One of the most successful gaming consoles of all time is the Atari 2600.
In the 1980s, the hair was big, the clothes were big (nice shoulder pads), the music was big, and the political climate was grandiose, too (Reaganomics, "Star Wars"). With the introduction of the cellular phone and cable television, this decade triggered much of the tech boom that would really get cooking in subsequent decades. With the ever-increasing range and scope of the media, music- and electronics-based fads got bigger and faster in the '80s. Here are a few fads that took the country by storm and helped define the generation that just wanted its MTV.
