The A-Z of the Atari 2600

by Justin Kyle

An A to Z guide of the Atari 2600, including the games, the technology, and the visionaries who created an industry. Featuring an interview with the Grandfather of the Gaming Industry and co-founder of Atari, Nolan Bushnell.This is the first in a series of Retro Gaming themed books, which will also include the NES, SNES, Commodore Amiga, and ZX Spectrum, to name a few.Starting with the history of the company itself, the book focuses mainly on the games that made the Atari 2600 (originally called the Atari VCS), as well as the programming geniuses who brought us titles like Pitfall!, Yars' Revenge, and Pong. Includes full color box art and screenshots for every game.

166 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 11, 2013

Reviews

[Perry Pederson]

Good review of the history and some of the more esoteric games for the 2600.

[Richard Tubb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great nostalgia, and some interesting background stories

I'm a huge Atari nerd, and this book is a wonderful trip down memory lane.

The author shares his childhood memories of 26 Atari VCS (2600) games, along with some background on each of the chosen games.

Interspersed between the reviews are features on game programmers and interviews with key figures from Atari history.

His is a great read for anyone who loves Atari.

[Ghislain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une plongée historique intéressante à une époque où un simple scrolling différentiel tenait de l'exploit. Je n'ai connu l'Atari 2600 qu'à la marge, quand la machine était déjà moribonde. La redécouverte de ces premières adaptations arcade est donc très agréable ainsi que les biographies de ces programmeurs-pionniers.

[Lewis Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

A comfy but extremely cursory look at a selection of Atari 2600 games. The writing is very functional with little character to make it truly entertaining, but I’ve come away with a list of games I’d now like to play so it’s definitely sparked some further interest in a system I love that doesn’t get a lot of love from the mainstream gaming press.

[Kevin Muir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memories from a carefree time

This book is exactly what it says, although written by a non American, I had to get used to some of the other systems mentioned in the book. It could have gone a lot deeper in listing games, but I understand the concept of the writer. A fun read.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but just barely gets 4 stars. This is a book targeted to retro-gaming fan boys, yet it doesn't contain nearly enough of the kinds of trivia that that target audience wants.