Atari 2600 Pause Kit

Have you ever wanted to pause a game while playing your Atari 2600? Has the phone rung, or you had to run to the bathroom?  Was dinner ready, or one of many other pesky scenarios where you had to abandon your attempt at a perfect game of Kaboom? 

Here is the original Atari 2600 Pause Kit that you can install in your favorite Atari 2600 console!  Once installed, you'll be able to pause any 2600 game, allowing you to resume your paused game right where you left it!

The Atari 2600 Pause Kit includes:

• Populated Atari 2600 Pause Kit circuit board

Not included but required or optional:

• Red, Black, Blue, Green and Orange (x2) wires
• Heat shrink tubing  (Optional)
• Toggle switch
• Double-sided tape

Soldering skills are required in order to install this kit; if you are uncomfortable with this, buy some beers for someone who isn't. The installation procedure involves opening your Atari 2600, soldering four wires from the Atari 2600 Pause Kit circuit board to two chips on the 2600 circuit board, and soldering two wires to the toggle switch that will enable/disable the pause function. You'll also need to drill a 1/4" hole in your Atari 2600 console case in order to mount the switch.

Full Installation Instructions (Right click to save!)

While paused, the Atari 2600 will display either a blank screen, "garbage", or an invalid television signal. There's not much that can be done about that, unfortunately. The Atari 2600 was never designed to be paused in this way!