241 replies to this topic

[Albert]

Atari Inc. - Business is Fun, the book that goes behind the company that was synonymous with the popularization of 'video games,' is now finished and for sale!

Nearly 8 years in the making, Atari Inc. - Business is Fun is comprised of thousands of researched documents, hundreds of interviews, and access to materials never before available. An amazing 800 pages, including nearly 300 pages of rare, never before seen photos, memos and court documents, this book details Atari's genesis from an idea between an engineer and a visionary in 1969 to a nearly $2 billion dollar juggernaut, and ending with a $538 million death spiral by June of 1984. Several key and important fully detailed side stories are included, such as:

• The creation of "Rick Rats Big Cheese Restaurants" which later became "Chuck E. Cheese's"
  
• The amazing story of Atari's very own "Xerox PARC" research facility up in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains
  
• The dramatic dealings and double-dealings between Atari Inc. and Amiga Corp. for months prior to Jack Tramiel coming into the picture.

You can learn more about Atari Inc. - Business is Fun and order a copy at here.

[tremoloman2006]

This book looks outstanding!  
Time to splurge and get myself an early Christmas present!

EDIT:  I pre-ordered this in September already.... c'mon... get here now please!

[Vocelli]

Just order it!

Won't open it until Christmas day!

[high voltage]

I wonder if Nolan's gonna buy it.

[Curt Vendel]

Actually, Nolan receives a LOT of compliments on all of the things he did do, he truly is a visionary and for the things he did, he gets full kudo's and credit.   He just may be disappointed that all of the things he took credit for that he didn't do have all been corrected with references to multiple sources quoted, memo's, court documents, many in his own words giving testimony on things he admits he didn't do...   so he will have to come to terms with the new reality that he can no longer take credit for other people's work, but he definitely shines on the things he did do and he is fully complimented on it.

A lot of people... I'm sure even Nolan, thought this book was all about tearing him down, he is not the focus of the book, there are hundreds of people mentioned in the book and Nolan's name comes up often where he was involved, the book is about Atari and ALL of the people behind, not just Nolan, so that whole ill-conceived notion that this is a Nolan-Bashing book are completely false... that's not to say there are some very juicy confrontations between Nolan and others in the book, especially one very detailed recounting of the final conference to sign off on selling Atari to Warner where a really tense and terse "Poker Moment" occurs between Nolan and Warner Communications and has a very interesting and dramatic outcome...

Then there is the section on popcorn, gallons of mustard, a wall to wall waterbed, lady friends at hotels and Nolan's ex-wife coming back into the picture...  hang onto your seats for that section, that'll keep your glued to the pages of the book all of the way through...

Then there are some truly incredible moments where you can truly see and understand why Nolan was so successful, not for his engineering or management skills (or there in the lack of) but for his Visionary way of seeing voids in a market and knowing exactly how to jump into them and fill them with fun, games and innovation, all the while making a gaggle of money...   Nolan did some amazing things that were very accomplished, he also made some truly historic blunders...

Curt

high voltage, on Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:48 AM, said:

I wonder if Nolan's gonna buy it.

[SmileyDude]

Any chance for a PDF and/or e-pub version?

[Curt Vendel]

Kindle version will be up shortly...

[Ransom]

I'm eagerly awaiting the kindle version...

[Clint Thompson]

Can't wait to pick this up and have the real copy in hand! I'm old school so forget the e-reader nonsense

[Retro Rogue]

Just to clarify, as Curt mentioned this is not a Nolan hatchet piece nor is he a major character - just one of many. When we sat down to plan how we wanted to approach this book, we felt that previous efforts (Ultimate History, etc.) had revolved around Nolan as the primary character and center of the Atari story. We simply didn't want to go that route as well, and wanted this to be a testament to everyone that worked there. To reflect the reality that there was a constant cast of revolving characters, with Nolan and Ted just being the earliest.

We also wanted to present everything attribution wise in as matter a fact way as possible, based on the original resources and the additional assistance of the people that were there. In regards to Nolan this meant some long told stories didn't hold up and again, our intent wasn't to denigrate anyone nor was it to prop up anyone. It was applied even handedly as well, some long told stories about other happenings and people after the "Nolan era" are also put out to pasture because of this.

We truly hope you all enjoy this book, and that it's viewed as a fitting testament to the people who worked there and made all the magic of our youth.

[Shog-goth]

This is certainly a book that had to be written. I wish you a great success, by my part I'm advertising the book on the italian forums and I hope this will help a little.

[cimerians]

I'd like to check out the Kindle version. Can't wait to see it up and available to buy.

Glad you guys still give props to Nolan but especially everyone else that never gets mentioned. Awesome. That's a long time in coming.

I'll keep checking for the Kindle........

[Lord Helmet]

I'll definitely pick up a digital copy once its available. This looks like a really interesting read!

[joeventura]

Is this hardcover?

It says Paperback $39.99 on Amazon

[Wickeycolumbus]

Just to be clear, this is shipping, correct?  Or is this a pre order?

[Curt Vendel]

Its a full book, the cover is not a thick boarded cover, its 6.9" X 9.6" X almost 2" thick, its a big book, to have the interior the same way, but with a hard boarded cover would mean the book could've only been 480 pages, so we went with a standard thick cover.

joeventura, on Mon Nov 26, 2012 5:25 PM, said:

Is this hardcover?

It says Paperback $39.99 on Amazon

[Curt Vendel]

Ships immediately, pick your shipping speed when ordering...

Wickeycolumbus, on Mon Nov 26, 2012 5:39 PM, said:

Just to be clear, this is shipping, correct?  Or is this a pre order?

[joeventura]

Curt Vendel, on Mon Nov 26, 2012 6:35 PM, said:

Its a full book, the cover is not a thick boarded cover, its 6.9" X 9.6" X almost 2" thick, its a big book, to have the interior the same way, but with a hard boarded cover would mean the book could've only been 480 pages, so we went with a standard thick cover.

Wow, you should have named it "Atari Encyclopedia"

[DanBoris]

Just ordered mine, can't wait to read this!

[Curt Vendel]

Its available in Print, will be available on Kindle, and in early 2013 on iBook, we are also looking at nook as well.   So you have plenty of choices.

SmileyDude, on Mon Nov 26, 2012 10:29 AM, said:

Any chance for a PDF and/or e-pub version?

[Wickeycolumbus]

Curt Vendel, on Mon Nov 26, 2012 6:36 PM, said:

Ships immediately, pick your shipping speed when ordering...

Great, order placed

[Shannon]

Curt Vendel, on Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:37 PM, said:

Its available in Print, will be available on Kindle, and in early 2013 on iBook, we are also looking at nook as well.   So you have plenty of choices.

Cool... maybe by the time it hits ibook I'll be able to hit my wife up for some money.  

[mckafka99]

Book arrived today! Cant wait to dig in!

[Allan]

mckafka99, on Tue Nov 27, 2012 4:06 PM, said:

Book arrived today! Cant wait to dig in!

Your the first. Congrats.

Allan

[rolenta]

Mine came today too!