Racing the Beam: The Atari Video Computer System is a book by Ian Bogost and Nick Montfort describing the history and technical challenges of programming for the Atari 2600 video game console.

As there were only a limited number of machine cycles in which to do this, the programmers were "racing" a high-speed electron beam across the screen.

[1] Racing the Beam discusses the history of the VCS platform and the design decisions that impacted the types of games that could be written for it.

and Yars' Revenge are analyzed from a technical and cultural perspective.

[2] Racing the Beam is the first in a series of books on early video-game platforms and has been cited by modern Atari 2600 enthusiasts as an inspiration for attempting to write new games for the platform.