The remarkable success of Pong has electronic companies jumping onto the bandwagon with their own console systems, many of which are simply clones of Pong. In response, Atari introduces the Atari 2600, an advanced cartridge based console that brings 8-bit versions of arcade and original games to living rooms. This begins the Second Generation of Classic Video Games, which continues the success of video games and consoles until the market becomes flooded with advancements and knock-offs faster than consumers can keep up.
1982 - Arcade Games
- Historic Arcade Games Release:
- Burgertime
- Buck Rogers - Planet of Zoom
- Dig Dug
- Donkey Kong Junior
- Joust
- Pole Position
- Popeye
- Q-bert
- Robotron 2084
- Star Trek
- Tron
- Xevious
- Zaxxon
1982 - Console and Computer Gaming
- Tron, the first movie about a video game premieres. The arcade game based on the film becomes a classic unto itself.
- Coleco releases the Colecovision video game console with the processor of a desktop computer, giving it the highest graphics of any console system.
- Atari releases the Atari 5200 SuperSystem in response to dropping sales of the 2600. Although the 5200 has superior graphics, better games and the most advance controller of the time, it is not backwards compatible with 2600 games, and suffers from a poor marketing campaign.
- Commodore 64 releases and quickly becomes the most popular home computer of all time. Most gamers of this generation get their first experience of computer games using this system.
