8-Bit Apocalypse: The Untold Story of Atari's Missile Command

by Alex Rubens

The first history of Atari’s Missile Command, and its unforeseen effects on its creators and the culture

Before Call of Duty, before World of Warcraft, before even Super Mario Bros., the video game industry exploded in the late 1970s with the advent of the video arcade. Leading the charge was Atari Inc., the creator of, among others, the iconic game Missile Command. The first game to double as a commentary on culture, Missile Command put the players’ fingers on “the button,” making them responsible for the fate of civilization in a no-win scenario, all for the price of a quarter. The game was marvel of modern culture, helping usher in both the age of the video game and the video game lifestyle. Its groundbreaking implications inspired a fanatical culture that persists to this day.

As fascinating as the cultural reaction to Missile Command were the programmers behind it. Before the era of massive development teams and worship of figures like Steve Jobs, Atari was manufacturing arcade machines designed, written, and coded by individual designers. As earnings from their games entered the millions, these creators were celebrated as geniuses in their time; once dismissed as nerds and fanatics, they were now being interviewed for major publications, and partied like Wall Street traders. However, the toll on these programmers was high: developers worked 120-hour weeks, often opting to stay in the office for days on end while under a deadline. Missile Command creator David Theurer threw himself particularly fervently into his work, prompting not only declining health and a suffering relationship with his family, but frequent nightmares about nuclear annihilation.

To truly tell the story from the inside, tech insider and writer Alex Rubens has interviewed numerous major figures from this time: Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari; David Theurer, the creator of Missile Command; and Phil Klemmer, writer for the NBC series Chuck, who wrote an entire episode for the show about Missile Command and its mythical “kill screen.” Taking readers back to the days of TaB cola, dot matrix printers, and digging through the couch for just one more quarter, Alex Rubens combines his knowledge of the tech industry and experience as a gaming journalist to conjure the wild silicon frontier of the 8-bit ’80s. 8-Bit Apocalypse: The Untold Story of Atari's Missile Command offers the first in-depth, personal history of an era for which fans have a lot of nostalgia.

Genres: Nonfiction, Video Games, History, Games, Technology, Business, Computers

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 16, 2018

About the author

Alex Rubens is a Strategic Partner Manager at Google, managing content partnerships for YouTube's eSports division. He has written articles on video game culture and development for pop culture outlets such as Complex and HuffPost and video game websites Polygon, IGN, and Kotaku. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Reviews

[Thom · Rating 1 out of 5]

I put this on my reading list shortly after hearing about it. Now that I've read it, I can review it - scathingly. My strongest words are for acknowledged editor Adam O'Brien, who did NOTHING.

Run-on sentences that take half a paragraph, repeated paragraphs only slightly reworded, and did I mention the repeated paragraphs? I blame the author for jumbling the timeline (Reagan's SDI came years after Missile Command was released), irrelevant chapters, and never mentioning Atari's preferred description of "Trak-ball". Further blame to the author for blatant misstatements of what arcade gamers thought at the time - I am guessing he was born more than a decade later. Finally, I blame myself for not returning this book to the library after the first chapter.

Can I find something good here? The foreword is good, though I wish Jeff Gerstmann had read the book first. I am glad that Alex Rubens tracked down Dave Theurer to get his story, assuming that's the way it really happened. I would have rather flipped through his raw notes than read this book.

If you are considering this book, don't bother.

[Bill Lange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here is my review of the Advance Reader’s Edition (prerelease) of the forthcoming book “8-Bit Apocalypse: The Untold Story Of Atari’s Missile Command” by Alex Rubens.

The book can be broken down into about three sections. The first eighty pages or so include background information on the state of economy in the early 1980s, the Cold War (the author’s view of it anyway), the political environment, and a brief history of Atari including the Nolan Bushnell years and the Ray Kassar years. Other books cover the history of Atari better, and in more detail. It is not really the main point of this book. The included background information gives you context leading up to the stewing cauldron in 1980 in which Missile Command was born.

