ABC To The VCS: A Directory of Software For the Atari 2600 by Leonard Herman - New Foreword By Brett Weiss
Introduction(a foreword to the foreword, if you will)
The Atari 2600, originallyreleased as the Atari VCS, is one of the most important video game consoles ofall time. Not only did it popularize home gaming, and not only did it make “Atari”synonymous with the word “videogame” for a decade (among countless otheraccolades), it was the first console to inspire a complete reference book forits library of games. Said book—ABC To The VCS: A Directory of Software forthe Atari 2600—was written by my good friend and colleague Leonard Herman.
Herman’s titanictome was a huge inspiration for me, and it was an historical first in anindustry I love, so imagine my delight when he asked me to write the forewordfor the new edition. It was a huge honor and one I’m extremely grateful for.
ABC to the VCS wasout-of-print for years (too long, if you ask me), but now it’s available on Amazon for anyone who wants to grab a copy. If you want to read my foreword tothe book, you can do so as I’ve reprinted it in its entirety below.
As always, thanksfor reading! And thanks to Leonard Herman for the honor!
Foreword
ABCTo The VCS: A Directory of Software for the Atari 2600
The referencevolume you are holding in your hands is nothing less than historic.
When thegroundbreaking first edition of ABC to the VCS was originally published wayback in 1996, it was the first book of its type: a complete guide to avideogame console—the Atari 2600, of course—with a write-up for every game forthe system. To my knowledge, no one had attempted such a herculean task upuntil that point, and certainly no one had followed through.
The book is alsohistoric in nature because it was written by Leonard Herman, rightly dubbed TheFather of Videogame History. “Lenny” earned this moniker with the 1994publication of Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames, the firstlengthy and serious history on the topic. (I was the fourth person to purchasea copy of the original Phoenix from Lenny, but that’s a story foranother day.)
During this sametime period—the mid-1990s—I was working on a book of reviews of Sega Genesisand Super Nintendo games, but I couldn’t find a publisher. That’s because retrovideogame books—and videogame books in general—were barely a thing during thisera (with the notable exception of tips/tricks books and strategy guides). Sure,there were a few titles here and there, but nothing like today, where severalpublishers, including McFarland and Schiffer, have entire lines devoted toretro gaming books. There are even publishers, such as Bitmap Books, whopublish almost nothing but books in this category.
Lenny couldn’tfind a publisher for his books either, but, to his credit, he forged ahead andself-published them, which was a much harder, much more complex task back inthe ’90s before the days of such convenient services as Lulu and Amazon Createspace. Further, before the internet really took off during the late ’90s,it was much more difficult to do research. Remember the days of calling up thelocal library’s reference desk to get information about various topics? Rememberstudying old magazines and newspapers via clunky microfiche machines? I’m sureLenny remembers!
Regarding ABCto the VCS specifically, Lenny wrote it years before you could hop onlineand find instruction manuals (HTML and PDF) for every Atari 2600 game. It’strue that many games for the console are of the pick-up-and-play variety, butsome are basically incoherent without the manual, and many are more fun, moreplayable, and easier to write about when you know all the intricacies detailedin the manuals, such as the storylines, gameplay variations, and the like. Lennyalso wrote the book before you could play the games emulated on other devices.In short, it was much more difficult to research for and write such a book backthen than it is now.
Without ABC tothe VCS and Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Videogames (which is nowin its fourth edition as Phoenix IV: The History of the Videogame Industry),my own Classic Home Video Games books series might not exist.
During the late ’90sand early 2000s, I wrote for the All Game Guide, a late, lamented websitedevoted to cataloging, describing, and reviewing every game for every consoleand computer. The company was working on a book series as well, which I was upto my elbows in cartridges helping write. When the books were cancelled, itgave me the idea to do the project on my own, and ABC to the VCS gave methe confidence to tackle entire console libraries by myself. “If Lenny could doit, then maybe I could do it,” I surmised. Thus, in 2007, my first book, Classic Home Video Games: 1972-1984, was published.
In ABC to theVCS, which I had been badgering Lenny to reprint for years (thank you forfinally doing so, Lenny!), you’ll find objective, no-nonsense summaries of morethan 700 games. Lenny writes clearly, concisely, and without pretension, whichbetrays his former vocation as a technical writer. This isn’t a book of reviews.Lenny has said something to the effect of, “Who am I to say if these games areany good or not—why should my opinion matter more than anyone else’s?” He wantspeople to explore the games and form their own opinions, and ABC to the VCSis an excellent reference guide pointing players to the Atari 2600 titles theymay find interesting or entertaining. It’s also a useful book for tracking yourcollection and keeping the memories of these games alive.
I’ve known Leonard Herman for 20 years. I met him back in 2003 at the first Classic Gaming Expo Iattended, and I made it a point to shake his hand. We’ve been friends eversince, sharing a booth and panel at Too Many Games, traveling together, hangingout at Corgs, PRGE, and other gaming expos, corresponding online, and ingeneral having a good time. He even wrote the foreword to my third ClassicHome Video Games book!
There are severalauthors today writing complete guides to various videogame consoles, but Lenny beatus all to the punch and did something historic in the process.
There’s that wordagain. “Historic.”
There’s a reasonLeonard Herman is called The Father of Videogame History.
And I’m proud tocall him a friend and colleague.
~ Brett Weiss
Brett Weiss hasbeen a gamer since 1975 and a professional gaming writer since 1997. He’s theauthor of 13 books, including The NES Omnibus Vol. 1-2, The SNES Omnibus Vol. 1-2, The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987,and his latest, The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1988-1998. Withhis Classic Home Video Games series, he wrote the world’s first completeguides to numerous video game consoles, including the Atari 5200, Atari 7800,ColecoVision, Intellivision, Vectrex, Odyssey2, Nintendo Entertainment System,Sega Master System, Neo Geo, TurboGrafx-16, and Sega Genesis. He also wrote theworld’s first and only encyclopedia about the rock band KISS. He’s hadarticles published in countless magazines and newspapers, including Game Informer, Old School Gamer, Filmfax, Fangoria, and the FortWorth Star-Telegram, to name just a few. When not writing, he uploads videosto YouTube for his Tales from a Retro Gamer show.
