{"product_id":"racing-the-beam-nick-montfort-9780262539760","title":"Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System","description":"\u003cb\u003eA study of the relationship between platform and creative expression in the Atari VCS, the gaming system for popular games like\u003ci\u003e Pac-Man\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eStar Wars: The Empire Strikes Back\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe Atari Video Computer System dominated the home video game market so completely that \"Atari\" became the generic term for a video game console. The Atari VCS was affordable and offered the flexibility of changeable cartridges. Nearly a thousand of these were created, the most significant of which established new techniques, mechanics, and even entire genres. This book offers a detailed and accessible study of this influential video game console from both computational and cultural perspectives. Studies of digital media have rarely investigated platforms--the systems underlying computing. This book, the first in a series of Platform Studies, does so, developing a critical approach that examines the relationship between platforms and creative expression. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNick Montfort and Ian Bogost discuss the Atari VCS itself and examine in detail six game cartridges: \u003ci\u003eCombat\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAdventure\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePac-Man\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eYars' Revenge\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePitfall!\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eStar Wars: The Empire Strikes Back\u003c\/i\u003e. They describe the technical constraints and affordances of the system and track developments in programming, gameplay, interface, and aesthetics. Adventure, for example, was the first game to represent a virtual space larger than the screen (anticipating the boundless virtual spaces of such later games as \u003ci\u003eWorld of Warcraft\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eGrand Theft Auto\u003c\/i\u003e), by allowing the player to walk off one side into another space; and \u003ci\u003eStar Wars: The Empire Strikes Back\u003c\/i\u003e was an early instance of interaction between media properties and video games. Montfort and Bogost show that the Atari VCS--often considered merely a retro fetish object--is an essential part of the history of video games.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Nick Montfort, Ian Bogost\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0262539764\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780262539760\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e MIT Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/01\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 192\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.57lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.60d","brand":"Nick Montfort","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44046168391935,"sku":"9780262539760","price":26.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_d19dd73a-e27a-4cee-b478-4fc1cd718d2d.jpg?v=1684983031","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/racing-the-beam-nick-montfort-9780262539760","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}