The next eighty pages or so cover the development of the Missile Command arcade video game, from where the initial idea came from, to David Theurer, Rich Adams and team designing and developing it. This is really the meat of this book. It covers the direction the development took. Why certain decisions were made. And how the development affected Theurer, his health and his personal life. Rob Fulop’s Atari 2600 version of Missile Command and some of Theurer’s other work, such as Tempest, are also covered.

The last third of the book covers other tangential Missile Command related subjects, such as its effect on popular culture (opening credits of FX’s The Americans anyone), conspiracy theories, competitive gaming and a “Where Are They Now” Epilogue.

I would have liked to have seen some more technical information on the arcade video game development itself: development tools, hardware, snippets of source code, etc., but as Rubens’ states at the beginning of Chapter 5, “This isn’t a technical manual for Missile Command. I’m not going to pretend to know how the circuit boards work or how Dave Theurer and Rich Adam accomplished any of the programming feats…”

The Advanced Reader’s Edition has numerous typos which I expect the author and publisher will fix before the final release. I’ve certainly reported the issues that I found. These typos in no way took away from the narrative since I understood that it was a pre-release version of the book. I’ll likely pick up the hardcover edition when it is published so that I can have a cleaned up edition which will also include twenty full color images. George Opperman amazing artwork for Missile Command was so classic Atari, that it made the front cover of Tim Lapetino’s book “Art Of Atari”. I’m looking forward to seeing which images the author chose to include.

While I enjoyed this book, there are a few instances where the author makes “factual” statements that I don’t necessarily agree with. I will not mention which, as they might be revised by the time the book is officially published. There are also times where the author repeats the same point over and over. Yes, employees used drugs at Atari, and yes, software developers have deadlines, got it. Overall, not a bad first effort by author Alex Rubens. If you are a Missile Command fan, a David Theurer fan or an Atari fan in general, I think you will enjoy it as well.

THE END

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

My expectations for this book were high. It did not deliver.
I wouldn't recommend this title to anyone who has casually followed the culture of Atari and "classic" game culture over the past 25 years, as all the themes and anecdotes herein are already widely available in forum postings which can readily be found in a casual Google search or the camaraderie of friends who share these interests. Nothing is revelatory here, which is a bitter disappointment. Touted as containing exclusive access with fresh content exploring Mr. Theurer and his creation, I find nothing after reading this book which substantiates such claims. If Mr. Rubens did engage at length with the designers, he has failed to capitalize upon such access.
The text is stretched, to accommodate its spartan data on the most interesting bits--namely the creator(s) and their input. Apart from a small bit about Steve Calfee purporting to find a magazine advertisement compelling enough to warrant the game's developmental concept, without ever citing the ad / article (which smacks as apocryphal in and of itself) this book consistently underwhelms.
For those who aren't steeped in the culture of these games, who are younger or are looking to have existing content assembled for them in easily digestible format this book will serve you. For those who are hoping for a more substantive dig, to gain valuable or previously unexplored insight and break new ground on Missile Command, its development and historical significance, you won't find it here.

Post Script: Trackball is not a thing. Trak-ball is a thing.

[Adrian Herbez · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's definitely some great early video game history here, but the author has a tendency to repeat himself. There were large stretches (esp when talking about the early days of Atari) that felt like the same paragraph repeated five or more times.

Still worthwhile if you're into video game history though- I especially enjoyed the extra bit of backstory involving some of the people that show up in the King of Kong documentary.

[Bill Doughty · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's an interesting story, but ultimately would have made a better article. It felt very padded and repetitive in the quest to help this reach book length. But still, if you're a fan of video game and/or pop culture history (and I love both), it's a quick and informative-enough read.

[Autumn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poorly written and repetitive. Reads more like a case study or a business article than a microhistory. Just awkward.

