Review: Art of Atari
As a child, I owned a Colecovision, but my first exposure to video game consoles was through the Atari 2600. I have many fond memories of going to department stores as a child to take a peek at the then-latest and greatest video games.
Art of Atari by Tim Lapetino is a gorgeous 350 page love note to the once mighty Atari company and, in my humble opinion, is a must have for video game enthusiasts both young and old. This lavishly illustrated hard cover edition focuses on the previously uncredited artists who sold a vision that helped bring millions of cartridges into living rooms around the world. Certainly, for many of us who grew up during those times, the box art was an integral component to fleshing out the games we played. Before high resolution graphics, we had to use our imagination to play video games.
And play we did.
Despite their clunky graphics, many original Atari games still have a lot of replay value for me. Below are but a few pages of the book, to give you a taste.
If you grew up during this halcyon era of gaming, you will love this book. Reading through it brought back so many great memories for me. In the book is a detailed history of the company and what happened behind the scenes. The highlight of the book, for me, are the numerous detailed box art scans, gorgeous box art (both used and unused), along with process work that informed the final designs. All your favorite Atari games are covered within the book, including the much maligned E.T. and Pac-Man port. There’s even a section on the recent landfill dig where Atari cartridges were unearthed. There’s also never-before-seen art for Atari consoles that never saw the light of day, including one such console with wireless controllers!
In short, no stone is left unturned.
The quality of the book itself is superb, with a solid cover and high quality paper that makes the visuals pop. I’m so glad I pre-ordered this book. Art of Atari earns 5 out of 5 glorious Bob Weiners.
-Krishna
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