Atari has confirmed it is making a new video game console for the first time in 24 years.

Atari 2600

Atari 2600

The company is responsible for creating one of the first home entertainment systems, the Atari 2600 which was released in 1977 and was responsible for the video game boom of the latter part of that decade.

After the North American video game crash of 1983, Atari was relegated behind companies such as Nintendo and Sega whose 8-bit consoles the NES and Master System dominated the market.

The company's final home console release came in 1993 with the Atari Jaguar, which was marketed as the first 64-bit console, but the console sold disappointingly and well below Atari's predictions.

In 1996, Atari was merged with the technology firm JTS and then much of its IP was sold to Hasbro Interactive in 1998 before filing for bankruptcy in 2013.

But now Atari is re-entering the hardware market.

Atari's chief executive Fred Chesnais said: "We're back in the hardware business."

The announcement comes after the company revealed a short video showing the front of a console at the latest E3 event.

Known as the 'Atari Box' the short 21-second video showed a wood panelled console which hails back to the company's older consoles and the company's logo lighting up at the end.

During the E3 event, Fred continued and said the new console would be based on PC technology and aims to raise the prospect of running emulator software and allow players to play iconic Atari games.

Gamesbeat also reports Fred bought the company as it filed for bankruptcy and has since been using the name for mobile games and arcade games most notably their main selling point being new variations of 'Rollercoaster Tycoon'.

Not much else is known about the 'Atari Box' at this moment except for a website showing the 21-second video and allowing fans to sign up for more information.