Customer Reviews

Classic Home Video Games, 1972-1984: A Complete Reference Guide

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This tome seems to have been written with my video game tastes and interest in mind. I don't care too much what has gone on in the video game world after 1984, except for games that have been released for the systems covered in this book. If you love the classics like I do, check this out...I haven't seen a better book than this one. Each system is covered reasonably extensively with reviews of all the original games released. I would of liked the author's take on homebrews as well....but at least he includes a list in the appendix of what has been released for the various systems. I enjoy the editorial content; I get a feel for what his likes and dislikes are and then judge the game accordingly. Of course, I agree more than disagree with the majority of reviews of the games I have played. It was delightful to read about systems and their respective games that I don't own as well. Plus, I enjoy browsing through the glossary provided. This book is a labor of love, and I recommend it to everybody who is fond of the "Golden Age" of home video gaming.

Before I start nitpicking, let me begin by saying that this book is great. As far as other reviewers feel about Weiss's personal opinions about games, I WELCOME them. The author would be performing a disservice by not warning collectors about duds before we unload a hefty amount of cash on them.

Now let's talk about room for improvement. For the price, and the type of book (hardbound compendium), I expected something with more keepsake quality. The pages are thin, and all of the photos are in black and white, which in my opinion deters from what the pictures are trying to convey.

While this book is thorough in describing each game for each system, the essays on the systems themselves are all rather short, 1-2 pages. A longer passage, including more hardware specs, history, and even company politics at the time would have been great.

But at the end of the day, it's a welcome addition to my library. As part of a dying breed, I love being able to walk over to my bookshelf to look up a game, rather than having to google it. Great job, Brett. Perhaps a 2nd edition will knock it out of the park.

I recently received my copy of Classic Home Video Games. GREAT JOB!

After purchasing several expensive pinball books that ended up being more along the
lines of a family photo album, e.g., "Here's me with Wayne Neyens", "Here's
another picture of me with Wayne Neyens", "Here's a picture of my kid with
Wayne Neyens"...this book was a welcome addition to my library. This book is
highly professional and, as such, extremely useful. The caliber of this book
is along the lines of legal reference books. Frankly, I never expected to
see this degree of organization and editorial discipline in this particular
arena.

This contribution to the chronicling of the classic video games will be
priceless to collectors for generations to come. This book is the benchmark and
basically defines the niche.

Please be aware that this is a serious reference work. It is not a "coffee table" picture book. Also, as with any type of review, there is a certain amount of subjectivity involved, however, the author provides useful, relatively unbiased information considering there were undoubtedly page limits that had to be adhered to.

I have a large library of collectible-type books spanning an eclectic variety of subjects, and this is one of the best such books that I have. If you look upon yourself as a video game collector or enthusiast, this is a MUST HAVE.

If you grew up with the video game and cartridge home systems 1972-84 with the classic Atari 2600, 5200, Colecovision, and all the others.. then this book is for you!
Broken down by manufactor, all the individual games for each system are listed and discussed as to their game play and other merits.! This book will help you make those decisions on which next old cartridge games to buy! Brett Weiss knows his video games and this book is a must for all fans!

I've owned CHVG 1972-1984 for a couple of years now, so I've come to know the book pretty well in that time. It's a constant desktop companion for me. When I hear mention of a game or system that doesn't automatically ring a bell for me, I know that it will be covered in detail in the Reference Guide.

Basically, the way the book is set up is in chronological order starting with the Magnavox Odyssey, and it covers everything up to the Atari 7800 (which actually didn't come out until 1986, but was supposed to be released two years earlier.) Brett Weiss steers clear of ultra obscure prototype or foreign consoles, as well as the early stand-alone Pong consoles, instead focusing only on cartridge based consoles (both home and portable) released to the North American market. This is exactly the criteria by which I collect, so pretty much everything in my collection is covered in the book. While not as all-encompassing as some books that seek to name every console known to man, nor as limited as other guides that forget all about the non-Atari or Intellivision consoles; the Reference Guide hits a very happy medium. (BTW, all you Microvision and Telstar Arcade fans that routinely get shunned by the other console collectors can rest easy- those systems are covered here too).

