Freax [Hardcover]

Tamár Polgár (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2005

THE HISTORY OF THE COMPUTER DEMOSCENE

Freax is a fast-paced, comprehensive look at the amazing stories of the digital art community known as the "demoscene". For over 20 years, computer programmers, artists and musicians have tweaked, optimized and pushed computers to their limits... all for the sake of art.

Anticipating advances in graphics and visuals by years, the members of these computer "scenes" have changed the face of computing. Now, their story has been told.

Within this 224 page book, a wide range of subcultures are examined, ranging from the early 8-bit beginnings of the 1980s to the present day world of gigahertz and gigabyte. Scenes such as the "warez scene", "hack/phreak", "underground ASCII", and many more make appearances, and key figures from these scenes are interviewed.

Years in the making, this book contains a comprehensive first look at the unique demoscenes of the world, accompanied with over 480 full-color screenshots and illustrations. Whether you were a member of the "scene" or just wish you were, Freax tells a story you'll want to hear.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: CSW-Verlag (August 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3981049403
• ISBN-13: 978-3981049404
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,746,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for folks interested in the Demoscene, November 8, 2005

By 

David Valentine "Polaris / Northern Dragons" (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Freax (Hardcover)

This book is by the demoscene, for the demoscene. While it's not the first book to mention the demoscene - it's the first to properly attempt to document the roots and destination of this cultural phenomenon.

The book is of impressive quality, full colour and well bound. Some grammatical errors must be ignored, but that's a minor complaint.

In our time, this book is the best book ever created about the demoscene. It may not be perfect... however nothing else has ever come as close. Without a doubt... this is a book I'll be putting away for safekeeping. Perhaps one day, I'll be passing it along to a grandchild... in the hopes that they may gain some insight into our moment, our era, and our common culture as sceners. It's well worth the investment.

For those unaware of the demoscene - do some internet searching. If you are interested - BUY THE BOOK!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars awesome, October 6, 2005

By 

Tony Hasselbacher "The Heavyweight/Affinity" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Freax (Hardcover)

I got this book. .and I was very suprised, that it is actually a very Brilliant book on the Demo scene (first volume covers C64 and Amiga - with PC and the rest in Volume 2).

I could not put the book down, and it covers scenes outside of Europe (ie, America, Australia, Middle East, etc..).

It is very well researched and written.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in computer arts.

Oh the memories. so many memories come flooding back.

Cant wait till Volume 2 + 3

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Golden Age of the demos scene!, October 6, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Freax (Hardcover)

c64 & Amiga scene history underground subculture!

in one word: demos or die!!!

gratz to: trsi, skid row, paradox, ministry, sanity, kefrens, rebels, dcs, anarchy, andromeda, alcatraz, alpha flight, razor 1911, crytal, melon, scoopex, cryptoburners, silents, crionics, complex, classics, crack inc, dreamdealers, essence, effect, fairlight, interpol, quartex, lego, lemon, lsd, melon dezign, mirage,mouvement, hemoroids, majic 12, phenomena, spaceballs, static bytes , tsb, tbl, etc......

(-(Z²)-)