{"product_id":"racing-the-beam-the-atari-video-computer-system-9780262539760","title":"Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System","description":"\u003cb\u003eExploring the cultural and technical influence of the Atari VCS video game console, with examples from 6 famous game cartridges like \u003ci\u003ePac-Man\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCombat\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eStar Wars: The Empire Strikes Back\u003c\/i\u003e!\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe Atari Video Computer System dominated the home video game market so completely that \"Atari\" became the generic term for a video game console. The Atari VCS was affordable and offered the flexibility of changeable cartridges. Nearly a thousand of these were created, the most significant of which established new techniques, mechanics, and even entire genres. This book offers a detailed and accessible study of this influential video game console from both computational and cultural perspectives, developing a critical approach that examines the relationship between platforms and creative expression. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNick Montfort and Ian Bogost discuss the Atari VCS itself and examine in detail six game cartridges: \u003ci\u003eCombat\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAdventure\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePac-Man\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eYars' Revenge\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePitfall!\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eStar Wars: The Empire Strikes Back\u003c\/i\u003e. They describe the technical constraints and affordances of the system and track developments in programming, gameplay, interface, and aesthetics. Adventure, for example, was the first game to represent a virtual space larger than the screen (anticipating the boundless virtual spaces of such later games as \u003ci\u003eWorld of Warcraft\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGrand Theft Auto\u003c\/i\u003e), by allowing the player to walk off one side into another space; and \u003ci\u003eStar Wars: The Empire Strikes Back\u003c\/i\u003e was an early instance of interaction between media properties and video games. Montfort and Bogost show that the Atari VCS--often considered merely a retro fetish object--is an essential part of the history of video games.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNick Montfort is Professor of Digital Media at MIT. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eTwisty Little Passages: An Approach to Interactive Fiction \u003c\/i\u003eand E\u003ci\u003exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities\u003c\/i\u003e; the coauthor of \u003ci\u003eRacing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System \u003c\/i\u003eand 1\u003ci\u003e0 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); GOTO 10\u003c\/i\u003e; and the coeditor of \u003ci\u003eThe New Media Reader\u003c\/i\u003e (all published by the MIT Press). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIan Bogost is Ivan Allen College Distinguished Chair in Media Studies and Professor of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Founding Partner at Persuasive Games LLC, and the coauthor of \u003ci\u003eNewsgames: Journalism at Play \u003c\/i\u003e(MIT Press, 2010).\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50859391713554,"sku":"9780262539760","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_00a3d4c0-ba18-48c8-88c7-6b69f6c07cca.jpg?v=1737557071","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/racing-the-beam-the-atari-video-computer-system-9780262539760","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}