In its early days, Atari was the top player in the fledgling video game industry and spearheaded major transformations in the field. Their VCS/2600 system not only conquered gaming in the living room, but also gave rise to beloved titles like Asteroids, Space Invaders, Pac-Man Defender, Joust, Pitfall!, River Raid, and many more. Atari's name became synonymous with video games, similar to Nintendo's later on, but everything came crashing down with the notorious North American video game crash of 1983. Despite this setback, Atari persisted and launched the robust 7800 console the following year, which could have easily revived the company's past glory if its 1984 release had gone according to plan. This book aims to chronicle the ups and downs of this tumultuous period in video game history, a time that laid the groundwork for one of the world's most popular forms of entertainment today. Atari 2600/7800: A Visual Compend
