The Atari 2000 was a prototype version of the Atari 2600 intended to be released as a cheaper alternative for kids in 1982. The internal specifications of the 2000 are no different from the original 2600. Its main difference from the regular 2600 was that the controllers were built into the system. Cartridges are inserted in the back. The Atari 2000 was test marketed in some areas, but it's unclear what happened to most of those units. Originally intended to be black, the 2000 was later recolored blue to make the system more appealing to kids. People who have tried the 2000 have noted that its controllers are poor, and that may be the reason why it was never released. Only 2 2000 units are believed to exist today. Atari 2000 consoles can go for hundreds of dollars on eBay, when and if they show up.
Specifications
- CPU: MOS Technology 6507 @ 1.19 MHz
- Audio + Video processor: TIA. 160 x ~192 pixel, 128 colors (121 of them actually different from each other on NTSC, 114 on PAL), 2 channel mono sound.
- RAM: 128 bytes (plus up to 256 bytes built into the game cartridges)
- ROM (game cartridges): 4 KB maximum capacity (32 KB+ with paging)
- Input: Six switches (original version): Power on/off, TV signal (B/W or Color), Difficulty for each player (called A and B), Select, and Reset. Except for the power switch, games could (and did) assign other meanings to the switches.
- Output: B/W or Color TV picture and sound signal (NTSC, PAL or SECAM, depending on region; game cartridges are exchangeable between NTSC and PAL/SECAM machines, but this will result to wrong or missing colors and often a rolling picture.)
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