This book focuses on the history of video games, consoles, and home computers from the very beginning until the mid-nineties, which started a new era in digital entertainment. The text features the most innovative games and introduces the pioneers who developed them. It offers brief analyses of the most relevant games from each time period. An epilogue covers the events and systems that followed this golden age while the appendices include a history of handheld games and an overview of the retro-gaming scene.

Reviews

… a fine history of the medium and the individuals and companies who influenced its growth and evolution. Highly recommended for any collection covering video game history.

—Midwest Book Review, December 2011

Contents

FROM RESEARCH LABS AND ACADEMIA TO THE BIRTH AND BOOMING OF A NEW INDUSTRY

The Beginning

The First Commercial Game and the First Home Console

Atari, Pong and the Jackals

Pong Goes Home

Home Consoles

Meanwhile, in Japan …

Computers Go Home Too!

Across the Pond: Sinclair

Games that pushed boundaries I

THE CRASH, HOME COMPUTERS AND AN EXTRA LIFE

1983: The Crash

Computers, Computers, Computers

Atari and Commodore: From Here, Where?

Nintendo gives consoles an extra life: the NES, ROB and Super Mario

New competition: the Sega Master System

Games that Pushed Boundaries II

16 BIT POWER, NEW GENERATIONS AND THE RISE OF THE PC

The Beginning of a New Era

New Generations amidst some of the Same Old Problems…

1991: Sony and Nintendo?

The PC Becomes Gaming Mature

Games that Pushed Boundaries III

Epilogue

Game Over

Press Start to Continue …

Appendix A: A Brief History of Handheld Devices

Appendix B: Collecting Classic Games Today