In the early 1970s, video arcade games sprung to life in the form of Pong, Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Pac-Man, and if you were lucky enough to have an Atari system you could play Frogger or Galaga at home. By the 1980s, arcade and video games were entrenched as a pop culture phenomenon and were ubiquitous. But as quickly as the form took flight it began to change with the advent of hand-held games and more sophisticated home-gaming. Brian Eddy here traces the evolution of arcade video games, giving readers an inside look at the stratospheric rise-and transformation-of the industry.
The editors at Compute Books have searched all the BBSs and telecommunications services for the best games. For the price of this book, the purchaser gets about half a dozen top-quality games for less than the price of one commercial game. Requires an IBM-compatible computer with a hard drive and a 1.44MB, 3.5" floppy disk drive.
A follow up to 2007's Classic Home Video Games, 1972-1984, this reference work provides detailed descriptions and reviews of every U.S.-released game for the Nintendo NES, the Atari 7800, and the Sega Master System, all of which are considered among the most popular video game systems ever produced. Organized alphabetically by console brand, each chapter includes a description of the game system followed by substantive entries for every game released for that console. Video game entries include publisher/developer data, release year, gameplay information, and, typically, the author's critique. A glossary provides a helpful guide to the classic video game genres and terms referenced throughout the work, and a preface provides a comparison between the modern gaming industry and the industry of the late 1980s.
Maybe it was the recent Atari 2600 milestone anniversary that fueled nostalgia for the golden days of computer and console gaming. Every Game Boy must ponder his roots from time to time. But whatever is driving the current retro gaming craze, one thing is certain: classic games are back for a big second act, and they're being played in both old and new ways. Whether you've just been attacked by Space Invaders for the first time or you've been a Pong junkie since puberty, Chris Kohler's Retro Gaming Hacks is the indispensable new guide to playing and hacking classic games. Kohler has complied tons of how-to information on retro gaming that used to take days or weeks of web surfing to track down and sort through, and he presents it in the popular and highly readable Hacks style. Retro Gaming Hacks serves up 85 hard-nosed hacks for reviving the classic games. Want to game on an original system? Kohler shows you how to hack ancient hardware, and includes a primer for home-brewing classic software. Rather adapt today's equipment to run retro games? Kohler provides emulation techniques, complete with instructions for hacking a classic joystick that's compatible with a contemporary computer. This book also teaches readers to revive old machines for the original gaming experience: hook up an Apple II or a Commodore 64, for example, and play it like you played before. A video game journalist and author of Power Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life, Kohler has taught the history of video games at Tufts University. In Retro Gaming Hacks, he locates the convergence of classic games and contemporary software, revealing not only how to retrofit classic games for today's systems, but how to find the golden oldies hidden in contemporary programs as well. Whether you're looking to recreate the magic of a Robotron marathon or simply crave a little handheld Donkey Kong, Retro Gaming Hacks shows you how to set the way-back dial.
Lists the most significant writings on computer games, including works that cover recent advances in gaming and the substantial academic research that goes into devising and improving computer games.
Creating Q*bert and Other Classic Video Arcade Games takes you inside the video arcade game industry during the classic decades of the 1980s and 1990s. Warren Davis, the creator of the groundbreaking Q*bert, worked as a member of the creative teams who developed some of the most popular video games of all time, including Joust 2, Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, and Revolution X. In a witty and entertaining narrative, Davis shares insightful stories that offer a behind-the-scenes look at what it was like to work as a designer and programmer at the most influential and dominant video arcade game manufacturers of the era, including Gottlieb, Williams/Bally/Midway, and Premiere. Likewise, the talented artists, designers, creators, and programmers Davis has collaborated with over the years reads like a who’s who of video gaming history: Eugene Jarvis, Tim Skelly, Ed Boon, Jeff Lee, Dave Thiel, John Newcomer, George Petro, Jack Haegar, and Dennis Nordman, among many others. The impact Davis has had on the video arcade game industry is deep and varied. At Williams, Davis created and maintained the revolutionary digitizing system that allowed actors and other photo-realistic imagery to be utilized in such games as Mortal Kombat, T2, and NBA Jam. When Davis worked on the fabled Us vs. Them, it was the first time a video game integrated a live action story with arcade-style graphics. On the one-of-a-kind Exterminator, Davis developed a brand new video game hardware system, and created a unique joystick that sensed both omni-directional movement and rotation, a first at that time. For Revolution X, he created a display system that simulated a pseudo-3D environment on 2D hardware, as well as a tool for artists that facilitated the building of virtual worlds and the seamless integration of the artist’s work into game code. Whether you’re looking for insights into the Golden Age of Arcades, would like to learn how Davis first discovered his design and programming skills as a teenager working with a 1960s computer called a Monrobot XI, or want to get the inside scoop on what it was like to film the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band Aerosmith for Revolution X, Davis’s memoir provides a backstage tour of the arcade and video game industry during its most definitive and influential period.
In a world buzzing with technology and creativity, hobby writing has become more than just a pastime; it has emerged as a vivid expression of passion and imagination. For many, writing has always been at the intersection of creativity and challenge, allowing stories to flow from the depths of the mind and onto the page. In an age where narratives are crafted not only in books but also in the pixelated realms of computer games, the potential for inspiration is limitless. Computer games, once regarded simply as entertainment, have evolved into multifaceted experiences that integrate story, art, and music, forging deep connections with players. They craft rich narratives that captivate audiences and encourage engagement on multiple levels, resembling modern-day interactive novels. This evolution offers aspiring writers a treasure trove of inspiration. Whether it's the intricacies of character development, the nuances of world-building, or the delicate balance of plot pacing, the gaming world provides a myriad of lessons for those eager to pen their own stories.
Now in its second edition, the Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming is the definitive, go-to resource for anyone interested in the diverse and expanding video game industry. This three-volume encyclopedia covers all things video games, including the games themselves, the companies that make them, and the people who play them. Written by scholars who are exceptionally knowledgeable in the field of video game studies, it notes genres, institutions, important concepts, theoretical concerns, and more and is the most comprehensive encyclopedia of video games of its kind, covering video games throughout all periods of their existence and geographically around the world. This is the second edition of Encyclopedia of Video Games: The Culture, Technology, and Art of Gaming, originally published in 2012. All of the entries have been revised to accommodate changes in the industry, and an additional volume has been added to address the recent developments, advances, and changes that have occurred in this ever-evolving field. This set is a vital resource for scholars and video game aficionados alike.
This book constitutes revised selected papers from the 6th Workshop on Computer Games, CGW 2017, held in conjunction with the 26th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, IJCAI 2017, in Melbourne, Australia, in August 2017. The 12 full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 18 submissions. They cover a wide range of topics related to computer games; discussing six abstract games: Chinese Checkers, Chinese Dark Chess, Hex, Othello, Poker, and SameGame.
