Sunday, February 14, 2010

30 Rare Atari 2600 Games | The Most Expensive 2600 Games

The Atari 2600 was the first ultra successful home video game console. It is the console that started gaming for many people. During its life-cycle the Atari 2600 had thousands of games released. Some of them were good and some were horrible. Most are ridiculously cheap but a few 2600 games have become rare collectibles. The list below is the most rare and expensive Atari 2600 games.


Click to see Prices For All Atari 2600 Games


Most Valuable Atari 2600 Games

Air Raid

Expensive Atari 2600 GamesUsed Price: $13,900 | CIB Price: $33,400 | See Current Prices

Air Raid is the only known game released by Men-A-Vision and has a very distinctive cartridge design with a blue 'T' shaped handle. In the game you must protect a city from invading alien ships. You try to destroy them before they destroy the city.

Air Raid is believed to be the rarest of the commercially released games for the Atari 2600. The cartridge by itself usually sells for $3,000. Only two copies are known to exist with the original box. One of them sold for $31,600 in April 2010 and the other for $14,000 in 2012. There is only one known complete version with the manual too.

Red Sea Crossing

Expensive Atari 2600 GamesUsed Price: $13,800 | CIB Price: $NA | See Current Prices

Red Sea Crossing wasn't even known in the Atari community until 2007 when it was found at a garage sale. It is a Christian game and was only sold via phone order. The only known ad for the game was in Christianity Today.

Red Sea Crossing is the most expensive Atari 2600 game when it is cartridge only, by about $10,000. Air Raid sells for more when it comes with a box.

Birthday Mania

Expensive Atari GamesUsed Price: $6,500 | CIB Price: $NA | See Current Prices

Personal Games created Birthday Mania as a custom birthday gift for Atari owners. The buyer would custom order the game with the recipient's name on the title screen and a space on the label to write their name.

The concept never gained traction. Because the items had to be special ordered and were not mass-produced, the game is very rare. Only two copies are known to exist. This game has never been sold publicly so the price is an estimate but the highest known offer to buy was $6,500.

Gamma-Attack

Rare Atari 2600 GamesUsed Price: $6,000 | CIB Price: $NA | See Current Prices

Gamma Attack was the only game released by Gammation. It's rarity rivals that of Air Raid with only two known copies in existence. You control a Gamma ship and must destroy enemies as they enter your planet.

The game has never sold at a public auction so the exact price is hard to know. The price listed is based upon offers that one of the owner's claims he has received. It is a very reasonable estimate considering the game's rarity.

Karate [Ultravision]

Expensive Atari GamesUsed Price: $2,000 | See Current Prices

Karate for Atari 2600 was released by two companies, Froggo and Ultravision. The Froggo version is quite common and sells for hardly anything. The Ultravision version is very rare and sells for top dollar.

Ultravision has two versions of Karate, a T-shape cartridge (pictured to the left) and a standard shaped cartridge. Both have the same artwork on the front and sell for roughly the same amount.

Pepsi Invaders

Valuable Atari 2600 GamesUsed Price: $800 | CIB Price: $NA | See Current Prices

Pepsi Invaders was a custom designed game for Coca-Cola. They took the Space Invaders game concept and changed the aliens to letters spelling "Pepsi". The game was given to executives at a sales convention in 1983.

Only 125 were originally produced. Based upon the number of sales for this game it is assumed that the vast majority were destroyed by the recipients.

Mangia

Expensive Atari GamesUsed Price: $700 | CIB Price: $1,500 | See Current Prices

Mangia was developed by Spectravision and like most Spectravision games it was only available via mail order. The mail order distribution method made all their games much harder to find than ones available at retail stores. Mangia is the rarest of their games.

In Mangia you control a boy who eats pasta until his stomach explodes. To avoid dying you throw pasta to a dog or cat, but must avoid your mom seeing you waste food.

Eli's Ladder

Expensive Atari GamesUsed Price: $650 | CIB Price: $NA | See Current Prices

Eli's Ladder is an educational game for the Atari 2600. You count and do addition and subtraction games and drills. The game was released by SimAge.

