Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation

Nostalgia city. Loved my Atari 800 and Atari 800 XL. Looks like the author did too.

I am a lifelong Atari 8-bit owner and collector. I recently read this book during a long flight to Morocco.Physically, the book itself is a paperback and has a glossy colour printed cover. Inside, the pages are all black and white, and some have photos. Quality wise, it's a typical limited production run type of a product, and with such a niche subject this is of course understandable. It would have been lovely to have some colour photos to show off the games, but as I say, it's not the kind of subject matter that's likely to get picked up and given this kind of treatment by a major publishing house.The first chapters go quite in depth into the history of the company, the people involved, how the computers were developed, and a fair bit about the architecture of specific models in the computer line. How much of this goes over your head if you're really more into the gaming and fun side of things I don't know, but of course you can skip over sections that may get too technical. You can tell that the author has a great deal of love for and knowledge of the subject matter, and he writes engagingly.There is also a section with reviews and descriptions of a lot of the major game releases. This is where the book is really crying out for some colour photos, and is also where the US-centric nature of the book shows. The game reviews are largely based around the US releases like Bruce Lee, Pac-Man, The Goonies etc. British fans will fondly remember some of the Mastertronic releases like Henry's House, or later Zeppelin games like the highly regarded Zybex, and these are not covered in the book. Again, as a US release this is entirely understandable, but also worth being aware of.Lastly, the book covers aspects of the modern scene and the peripherals that can be bought (such as the AtariMax cart, which I have). This chapter is also a useful and interesting read, to show how these old computers still have possibilities and potential which can be unlocked by modern technology. Newer games like Space Harrier and AtariBlast really show what these machines can achieve where the old tech and new tech are expertly combined by a skilled programmer.All in all, a very interesting, engaging and well written book by a clearly knowledgeable and passionate author.

Nicely written - with enough interesting technical and business backstory mixed with personal experience of the computers to keep you reading. It's hard to not over index on the technical details and get lost in the trivia and end up with a long format Wikipedia article- something that Lendino does an admirable job with.I liked the different sectional breakdowns and discovered some games that I didn't know about and now I'm actively grabbing them so I can play and see what I missed.The Today section the the real best part of this book: It goes over in detail the mods and new hardware (and emulation if you don't feel like spending anything) that can make your Atari computer relevant in today's world.It's a decently paced read that will give you a comprehensive overview of the Atari Personal computers if you know nothing about them and it will bring back lots of good feels if you also grew up using them.

Some interesting info. I wish there was more info regarding how to acquire hardware modernize the unit and how to do it, in easy to understand wording. Atarieze is not easy to understand, well no computeeze is...

The book was boring ramblings from the author's personal experience and opinions. There are much better Atari books on the market.

Le livre est structuré de cette façon :- une partie sur l'historique des Atari 8 Bits, bien documenté et riche en anecdotes.- une partie sur le software de ces machines (programmes, jeux)- un dossier sur "comment on émule" ces machines- et une partie collection / réparer ces vieux ordiL'auteur donne son avis (et ça reste que très léger) uniquement sur la partie software. Ce n'est pas présent à chaque page (voir à chaque ligne comme j'ai pu le lire sur des livres en français).Si vous êtes habitué au bouquins à 50€, l'austérité du livre va vous surprendre. Pas de photos couleur (quelques photos et captures d'écran en noir et blanc) et beaucoup de texte. Mais justement, ce que je j'attends de ce genre de livres c'est du texte. Le principe même des ouvrages sur le jeu vidéo devrait être basé sur le texte plutôt que baser le contenu sur des artworks.Concernant l'écriture, c'est bien écrit. Fluide, pas besoin d'un niveau en anglais élevé. Peu de répétitions et on sens que l'auteur est un passionné de ces machines.Le livre coûte pas bien cher, je ne saurai que trop vous le recommander si bien entendu vous maitrisez l'anglais rien que pour l'originalité du sujet. Ça change des livres "SEGA ; Nintendo ; Sony" auxquels les maisons d'éditions françaises nous habituent (voir nous conditionnent).J'ai mis 4 étoiles car bien qu'intéressant j'en suis venu à bout un peu trop rapidement mais sans doute car le sujet m'intéressait.

A complete love fest for Atari 8-bit fans and that's ok for this geek. This is clearly a book for fans of the Atari 8-bit line of computers. Commodore users need not stop to browse, just keep moving. Seriously a really nice book that details the history - rise and fall of the Atari 8-bit line of computers - from the Nolan Bushnell pre-computer era to Warner Communications to Jack Tramiel. For most die-hard Atari fans there is nothing new in this book but it's a great item to have in your library. The middle section of the book covers off a great number of pivotal games for the Atari 8-bit line, including titles from the 1990's and later. Each game is described in detail and while it can be a bit of a long read if you don't remember or care about that particular game, what I found happening is dashing to the basement to pull out my collection of software from back in the day to see how many games I actually had. The hit rate was very high thanks to the large amount of software I collected via friends and other sources. Everyone will find the list doesn't contain several of their favorites. What no "Preppie"? Come on, that game rock and the music was superb! The last third of the book contains information about emulation, current mods, and sources of information. Again nothing you couldn't find on your own, but a good reference all in one place. Like most books about Atari, this will leave you wondering "what if...". So many wrong turns for Atari and it's frustrating to know that they could have been so much more than what they turned out to be. I highly recommend this for any person who had or still has that Atari 400/800/1200Xl,600XL, 800XL, 65XE, 130XE, XEGS or that one lucky bastard who has the mythical 1450XLD.