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Racing the Beam

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is the first in a series of books on early video-game platforms and has been cited by modern Atari 2600 enthusiasts as an inspiration for attempting to write new games for the platform.
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discusses the history of the VCS platform and the design decisions that impacted the types of games that could be written for it. Specific games such as
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and required the programmers to write each line of video to the TV output, one line at a time. As there were only a limited number of
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The book's title comes from the fact that the Atari 2600, initially branded the VCS (Video Computer System), did not have a
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describing the history and technical challenges of programming for the
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in which to do this, the programmers were "racing" a high-speed
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are analyzed from a technical and cultural perspective.
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Index

Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System

Ian Bogost
Nick Montfort
MIT Press
ISBN
0-262-01257-X
Ian Bogost
Nick Montfort
Atari 2600
video game console
video frame buffer
machine cycles
electron beam
Combat
Pitfall!
Yars' Revenge
Raster interrupt
"Racing the Beam: How Atari 2600's Crazy Hardware Changed Game Design"
Archived
"Speak, Atari: How the 2600 forged the home video game future"
Archived
"Halo for the 2600 Released at CGE!"
"Interview: Will Nicholes"
Archived
Official website
v
t
e
Atari 2600

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