The game was originally packaged with a wall chart and motivational stickers to help motivate kids to learn and play. These are even more difficult to find than the game.

Lochjaw

Expensive Atari GamesUsed Price: $600 | CIB Price: $NA | See Current Prices

The game Shark Attack was originally released with the name Lochjaw. Apollo decided to change the name after they were sued for infringing on the copyrights for Jaws the movie. Because the game was only released for a limited time with this name and cover art it is very hard to find today.

The game play is almost the exact same as Shark Attack. You try to collect diamonds in each level before a sharks eats you and before he eats too many of the diamonds too.

Gauntlet

Rare Atari GamesUsed Price: $600 | CIB Price: $NA | See Current Prices

Gauntlet is another mail-order only game for the Atari 2600. This one was released by Answer Software. It has nothing in common with the dungeon crawling game with the same name. In this game you must prove your manhood to an ancient Indian tribe by running through their gauntlet of obstacles.

The game was originally sold in a foam case with no box so this game is never found with a "box" like most games.

Atlantis II

Valuable Atari GamesUsed Price: $510 | CIB Price: $5,000 | See Current Prices

Atlantis II is a special edition of the original Atlantis that was only given to a few gamers as part of a contest. The developers held a national contest to crown the best Atlantis player. Numerous people reached the maximum score in the game so in order to crown a champion they mailed entries with the maximum score a new version of Atlantis that is much faster.

The exterior of both Atlantis games looks the exact same. The easiest way to tell the difference is by looking at the font on the high score. In order to know which version a newly submitted high score came from the developer changed the font.

The Music Machine

Expensive Atari GamesUsed Price: $500 | CIB Price: $6,000 | See Current Prices

The Music Machine is a Christian video game based upon a series of products with the same name including, CD's, coloring books, and movies. You play as two children who must collect the Fruits of the Spirit - love, kindness, self-control, patience, etc - as they fall down the screen.

The game was only sold through Christian bookstores. Its limited distribution makes the game very rare today.

River Patrol

Atari GamesUsed Price: $500 | CIB Price: $NA | See Current Prices

River Patrol is based upon the arcade game with the same name. You must navigate a boat down a river while avoiding obstacles.

The exact reason for the game's rarity is unknown, but is more than likely due to the game releasing after the great video game crash in 1984. After this point, Atari plummeted in popularity and games for the console sold very poorly.

BMX Airmaster [Atari]

Expensive Atari GamesUsed Price: $260 | CIB Price: $NA | See Current Prices

BMX Airmaster was originally published by TNT Games and is quite common. You race on various tracks and half-pipes with a BMX bike. Near the end of the 2600's life, Atari bought the rights to the game and re-released a limited number of copies.< /p>

The Atari re-release is the expensive version. You can tell which version you have by looking at the cover art. If the cover art on the game matches the cover art on the box at left, you have the rare version.

Out of Control

Expensive Atari GamesUsed Price: $200 | CIB Price: $600 | See Current Prices

Out of Control is a spaceship flying game released by Avalon Hill. You control a spaceship that must fly through buoys, pops balloons, and then land in a space station.

This is another game that was the victim of the video game crash in 1983. Publishers severely limited their production after the crash to make sure they didn't waste money on cartridges that wouldn't sell.

All Xante Games

Expensive Atari GamesUsed Price: $200-1,000 | See Current Prices

Instead of selling cartridges with a permanent game inside, Xante decided to make re-writable cartridges. They setup kiosk where you could return your games to have them rewritten as another title. They even printed a plain white label for you with the name of the new game.

The Xante games are Alien, Beany Bopper, Crypts of Chaos, Demon Attack, No Escape, and Solar Storm. All six games are extremely rare.



Rare Non-Games for Atari 2600

The cartridges below are not games in the sense that you play them. They are most of utilities for the Atari. All the non-games work in the Atari 2600 and they are all very rare.

Video Life

Rare Atari 2600 GamesUsed Price: $1,200 | See Current Prices

Video Life was an Atari program with Conway's Game of Life built in. You created an initial state of "life" - a series of dots - and then watched as they took on a life of their own.

The game only worked if you already owned the rare MagiCard programming tool (see below). This severely limited production and sales of the game.

