The House That Pong Built: The Life, Death, And Afterlife Of Atari

By: Lucas Maldonado

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

More than just a brand name, Atari was a cultural phenomenon that defined the dawn of the video game age for a generation. The story of its meteoric rise and the spectacular 1983 crash that followed is the stuff of Silicon Valley legend. But the history of Atari did not end with a bulldozer burying unsold cartridges in a desert landfill; that is where the second, more complex half of its story begins.

This meticulously researched book chronicles the complete history, from the freewheeling, visionary days of founder Nolan Bushnell and the creation of Pong to the corporate blunders that led to the industry-wide cataclysm. It details the internal conflicts, the groundbreaking innovations, and the key decisions that built a multi-billion-dollar empire and then brought it to its knees. Here, for the first time, the myths of Atari's golden age are separated from the documented facts.

The narrative pivots on the Great Schism of 1984, when the company was split in two, creating a dual history that has never been fully told. One path follows Atari Corporation, the home computer and console division taken over by the famously ruthless Jack Tramiel, chronicling its war against Commodore with the Atari ST and its final, desperate gamble on the Jaguar console. The other path follows Atari Games, the original arcade division that continued to produce massive hits like Gauntlet and San Francisco Rush before facing its own set of challenges.

This is the definitive history of the Atari legacy in all its fractured glory. Following both companies to their ultimate, separate conclusions in the late 1990s, this work provides a comprehensive account of the groundbreaking technology, high-stakes corporate drama, and clashing personalities that shaped an industry. It is the complete story of not one, but two Ataris.