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Title: Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1971-1984 by Van Burnham ISBN: 0262024926 Publisher: MIT Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $55.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.9
Rating: 2
Summary: High expectations, big disappointment
Comment: From the looks of things, I was all ready for SUPERCADE to be one of the best video game books ever -- but upon receiving my copy from Amazon, I was utterly disappointed. The "text" is nothing but rehashed capsulized material from other sources that have already covered the topic in far more detail, while the pictures are mainly screen captures from PC emulators (available online with several clicks on your mouse), often out of focus at that. There's no "voice" in Burnham's words -- in fact, the whole book feels like it was assembled on her PC, copying and pasting from other's works. Like someone else wrote, the binding is poor and likely won't be durable enough for repeated use.
Bottom line? WAY too expensive, and not nearly in-depth OR colorful enough for arcade fans. Any reader would be better off checking out the terrific GAME OVER (which is about Nintendo's history but also has extensive material on Atari and the origins of the video game medium), John Sellers' ARCADE FEVER, and Leonard Herman's PHOENIX for more entertaining and satisfying reading. There just isn't anything here really worth the purchase, for casual readers OR video game addicts.
Rating: 5
Summary: STELLAR
Comment: STELLAR. I've had a few people ask me what I thought of Van Burnham's first book: Supercade: A Visual History of the Videogame Age 1971-1984, and the word that comes to mind is STELLAR.
Books about retro video gaming seem to be the latest rage, with books by John Sellers (Arcade Fever), Steve Kent (The First Quarter), Jaro Galiens (Electronic Plastic) joining veteran Leonard Herman (Phoenix), and a slew of others in the works. But Van has gone a different route, concentrating in equal parts on imagery and lore. Supercade is a gorgeous book. A glamourous book. It's the kind of book that demands to be kept on the coffee table. But it's also a stunning documentary, which makes it something more than just a coffee table book.
For 448 pages you'll experience the birth and growth of our favorite pastime, with Van leading us through the origins of both arcade and home machines with the help of an impressive array of industry legends. Drawing on the personal experience of the "Father of Video Games" Ralph Baer and the founder of Atari Nolan Bushnell, among others, each page gives you the feeling that you are THERE. The highlight of the book for me is the first 100 pages which detail in both words and pictures the events at Brookhaven National Labs, where physicist William Higinbotham invented the first electronic game (Tennis for Two) in 1958; "Building 20" at MIT and the origins of Spacewar!; the original "brown box" TV Game Project by Ralph Baer; and the birth of Atari. This is to date the most interesting account of those early years.
There's so much to love about Supercade beyond it's visual account of history. The typically dead-on use of the primitive graphics of these early years is effectively sprinkled throughout its pages. Interviews with notable personalities Tim Skelly and Walter Day as well as brilliant guest submissions by Leonard Herman, Steven Kent, and even our own Keita Iida lend additional substance to an already substance-packed compendium. Look carefully into the nooks and crannies of the book and you'll find loads of rare items beautifully photographed, and trivia in every little corner (do you know what the historical significance of the coin-op Radarscope is? Better take a look!).
Supercade is a history book. It is a vivid snapshot of a vivid era. But most of all, it is an account of the time and pastime that, if you're reading this, has affected and shaped your life in some way.
Rating: 5
Summary: Visually lush, exhaustive, and ultimately...
Comment: Another reviewer wrote "Supercade is a lot of hype, a lot of style, and no substance." and perhaps there's some very real truth to that. When you write a book on the history of something everyone in your target audience probably takes seriously, you're probably going to evoke a lot of emotion from your target audience.
This book is the most exhaustive history of video games I've ever read. It's lavishly detailed and rich in minutiae, and obviously written by someone with a passion for the games. The pictures are gorgeous, although often low-resolution and pixelated. Too often too, in this reviewer's humble opinion, the graphics are modified to distraction with excruciating close-ups and blur, among other effects. If you're familiar with Wired Magazine's design, you'll be instantly at home with this book. Van Burnham has also written for Wired, which came as no surprise to me when I discovered it after reading part of this book.
It's gorgeous, it's heavy, and it's clearly written to try and make video games a little more credible as an art form. It's not an "art book", and it's not the definitive history of games, but it's quite a lot of both, and well worth the price for this trip through the games that comprise what seems to be my entire life.
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Title: The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World by Steven L. Kent ISBN: 0761536434 Publisher: Prima Publishing Pub. Date: 06 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: ARCADE FEVER The Fan's Guide to The Golden Age of Video Games by John Sellers ISBN: 0762409371 Publisher: Running Press Pub. Date: 2001 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games by Rusel DeMaria, Johnny Lee Wilson ISBN: 0072224282 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media Pub. Date: 27 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $24.99 |
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Title: Trigger Happy : Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution by Steven Poole ISBN: 1559705396 Publisher: Arcade Publishing Pub. Date: 2000 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Zap by Scott Cohen ISBN: 0738868833 Publisher: Xlibris Corporation Pub. Date: 1984 List Price(USD): $20.99 |
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