ECPC Cartridge

Expensive Atari GamesUsed Price: $500 | See Current Prices

Similar to Xante games, the ECPC cartridges are re-programmable cartridges but they all started off blank. You would buy the cartridge and bring it to any ROMOX software center and choose a game from their selections.

Copy Cart

Expensive Atari GamesUsed Price: $300 | See Current Prices

Another blank cartridge that allowed you to change the game on the cartridge. This time you need a hardware called a "Duplicator" in order to transfer a game.

The game with the Duplicator is extremely rare, but without it the cartridge could just be a collector's piece if a game was never transferred onto it.

Color Bar Generator

Expensive Atari GamesUsed Price: $230 | See Current Prices

The Color Bar Generator does exactly what it's name implies. It would create 15 different color bar patterns to diagnose TV color or alignment problems.

The item was sold so consumers to diagnose problems themselves without needing a technician. One of the patterns was designed to test the color producing circuits on the Atari system.

Magicard

Expensive Atari GamesUsed Price: $200 | See Current Prices

MagiCard is a programming tool released by CommaVid. The cartridge came with a 100+ page instruction booklet and sample programs explaining how to use the software.

The software was only available via mail-order and only worked with the keyboard accessory for the 2600.

Other Rare & Expensive Atari 2600 Games



Rare But Relatively Inexpensive Atari 2600 Games



Click to see Complete Atari 2600 Price List Games


The list is ranked by the highest average new price and then highest average used price in the event of a tie.

Buy and sell games in our Free Game Marketplace


67 comments :

Anonymous said...

can some one tel me how much is x-man ntsc atari 2600 worth i have it know on ebay
how much can i sel it

Anonymous said...

I have every Atari 2600 game that was made. I have to sell them now. I also have many consoles as well. I can be contacted at uttrooper@gmail.com. Thanks.....

Anonymous said...

hoi uttrooper what do you want for it and do you ship it to holland?
siplo@quicknet.nl

Anonymous said...

iHAve some too how would i make money off of it ? most of them is in the 9.99 area :P

Anonymous said...

I'm trying to find the name of an Atari game that you played as three blind mice that had to get to the cheese before the cat came out to get you

ccc said...

I would think atlantis 2 is almost impossible to find; must have a working atari, test the game and know what the font/scoring should be. $10 says there are less than 100 ppl who know this

bryan crow said...

My atari collection is worth 100,000$ i want to sell now

Anonymous said...

My Mother used to work for motorola and her boss would give her games that where never released her boss knew that my brother and I would like them, all they are is just a chip that plug into a circult board that you can switch from 16k to 32k then you put that where the cartridge normally goes this was about 20 years ago and I still have everything, does anyone know how somthing like that might be worth?

pennyann67 said...

I have 31 Atari games.
Missile Command, Break Out, Super Break Out, Frogger, PitFall, Football 1978, 16 Tele- games - Gunslinger + Target Shoot, Phoenix, Space Invaders, 27 Tele- games - Tanks/ Jet Planes/ B1-Planes, Porky, Asteroids, The Offical Carnivals, Frogs and Flies, Raiders of the lost Ark, Coco Nuts, Riddle of the Sphimx, Asteroids, Pac- Man, River Raid, Keystone Kapers, Surround, Journey Escape, Combat cx-2601, Combat, Gangster Alley, Air Sea Battle, Venture, Copper Command, Mash, Donkey Kong.
I have the 1982 Atari set up with all the paddles & controllers. Im trying to figure out much its worth.

Anonymous said...

Space Tunnel by Puzzy Complete is on EBAY now. I haven't seen this game in a few years. How much is that worth? There are quite a few games from that seller that seem rare. Anyone?

JJ Hendricks said...

@anonymous - Thanks for the tip. We were already tracking all of his listings, and some of them are pretty rare. Especially since they are CIB games and not just cartridge only.

Anonymous said...

http://stores.ebay.com/trippleagamesnmore
heres a link for you & I hope it helps. Thanks JJ

Anonymous said...

OMG!!!!!! I have the red sea crossing game... My grandmother ordered it becuase she wanted me to play cause she always has SOMETHING against some kind of game... We were cleaning out the garage today, i found the game, tried to play it, but it doesnt work:(

Anonymous said...

