History

 

The 2800 was Atari's entry into the Japanese home videogame sweepstakes. Although various companies like Epoch had imported and distributed the 2600 in Japan, it was never officially supported nor was it heavily promoted. Essentially a re-styled 2600, the 2800 made its debut in the Spring of 1983. Although it's not known why Atari decided to alter the design for Japan, apparently Sears thought enough of the system to rename it the Sears Video Arcade II and sell it in the US as such.

 

The 2800's design is reminiscent of the 5200, 7800 and 2600 Jr., which isn't surprising given that Atari seemed to have an infatuation of black plastic and the sleek black look that first originated from the unreleased remote-controlled VCS (2700.) The controller is a combination joystick and paddle, although for 4-player gaming like with Warlords, 2 pairs of paddle controllers are still necessary.

Around 30 games were released by Atari in Japan. Although the boxes were in Japanese and had a silver/red color that is similar to the 1982-83 2600 games released in the US (Joust, Centipede, etc.), the cartridges themselves had identical labels as the ones that were available in America, most likely to reduce costs.

 

Unfortunately, the 2800 never had a chance in Japan. It was brought to market just months before Nintendo's Famicom (NES in America), where Japanese gamers quickly snapped up all available Famicom systems as they were brought to stores. Perhaps if Atari had released the system in 1979 or 1980, the 2800 might have had a shot.
(c) Atari Gaming HQ

 

Atari CX2800 Ad (++)

Hardware

 

 

Atari CX2800 - side view (+)

 

Atari CX2800 - front view (+)

 

Atari CX2800 - bottom view (+)

 

Atari CX2800 Joystick (+)

 

Atari CX2800 - Box - front (+)

 

Atari CX2800 - Box - back (+)

 

Atari CX2800 - Box - open (+)

 

Software










Air-Sea Battle

 

Asteroids

 

Battlezone

 

Berzerk

 

Centipede

 

Circus Atari

 

Defender

 

Demons to Diamonds

 

E.T.

 










Galaxian

 

Golf

 

Haunted House

 

Joust

 

Jungle Hunt

 

Math Gran Prix

 

Missile Command

 

Pac-Man

 

Phoenix

 










Raiders of the Lost Ark

 

RealSports Baseball

 

RealSports Soccer

 

RealSports Tennis

 

RealSports Volleyball

 

Space Invaders

 

Swordquest: Earthworld

 

Swordquest: Fireworld

 

Vanguard (+)

 






Warlords

 

Yars' Revenge

 

Alpha Beam with Ernie

 

Big Bird's Egg Catch

 

Cookie Monster Munch

 

Also released in Japan: Night Driver, Star Raiders/Video Touch Pad and Super Breakout. Thanks to Russ Perry Jr. for this info.

 

 

If you any more information, suggestions, corrections or pictures (f.ex. scans of the missing game boxes) just drop me a line.
Pictures marked with (+) are used with the kind permission of Lawrence Wright (GameSX.COM)
Pictures marked with (++) are used with the kind permission of Keita Iida (Atari Gaming Headquarters)