CX-2000

Atari CX-2000

An image of both known versions of the system from Atari Compendium
System Internal Codename	Val
Production Date	1982 to 1983, exact end date unknown
Produced at	WCI/NY Atari Lab (black plastic), Sunnyvale (blue plastic)

The Atari CX-2000 is an unreleased revision of the Atari Video Computer System (2600) produced with the intent of replacing the existing system with a lower cost, all-in-one unit with built in joysticks and a more appealing case design and colour over its earlier larger woodgrain and chrome design.

Development history

The Atari CX-2000 was initiated in 1982 by Steve Mayer and Gregg Squires at the New York Based WCI Lab under Warner era Atari, codenamed "VAL" as both shorthand for "Value" and for Gregg's wife following a tradition of giving new Atari systems codenames based on female employees or wives/relatives of employees designing the hardware. First being designated as model number CX-2500, the system was commissioned as a way for Warner Communications to both reduce system costs even further by negating the need to include separate controllers in with the system and to move to more easily made two-piece plastic shells in lieu of the multipart case used by the existing VCS shell along with removing the metal switches in favor of cheaper all plastic ones. Alongside the cost cutting needs, the design was intended to also make the system have wider appeal by working with Henry Dreyfuss Associates for human factors analysis to make the controls easier to use and more durable compared to the existing CX-40 stick which was known to be so wear prone that Atari themselves sold repair kits that essentially let owners gut and replace everything but the main body and cable of the controller. The original black plastic units made in New York failed the company's "Look & Feel" standards, leading to further work being moved to Atari's main headquarters in Sunnyvale where the colors were changed from Atari's traditional black/red to a (supposedly) more appealing blue/yellow, along with the hardware overall being much closer to a production ready unit with a RF shield in place and the mylar cables for the controls being included along with more components on the motherboard being rearranged to fit in/around the RF shield.

Ultimately, the system would lose out the following year to a competing design from Sunnyvale codenamed CX-2100, which would go on to be more widely known as the Atari 2600 Jr. featuring a simiar compact motherboard design but with less important switches moved back to the rear of unit as on the four switch VCS/2600 revisions and its use of mylar reduced to the select and reset switches. The 2600 Jr. also abandoned the internalized controls concept in favor of including separate controllers as usual, allowing for the late 1986 to 1992 models to have the famed smaller "lunchbox" packaging reducing manufacturing costs even further. Curiously, even though Sunnyvalue made the 2600 Jr. as a response to the CX-2000, design drafts were uncovered in 2017 showing plans from Sunnyvale to remove the controllers from the hardware to try and salvage the design work done to that point, but this likely went nowhere due to the realization of the sides of the system being hollow, useless plastic for no real reason.

Hardware information

The motherboard of the CX-2000 is a different design to both the later revisions of the later VCS/2600 and the 2600 Jr., with the six switches used to control game modes, difficulty, color/monochrome and the RF channel being put across the top of the board for easier access. The 6507 CPU is positioned halfway between all of the switches with the 6532 RIOT chip to its left and the TIA directly above the 6507, marking a wildly different placement of chips compared to all other 2600 boards that usually keep all three in a vertical column. The board uses a similar size radial capacitor for power regulation similar to VCS boards from the 1982 "Darth Vader" era units, placed left of the TIA in line with the power in socket. With all switches consolidated back to the top of the system the rear of the console now only has two additional controller ports (presumably overriding the built in controls), the power in socket to the right of the left controller port and a horizontally mounted cartrige slot which is completely unpopulated in the earlier black plastic test samples. Likewise, the built in controllers meant to be one of the new system revision's selling points work using mylar films under a large plastic stick and wide, narrow fire button in a similar fashion to the righthand surface switches of the 2600 Jr. and are present in the later blue sample but not in the black plastic version.

Currently, the codes on the surfaces of the chips cannot be discerned due to all photos of the hardware online being low resolution and/or having text labelling interfering due to all photos being taken 20+ years ago via the late Curt Vendel's Atari Museum along with a few further photos on Atari Compendium which interestingly also show a third and largely not currently documented design between the black and blue models Curt provided featuring the black casing of the WCI/NY model but having the thicker fire buttons of the Sunnyvale sample.

Preservation status

Both of the units previously owned by Curt Vendel now reside as part of the Strong National Museum of Play, but a second blue unit hailing from the Sunnyvale lab was offered for sale for $11,000 on AtariAge's forum in December 2018 by the user "furious_01" with the claim that it had never been disassembled since its discovery but was powered on and proven to be functional with a Demon Attack cartridge as part of the initial post. The aforementioned third black plastic unit's whereabouts are currently unknown as of 2026.

Gallery

Note: All photos are of low resolution and have added text due to the above mentioned.

Atari Museum

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  First pic from Atari Museum, both units on display
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  Second pic with both region units labeled
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  Third pic, showing the undersides of both
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  First view inside the NY lab unit, showing the missing cartridge slot and controller mylar sheets
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  Second view with controller pieces removed
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  Inside view of the later, more complete Sunnyvale unit
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  The information on the later draft from 1983 to remove the controls
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  Full view of the drafted design

Atari Compendium

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  Scan of an internal slide used for internal presentations of the proposed complete CX-2000
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  The only current image of the third inbetween design

AtariAge thread

• 
  Another blue Sunnyvale unit shown powered on and working
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  First image of the second blue unit's overall view
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  Second image with a clearer underside view than on Atari Museum
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  Third image, clearer view of the rear ports
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  Fourth image, overhead view but also upside down for some reason