My review of the new book,  Atari Inc. Business Is Fun,  by Curt Vendel and Marty Goldberg is up over at Gamasutra.com

Here is an excerpt:

 Atari Inc: Business Is Fun  is an exciting, messy, sprawling tour-de-force that fills in a lot missing gaps for Atari fans worldwide.   The book reads like 800 page manifesto attempting to right-wrongs and clear-up misconceptions about Atari.  At its’ core, this 800 page behemoth aims to prove one main fact to Atari aficionados:  That Nolan Bushnell, “King Pong”,  was not solely responsible for the success of Atari.   If that is, indeed, its’‘ primary goal, the book succeeds famously.

The text weaves asynchronously, with various levels of detail,  throughout the history of Atari, treading ground that has rarely been covered before.   The authors unearthed documents, memos, company newsletters, and legal settlements that have never been previously published.  They also interviewed dozens of people: everyone from Atari engineers to executives and their secretaries, so they could form a full picture of the first successful video game company. What emerges is a tale that attempts to correct inaccuracies and bust the myths of Atari’s past.

Read the full review here.

-Steve Fulton