Try cleaning the computer chip in the cartridge with rubbing alcohol and a q tip. this has worked on my games that didn't work. please don't throw it away. you are holding gold.

Anonymous said...

Glad i found this. I have a bag of about 40 atari games that all work and a couple were on this list.. My friends boyfriend wont get them so cheap now

lager said...

I have Ataris with 100 games willing to sell

superstock1986 said...

I have a nib atari 7800 tank command game with factory sealed should be worth some good
Money

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tank-Command-Atari-7800-Brand-New-Factory-Sealed-Extremly-Rare-Must-See-/200952473340?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item2ec9b366fc

superstock1986 said...

Rarest atari 7800 game factory sealed. I have it on eBay hope it goes good.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tank-Command-Atari-7800-Brand-New-Factory-Sealed-Extremly-Rare-Must-See-/200952473340?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item2ec9b366fc

Unknown said...

I have an Atari 7800 console with plastic covering still on it. I have a mix of 7800 and 2600 games from Atari ActiVision IMagic ZiMag and Program with multiple games : Pole Position II, Shark Attack, Space Attack, DigDug, Demon Attack, Cosmic Ark, I Want My Mommy, Roc'n Rope, Dodge ' Em, Bi-Plane, Jet Fighter,Missile Command. Someone let me know thier worth please. Email : palmerfam01@comcast.net
Thanks !

Anonymous said...

Mouse trap?

Anonymous said...

I just bought 75 Atari games, and 4 controllers for $10!!! Now all I need is a console to play them on!

Anonymous said...

Atari 2600 for sale
1 controller
with 15 games inc.

Centipede
yars revenge
Dig Dug
Mouse trap
Ms Pacman
Decathlon
millipede
seaquest
Robot Tank
Pooyan
Star raiders with touch pad
space invaders
pole position
Defender

Will sell as package or separately
If interested please contact me at richatkinson845@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

We have an Atari game station and 16 games as well as controllers who wants it add me on Facebook for that purpose only its Marcy Goff .please and thank you

Anonymous said...

Do you wanna sell red sea crossing game thanks!

Anonymous said...

I have 50 games and two consoels the 2600 version with controlers I will sell it all for 650 or get with me on fb at Andrew tyo from St.Augustine fl.

Anonymous said...

I have a friend looking to sell Atari 2600 with two controllers and 36 games contact ashsummer@live.com if interested..

Anonymous said...

wondering what a factory sealed "stone of sisyphus" for Atari 48k goes for.

cheers.

portal_runner@msn.com

Anonymous said...

I'm trying to find out the worth of two Star Wars Atari games. The Empire Strikes Back is still in plastic. Please email and I can send pics if you think you may be able to help. pandaface19@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

I have all three game boxes an joice stick an so many games its worth a lot an iney games ya looking for get at me email ronaldbishop36@gmail.com

fuck_that said...

see that video on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVVc_hGnpZQ

Anonymous said...

I have an artari 2600 6 games and 5 controllers if anyone is interested best offer. thankyou everyone

Unknown said...

Anyone looking for Atlantis ll, I have the cartridge.

Unknown said...

I have an original Atari 2600 game console and about 50 games, some rare.

Unknown said...

Looking for the name of the three blind mice game. Its not mouse trap or rat race.

Graceful said...

I have one. Just not sure which console. I can check if interested

Graceful said...

I have one. Just not sure which console. I can check if interested

Anonymous said...

I have a 2600 NIB, in fact, it is still factory sealed. Bought new, as a gift, then hidden away buried on top shelf of a coat closet in Phoenix. Coat closets are rarely used in in Phoenix, so it was forgotten about for over 30 years! Box is still factory sealed, always been stored in climate controlled house. Never in a hot attic, garage, or storage unit! No moisture, no bugs, no mice, no dust. I'd like to find out how much it's worth, any ideas? Thanks to all of you. :-)

Unknown said...

X man is in the above list for priced games.

Unknown said...

I have one for sale

Anonymous said...

original atari 2600 with 3 controllers and 34 games fully ready to hook up play and everything works if interested make a reasonable offer.hillbilly6668@yahoo.com reply here

Unknown said...

I have the 800xl with 1050 disk drive all wires and three games all works just got done playing

Unknown said...

I have3 2600 systems,1 7200 and a bunch of games (40+).how much is it all worth guys

Keith said...

How much

Anonymous said...

How much would an original deluxe asteroids game with an original Atari arcade game be worth?

Sancho said...

Radar rat race

Unknown said...

How much is an Atari Flashback 2 worth?

JJ said...

@unknown - Atari Flashback 2 isn't worth much. It sells for $15 brand new and is worth even less when used.

Unknown said...

I have 55 Atari original games for sale including "Atlantics". How much will this collection sell for?

Eric said...

I have a clone of an Atari console(Columbia Home Arcade). I've been reading that it is some what rare but I can't find a good price guide to find out what it's worth. Can anyone shed some light on this??

Unknown said...

I have a Sears gaming console made to play the Atari games. Also have 18 Atari games. Just wondering if the console is worth anything. Ms. Pac-Man, River Raid, Boxing, Defender, Freeway, Space War, Asteroids, Omega Race, Air Sea Battle, Target Fun, Missile Command, Sneak'n Peek, Canyon Bomber, Super Breakout, Air Raiders, Berzerk, Spacechase and Name This Game which is a US games™ video that uses the joystic controller. Anybody?

Unknown said...

I still have my Atari 2600 that I bought in 1981 along with 30 different game cartridges. How do I find out what these are worth?

JJ said...

@unknown - You can visit this page to find the value of every single Atari game: http://www.pricecharting.com/console/atari-2600

calvindj said...

I have the original Atari 2600 I want to sell what price can I get for them
Beat'em & Eat'em , Demon Attack, Pole Position,Donkey Kong,Missile Command,Sky Diver,Space Invaders,Asteroids,Pac-man,Combat,River Raid,Mouse Trap,Spider Fighter,Football

calvindj said...

let me know what the price of the Atari 2600 games worth

Unknown said...

Hi, i have a 2600 time warp vid comp system,with 64 games built in, 2 joysticks, hand controller, electric wall plug, and another bit, plus extra joystick, its in original box with instructions, BUT!! Box has seen better days.also 9 games, Atari,Arcade,king features syndicate,parker brothers,Actavision are makers of the games.only 2 in orig box,Double Dragon & Dig Dug, others are loose. If anyone knows possible value in Australian or US $, Send me details. P.S. i'm not knowledgeable on these games etc.

Rikki said...

I have an original Atari with 31 games...all of the paperwork is also in mint condition. Let me know if you are interested in details...

Unknown said...

I have Atari 2600 games never opened original packaging, 2 copies of galaxian, 1 moon patrol, 1 robot tank,1 swordquest fire world and earth world, 1 surround, and 1 plaque attack. Email me, all 4sale

Unknown said...

I have asystem something cosole and a lot of games

Unknown said...

Hi all, looking for some info. I was recently cleaning out my garage and came upon my old Atari system with games. I have a Mc pac man "loaner" cartridge i found prices ranging from $400'$5000 not one thats ms pac man can anyone help with value?

Anonymous said...

I have the atlantis game I would like to sell, It is loose... Trying to find out value

Bella said...

nice

Mazza said...

How do I know what type of Atari I have.

JJ said...

@mazza - Are you asking how to tell which type of Atari 2600 console you have? Or which Atari number it is? The best way to tell is looking at the pictures on our website. Look in the "Atari 2600" category in the menu then filter by "Genre = System" and match the photo to what you have. If none of those match then do the same thing with "Atari 7800" etc.

I hope that helps.

Anonymous said...

why isn't Johnson & Johnson Tooth Protectors not listed?

Anonymous said...

I have here a few rares like Atlantis, donkey Kong qbert Superman, canyon bomber/sea bomber, Star wars 2 the
Empire strikes back,Sweet hell here me just show yall

Anonymous said...

Thank you for making this list!

Steven r may said...

I have atari 2600 2 controllers 20 or more games some games worth 600 dollars used if intereredted look me up on Facebook

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