Racing the Beam
Racing the Beam

Author: Nick Montfort

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2020-02-25

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 0262539764

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A study of the relationship between platform and creative expression in the Atari VCS, the gaming system for popular games like Pac-Man and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The Atari Video Computer System dominated the home video game market so completely that “Atari” became the generic term for a video game console. The Atari VCS was affordable and offered the flexibility of changeable cartridges. Nearly a thousand of these were created, the most significant of which established new techniques, mechanics, and even entire genres. This book offers a detailed and accessible study of this influential video game console from both computational and cultural perspectives. Studies of digital media have rarely investigated platforms—the systems underlying computing. This book, the first in a series of Platform Studies, does so, developing a critical approach that examines the relationship between platforms and creative expression. Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost discuss the Atari VCS itself and examine in detail six game cartridges: Combat, Adventure, Pac-Man, Yars' Revenge, Pitfall!, and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. They describe the technical constraints and affordances of the system and track developments in programming, gameplay, interface, and aesthetics. Adventure, for example, was the first game to represent a virtual space larger than the screen (anticipating the boundless virtual spaces of such later games as World of Warcraft and Grand Theft Auto), by allowing the player to walk off one side into another space; and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was an early instance of interaction between media properties and video games. Montfort and Bogost show that the Atari VCS—often considered merely a retro fetish object—is an essential part of the history of video games.

Retro Gaming Hacks
Retro Gaming Hacks

Author: Chris Kohler

Publisher: "O'Reilly Media, Inc."

Published: 2005-10-12

Total Pages: 568

ISBN-13: 1449303900

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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.

Classic Home Video Games, 1985-1988
Classic Home Video Games, 1985-1988

Author: Brett Weiss

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2012-11-12

Total Pages: 828

ISBN-13: 1476601410

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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.

Gaming Hacks
Gaming Hacks

Author: Simon Carless

Publisher: "O'Reilly Media, Inc."

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13: 9780596007140

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Aimed at avid and/or highly skilled video gamers, 'Gaming Hacks' offers a guide to pushing the limits of video game software and hardware using the creative exploits of the gaming gurus.

Phoenix IV
Phoenix IV

Author: Leonard Herman

Publisher:

Published: 2017-07-15

Total Pages: 868

ISBN-13: 9780964384804

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A year-by-year complete history of videogames from the late '50s through 2016.

Star, Bright
Star, Bright

Author: Mark Clifton

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2016-03-03

Total Pages: 38

ISBN-13: 9781530331512

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This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.

Ninja: The Most Dangerous Game
Ninja: The Most Dangerous Game

Author: Tyler "Ninja" Blevins

Publisher: Ten Speed Graphic

Published: 2019-12-03

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13: 1984857452

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The game is real. The stakes are life and death. It’s on gaming superstar Ninja to save the world in this original graphic novel series! A mysterious video game controller teleports Tyler “Ninja” Blevins and other players into a real battle-royale game world. Ninja quickly learns that a power-hungry villain plans to add Earth to his collection of conquered realms. Before doing so, he will force Ninja and the other gamers to fight until only one remains. But he didn’t count on Ninja fighting back and inspiring others to do the same. Ninja, his trusty sentient headband “HB,” and a ragtag team of rebels rise up and take a stand. They’re not just trying to win a game anymore, they’re ready to start a revolution.