AndroMan: The Atari 2600 Robot

The Atari 2600 was probably one of the most famous, most used, and most copied consoles on the planet. It proved in its era that a game doesn't need to be a technological marvel to be entertaining, while confirming the possibility of a home gaming system that is relatively accessible for many. But if there is something practically unknown about this console, it is that there were plans for it to also control a real robot.

The Birth of AndroMan

Indeed, that robot was AndroMan, later renamed Atariman, a robot developed by Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari itself. Originally, the "Androbots" were created with the idea of being programmable educational complements for Apple II computers. However, there are clippings promoting a miniature version capable of being controlled by the game console.

It was believed that with the robot there would come a kind of canvas on which the robot would slide, and the game cartridge that allowed control of the robot.

The Cancellation

We say "it was believed" because the AndroMan version never reached the public. No details of the causes are known, but it seems that things between the company Androbot (also founded by Bushnell and which created the first two robots, Topo and B.O.B.) and Atari ended quite badly, leading to the cancellation of the product before it reached the market.

No versions of AndroMan are known to have "escaped" in an early shipment or been stranded in some store. In fact, it is said that the only AndroMan that Bushnell owns is damaged. Needless to say, the value of an intact AndroMan would be immense for any collector.

A Lasting Legacy

Despite being a technology that is more than 35 years old (though we must not forget that the Atari 2600 was released in 1977), the ideas and inventiveness that these people could demonstrate so many years ago are surprising. Even today, and beyond the advances in the field, the idea of a home robot is still quite far off (if we want it to wash and iron, of course), although we also recognize that its value as an entertainment object would be somewhat questionable considering the systems and titles we have these days.

A true curiosity if there ever was one, and a practically unknown aspect of the famous Atari 2600. This proves that the console's capabilities are far superior to what many might believe, and that with a little imagination you can achieve surprising things with very few resources. Of course, AndroMan is also a good example of how a commercial dispute, no matter how small, can ruin the future of what could have been an excellent product.