Each system gets its own chapter with a brief one or two page history about the console, and what follows is a capsulized review of each game that was released for the system (in some cases, notable homebrews or "lost and found" prototypes are also mentioned). Brett Weiss is no Leonard Maltin- he doesn't troll for rich subtext underneath all the pixels. If a game is good, he tells you why. If a game is bad, he tells you why. If a game is merely average, he says so. Someone looking for a scholarly treatise on the finer nuances of "Activision Decathlon" should look elsewhere. You're going to find out basic info about the game's story, characters, technical data, and playability. You should be able to decide from the review whether or not a game is worth exploring some more.

Again, Weiss is not an overly picky reviewer. He seems to try and keep an impartial view towards even the most primitive of the early consoles and to put his criticisms of certain games into the larger context of the era they appeared as well as the technical limitations of the hardware it played on. I applaud this "middle of the road" view, because in this case, it works. Video games are a bit different from other forms of media in that their interactive nature doesn't lend itself well to a blanket encyclopedic description. You can read a sterile plot outline of the latest horror film and pretty much know what you are in for before you see the movie. Try that for a Video Game and you'll run into some problems. "Man with hammer climbs ladder to save girlfriend from ape" simply does not describe Donkey Kong in any way that will be understandable to a non-player, which is why an impartial review (in my opinion) is the best way to document each title.

My only real criticisms of the Guide are not so much a critique of this book in particular, but of McFarland books in general. Not enough pictures. No color. No dustjacket. High retail price. Medium-brittle paper stock. Sub-par binding. Limited availability.

I own two copies of the Reference Guide; one a desk copy and another I keep sealed in Mylar for safekeeping. I learned to go this route when my two other very well-read Mcfarland books ("A Critical History and Filmography of Toho's Godzilla Series" and another chronicling the films of Bela Lugosi) literally just disintegrated after several readings. For the above four books, I've spent about 150.00 in total. For that kind of money, I expect at the very minimum better binding and premium paper stock.

I haven't got around to picking up the companion piece to this book, which continues the overview of classic gaming on into the NES era (my own personal "coming of age"). I have high hopes for it though, and so long as it continues the framework laid down by the author in the first volume, I doubt I'll be disappointed.

This is a GREAT book. If you played and/or liked those wonderful video game systems and game cartridges from that era, GET THIS BOOK! Yes, the price is steep but you get so much! First, it's a hardback book with quality binding for repeated readings and "thumbing through." Second, there is a LOT of info in this book about the systems and the individual games. I had been thinking about buying some of the rare (and expensive) games but after reading the author's description of them, I discovered that some of them weren't what I expected and would have been a waste of money for me. So getting this book not only told me a lot about these great classic games systems and games, but also saved me money!

I would like to say, before I get into the review, that I thoroughly enjoy books like this, and have enjoyed flipping through this one. With it's flaws it's still an enjoyable book, and if you'd like to relive some of the early days of gaming, you can much worse than picking this one up.

That said, what I feel brings this book down so much is that it's very much biased in the descriptions of the games. It is an impressive undertaking to describe every game that was available for platforms between 1972 and 1984, and the descriptions of them is nice and appreciated. But with the book looking very much like a textbook and having the phrase "A Complete Reference Guide" written on the front, the last thing I want in the descriptions (remember that I'm talking about the descriptions of the games specifically) is the bias of "this game is mundane" or "this is one of the best." If they had been broken up into core data on the game and an editorial, somewhat akin to the Digital Press Guide, it would have been more worth reading. Be sure to take all of the writing with a grain of salt.

It's the bulk of the content that keeps the score as high as I've given it, and the presentation is very beautifully done. Having met and spoken to Brett Weiss I know the publisher is one that also put out text books for schools, and that explains the clean presentation, along with the clean black-and-white pictures strewn throughout the chapters being placed perfectly among the outlines for each game. Honestly though, I would have liked more description of the games other than just the content; it seems almost rushed in the way the publisher/developer-type info is pasted at the top of each blurb.

It's a decent product, an interesting read, and a beautiful-looking book... I just wish the content was a bit less biased and cut to the core of what each game was about, maybe more background info... but I can dream, and if he decides to work on a more up-to-date game-describing collection he'll take criticism to heart, making his project even better.