Atari 2600
Shares rank 21 of 29 game consoles by recommenders
Recommended because the consoles still work decades later and play their games without problems. Critics say the hardware had very little RAM and some units failed.
Recommended because the consoles still work decades later and play their games without problems. Critics say the hardware had very little RAM and some units failed.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 58%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Still works and plays games
“most of my old consoles including both the Atari and the PS1 are still working fine”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “Xbox continues its “reset” with dramatic restructuring” “I've got an Atari 2600 that still works and plays games fine though.”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “It's not about physical vs. digital games, it's about ownership” “play the same exact video games with no problems”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Resetting Xbox”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Components failed and needed replacement
“the 2600 itself had some components go out which had to be replaced back in the day”
Comment from 9 Jul 2026 in “How Donkey Kong Toppled Atari” “they were also extremely unreliable mechanically / electronically”
Comment from 9 Jul 2026 in “How Donkey Kong Toppled Atari”
Other game consoles people recommend
The four most recommended other game consoles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valve Steam Machine | 326 | 240 | 58% | 12 | 1 mo5 owners | — |
| PlayStation 5 | 121 | 181 | 40% | 12 | 3 yrs8 owners | — |
| Xbox console | 62 | 212 | 23% | 12 | 21 yrs6 owners | — |
| Xbox 360 | 41 | 19 | 68% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Atari 2600This page | 7 | 5 | 58% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
All 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“running the home video game industry into the ground trying to milk the 2600 forever”
“the Atari 2600 wasn't sanely designed and had plenty of games that played fast and loose with NTSC”
“most of my old consoles including both the Atari and the PS1 are still working fine”
“Even the humble Atari 2600, if you got a look, was well-shielded”
“the 2600 itself had some components go out which had to be replaced back in the day”
“they were also extremely unreliable mechanically / electronically”
“the 7800 had decent ports, especially compared to the 2600”
“unlike on the Atari 2600, the home version of Donkey Kong actually looked very close to the arcade version”
“play the same exact video games with no problems”
“I've got an Atari 2600 that still works and plays games fine though.”
“The games cost next to nothing”
“I do have a physical Atari 2600 with a few games.”
“I still love writing bare metal 6502 for my Atari 2600's handicapped 6507”
“The Atari 2600 had roughly zero RAM to work with”
“i only had it for a couple of weeks before i accidentally blew it up with a cable”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.