The A-Z of Cool Computer Games

Tuesday, 27 May 2008

My wife picked up this book last week, and it's an absolutely fabulous book. It's a jolly, nostalgic trip down memory lane for those of us (like myself and my wife) who grew up with the first batch of home computers in the 1980s. If you can look back fondly on the touch sssssssssseeeeeeenstiiive keyboard of the ZX81, the nine (count them!) colours of the Dragon-32, the 64K (wow!) and hardware sprites of the Commodore 64, and the delights of games like Manic Miner, Frogger and Hungry Horace, then this book is for you.

This book covers more than just the games, though: there are sections on the home computers themselves, the social environment surrounding home computer usage, and the various paraphernalia and random bits of gadgetry people used to have. Over time, the nature of computer games has changed quite considerably: no longer can you look at the source code for a game just by pressing Escape or Break and typing LIST at the ensuing BASIC prompt; no longer do we have to fiddle with the volume and tone controls on our tape decks in order to get the latest game to load; and no longer are we limited to 16 colours (or less).

If you've got a bit of time to spare, and fancy a trip down memory lane to a youth spent destroying joysticks by playing Daley Thompson's Decathlon too vigorously or typing in listings from magazines only to get SYNTAX ERROR in line 4360 when you try and run them, buy this book.

Recommended.

Buy this book

Posted by Anthony Williams
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