Do you remember what it was like when computers were new? When they seemed mysterious and exciting? Did you ever pass a grotty C15 tape around the schoolyard, or make a shop assistant quietly seethe as you asked them to load 'Manic Miner' on the computer? If you have ever had a magical garning moment - then "The A-Z of Classic Computer Games" is the book for you! Prepare to download a diverse and highly entertaining plethora of computational nostalgia that includes sections on: The Computers: Looking back at the systems of yore from Acorn to the ZX Spectrum and assessing which consoles were corkers and which were just plain rubbish; The Games: From the banal ('Metagalactic Llamas Battle at the Edge of Time') to the anal ('Strip Poker'), all the most important and best-remembered titles will be lovingly recalled and humorously dissected; Amusement Arcades: The best games, the most frightening boys and the rules of engagement; and The Social Mores: Dads believing they should be the family expert, the parlance of pirated games, computer fads. Also included are: The Future: From Making The Most Of Your Micro to the hysteria about virtual reality - we will remember today how yesterday once thought tomorrow might look; and The Paraphernalia: Joysticks, tape boxes, manuals, computer characters, colour protection codes, TV ads, magazines and loads of other ancillary ephemera.
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"It is for all of us who remember spending hours on our Atari systems at home playing Pac-man and Frogger and then spent equal hours at the arcade playing Space Invaders, Tetris, and Donkey Kong."--American Reference Book Annual
About the Author
Jack Railton is the pen-name of Jack Kibble-White, who reviews and writes about popular culture for magazines, websites and television. He is the co-author of the book TV Cream: The Ultimate Guide to '70s and '80s Pop Culture.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
I myself am a huge fan of the games and systems which appeared in our homes from the early eighties onwards. I always kept up-to-date with the goings-on in the gaming world, but after reading this little treasure trove I feel somewhat humbled - it's amazing just how little I ACTUALLY knew!
The book is brilliantly written in that as well as being a very easy read, it's also a very amusing one. I had many a proper giggle when reading some of Railton's descriptions! It goes through, as it says on the tin, an A - Z of games but also covers the systems on which they were released. It then goes further again and gives info on the companies responsible for producing these machines.
If you are a fan of the Spectrum 48K, C64 or even the old Binatone home entertainment systems, then this book will be an absolute treat for you. Contact Santa now - you won't be disappointed!
Well done Jack Railton. 10/10.
The book is brilliantly written in that as well as being a very easy read, it's also a very amusing one. I had many a proper giggle when reading some of Railton's descriptions! It goes through, as it says on the tin, an A - Z of games but also covers the systems on which they were released. It then goes further again and gives info on the companies responsible for producing these machines.
If you are a fan of the Spectrum 48K, C64 or even the old Binatone home entertainment systems, then this book will be an absolute treat for you. Contact Santa now - you won't be disappointed!
Well done Jack Railton. 10/10.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
This book is EXCELLENT - It also has the one ingredient missing from some of the other efforts - a dash of (sometimes very funny as well as nostalgia-inducing) humour!
I found myself identifying with a LOT of the reminiscences in the book, and it's written in a friendly, down-to-earth way - A real nostalgia trip, and I would THOROUGHLY recommend it to anyone else who was around in the 'Golden Age' that all of us Eighties retro-heads all loved...
PS - Let me know ASAP when Jack's written another book - I've sadly finished reading this now, but it was like meeting up and chatting about the "good ol' days" with a like-minded friend - very entertaining, nostalgic, and thought-provoking...
I found myself identifying with a LOT of the reminiscences in the book, and it's written in a friendly, down-to-earth way - A real nostalgia trip, and I would THOROUGHLY recommend it to anyone else who was around in the 'Golden Age' that all of us Eighties retro-heads all loved...
PS - Let me know ASAP when Jack's written another book - I've sadly finished reading this now, but it was like meeting up and chatting about the "good ol' days" with a like-minded friend - very entertaining, nostalgic, and thought-provoking...
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
I bought this book because it was cheap and I love computer games. The titles a little misleading as it's not strickly an A-Z. More of a mixture of articles on computer games, the machines, accessories and so forth. It's mostly text, not many photos in here. Just several in the middle pages. Reading the text brings back plesent memories of games I used to play and made me smile with the authors wit. All in all a read I'd recommend if you love computer games. If you love lots of photos I wouldn't recommend it.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
what a nostalgia trip
I loved it - a diverting history of the early days of home computing and gaming with (for a change) an emphasis on the British scene and not the American... Read more
Published 20 months ago by D. Glancy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brings it all back... with humour
I bought this for my brother, who started playing computer games on the ZX Spectrum years ago. I ended up reading it in one sitting from start to finish. Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2009 by L. Hennessy
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