Book Description
In this lavishly illustrated full-color retrospective, discover never-before-seen photos that bring to life the people and stories behind the most popular games of all time, including Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Centipede, Donkey Kong, Asteroids, SimCity, Quake, Myst, Tomb Raider, and more. This is the inside scoop on the history, successes, tricks, and even failures of the entire electronic games industry.


From the Back Cover

The Ultimate History of Electronic Games

“This is a great work that shows the humanity, creativity, and passion inside the art and business of games. The public is playing a lot of games today, and Rusel's and Johnny's fine book gives them a terrific look behind the scenes.” --Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts and 3DO

“As an industry veteran, I am excited to see that Rusel and Johnny have poured their hard work and talent into creating this visual and textual compendium of the history of computer entertainment. Just as I was, I think you will be amazed to see how far we've come in so few years. The pictorial content of this book represents a glimpse at great milestones of our recent past that are quickly going to be impossible to see, perhaps ever again, outside this volume.” --Richard Garriott, computer gaming pioneer, developer of the Ultima series of games, and founder of Origin Systems

This lavishly illustrated full-color retrospective takes you on a guided tour of the evolution of electronic games from blips on a tiny screen in a computer science lab to the multi-billion-dollar industry it has become today. Hundreds of images of arcades, consoles, and PC games span more than 30 years of game history from the beginning to the present day. Meet the people who changed the world of entertainment and hear the tales of their amazing successes and spectacular failures--including many stories that have never been told in print before.

Rusel DeMaria has been a participant and observer in the electronic gaming industry since its inception. He has written nearly 60 strategy guides and is acknowledged as one of the pioneers of that book genre. DeMaria has been a senior editor and columnist for several national magazines, a speaker at the prestigious Computer Game Developer’s Conference as well as other industry events.

Johnny L. Wilson has been group publisher for Wizards of the Coast periodicals (Dragon, Dungeon, Star Wars Gamer, and Star Wars Insider magazines) and editor-in-chief of Computer Gaming World magazine, the world’s oldest PC-specific game magazine. A game reviewer for more than 17 years, he has made frequent appearances as a computer game historian/expert on the History Channel, National Public Radio, and a variety of local television newsmagazines.


About the Author
Rusel DeMaria (Grants Pass, OR) has been an observer and/or participant in the electronic gaming industry since its inception. Beginning in 1980, he began writing professionally about games. He has written nearly 60 strategy guides and is acknowledged as one of the pioneers of that book genre. In addition to his books, Rusel has been a senior editor and columnist for several national magazines. Johnny L. Wilson (Seattle, WA) is Group Publisher for Wizards of the Coast’s magazine group, which includes Dragon, Dungeon, Top Deck, Star Wars Gamer and Star Wars Insider. He is perhaps better known as the former editor-in-chief of Computer Gaming World (1992-1999), the premier magazine for computer-gaming fans.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In this lavishly illustrated full-color retrospective, discover never-before-seen photos that bring to life the people and stories behind the most popular games of all time, including Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Centipede, Donkey Kong, Asteroids, SimCity, Quake, Myst, Tomb Raider, and more. This is the inside scoop on the history, successes, tricks, and even failures of the entire electronic games industry.

SYNOPSIS

The Ultimate History of Electronic Games

￯﾿ﾽThis is a great work that shows the humanity, creativity, and passion inside the art and business of games. The public is playing a lot of games today, and Rusel's and Johnny's fine book gives them a terrific look behind the scenes.￯﾿ﾽ —Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts and 3DO

￯﾿ﾽAs an industry veteran, I am excited to see that Rusel and Johnny have poured their hard work and talent into creating this visual and textual compendium of the history of computer entertainment. Just as I was, I think you will be amazed to see how far we've come in so few years. The pictorial content of this book represents a glimpse at great milestones of our recent past that are quickly going to be impossible to see, perhaps ever again, outside this volume.￯﾿ﾽ —Richard Garriott, computer gaming pioneer, developer of the Ultima series of games, and founder of Origin Systems

This lavishly illustrated full-color retrospective takes you on a guided tour of the evolution of electronic games from blips on a tiny screen in a computer science lab to the multi-billion-dollar industry it has become today. Hundreds of images of arcades, consoles, and PC games span more than 30 years of game history from the beginning to the present day. Meet the people who changed the world of entertainment and hear the tales of their amazing successes and spectacular failures—including many stories that have never been told in print before.

Rusel DeMaria has been a participant and observer in the electronic gaming industry since its inception. He has written nearly 60 strategy guides and is acknowledged as one of the pioneers of that book genre. DeMaria has been a senior editor and columnist for several national magazines, a speaker at the prestigious Computer Game Developer's Conference as well as other industry events.