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8-bit apocalypse : the untold story of Atari's Missile command / Alex Rubens ; with a foreword by Jeff Gerstmann

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Abrams Press, 2019Description: 254 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781419738937
  • 1419738933
Other title:
  • Eight-bit apocalypse : the untold story of Atari's Missile command
Subject(s): Summary: 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 Rubens knowledge of the tech industry and experience as a gaming journalist to conjure the wild silicon frontier of the 8-bit '80s.
List(s) this item appears in: Game On!
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 338.4779 R895 Available 33111009557709
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The untold story of Atari's Missile Command With the advent of the arcade, Atari Inc. and its iconic game, Missile Command, were at the forefront of the industry's explosion, helping usher in both the age of the video game and the gamer lifestyle. In 8-Bit Apocalypse, tech insider Alex Rubens delves into electronic history to tell of an era when arcade games were designed, written, and coded by individual designers. He interviews major figures including Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and Missile Command creator David Theurer, who suffered from frequent nightmares of nuclear holocaust as he worked on the game. The first in-depth, personal history of the era, 8-Bit Apocalypse combines Rubens's tech industry knowledge and experience as a gaming journalist to conjure the wild silicon frontier of the '80s.

"Originally published in hardcover by The Overbook Press in 2018"--Title page verso

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 Rubens knowledge of the tech industry and experience as a gaming journalist to conjure the wild silicon frontier of the 8-bit '80s.

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