BREAKIN' THE BORDERS: A TRUE STORY OF DIGITAL LIBERATION AND POWER WITHOUT THE PRICE

Dean Guadagno
Aug 22
1 min read

Microzeit

BREAKIN’ THE BORDERS Vol. 1 chronicles the rise of the Atari ST demoscene, a groundbreaking European subculture that pushed a limited 16-bit machine to extraordinary creative heights. Across 400 richly illustrated pages, this revised hardback edition documents the journey from underground coders to professional developers, capturing how youthful ingenuity turned into pioneering digital artistry and even commercial success with studios like Thalion.

The book features more than 500 demo screens, 40 exposed demos, 420 historical plates, tools of the makers, and 30 flashback features—plus a 40-page interview appendix. Designed in Atari’s original 12" screen format, its film-like layouts vividly recreate the fast-moving visuals of the demoscene. Readers will discover how developers battled technical constraints, invented new methods like sync scrolling and fullscreen effects, and laid the foundations for today’s digital creativity.

With a foreword by Prof. Dr. Gundolf S. Freyermuth (Cologne Game Lab), BREAKIN’ THE BORDERS is both a historical archive and an inspiring narrative of how computer youth reshaped pop culture and forged the roots of our digital identity.

PUBLICATION DETAILS

LANGUAGE	BINDING	EDITION	ISBN	YEAR	PAGES
English	Hardcover		N/A	2017	400

OTHER NAMES

BREAKIN’ THE BORDERS: 1984–1990 – The Atari ST and The Creative People Vol. 1