Larry Kaplan

In the late 70s and early 80s, ET phoned home on Atari 2600 and became the video game that New Media magazine later described as having toppled a billion dollar industry. We know the industry rose again as a pale, commercial version of its old self, but… did you ever wonder what it was like back in the wild days when the titans of gaming clashed, not on Wall Street, but inside the minds of designers? Want to learn first hand how the barren valley south of The Bay gave birth to cult celebrity that died as quickly as it was born? Take the ride with the folks who made it happen. Walk on walls, smoke the evil weed, and plunge head first into the uncharted (undocumented) world that was game production back in the bad old days.

Over the course of August 1997, interviews were shot for a video documentary entitled Stella at 20: An Atari 2600 Retrospective. The founders of Atari, the original engineers, the famous programmers, and some lesser known programmers were gathered together to look back on the system that launched the home videogame industry. Volume 2 focuses on the individual programmers, their background, and in-depth discussions of the games they created, covering all eras of the system.

Over the course of August 1997, interviews were shot for a video documentary entitled Stella at 20: An Atari 2600 Retrospective. The founders of Atari, the original engineers, the famous programmers, and some lesser known programmers were gathered together to look back on the system that launched the home videogame industry. Volume 1 contains a roundtable discussion on the origin of the 2600 itself, from concept to finished product, as well as musings on the rise and fall of Atari and changes in the industry then vs. now.