[Chris Cowan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the story of Missile Command and its developer fascinating, however the book could have been much shorter. When the author isn't stating direct facts they tend to elaborate these facts offering little to further the reader's understanding. A lot of these elaborations felt often repeated, making the book feel padded, especially towards the end.

That being said the research is very well done, and I enjoyed reading about Atari's work culture as well as Tony Temple's quest for the world record score. I think it just could have been trimmed to the juicy bits.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so close to being perfect - if only it didn’t repeat itself so much.

This book reads like a really really good documentary and is a wonderful page turner.

I love Missile Command and I am so pleased that someone has taken the time to record not just it’s history, but it’s significance in the wider industry and political context.

I just wish the author screened out the filler.

[Allen Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.themaineedge.com/tekk/tak...

In this age of esports and gaming computers and generational consoles, it can be easy to forget that video games have been on the entertainment scene for a relatively brief time. In the industry’s nascent years, video games were shared experiences, only playable through pumping quarter after quarter into game cabinets in arcades across the world.

Those early days serve as the setting for Alex Rubens’s new book “8-Bit Apocalypse: The Untold Story of Atari’s Missile Command.” It’s a look at the world of video games – and the culture at large – through the lens of one specific game, the Atari classic “Missile Command.”

Through that one game, Rubens examines the explosion of the industry in the late 1970s and juxtaposes it with the Cold War political climate of the time – a comparison for which “Missile Command” was uniquely suited. It also allows for a look at how video games in general have impacted – and continue to impact - the culture at large.

When video games first rose to prominence, Atari was at the forefront. Those embryonic times featured a motley crew of characters, all devoted to working hard (and partying harder) in an effort to bring their games to the thirsty masses. Developers were given free reign as they programmed their creations, spending untold hours building and rebuilding games intended to relieve players of their quarters in as entertaining a fashion as possible.

Into this free-spirited world came David Theurer. He landed one of the coveted jobs at Atari; the company’s “into the deep end” attitude meant that it wasn’t long before he received his first assignment. One of the company’s higher-ups had seen a picture of a radar display in a magazine; Theurer was called into the office and told, basically, to make that.

What followed was a plunge into the existential angst of the era by way of the creation of a game called “Missile Command.”

Theurer’s vision soon took on a life of its own. The team (such as it was) consisted solely of Theurer and junior programmer Rich Adam. What started as a vaguely-defined effort to recreate that radar-screen aesthetic soon evolved into a game unlike anything the industry had really seen before. This was a game that wasn’t about beating an opponent, about fighting off a nigh-endless stream of enemies. This was a game of pure defense; there was no striking at an enemy. Rather, one simply defended oneself for as long as possible.

But more than that, this was a game with a message – a message that would eventually threaten to consume David Theurer.

It was a time wherein the world had largely internalized the nuclear threat that hung over it thanks to the Cold War arms race between the United States and the U.S.S.R. With “Missile Command,” Theurer found himself striving to illustrate the ultimate futility of nuclear warfare; he didn’t expect many of the game’s players to actively recognize that concept, but felt that a few would grasp it on a conscious level, while others might get it subconsciously.

The breakneck pace of game design led to Theurer’s gradually being consumed by the project. He dealt with nightmares brought on by the anxiety and dread resulting from hundreds of hours spent confronting the notion of nuclear destruction over and over and over again.

Of course, when the game was finished, it would become one of the most popular games of Atari’s arcade history, thanks to innovations in the hardware (“Missile Command” was the first arcade game to utilize the trackball control for greater precision) and in concept (the notion of a game that can’t be won in any traditional sense was rare, while a game with an actual narrative – and a player-created one at that – was unheard of).

Rubens devotes much of “8-Bit Apocalypse” to David Theurer and the internal struggles that went into building a masterpiece like “Missile Command,” a game that in many ways achieved feats of technical and creative artistry beyond any possible expectation. It’s a remarkable snapshot of a moment in time, one whose underlying tension is largely unknown to later generations – much like the game itself hasn’t quite reached the same level of lasting fame achieved by others of the period.

It seems strange in a landscape dominated by video games that engage in long-form storytelling, but to that point, few had considered that games could be more than just mindless diversions. In that respect, there’s no disputing that Theurer was a visionary.

Rubens captures it all with a deftness that makes for an engaging narrative. “8-Bit Apocalypse” could have been rendered a fairly dry, formulaic reading experience. Instead, thanks to extensive research and some storytelling flair, the book is a sharply-told representation of a specific place and time. That tremendous specificity is a huge part of what makes the book so successful – it is an exceptional piece of retrospect that throws the ultimate importance of a game like “Missile Command” into sharp relief.

Fans of video game history – and history in general – will be fascinated by “8-Bit Apocalypse,” the tale of a game that can’t be won, yet still offers true value in the playing.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far this book has not impressed me. Rather than citing and quoting sources or providing specific evidence (and the author mentions that he's gone to great lengths to get interviews with the guys involved in making the game), the voice has a more editorial feel, and there's an overall sense that the author assumes that the reader is already as interested in and excited about the subject as he is. A book like this should set out immediately to draw in someone who's unfamiliar with the game, to hype us up, but Missile Command itself doesn't even show up until about 80 pages in. And the first description of Missile Command, this supposedly amazing game that changed the video game industry forever, is a reprint of a dry work memo between coworkers that summarizes how the game functions. That's it.

Atari as a company doesn't come across as interesting or particularly dynamic. There's description of how the work environment was extremely loose with its drug culture, but it's all surface-level, with no in-depth anecdotes or specific incidents or quotations, which makes me wonder if some of the interviewees either couldn't remember or refused to talk about their time there. And if that's the case, then the case for even writing a book like this starts to fall apart. This book suffers from "telling without showing" syndrome. You're *told* there were drugs, and then the book moves on. I was interested in the brief mentions of how Pong was made while everybody was doing heroin in the bathrooms, but that detail is glossed over.

Repetition is another issue. Throughout chapters 4 and 5 the author describes the drug culture, the high hourly workweek expectations put on the programmers, and how that impacted their personal lives. Then he repeats all of that again, in that exact order, except in more detail, which comes across as padding. I'm finding myself skipping whole pages because they don't feel necessary.

With books of this type, you could reasonably expect things to open cinematically—with a description of someone actually playing the game for the first time. Or maybe the programmer coming up with the idea, and then the narrative working backward from that point of inspiration. In the right hands, a literal description of someone playing a video game could be very thrilling. Instead, 8-Bit Apocalypse feels both like a point-A-to-point-B history report and yet somehow also like it's only intended for people who already love and know the history of arcade gaming.

[Ed Dougherty · Rating 2 out of 5]

The content of this book is stretched out so ridiculously there are stretches of paragraphs that are just the same thing again and again, rephrased. Like when the author talks about the creator of missile command being haunted by his creation. It’s just “he had trouble sleeping — these nuclear dreams plagued him so” again and again for like pages, but without anecdotes or any details, just that idea. What the fuck! Then there’s just random sections about pro players that totally don’t fit the structure and are just there for more content. This is padded out like an essay you’d write in school. I’ve read so many books about this era of gaming and I am now officially done. Maybe it’s not this book’s fault.

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

An admirable attempt to document a historical moment and investigate an emerging art form, but such sparse information and a one-sided perspective would sink any hopes of establishing 8-Bit Apocalypse as an essential genre of non-fiction. Not that we needed to trace down any detractors or nay-sayers (yet a few less ungrounded conspiracy theories about the CIA controlling gamers minds) but at least some opposition to the grand claim that Missile Command was ground zero for the evolution of video games. By Rubens account, the world has not yet slipped into global destruction only because a designer like Theurer had an apocalyptic vision and made it part of his game. In reality, it was Dig Dug that prevented WWIII.

