7 books
—
1 voter
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Atari Inc.: Business is Fun” as Want to Read:
Atari Inc.: Business is Fun
by
Atari Inc. - Business is Fun, the book that goes behind the company that was synonymous with the popularization of 'video games.'
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 b ...more
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 b ...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 800 pages
Published
November 25th 2012
by Syzygy Press
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Atari Inc.,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about Atari Inc.
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of Atari Inc.: Business is Fun

Sure, it's self published. But it's also the most poorly written and edited book I've ever read. It was a struggle to finish to book as I reached the end. Every two or three pages had some kind of error or mistake. If that doesn't keep pulling you out of the book, the inconsistent tense (they tried to keep it all in present tense, but fail) and the lack of focus will.
The lack of similar comments from readers and reviewers is shocking. It's like they really didn't read the book or can't see the e ...more
The lack of similar comments from readers and reviewers is shocking. It's like they really didn't read the book or can't see the e ...more

What a bad, bad book.
To begin with, it didn't catch my eye; cheaply bound, like you could do at any photo copying shop. Well, it's self-published so something like that is to be expected, but for the price it's not good.
Opening it I saw something expected, but not justified; like other self-published books on the retro-computing scene, it's "typeset" in Word. Or something. And it shows. Ugh.
So that's just appearances, one could get over them, but...
The writers absolutely Can. Not. Write. The te ...more
To begin with, it didn't catch my eye; cheaply bound, like you could do at any photo copying shop. Well, it's self-published so something like that is to be expected, but for the price it's not good.
Opening it I saw something expected, but not justified; like other self-published books on the retro-computing scene, it's "typeset" in Word. Or something. And it shows. Ugh.
So that's just appearances, one could get over them, but...
The writers absolutely Can. Not. Write. The te ...more

I grew up with Atari. One of my earliest memories is playing the original Pong, and when we were kids I also remember all the other kids around coming over to play our 2600. To this day in my storage unit I have a 2600, 5200, 7800, Lynx, and Jaguar (with Jag CD!) with hundreds of games for them. Needless to say, I am an Atari type of dude, so this book was a wonderful treat for me.
It takes you from the earliest beginnings of Atari, back when it was three dudes and called Syzygy, and ends with th ...more
It takes you from the earliest beginnings of Atari, back when it was three dudes and called Syzygy, and ends with th ...more

I can't in good conscience write a glowing review of this book. In the past decade the computer book field seems to be flooded with these slapadash affairs that are banged together in ten minutes and rushed to press for cash. This book is much along these lines. It is horribly edited. It is doubtful these guys even proofread their writing once. A quick scan would have come up with hundreds of mispellings poorly constructed sentences and bad word usage errors. The book has lots of pictures mostly
...more

I made it halfway through this book, which is impressive considering the 3rd grade level grammar going on here. Tenses change partway through sentences almost every other sentence, and whole sentences are ambiguous in meaning because basic grammar hasn't been applied. I wish I could read the rest of it, since there's so much interesting technical information, but alas.
...more

Given this more stars than many other people who have reviewed it.
Whilst the content of the book was interesting and largely accurate, there are spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes and just downright stupid mistakes (like duplicate sentences) on EVERY SINGLE PAGE.
How a book can go out in this day and age in such condition baffles the mind, it must have been proof read by either Stevie Wonder or Maddie McCann because this book would not have got past anyone who had read it!
A computer spell check ...more
Whilst the content of the book was interesting and largely accurate, there are spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes and just downright stupid mistakes (like duplicate sentences) on EVERY SINGLE PAGE.
How a book can go out in this day and age in such condition baffles the mind, it must have been proof read by either Stevie Wonder or Maddie McCann because this book would not have got past anyone who had read it!
A computer spell check ...more

I am a child of the 70s and 80s. Like many from that time, I spent uncountable hours in front of an Atari 2600, playing the popular games of the time. From Pac-Man and Pitfall, to Combat and oh so many others, I was an addict to them all.
I picked this book up hoping to learn about the company behind my entertainment. On that score, I wasn't really disappointed. The book is packed with history and the stories behind the interesting, if not deeply flawed, personalities that made up the Atari compa ...more
I picked this book up hoping to learn about the company behind my entertainment. On that score, I wasn't really disappointed. The book is packed with history and the stories behind the interesting, if not deeply flawed, personalities that made up the Atari compa ...more

I worked for Y! in the late ninties and first few years of the 2000ś i personally enjoyed these book becouse the atmosphere that ran throught atari is the same we breathed in y! at that time.
It helped me understand the basics of silicon valley culture and why some modern companies are still ruled by these beginnings.
It helped me understand the basics of silicon valley culture and why some modern companies are still ruled by these beginnings.

Summarizes the conditions under which Atari games were first developed - and launched an industry. Not as tightly edited as some books out there (was self-published), but has historical details not available elsewhere. If you want to understand the roots of today's game industry, is an essential read.
...more

This is probably the most poorly-edited book I've ever read, but it was still hugely entertaining. There's tons of great history, particularly during the first half of the book.
...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
News & Interviews
Twists, turns, red herrings, the usual suspects: These books have it all...and more. If you love mysteries and thrillers, get ready for dozens...
126 likes · 31 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »