Atari was an early video game company founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It is credited with pioneering the arcade video game industry and popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and games contained on ROM cartridges. Atari released some of the most iconic video games of all time, such as Pong, Asteroids, and Centipede. The company also released the Atari 2600 home console in 1977, which became one of the most successful consoles of its time.