Back in the seventies, when people got bored of watching Star Wars, they turned to a new kind of entertainment – video games. And Atari was one of the first ones to take advantage as after playing around they came up with the Atari 2600 in 1977.
Now after thirty years, the Atari console has been inducted into the Strong National Museum of Play’s toy ‘Hall of Fame’. What makes it more special is that the Atari 2600 is the first video game to be inducted in this Hall of Fame. Patricia Hogan is the museum’s curator. She explains, “It may look primitive compared to the advanced video game systems available today, but it helped make these possible.”
The Atari 2600 now joins classic toys such as the Frisbee, Barbie, Etc-a-sketch, Mr. Potato Head, Play-Doh, jigsaw puzzles, the hula hoop, Lego and the yo yo. As for the next generation consoles, it will surely take a while before Xbox 360 or the PS3 or the Wii are inducted in the Hall of Fame. But Wii stands a big chance among the next-generation consoles to be inducted in the Hall of Fame in the distant future.