[Abram Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story of Missile Command as the first game to seriously include narrative is a good one. But it isn’t anywhere near this long. The book really has just a few points, versions of which make up entire chapters and appear in other chapters. Maybe there is a 10 minute article version of the story.

Spec Ops: The Line is getting a little older and I have played through it, but the complete spoilers included as another example of narrative kinda made me mad.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

A somewhat interesting history of Missile Command, but wow is this book repetitive. It likely would have been about 1/2 the length if trimmed down with no loss of info. The chapters also feel disjointed as if they were written individually, months apart, and then just put together to form the book.

[Themistocles · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dear Jesus what have I just read...

TL;DR: The Untold History of Missile Command remains untold.

To begin with, only some 30% of the book deals with the game directly. Let me give you a breakdown of how it goes:

The first third of the book consists of an introduction about the Cold War (which, fittingly, reads as if it was written during the Cold War itself as a propaganda piece - Uncle Sam good, Commies bad) and a short history of Atari. The former we could well do without, the latter is nice, but nothing you can't read in a multitude of other places. It quickly becomes apparent, though, that these two chapters are necessary to pad the book to a 'normal' length.

Then we get to the juicy stuff - the development of Missile Command! With access to the developers themselves, this should be a great read, no? Except... nothing, absolutely nothing in this part shows that there was any input from the devs themselves (maybe one or two quotes). And what is there is repetitive is repetitive is repetitive is repetitive -erm, sorry.

Here's the gist of it: Theurer had a vision and a message he wanted to put out there. Theurer worked way too much. The whole concept burned Theurer. There, you have now read what is the second third of the book. Rubens goes on and on and on telling and retelling the same stuff in different ways (you will see this comment in other reviews as well) and pretty soon it starts grating to the point of wanting to just browse through the pages.

Then we get a chapter showing the pettiness of the competitive gaming scene. Except, it's really petty in itself and reads as a fanboi post in some forum, throwing accusations and characterisations without any pretense of objectivity. Not saying what it says is wrong, but the style of it really irritated me - even if you're interested in that sort of thing, such a chapter of inordinate length and bile makes it hard to read.

We then get another chapter irrelevant to the game -Cold War II- just to pad the text a bit more and then... um, I don't really remember, wasn't paying attention after that.

A really, really bad book.

[Jason Deaville · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finding that a book on this very topic actually existed was akin to finding the holy grail. I waited with bated breath for it to arrive. I dreamt about it, before even laying my eyes on its hallowed pages. For the most part, it lived up to these incredible expectations that I set for this particular reading experience. Where it went off the tracks is in its pacing. It's a biggish book. That being said, the subject matter is, though interesting, not quite big enough to fill all those pages. As such, there was a lot repetition... lots of déjà vu-like moments from chapter to chapter. The story of Missile Command could have been told in half the amount of pages, which would have made for an exciting page-turner from start to finish. As it stands, I lost interest about three-quarters of the way in. Sadly, I didn't finish the book. I would love to see more books of this kind - more stories that cover the trials and tribulations of developing video games at the dawn of the industry.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story itself was really fascinating, Dave Theurer is a hero. I enjoyed reading about Tony Temple's incredible accomplishments, and even the insufferable turd that is Roy Schlidt as well. Really great targeting for the subjects in this book, and for Missile Command as well overall.

The writing style was cyclic and often repeated the exact same beats one or two paragraphs after, which made me gloss over entire sections rather than commit the time I normally would. It was like skimming over those long winded cooking blogs to get to a recipe that you can actually enjoy - the entrée was the history of this great game, the skimming was over how many times it was stated that Atari wasn't like other companies, and that they did cool things, adding nothing to the chapter except words.

