8-bit apocalypse : the untold story of Atari's Missile command

8-bit apocalypse The untold story of Atari's Missile command

Alex Rubens

Book - 2018

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 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 a marvel of modern culture, helping usher in both the age of the video game and the gamer lifestyle. Taking readers back to the days of TaB cola, dot matrix printers, and digging through the couch for just one more quarter, 8-Bit Apocalypse combines Ruben...s knowledge of the tech industry and experience as a gaming journalist to conjure the wild silicon frontier of the 8-bit '80s. -- Adapted from the dust jacket.

Saved in:
Place a Hold Save to List Email this

2nd Floor Show me where

794.8/Rubens
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor 794.8/Rubens Checked In
Subjects
Atari, Inc. > History.
Video games industry > History.
Arcades > History.
Published
New York : The Overlook Press 2018.
Language
English
Main Author
Alex Rubens (author)
Other Authors
Jeff Gerstmann, 1975- (writer of foreword)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
254 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations ; 24 cm
ISBN
9781468316445
  • Foreword
  • Introduction
  • 1. At Any Moment
  • 2. Atari: The Early Gaming Pioneers
  • 3. Coin-Op's Revenge
  • 4. The First Concept
  • 5. Getting the Green Light
  • 6. Finding Meaning in Pixels
  • 7. Failure to Innovate Was Anti-Atari
  • 8. When Passion Turns to Obsession
  • 9. Melting Flesh
  • 10. The Tests Begin
  • 11. Into the Wild
  • 12. The Public Loves It
  • 13. From the Ground Up: The Story of Tempest
  • 14. The Great Crash
  • 15. Lasting Influence
  • 16. The Second Cold War
  • 17. Defining a New Generation of Games
  • 18. "Do You Feel Like a Hero Yet?"
  • 19. Pioneering the Future
  • Epilogue
  • Acknowledgments
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Rubens, a strategic partner manager at Google, delves deeply into the story of Atari's 1980 arcade game Missile Command, the origins of which have long been shrouded in mystery despite the games seminal role in a fledgling industry. By convincing the game's elusive creator, David Theurer, to tell his story, Rubens illuminates the company's founding and the inception of arcades as a part of American popular culture. The author outlines Atari's early history-the creation of Pong in 1972, its early leadership struggles, and its 1981 height of $2 billion in profits before the 1982 industry crash that ruined the company-as well as the cutthroat world of modern-day Missile Command tournaments. At the center is Theurer's obsessive development of the game into a vehicle for his own political concerns: the final product climaxed in a no-win-nuclear-war scenario. With this stark antiwar message, Rubens shows, Theurer became the first game developer to realize the potential for games to affect players emotionally, an accomplishment that stands as Missile Command's true legacy. Though repetitive in conveying Theurer's rationale, Rubens's history is an excellent analysis of Cold War-era fears and the escapism provided by video games. It will be fascinating to anyone interested in the cultural influence of entertainment. (Oct.) c Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Review by Library Journal Review

Rubens, a content manager at YouTube working in the realm of eSports, writes a journey into the early days of gaming. Before development teams and social media, there were individuals crafting arcade machines, often as individual efforts. The author tells this story through a series of interviews with programmers, managers, and other Atari employees, based on their days creating one of the first iconic video games in the 1970s. The solid, journalistic writing will attract readers, even if some of the profiles are more intriguing than others. Notably, Rubens shares how being dedicated to such a project impacted each creator, especially in terms of their mental, social, and physical health as passion devolved into obsession. VERDICT A strong debut of gaming history from an author who has an obvious love for the subject. Besides drawing in gamers, this work will also appeal to those interested in the history of technology.-Lewis Parsons, Sawyer Free Lib., Gloucester, MA © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Similar Items