Description

Book Synopsis

The gripping origin story of Pong, Atari, and the digital icons who defined the world of video games.

A deep, nostalgic dive into the advent of gaming, Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master returns us to the emerging culture of Silicon Valley. At the center of this graphic history, dynamically drawn in colors inspired by old computer screens, is the epic feud that raged between Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and inventor Ralph Baer for the title of ?father of the video game.?

While Baer, a Jewish immigrant whose family fled Germany for America, developed the first TV video-game console and ping-pong game in the 1960s, Bushnell, a self-taught whiz kid from Utah, put out Atari?s pioneering table-tennis arcade game, Pong, in 1972. Thus, a prolonged battle began over who truly spearheaded the multibillion-dollar gaming industry, and around it a sweeping narrative about invention, inspiration, and the seeds of digital revolution.

Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master: Pong, Atari,

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Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Mon 19 Jan 2026.

A Paperback / softback by David Kushner

15 in stock


    View other formats and editions of Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master: Pong, Atari, by David Kushner

    Publisher: Bold Type Books
    Publication Date: 29/09/2022
    ISBN13: 9781568588766, 978-1568588766
    ISBN10: 1568588763

    Description

    Book Synopsis

    The gripping origin story of Pong, Atari, and the digital icons who defined the world of video games.

    A deep, nostalgic dive into the advent of gaming, Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master returns us to the emerging culture of Silicon Valley. At the center of this graphic history, dynamically drawn in colors inspired by old computer screens, is the epic feud that raged between Atari founder Nolan Bushnell and inventor Ralph Baer for the title of ?father of the video game.?

    While Baer, a Jewish immigrant whose family fled Germany for America, developed the first TV video-game console and ping-pong game in the 1960s, Bushnell, a self-taught whiz kid from Utah, put out Atari?s pioneering table-tennis arcade game, Pong, in 1972. Thus, a prolonged battle began over who truly spearheaded the multibillion-dollar gaming industry, and around it a sweeping narrative about invention, inspiration, and the seeds of digital revolution.

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