A Compendium of Atari 8-bit Games: Volume 1 (Atari 8-bit Anthology) Paperback – October 15, 2019

The word “legacy” is perhaps thrown around far too much in the world of computing, but when it comes to Atari’s 8-bit range it couldn’t be more relevant. Fresh from designing the best-selling 2600 VCS, Atari’s engineers set to work on the follow up – a powerful home computer that was equally adept at playing games. This might seem normal today but back then computers really weren’t seen as games machines. Starting with the release of the Atari 400 and 800 in 1979 and continuing on with the XL and XE models, the Atari 8-bit series, as it would become known, was the very first home computer to feature custom graphics and sound chips. In fact its design would very much become the template that all subsequent home micros would follow going forward.In this book I take you through the life of the Atari 8-bit computers looking at a varied cross section of the 8000+ games available with a review and screenshot of each one. This is not a list of the best games, a list of the worst games or indeed a complete guide to what’s available. This is a meandering journey through the Atari 8-bit library from the earliest titles released at the end of the seventies, to modern homebrews and even unreleased prototypes.A Compendium of Atari 8-bit Games: Volume 1 (Second Edition) is a celebration of the historic home micro with over 300 game reviews, history, nostalgic memories, personal opinions, interesting stories, trivia, 3 developer interviews and so much more besides. Read more