I don’t know how often folks check this website, but I wanted to bring your attention to something I am exceedingly proud of that came out this year: my book!
Entitled Atari Archive Vol. 1: 1977-1978, this covers the first two years of the Atari VCS’s life… and then some. If you’ve seen the video series or read this blog, you can guess the format of the book – much of it consists of delving into the history behind each game released in that two-year stint. The chapters are derived from these blog posts, but they aren’t identical, as I was able to come across some details during the writing of this book that I didn’t have putting the blog together.
But there’s additional content as well. In order to provide the context that I feel this particular era of video games demands, I also spent time delving into the state of the industry before the VCS’s debut, and dug in deeply on the creation and life of the VCS itself – even interviewing the surviving folks who were intimately involved in its development. There’s a chapter about the FCC’s impact on the video game home market in the 1970s, and chapters delving into the history behind all the competing programmable consoles from this era, pulling together all the sources I could possibly find for each one. Topping it all off, we have an interview with Larry Wagner, the author of Combat and Video Chess (and the first head of Atari’s consumer development team for the VCS), a foreword by top-notch writer and my dear friend Jenn Frank, and absolutely lovely photography taken by Jeremy Parish of all the game boxes and cartridges – both the Atari and the Sears versions – as well as the consoles, the console boxes where i could source them, and some incredible rarities provided by other collectors. Rounding out the package are a slew of screenshots, flyer images, documentation and news clips where I could get reprinting permission. I can’t guess the amount of time I put into this book, and I am really thrilled with how it came out.
Of course, with Twitter’s rapid demise it’s been difficult to promote it, and frankly I’ve been bad about pushing it as much as I really should be. But if you or someone you know is interested in the history of Atari or early video games in general, I think this is the book for you. My goal was to provide as definitive an overview of these games and this era as I could, and I’m confident enough to call it one of the best books on Atari and that time period of video games out there. You can buy it directly from the publisher, Limited Run Games, and on Amazon. And hey, if you don’t want to go through those, why not ask your local book store to stock it too?
TehDan says:
It may be a bit early, but has there been any word on a potential further volumes? I love what you put together, and it would be great to have a similarly thorough look through more of the system’s lifespan on my shelf!
Kevin Bunch says:
At this point I don’t have anything to report! I’ve got a partially assembled manuscript but no publishing arrangement yet to really push me to get it really underway. Here’s hoping for news soon!
Rusty says:
Ya, that would be good to get some news. I really
Don’t want to buy “vol 1” without knowing if a “vol 2” would happen.
If vol 2 gets confirmed will buy vol 1 without hesitation.
Until then though…..
Kevin Bunch says:
I’m planning on a volume 2 and have done a fair bit of work on it, but at this juncture I don’t have a publishing arrangement for it – I suspect once this book sells enough to turn a profit Limited Run would be amenable to publishing the second, otherwise I’ll probably shop it around.
John Christovassilis says:
Hi Kevin, full disclosure: I haven’t ordered it yet, as I’m still on the fence. Question: why are so many of the game boxes you photographed in such poor condition? I get that they’re obviously old, but there are so many collectors out there who have them in mint to excellent condition, who I’m fairly sure would have been happy to help out. Some examples: Air-Sea-Battle (wear to edges), Video Olympics (stained sides), Indy 500 (big box looks like crap), Street Racer (very worn box), etc. (I referenced these images from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGbf9cEEe7E&ab_channel=videogamemusic247 and from Limited Run Games). Cheers, John
Kevin Bunch says:
Hi John, there’s a couple reasons. The first was logistics – some stuff was borrowed from collectors who were willing to help out, others were purchased by myself and were simply in the best shape I could find. In some cases that meant near mint, and in others (Indy 500 in particular with it’s extremely flimsy exterior box) they’re a bit more worn. The other factor was more creative direction – an interest in showing that these are physical objects that have lived their own existence over the decades. They generally won’t look perfect and that’s fine – price stickers, wear, etc. help tell their story as well. For what it’s worth, the photos include all the Atari and Sears game boxes, the original 1977 VCS system box, some of the rarer reissues from the 80s like Fun With Numbers, and a lot of console boxes for competing platforms (and even a photo of the exceedingly rare Studio II Bingo cartridge and box, courtesy of a collector). Hope that helps!