Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System (Platform Studies Series) by Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost
Racing the Beam is the first book of MIT Press’s Platform Studies Series, dedicated to exploring the way in which technological platform constraints promote creative programming for those who create applications that function within those constraints. This book deals with the Atari 2600, otherwise known as the Atari VCS (Video Computer System).
This book was fascinating. As a child I must have logged thousands of hours playing the games mentioned in the book. I never really thought about how the technical development, cultural landscape and market needs were behind my enjoyment of the games. These games were new territory. Many of the genres, game play mechanics and gaming conventions that are common today were developed on this consul by programmers who pitched an idea, disappeared for a few months and showed up with a new game.
After some basic background in the specifics that allowed the Atari to interface with CRT home televisions the book looks at the developmental aspects behind several games, including individual programmers and how they were able to devise solutions to the systems shortcomings, idiosyncratic programming requirements, controller limitations and memory size (most games could only allow for 2k total size burned onto the ROM chips). Though there is some technical information that more casual readers will find challenging, if not bewildering, most readers with some basic programming knowledge will be able to keep up. Specific games are discussed, with information about the programmer and the circumstances surrounding individual game development, from the rushed “porting” of Pacman to the coding masterpieces of Pitfall! and Yar’s Revenge.
The book also discusses the development of licensed properties such as Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark and the oft reviled E.T. The eventual crash of the video game market is also discussed, caused by a glut of titles on the retail market resulting in lower sales to both stores and consumers. The book strikes a good balance of developing the history of technological achievements in game play and business ins and outs of sales and marketing.
A few interesting things I learned from this book. Consoles were produced, albeit in low numbers, as late as 1992. A game called Death Race was one of the first cases of the media invoking video game violence, owing to the games goal of running down anthropomorphic “gremlins” as an enticement to vehicular homicide. The CEO of Atari also launched the idea of Chucky Cheese Pizza. From an anthropologists perspective it was interesting in the sense that the concept of game play was developed from the humble origins of Pong to some very advanced (for the time) single player games that were designed to maximize the interactions of the player and the machine.
Great book. Again, the technical aspects of the book may be hard for readers that lack the background in computer science. From the standpoint of a text dealing with the foundational history of console gaming this is highly recommended.
I had a chance to read this over the weekend. Well, it was unusual. This collects some Resident Evil stories that were published by Wildstorm. Most of these stories deal with the mutant monsters and not the zombies. There is basically a 4 issue mini, plus several backup and one shot stories. Some of them follow the plot lines of the Outbreak File games. It even went so far as to have the characters picking up keys and making puzzle points. This did not make for a strong story. Ultimatly the book is disappointing, and even though I was familiar with the Outbreak File #1 and #2 games, I had little idea who the characters were or why I should really care about them. I also think that the zombie elements are the more interesting parts of the Resident Evil material, not the mutants. Bonus points for working H. P. Lovecraft’s Night Gaunts into a story though.
