Supercade – A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1971–1984 - Hardcover

Burnham, Van

4.13

185 ratings by Goodreads

9780262024921: Supercade – A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1971–1984

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0262024926 ISBN 13: 9780262024921

Publisher: MIT Press, 2001

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From "Pong" to "Pac-Man", "Asteroids" to "Zaxxon" - more than 50 million people around the world have come of age within the electronic flux of videogames, their subconscious forever etched with images projected from arcade and home videogame systems. From the first interactive blips of electronic light at Brookhaven National Labs and the creation of "Spacewar!" at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; to the invention of the TV Game Project and the myriad systems of Magnavox, Atari, Coleco, and Mattel that followed; through the rise of the Golden Age of videogames and forward into the imagination of millions, "Supercade" illustrates and documents the history, legacy, and visual language of the videogame phenomenon. "Supercade" pays tribute to the technology, games, and visionaries of one of the most influential periods in the history of computer science-one that profoundly shaped the modern technological landscape and helped change the way people view entertainment.

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Review:

It was a time when technology was king, status was determined by your high score and video games were blitzing the world... Supercade is the first book to illustrate and document the history, legacy and visual language of the video game phenomenon, from the fist interactive blips of electronic light at Brookhaven National Labs and the creation of Spacewar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to the invention of the TV Game Project and the myriad systems of Magnavox, Atari, Coleco and Mattel that followed.

From Pong to Pac-Man, Asteroids to Zaxxon, more than 50 million people around the world have come of age within the electronic flux of video games, their subconscious forever etched with images projected from arcade and home video game systems.

Exuberantly written and illustrated in full colour, Supercade pays tribute to the technology, games and visionaries of one of the most influential periods in the history of computer science--one that profoundly shaped the modern technological landscape and helped change the way people view entertainment.

The book includes contributions from such commentators and participants as Ralph Baer, Julian Dibbell, Keith Feinstein, Joe Fielder, Lauren Fielder, Justin Hall, Leonard Herman, Steven Johnson, Steven Kent, Nick Montfort, Bob Parks, Carl Steadman and Tom Vanderbilt. --Miles Taylor

Review:

"Be warned, though - its potential to stop you working is immense. If you're anything like us, flicking through these pages will inspire you to download an emulator or three and fire up some of these old classics. A precious book indeed." -- Cre@te Online Magazine, 1 January 2002

"This beautiful coffee table tome...capture[s] the spirit of fun and invention that videogames and their creators had before games became the multi million dollar, blood soaked epics of today." -- Focus, 1 January 2002

"a superior coffee table book...the research is exemplary, which, combined with a bold and vibrant design, makes this book ideal for both entertainment and as a source of information." -- Personal Computer World, January 2002

The screenshots in the book will bring a nostalgic tear to many an eye...The gameplay's the thing. -- New Scientist, 22 September, 2001

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