IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - July 2015 - 66

However, we also decided that we had been too cheap.
To save US$1 (1977) in cost, we had restricted the processor to address only 8192 bytes of memory (13 address bits),
without the chance of external RAM at all. We could have
spent $US0.50 more on a 40-pin processor package, and
$US0.50 more on a 30-pin cartridge connector. This would
enable the design to migrate in an evolutionary way to a
more capable system, with external ROM and RAM expansion and perhaps an external I/O bus. We were shortsighted, but we were working on the assumption that we had
to replace it before our competitors did. That second Atari
system, to replace the VCS, is the subject of the next article
in this series.
to lEarn morE
MIT Press published a Platform Series book on the Atari
VCS, titled Racing the Beam [21]. It covers Stella, Combat,
Adventure, Pac-Man, Yars' Revenge, Pitfall, Star Wars (the
game), and the first video game crash.
The book Atari: Business is Fun [32] is the definitive social
history of Atari at the time the VCS was developed. It covers
the arcade side of the business as well.
To learn about the design of a game, see The Annotated
Adventure by Warren Robinett [33].
For more technical information on the Atari VCS, see the
TIA schematics [34] and the Stella programming manual [35].
aBout tHE autHor
Joe decuir (jdecuir@ieee.org) is a standards architect at CSR,
soon to become part of Qualcomm. He has been working
on public engineering standards for decades, including dialup and broadband modems, USB, and Bluetooth. He is a
Fellow of the IEEE for his contributions to computer graphics and video games. He is a member of the IEEE Consumer
Electronics Society Board of Governors. He is also the chair of
the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference for 2015
(www.ieeeghtc.org).
rEFErEnCEs
[1] Original Spacewar game. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacewar_(video_game)
[2] R. Baer, Video Games: In the Beginning. Springfield, NJ:
Rolenta Press, 2005.
[3] R. M. Pelovitz, "The 2014 IEEE Edison Medal Recipient,"
IEEE Consumer Electron. Mag., vol. 3, no. 2, Apr. 2014.
[4] Magnavox Odyssey game. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnavox_Odyssey.
[5] Atari arcade Computer Space. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Space.
[6] Atari arcade Pong. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Pong.
[7] Atari arcade Tank. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Tank_(video_game).

66 IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine

^

july 2015

[8] Atari Video Pinball. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Video_Pinball.
[9] Coleco Telstar Arcade. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telstar_(game_console)
[10] Intel 8080 CPU. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Intel_8080
[11] Motorola 6800 CPU. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_6800
[12] Fairchild Channel F. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Fairchild_Channel_F
[13] MOS Technology 6502 CPU. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOS_Technology_6502
[14] Apple I. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Apple_I
[15] Intel 8051 MCU. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Intel_MCS-51
[16] Computer History Museum. [Online]. Available: http://www.
computerhistorymuseum.org
[17] Television Interface Adaptor. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_Interface_Adaptor
[18] Atari Video Olympics. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Olympics
[19] Atari Combat. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Combat_(1977_video_game)
[20] Atari VCS launch game titles. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launch_title
[21] N. Montfort and I. Bogost, Racing the Beam. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press, 2009.

[22] P. Wallich and T. Perry, "Design case history: Atari Video
Computer System," IEEE Spectrum, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 45-51, Mar. 1983.
[23] Atari Adventure. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Adventure_(1979_video_game)
[24] Activision Pitfall. [Online]. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Pitfall!
[25] Activision River Raid. [Online]. Available: http://en.
wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Raid
[26] Atari Yar's Revenge. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yars%27_Revenge
[27] Nintendo Entertainment System. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System
[28] Atari Flashback products. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Flashback
[29] Atariage. [Online]. Available: http://www.atariage.com/
[30] Atariage Halo 2600. [Online]. Available: http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_2600
[31] Activision. [Online]. Available: http://www.activision.com
[32] M. Goldberg and C. Vendel, Atari: Business Is Fun. Carmel,
NY: Syzygy Company Press, 2012.
[33] W. Robinett. The Annotated Adventure. [Online]. Available:
http://warrenrobinett.com/adventure/
[34] TIA schematics. [Online]. Available: http://www.atariage.
com/2600/archives/schematics_tia/index.html
[35] TIA programming manual. [Online]. Available: http://web.
archive.org/web/20060924093654/http://www.howell1964.
freeserve.co.uk/Atari/tia/index.htm
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine - July 2015
