Many stories have ?? ??? ??? ???been told about an ancient power that tried to conquer the world, only to be punished for its hubris and vanish. This power wasn't Atlantis – it was Atari.

Following the home version of arcade sensation Pong, the Atari 2600became a cornerstone of the second generation of gaming consoles. With replaceable cartridges and a programmable CPU instead of hardwired transistors, it aimed to bring the arcade experience into the home – and succeeded, becoming the first game console owned by millions.

The Atari 2600's downfall was just as spectacular as its rise. In Japan, it became known as the "Atari shock." In the U.S., it was called the video game crash. Despite this, the 2600 survived and remained on the market into the 1990s, competing with Nintendo until newer players took its place.

Image credit: darkrisingmitch