1st Edition

Vintage Game Consoles An Inside Look at Apple, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, and the Greatest Gaming Platforms of All Time

By Bill Loguidice, Matt Barton Copyright 2014
    368 Pages 330 Color Illustrations
    by Routledge

    368 Pages
    by Routledge

    Vintage Game Consoles tells the story of the most influential videogame platforms of all time, including the Apple II, Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Sega Genesis, Sony PlayStation, and many more. It uncovers the details behind the consoles, computers, handhelds, and arcade machines that made videogames possible. Drawing on extensive research and the authors’ own lifelong experience with videogames, Vintage Game Consoles explores each system’s development, history, fan community, its most important games, and information for collectors and emulation enthusiasts. It also features hundreds of exclusive full-color screenshots and images that help bring each system’s unique story to life. Vintage Game Consoles is the ideal book for gamers, students, and professionals who want to know the story behind their favorite computers, handhelds, and consoles, without forgetting about why they play in the first place – the fun!

    Bill Loguidice is a critically acclaimed technology author who has worked on over a dozen books, including CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy’s Underdog Computer, written with Boisy G. Pitre. He’s also the co-founder and Managing Director for the popular Website, Armchair Arcade. A noted videogame and computer historian and subject matter expert, Bill personally owns and maintains well over 400 different systems from the 1970s to the present day, including a large volume of associated materials.

    Matt Barton is an associate professor of English at Saint Cloud State University in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where he lives with his wife Elizabeth. He’s the producer of the "Matt Chat," a weekly YouTube series featuring in-depth interviews with notable game developers. In addition to the original Vintage Games, which he co-authored with Bill, he’s author of Dungeons & Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games and Honoring the Code: Conversations with Great Game Designers.

    1. Generation One (1971 – 1984)
      1. Arcade (1971)
      2. Apple II (1977)
      3. Atari 2600 VCS (1977)
      4. Atari 8-bit (1979)
      5. Mattel Intellivision (1979)
      6. PC DOS Computers (1981)
      7. Commodore 64 (1982)
      8. Coleco ColecoVision (1982)

    2. Generation Two (1985 – 1994)
      1. Nintendo Entertainment System (1985)
      2. Commodore Amiga (1985)
      3. Sega Genesis (1989)
      4. Nintendo GameBoy (1989)
      5. Nintendo Super NES (1991)

    3. Generation Three (1995 – 2001)
      1. PC Windows Computers (1995)
      2. Sony PlayStation (1995)
      3. Nintendo 64 (1996)
      4. Sega Dreamcast (1999)
      5. Sony PlayStation 2 (2000)
      6. Microsoft Xbox (2001)
      7. Nintendo GameCube (2001)

    Biography

    Bill Loguidice is a critically acclaimed technology author who has worked on over a dozen books, including CoCo: The Colorful History of Tandy’s Underdog Computer, written with Boisy G. Pitre. He’s also the co-founder and Managing Director for the popular Website, Armchair Arcade. A noted videogame and computer historian and subject matter expert, Bill personally owns and maintains well over 400 different systems from the 1970s to the present day, including a large volume of associated materials.

    Matt Barton is an associate professor of English at Saint Cloud State University in Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where he lives with his wife Elizabeth. He’s the producer of the "Matt Chat," a weekly YouTube series featuring in-depth interviews with notable game developers. In addition to the original Vintage Games, which he co-authored with Bill, he’s author of Dungeons & Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games and Honoring the Code: Conversations with Great Game Designers.

    'There are other gaming books out there. What makes Vintage Game Consoles different, however, is the thorough nature of the writing, while still being condensed enough to tell a story...This book has that special ability to put into words those feelings, those gaming moments that us long-time gamers sometimes have so much trouble explaining.' -- Christin Deville, GameVortex Communications

    'If you're new to the classic gaming scene, this book is the perfect primer to get you up to speed and allow you to speak intelligently on the subject. If you're a grizzled veteran like me, there's still plenty to learn, especially about platforms with which you had limited experience when they were current-gen. The book also makes for great reference material after the initial read-through. I've read more than my share of these retrospective gaming books, and this one is by far the most well-rounded.' -- Chris Alaimo, Classic Gaming Quarterly

    "Apple II aficionados will be comforted to find the Apple II included in Vintage Game Consoles, Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton's time-spanning, 30-year coverage of notable video game machines...[Vintage Game Consoles] is a welcome addition to video game canon. It's professionally presented, well written, and interesting to boot." - Juiced.GS, Andy Molloy