Atari Atari 2600 vs Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)

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Atari 2600 compared with Entertainment System (NES)

	AtariAtari 2600	NintendoEntertainment System (NES)
Overview
Released
Released	1977	1986
Performance
Type
Type	Home console	Home console
CPU
CPU	MOS Technology 6507, 1.19 MHz	Ricoh RP2A07 (6502-based), 1.66 MHz
GPU
GPU	Television Interface Adaptor (TIA)	Ricoh RP2C07 PPU
Memory
Memory	128 bytes	4 KB (better)
Disc drive
Disc drive	No	No
CPU
CPU	MOS Technology 6507 at about 1.19 MHz in the original NTSC VCS (Atari service and developer manuals)	Ricoh RP2A07, a 6502-derived 8-bit CPU at 1.66 MHz on PAL consoles
GPU
GPU	Atari Television Interface Adaptor (TIA), which generates video and two channels of sound (Atari manuals)	Ricoh RP2C07 picture processing unit on PAL consoles
Memory detail
Memory detail	128 bytes of RAM in the 6532 RAM and I/O chip (Atari developer manual)	2 KB work RAM, 2 KB video RAM and 256 bytes of sprite attribute memory
Storage detail
Storage detail	ROM cartridges	NES Game Paks (cartridges); some save on the cartridge
Display and video
Built-in screen
Built-in screen	No built-in screen	No built-in screen
Video output
Video output	RF output to a TV	256 × 240 picture; RF and composite outputs
Audio
Audio	–	5 channels (2 pulse wave, triangle wave, noise, DPCM sample)
Connections
Ports
Ports	–	2 × controller ports
Controller
Controller	Joystick; also paddles, driving controllers, keypads and Trak-Ball (Atari manuals)	NES controller with D-pad, A, B, Start and Select