Every year I attempt to purchase a few books which Ill read and then find a home on my bookshelves for future reference and more than likely a possible re-read when time permits.
This year Ive been absolutely spoilt for choice and I cannot remember a previous time when so many good books on Video Games, Retro Software, Vintage computers and the companys than manufacture and produced them.
Starting with the Art of Atari which I think is one of the best coffee table books Ive ever read on Atari, focussing on artwork from the early arcades and VCS box art and telling the stories behind them.
If you’re into all things Atari or simply love the golden age of video games then this book will take you a walk down memory lane, and the artwork in simply amazing.
The next book is called Little Book of Video Games, and as the title says its little at only 128 pages and available in Kindle and Hard Cover (mine is the hardcover).
This fascinating book takes you through the history of computer games, from the golden age of arcade games in the late 1970s and 1980s, and the introduction of home computers, handheld games and, of course, all the classic consoles, right through to today’s revolutionary gaming without controllers.
Now the next few books come from Fusion Retro Books and written by Chris Wilkins. The first is The Story of the Commodore 64 in Pixels which is simply a great book covering much of the life of the worlds best-selling home computer which was of great interest to me as my company Alphaworks get a mention in the chapter on cartridges and the resurgence that occurred in the late 90s early 2000s.
The next few books were all based around the Sinclair Spectrum, while I only had a minor connection to this classic home computer I found two additional books again from Chris Wilkins which contain interviews with the programmers who wrote the classics and reviews of many popular titles. Unfortunately for me, I was only able to purchase volume 2 and 3 with volume 1 being out of print, so lets hope Chris does another print run so I can finish off my collection.
Being a longtime lover of Text Adventures since the late 70s I was surprised to see a book written about these wonderful titles. The Spectrum of Adventure: A Brief History of Interactive Fiction on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum written by Thomas A. Christie.
The Spectrum of Adventure chronicles the evolution of the text adventure on the ZX Spectrum, exploring the work of landmark software houses such as Melbourne House Software, Level 9 Computing, Delta 4 Software, the CRL Group, Magnetic Scrolls, and many others besides.
Covering one hundred individual games in all, this book celebrates the Spectrum’s thriving interactive fiction scene of the eighties, chronicling the achievements of major publishers as well as independent developers from the machine’s launch in 1982 until the end of the decade in 1989.
The last book added to my growing collection is probably my favorite simply based on the subject matter. Commodore VIC 20: A visual History which started life as a kick starter which I and many others backed has turned into an amazing book (only have the PDF version so far but the hard covered coffee table book is on its way).
A chronicling the history of the VIC 20, its peripherals, game cartridges and advertising this book has a wealth of history fully detailing all of Commodores releases and the box art scans are the best Ive ever seen for the VIC.
If you ever owned a VIC 20 or simply love retro computing Id strongly recommend grabbing a copy.
