Books published by Steel Gear Press

The sprawl of Adventure. The addictiveness of Breakout. The intensity of Space Invaders.Once upon a time, you could only experience this kind of excitement at the arcade. But in 1977 that changed forever. You, and maybe a friend or a sibling, could instantly teleport from your own living room to a dazzling new world-with nothing more than a small plastic cartridge.This was the promise of the Atari 2600-and it was delivered in ways no one ever expected. No, the games it put on your TV weren't what you saw when you plunked in your quarters at the convenience store or in the noisy, smoky business on the other side of town. But they brought the arcade home-and it hasn't left since.With Adventure: The Atari 2600 at the Dawn of Console Gaming, Jamie Lendino takes you to the front lines of the home gaming revolution, exploring the history of the world-changing console and delves into the coin-op ports and original titles that still influence gaming today.Before your next trip to a magical universe with your Xbox One, PlayStation 4, or Nintendo Switch, see how the home gaming industry truly began.

Atari 8-bit computers are the first machines that truly bridged the divide between video game players and home computer enthusiasts. The Atari 400 and 800 signaled the start of a new era in computing. Breakout: How Atari 8-Bit Computers Defined a Generation is the first book to cover what made Atari's groundbreaking computer line great: its excellent graphics and sound, flexible programming environment, and wide support from the burgeoning home computer community.For those of us coming of "gaming age" in the 80s, Atari games were simply amazing-and you'll find out what made over 100 titles so much fun to play. Breakout also explores the Atari 8-bit platform as it stands today, with a robust enthusiast and modding community, the increasing value of Atari computers and peripherals, and how to get started with one now or get your old one working again.Jamie Lendino is the Editor-in-Chief of ExtremeTech.com. Previously, he managed the consumer electronics reviews team for PCMag.com, and has written for the print and digital versions of PC Magazine for over 10 years. He's also had articles published in Popular Science, Electronic Musician, Sound and Vision, and on CNET.com and ConsumerReports.com.