The Atari 2600 line had an incredibly diverse group of specialized controller styles. Before the release of the VCS, when PONG consoles ruled the world, it was rare to even have joysticks that detached from the main system, much less more than one controller style. Even the 2600's contemporaries didn't boast the wide range of specialized paddles, instead opting to create complex controllers that had multiple functions.

Basic controller varieties were as follows:

Standard Joysticks- the iconic symbols of early 80's era gaming.
Keyboard Controllers- Despite their name, these only had a number pad, like a telephone.
Paddle Controllers- Came in pairs, these were just giant knobs that were used for PONG style games.
Driving Controllers- Exactly like the Paddle controllers, except that these had 360 degrees of movement instead of only 270 degrees.
Trackball Controller- A large controller with a central rolling ball and buttons on either side.

A number of specialty controllers were also made, both by Atari and third parties. Many of these were specifically designed for use with certain games.

TRON Joystick- The coolest of all Atari Joysticks. This translucent blue controller was packaged with TRON:Deadly Discs.

Milton Bradley Cosmic Commander Joystick- A very large and boxy looking controller that looks nothing like a joystick.

Milton Bradley Flight Commander- A joystick shaped like a mounted machine gun. The box makes it look like a light gun, but it is just a standard joystick controller.

Space Age Joystick- An interesting take on the classic joystick design. This model has a light gun style grip and trigger, with a small control stick nub at the top.

Remote Control Joysticks- Atari's attempt at wireless controllers. These were standard joysticks with an extra deep base that housed the batteries. A wireless receiver hub plugs into the console itself.

Suncom Joy Sensor- An attempt at making an Intellivision style controller for the 2600. It looked like an iPod and was supposed to use "touch sensors" to control movement.

Kid's Controller- An extra large version of the Keyboard controller with a kid-friendly blue color and huge buttons. Used with the Seseme Street line of games, as well as other children's titles.

Video Touch Pad- A special version of the Keyboard controller. Came with Star Raiders and came with a keyboard overlay that mapped out commands.

Track and Field Controller- Used only for the 2600 version of the popular arcade game Track and Field. Nothing more than a box with three buttons on in, like on the arcade cabinet itself.

Exus Foot Craz Pad- A precursor to Nintendo's Power Pad and DDR mats. This was a foam pad that came with two games, Video Jogging and Video Reflex.

Amiga Joyboard- A prehistoric version of the Wii Fit board that came with the skiing game Mogul Maniac. This board even acted as a joystick for regular games.

Other peripherals:

Starpath/Arcadia Supercharger- In 1982, a company named Arcadia (which soon changed it's name to Starpath) came up with an innovative way to make advanced Atari 2600 games. Starpath released an adapter that plugged into the cartridge slot of the 2600. The adapter then plugged into the earphone jack of a standard cassette player. Starpath games were contained on cassette tapes, which had more memory than a standard 2600 cart (49 times more to be exact).

Supercharger games were much more advanced than their 2600 counterparts. There are a total of 12 Supercharger games, including Dragonstomper, the first and only real RPG for the 2600, and the awesomely named Communist Mutants From Space.

Gameline Modem- In 1983, the Control Video Corporation created a service called GameLine that allowed users to download games over a phone line. This was not the first video game download service, as the Intellivision's PlayCable had already debuted 2 years prior.

The GameLine technology had originally been created as a music downloading service, but the recording industry opposed it and forced their studios not to deal with CVC (sound familiar?). CVC instead turned to video games,

For a membership fee of $50, users got the modem cartridge itself, as well as a subscription to Gameliner magazine. Users could then download games from CVC's library and play them 8 times for a $1 fee. Games were available from a variety of their party publishers. However, larger companies like Activision and Coleco did not allow their games to be used.

CVC had planned to offer much more than just game downloads. The GameLine service offered contests where users could submit their high scores for prizes. Plans were even in the works to make sports scores, stock quotes, news headlines, and other information available through the service.

Unfortunately, just as GameLine was starting to take off, the video game crash of the mid 80's happened. Atari collapsed, and the home game market turned into an unprofitable wasteland. Many important members of the CVC team went on to start a new company called Quantum Computer Services, and used their GameLine experience to create similar download services for PCs. In 1991, Quantum changed their name to America Online, and they would go on to become one of the biggest and most successful companies of the early internet era.

SpectraVideo CompuMate- A keyboard attachment for the 2600 that turned the console into a primitive computer. The CompuMate came with built in memory, a version of BASIC for writing programs, and even built in music and drawing software. Users could save their created programs, drawings, or music to cassette tapes.

That's all for the Peripherals of the Atari VCS/2600. Click here for part 4 of our Atari 2600 series as we look at some of the most notable rare and collectible games released for this legendary console.