The Arcade 1971–1999: The Stories Behind Classic Coin-Ops, Told by Their Creators
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Description
Arcades once ruled the world. They were the place where eager gamers went to discover the latest releases and marvel at the new technology that powered them. Titles like Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Mortal Kombat became cultural phenomena, earning millions in revenue and remaining instantly recognisable icons to this day. Coin-operated video games led the way for decades, with home computer and console games aspiring to be ‘arcade perfect’.
Author Paul Drury has spent over twenty years talking to the programmers, game designers, artists and musicians who made those seminal arcade titles. Here they share the stories of their creation, in their own words. Amongst the 120 classic coin-ops featured, you’ll discover how Ms. Pac-Man was once a man called Otto, who actually created Donkey Kong, how Q*bert learned to swear and what really happened on the night when the very first Pong machine was placed in Andy Capp’s Tavern.
Along with these firsthand accounts, you will find personal photos, design sketches, coding notes and all manner of ‘behind the scenes’ material, giving a unique insight into the creativity, imagination and ingenuity that brought these games to life. Also included is concept art, licensed from The Strong National Museum of Play, showing the original plans for such Atari classics as Star Wars, Paperboy, Gauntlet and many more.
With a foreword written by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell and an Afterword by Eugene Jarvis, creator of Defender and Robotron, this is the definitive text on the first thirty years of the arcade industry. As with all our books, it includes high-quality paper, thread-sewn binding and each copy is shrink-wrapped. The hardback cover features a foil blocked illustration and inside you will find a series of arcade cabinet illustrations by artist Adam Rufino.
“Hearing the OG story is always fun. Going from nothing to something feels a bit like magic, and Paul has captured that magic in all these stories.” Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari
“A very well researched account of how a new industry was created.” Al Alcorn, creator of Pong
"Hear how legendary digital alchemists turned a blank screen into videogame gold, all in their own words.” Eugene Jarvis, creator of Defender and Robotron
"Relive the stories behind our favourite games, together in one place." Ed Logg, creator of Asteroids and Gauntlet
Includes contributions from:
Abiko, Akira Fujita, Akira Nishitani, Akira ‘Akiman’ Yasuda, Al Alcorn, Alan Gray, Alan McNeil, Andy Walker, Betty Ryan, Bill Adams, Bob Flanagan, Brian Colin, Dave Sherman, Dave Staugas, Dave Theurer, Dave Thiel , Dennis Harper, Doug Macrae, Ed Logg, Ed Rotberg, Eric Ginner, Frank Gasking, Franz Lanzinger, Fukio ‘MTJ’ Mitsuji, Gary Goldman, Gary Vincent, George Gomez, Hirohisa Komanome, Hiroshi ‘Hiro’ Kawaguchi, Hiroshi ‘Onijust’ Tsujino, Hiroyasu Machiguchi, Hisao Oguchi, Howell Ivy, Jack Haeger, Jamie Fenton, Jeff Lee, John Newcomer, John Ray, John Salwitz, John Szczepaniak, John Tobias, Jonathan Hurd, Kazuma Kujo, Kazunori Sawano, Kenichi Yokoh, Kenji Kataoka, Kenzo Tsujimoto, Kevin Bayliss, Koji Mitsunaga, Koji Obata, Kouichi Yotsui, Larry DeMar, Lyle Rains, Makoto Uchida, Mark Pierce, Mark Turmell, Martyn Carroll, Masaaki Kukino, Masamoto Morita, Masanobu Endou, Matt Householder, Michitaka Tsuruta, Mike Hally, Minoru Kanari, Nolan Bushnell, Owen Rubin, Peter Robinson, Professor Yoshihiro Kishimoto, Robert Weatherby, Ron Milner, Roy Ozaki, Ryuichi Nishizawa, Scott Morrison, Scott Tsumura, Seiichi Nakakuki, Shigeru Yokoyama, Shinichiro Okamoto, Steve Mayer, Steve Wozniak, Takashi Oda, Takeki Nakamura, Tim Skelly, Tokuro Fujiwara, Tomohiro Nishikado, Toru Iwatani, Toshihiro Nagoshi, Toshinobu Komazawa, Warren Davis, Wendi Allen, Yasuhiko Tanaka, Yoshihiko Ota, Yoshihisa Kishimoto, Yoshiki Ooka, Youji Ishii, Yu Suzuki, Yutaka Kounoe, Yutaka Sugano.
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FAQs
- MHMarcel H.Verified BuyerYesterdayRated 5 out of 5 starsJust amazing
So this is my 2nd Bitmap Books purchase and honestly, I'm blown away by the quality. You can just tell it's a book made with care and skill. My first one, Metal Slug: The Ultimate History, I picked up through a reseller here in the Netherlands. The Arcade 1979–1999 I ordered straight from Bitmap Books after reading all the reviews about how they ship their stuff. And man, I've never received anything packed as neatly as what Bitmap Books does. You can tell they're proud of their books and know exactly how careful collectors are with this kind of thing.
Right now I'm busy building a Lowboy arcade cabinet with a Metal Slug theme, so it's always fun to flip through a book like The Arcade and pick up some nice trivia along the way.
Two books in the collection so far — but I'm pretty sure it won't stop there :)
- IBIan B.Verified Buyer4 days agoRated 5 out of 5 starsGolden Age Stories
This is the book I've always dreamed of reading about the arcade games that defined my youth. It is clearly a labour of love and genuinely gives the reader something they've never read before - the voice of the designers, programmers, artists and hardware engineers that worked on these groundbreaking games. It gave me a new appreciation of the challenge and artistry involved in creating all those machines that gobbled my paper round money.
It goes without saying that the book is beautifully put together and covers a remarkably well-considered list of games. All of which reminds me of just how important the arcades were in driving forward the technology and possibilities of gaming, especially in the 1980s. Many of those games still stand up as some of the most intense and perfectly balanced gaming experiences any player can have. This book finally gives those games and their creators the respect and coverage they deserve.
- FRFlavio R.Verified Buyer1 week agoRated 5 out of 5 starsFor all Arcade fans and enthusiasts
Like every other Bitmap Books book this is an amazing pice of Arcade gaming history.
- SJScot J.Verified Buyer1 week agoRated 3 out of 5 starsWhy the razor sharp images?
For a book dedicated to classic coin-ops, with huge pictures taking up a full page each, I wish more effort was taken to make the images more representative of how the games looked back then.
It appears that simple MAME screenshots were used, this results in the images looking blocky and awful. It would have been exceedingly simple to have applied a CRT filter.
The text in the book is very informative, but you don’t get a complete picture of what it was like to walk up to one of these machines and play.
Very disappointed.
- DPDavid P.Verified Buyer1 week agoRated 5 out of 5 starsWonderful "byte-sized" look at arcade history
Having spent a lot of time in arcades in the '80s, I pre-ordered this book on a whim when I originally saw it announced. While it includes just 120 of more than 4,000 potential arcade titles from the 70s to the 90s, I was pleasantly surprised by what was included. The stories behind the creation of each game by those who worked on the products are filled with wonderful insider information. And, no title is given overly-exhaustive treatment, making this a great book to pick up and read a few entries a day, learn something cool, and then put it down again. It has made me honestly go search out many of the titles in my own home arcade, as well as my local one, and give them a go once again - or play for the first time because I missed them 40+ years ago. The page layouts, photos, and text presentation are all wonderful, and I have greatly enjoyed getting to know a lot more about something that was such a part of my high school and college scene. I highly recommend it!
