2600 Magic

The Atari® Video Computer System™ started it all. There were other early game systems, but the Atari® VCS (also known as the 2600) was the first commercially successful programmable home game player.

Why was it so successful? What was the secret of its longevity? How does it do the things it does? Inside the 2600 lives an elegantly simple video circuit, far less capable than the circuits in other game systems. But this very simplicity made it possible for game designers to invent thousands of games.

2600 Magic, Volume One of David Crane’s Technical Wizardry Series, is designed to answer these questions.

With detailed descriptions and interactive diagrams, this iPhone App explains the internal video circuitry of the 2600 and shows how it is used to display the game playfields from many of the classic Atari games. You will be amazed by the lengths to which game programmers had to go just to put an object on the screen.