Good Atari Books

[JaggingUK]

Just read Clipped Claws Atari Jaguar history and really enjoyed it. The picture shows some other Atari books I have picked up from eBay last year when they popped on there really cheap. What other Atari books do people recommend? I realise one’s on the Jaguar are pretty much non existent so that is why I enjoyed Clipped Claws so much as a PDF on my e-reader.

[Dummy2837]

Art of Atari is really awesome, one of my fave books for sure

[TrekMD]

8 hours ago, Dummy2837 said:

Art of Atari is really awesome, one of my fave books for sure

I agree!  Excellent book!

[+sramirez2008]

On 1/14/2024 at 4:42 AM, JaggingUK said:

What other Atari books do people recommend?

I really like “Atari 2600/7800: A Visual Compendium” by Bitmap Books. https://www.bitmapbooks.com/products/atari-2600-7800-a-visual-compendium

Also: Game Guide to the LYNX 

https://www.zafinnbooks.com/gameguide_lynx.html

 

and (not Atari, but) Pac-Man Birth of an Icon

https://www.cookandbecker.com/en/artwork/3012/pac-man-birth-of-an-icon-pac-man-bandai-namco.html

 

 

[+cubanismo]

I enjoyed "Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System." It does its best to describe in terms non-computer-engineers could understand how the design choices and limitations of the 2600 hardware influenced the design of its games, and to a lesser extent, vice-versa. It's not a casual read though.

 

For a more laid back experience, you might try "Once Upon Atari," though I can't personally recommend it as I've only watched the movie/mini-series version. I really enjoyed hearing the old stories about what it was like being a game programmer at Atari, while the role of "Game Developer" was still being defined on the fly, first hand in the videos.

 

Note "Once Upon Atari" is available DRM-free from GOG: https://www.gog.com/en/movie/once_upon_atari

Edited January 17 by cubanismo
Add link to GOG

[Lostdragon]

Another hand up here for:

 

https://www.zafinnbooks.com/gameguide_lynx.html

[PFG 9000]

Since a few people here have mentioned Zafinn's Lynx book, it's worth mentioning that he's working on a Jaguar one as well, with pre-orders to come this year.

 

Click

Edited January 18 by PFG 9000

[+sramirez2008]

13 hours ago, cubanismo said:

I enjoyed "Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System." It does its best to describe in terms non-computer-engineers could understand how the design choices and limitations of the 2600 hardware influenced the design of its games, and to a lesser extent, vice-versa. It's not a casual read though.

 

For a more laid back experience, you might try "Once Upon Atari," though I can't personally recommend it as I've only watched the movie/mini-series version. I really enjoyed hearing the old stories about what it was like being a game programmer at Atari, while the role of "Game Developer" was still being defined on the fly, first hand in the videos.

 

Note "Once Upon Atari" is available DRM-free from GOG: https://www.gog.com/en/movie/once_upon_atari

Once Upon Atari is a pretty good read. I had my copy signed by Howard Scott Warshaw at PRGE ‘22.

[TrekMD]

Atari Archive is another good one.  You can learn about it here:  Atari Archive: the book!