Splitting the difference between the really great story and the really frustrating writing at 3 stars.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unbelievably repetitive (truly there are paragraphs that come one after the other that seem to say the exact same thing in only slightly different ways), a little melodramatic, and unfortunately not very insightful. While Theurers' personal story in developing Missile Command and the context of the time is certainly interesting, it just doesn't feel like enough to fill a whole book, even with the extended explanations about the industry's history and players. Even worse the latter parts are not particularly deep, simply restating events and industry legends often without any real or critical analysis of any kind.

The kindest thing I can say is that with a lot of cutting this book would make a great long form podcast or Wired article.

[Andrew Lawrence · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were parts of this book that were very interesting. Other parts were just repetitive. It’s clear that the author had an idea for a book and decided to run with it even though he lacked the material.

Unlike other reviewers I can buy into the underlying themes that the author claims haunted Theurer and were manifest in the game (at least for some gamers). I played the game as a child and seem to recall making the connection. The Cold War was real, and even as a kid in Australia, we were aware that the world could end anytime soon. That awareness did sometimes creep into my consciousness when gaming.

It just wasn’t necessary to remind the reader of this theme on every second page….

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Growing up in the 80's I thought Missile Command was one of the top games for the Atari 2600. It was until later in the 90's I played the arcade version,it probably 10x better and harder. I knew some of video game history and Atari's early days with its wild 70's work-party attitude. This book goes into all that then, Missile Commands game development, and how it pushed its creator to the edge of insanity, as he strove for perfection, speak out about nuclear war and push the tech to make a revolutionary fun game.

[Ave Mets · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never been a fan of such games, but this story brought something really touching closer to me - how a computer game can bear a big message and how it can or could (be meant to) affect player's thinking. Interesting from a philosophical and phaenomenological perspectives. Also the technical details - the development of the corresponding technologies - and the game's reception were interesting.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though it took 80 pages of context/backstory to get to the meat of the story, this was a delightful read. I am really bad at this game and always found playing it disquieting but could never figure out why. Talk about a rollercoaster of a story. The ending few chapters drug a little bit (this I the ending, no it keeps going this is the ending for sure no wait…) but that just served to hammer home the main points the whole work was trying to make.

[Matthew Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The start of the book was great, but as I continue to read 'til the end, there was just too much repetitive of flashback or sentences that I've already know that I felt it didn't need a revisit.

Still a great read for those who are like me, have a passion in video games, whether as a casual player or a game developer.

[Dana Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and worth a read for anyone who is into video game history or the 80s in general, but the writing is often sloppy (at one point, the text makes it sound like the Manhattan Project was conducted *after* WWII), so take anything you read with a grain of salt.

[Codepoetz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book tells the history about how Atari's first color video game, Missile Command, was created. Unfortunately, there's not much of a story here, so the author really struggles to stretch it far enough to fill an entire book. Why? The best part of the book was the history of Atari.

[Frank Frankton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The middle of the book is definitely the most interesting part, the beginning and end wanted my attention somewhat. I would have given 4 stars had the main bit been expanded somewhat.

[Taivo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much over dramatization, politics, repetition and other irrelevant stuff.

[Edward ott · Rating 4 out of 5]

He has a tendency to go off on tangents but they're usually fun diversions and are in a weird way connected to the story he is trying to tell.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, from cover to cover. I was ecstatic when I won this book from Goodreads on a giveaway, it arrived in the mail and I finished it that same day. I've read it twice since then, it's one of those books where the more you read it, the more information you can find hidden inside.
The Atari itself is my childhood, not only that, it's also one of the more prominent and popular discussions we'd have in marketing and business classes while I was in college. The entire dynamic behind this video game is still an enigma to me. This book helped shed light on some of the behind-the-scenes of the Atari. It includes interviews of some of the top men, as well as information regarding the Atari itself, and the game Missile Command.

I found this book to be an enjoyable, yet informative read about one of the greatest advances in technology of the time. I would love to recommend this book to all my nerd friends, as well as anyone interested in the "history behind" sub-genre.

[Michael Pinkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the sections about the game designer also doing Tempest and Debabalizer!