The folks over at Bitmap are unveiling their latest Atari art book. The new Atari 2600/7800: A Visual Compendium looks to celebrate the early days of home console gaming with a series of gorgeous imagery, developer interviews, spotlights on lesser-known home-brew titles, and more wrapped inside of a game room coffee table-worthy package. The seventh iteration in Bitmap’s visual compendium series is now up for pre-order and is scheduled to release in just a couple of short months. Head below the fold for a closer look and more details.
Following visual coffee table books on the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, NES, Super NES, SEGA Master System, and others, the new Bitmap Atari artbook is ready for prime time. Starting right from the glory days of the Atari 2600 through to the 1983 game industry crash that all but shuttered the company for good, the book “aims to cover the highs and lows of what was a truly tumultuous period in video game history.”
New Atari art book on the way
But it’s not all just data with the Atari 2600/7800 Visual Compendium. Spanning over 520-pages, it showcases over 200 classic games, loads of the “very best pixel art” from the era, box covers, and product design imagery for each system. On top of the visuals it also contains articles with leading figures in the Atari world, third-party game devs, and even feature pieces on prototypes and home-brew releases. Whether you’re looking back for nostalgic reasons or just looking to bring some of the experience of the earliest home console titles to your game room, this new Atari art book is worth a closer look.
More specifically, the hardcover version carries 528-pages and measures out at 170mm x 230mm, with a 3mm protective board slipcase and a lenticular fascia. The sewn binding and spot varnish cover come with a lithographic print and a dust jacket as well.
Atari 2600/7800 Visual Compendium Pricing
Pre-orders on the Atari 2600/7800 Visual Compendium are now live with an April release date. Prices start at £24.99 (or roughly $32), with the hardcover version selling for $40 and the Collector’s Edition listed at roughly $65. All three editions also ship with a PDF version in case you’d rather not have your friend’s greasy fingers all over your precious new collectible. The aforementioned Collector’s Edition is being made in a limited run of 1,000 units and includes some extra goodies (seen below): bookmark, A2 2600 Blueprint poster, A2 7800 Blueprint poster, and a pack of 5 postcards.
9to5Toys’ Take:
Those prices seem slightly steep by comparison to comparable options on Amazon. Having said that, this is a quite thorough example of a coffee table-style gaming art book at over 500 pages and an included digital copy. The Art of Atari book, for example, sells for just over $20 Prime shipped at Amazon and covers many of the same titles, but it’s not quite as extensive at 350 pages, and mainly focusing on the art itself.
Ohh and, don’t miss these new Atari hotels that are scheduled to begin construction this year across the US alongside the upcoming release of the new Atari VCS console.
Source: Kotaku
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