The
Atari 8-bit family is a series of
8-bit home computers introduced by
Atari, Inc. in 1979 and manufactured until 1992. All are based on the
MOS Technology 6502 CPU running at 1.79 MHz, roughly twice that of similar designs, and were the first home computers designed with custom co-processor chips. This architecture allowed the Atari designs to offer graphics and sound capabilities that were more advanced than contemporary machines like the
Apple II or
Commodore PET, and gaming on the platform was a major draw;
Star Raiders is widely considered the platform's
killer app. Another computer with custom graphics hardware and similar performance would not appear until the
Commodore 64 in 1982.