Interactive.  TWI announced plans to incorporate Atari Corp.'s Jaguar technology into its arcade games.  The first "CoJag" game was eventually released as Area 51.

Atari Corp. released Tempest 2000 for the Jaguar.  The game quickly became a best seller, and eventually reached total sales of over 350,000 copies.

Atari Corp. discontinued support for the Lynx.

Atari Corp. announced plans to release a modem for the Jaguar. It was never released.

Atari Corp. and Sega settled the infringement lawsuit.  Sega paid Atari Corp. $50 million for patent rights, and bought 4.5 million shares of Atari Corp.'s stock, valued at $40 million.
 
 

Atari hired Ted Hoff.  Rumors of powerful leadership and prompt decisions soon followed.

Atari Corp. released the Jaguar CD-ROM player for $150.
 
 

Atari Corp. announced a reverse merger with JTS Corporation, a maker of computer disk drives.  Atari Corp. and JTS consummated the deal on July 31 1996.  JTS acquired Atari's $50 million, and the Tramiels were able to liquidate their holdings in Atari (per SEC Rule 144).  Atari Corp.'s operations were absorbed by JTS, Atari Corp. lived on for tax purposes, allowing for the licensing of game titles and patents.  Most of the remaining Atari employees were released.  The Atari Corp. was thereafter known as JTS Corp.
 
 

The Atari Games logo gets a new look.  Kinda Star Trekkish.
 
 

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Hasbro officially relaunched Atari as their home video game label, a subdivision of Hasbro Interactive.  Updated versions of classic Atari titles like Pong, Missile Command, Star Raiders, and other games for the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64 consoles were announced.