Lego celebrates 50 years of Atari with an elaborate 2600 set

The Atari brand recently turned 50 and the latest way that its current owner, Atari Interactive, is marking the occasion is with a Lego kit for its most popular console. The Atari 2600 set will be available on August 1st and it costs $240/240.

The Atari 2600 debuted in 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (the name was changed in 1982). The Lego kit is based on a four-switch version that arrived in 1980. The set has 2,532 pieces. It includes a moveable joystick that Lego says feels like the original.

Lego

There are cartridges for Asteroids, Adventure and Centipede that you can slot into the main body. There's a matching buildable mini model for each game and the cartridges can be stored in a holder. Sliding open the front panel reveals a pop-up scene of an '80s gaming room, which is a fun detail.

Atari is celebrating its milestone in other ways. For one thing, it teamed up with Cariuma for a sneaker collection. This fall, it will release a collection of 90 games from the Atari 2600, 5200, 7800, ST, Jaguar and Lynx on the Atari VCS mini PC, modern consoles, Steam and the Epic Games Store.