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John Sellers

Arcade Fever The Fan's Guide To The Golden Age Of Video Games Paperback – August 21, 2001

by John Sellers (Author)

47 ratings

3.7 on Goodreads

95 ratings

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Arcade Fever is a full-color illustrated history of video arcade games, with tributes to more than 50 classic games like Pong, Space Invaders, Pac Man, Q-Bert, Frogger, and TRON. Learn which game caused a yen shortage in Japan -- and which games inspired breakfast cereals, Saturday-morning cartoons, episodes of Seinfeld,and #1 pop-music singles. Meet the visionary musicians, writers, animators, cabinet artists, and other unsung heroes of the video game industry. The perfect gift for anyone who spent their childhood in video arcades, Arcade Fever is a pop-culture nostalgia trip you won't want to miss! John Sellers writes for Entertainment Weekly, Premiere, TV Guide, and other national magazines. He is also the author of Pop Culture Aptitude Test: Rad, 80s Version. He was the World Champion of Donkey Kong in 1983 and appeared on the television show "That's Incredible!"

Print length

160 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Running Press
Publication date

August 21, 2001
Dimensions

8 x 0.5 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0762409371
ISBN-13

978-0762409372
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Editorial Reviews

Review

--[T]his illustrated history of the arcade's glory days will push any game geek's thrust button... -- Entertainment Weekly, August 17, 2001

--after you're a few pages into this fond tribute, suddenly vast expanses of your youth will come back into focus. -- Time Out New York, August 16, 2001

--magnificently researched, [and written] with an enthusiasm that bubbles out through the pages like so many dangling pairs of cherries. -- Philadelphia Weekly, August 22, 2001

From the Publisher

Do you remember the difference between playing singles and doubles? Have you mastered the delicate art of hyperspace? Can you say joystick in polite conversation without blushing? If youve answered yes to any of these questions, then Arcade Fever is the book for you--the worlds first illustrated tribute to Asteroids, Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Q*bert, Gauntlet and many more of the mind-blowing games you played in your youth. You want to reminisce about the coolest Atari cartridges, the silliest-named arcade oddities, and the funkiest bass riff ever used in a video game? You want interviews with early arcade heroes like Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, Robotron designer Eugene Jarvis and Pac-Man Fever composers Buckner + Garcia? You want to look at revealing pictures of Dragons Lair hottie Princess Daphne? Its all in Arcade Fever, an infectious celebration of 70s and 80s arcade culture.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Running Press (August 21, 2001)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0762409371
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0762409372
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.21 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 0.5 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,863,972 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,222 in Computer & Internet Game Strategy Guides

Customer Reviews:
47 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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Kindle Customer

This One's For You Johnny Fever!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 17, 2001

Verified Purchase

Ok, so I may have been a bit harsh on Mr. Sellers. It's true that when I originally read his book I thought, "what the heck am I reading? This really stinks, where's Nolan Bushnell, Al Alcorn, Bill Gates and Apple Computers? Where's my dose of comedy about the employees at Atari fighting with Ray Kassar and smoking dope in the back room while whipping together a quick video game that went on to make millions."

Well, I didn't get any of that, what I did get was a brainstorm several months later. I realized that this book is not about Activision's departure from Atari or the takeover by Time Warner, nor the loud mouthed antics of Manny Gerard. I already read that in a many other books. This book is about the fun, something I forgot. I forgot the party atmosphere of sitting around the Atari playing some terrible game because it's easy to understand and everyone can quickly join in on it (...) and your girlfriend, who hates video games, even joins in on the action. A great time is guaranteed to be had by all. Well, this book is just that, a good time.

Don't sit down with this book in hand and expect to read the in depth details of how Chuck-E-Cheese was started and how much money was used for the startup of the Atari 7800, just enjoy it. It has wonderful glossy pictures of quite a few games and is entertaining. So before you get angry about not owning another instruction manual on the life and times of Atari, take a second and realize you're not supposed to be reading that here.

So I retract my original statement to "run and escape while you can." Because I understand now what this book is meant to be.
For Johnny Fever. Hope you like this one!

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

Ashley Knowles

Do you have "Arcade Fever"?

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 30, 2002

Verified Purchase

I went into this book thinking to myself "it's just a coffee table book with some fun facts in it" but after reading it I found it to be full of fond memories of my video game induced youth.

The book does contain some fun facts that I found to be enjoyable and made me relive my memories past. This book is in color and highlights some of the games that I remember spending my entire allowance on [Burgertime, Tapper, and Donkey Kong Junior].

Just about any arcade game that that was a part of your life from the 80's is mentioned in here, and if you are into video games you will find yourself reading more and more to find out more about the other video games that you might have missed while you were too busy pumping quarters in your local Pac-Man machine.

This book is not really in depth as I would have liked it to be, but it is definitely worthy of a good read and a great way to kill some time.

My only complaint is that I wish that Mr. Sellers had included some more of those great 80's games that stole my quarters [Bump n' Jump and Night Driver were not featured while games like Death Race I and II and Chiller only got mentioned solely for their violent content and controversy].

Other than that, if you loved to spend your time at the arcade, whether you were a child, teen, or adult, Mr. Sellers book is worth the price for the memories alone.

3 people found this helpful

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Donald H. Moore

Interesting Reading

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 1, 2002

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I almost didn't buy it after reading some of the reviews, and after reading the book, I didn't see the problems others had with it. It is peppered with nice tidbits, some interviews (which were very short, and didn't get boring), and a timeline that ran across the bottom of the pages which gave you a relationship between what was happening in the world at that time, and the release of the game.
I found the author's writing style enjoyable. He didn't just say 'this is pac-man, released in 1981.' He wrote about the pac-man fever hitting the nation, about the highest score possible, and who has it, all good filler information.
I would say this is a good, interesting book that most will find enjoyable to read.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Suzi in Seattle

Arcade fever = the good old days of video games

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 11, 2008

Verified Purchase

I didn't realize how many memories of old video games I had! I bought this book for my husband's birthday as more of a "filler" present than a serious gift. It turned out to be his favorite! He's not a huge reader but he reads some of this book every day. He's read a lot of it out loud to me & it seems good. There are some great pictures in it, too! He's totally serious about his 80's video games & this book gives him lots of little facts he didn't know before & stirs up a million good memories. It's written in a more casual way that's easy & pleasant to follow.

One person found this helpful

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Michael Slifer

Rather personal book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 25, 2010

Verified Purchase

I am not sure who the audience is for this book. It is not technical or detailed enough for arcade collectors, and its not really a broad enough overview for casual fans. "Fan's guide" is in the title and that is what it is. It's full of personal opinions (some are a bit idiosyncratic) and many of the classics are not covered. That said, its not bad. The author's enthusiasm comes through on every page, and it feels more like a conversation with an enthusiast than a reference text. If that is what you are looking for, then you will likely enjoy.

3 people found this helpful

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Monte Ferguson

Buy it for the pictures....

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 19, 2002

Verified Purchase

...not the writing. "Arcade Fever" is a great visual trip down memory lane, but the writing is at best glib and at worst grammatically incorrect - try parsing this sentence, from page 65: "While Atari design legend Ed Logg (Asteroids, Gaiuntlet) for Centipede's emasculating action, imagine what the game would have looked like without that serene mushroom patch". A little more editing might have been in order.
If you were in the arcades when these great machines were new you probably won't learn anything from this book - but the pictures (and there are plenty of them!) will bring back some gwonderful memories.

6 people found this helpful

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J. Govoni

Great 10-year old book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 9, 2012

Verified Purchase

What you need to remember is that this book was created when there was no wikipedia, and the internet itself had minimal information at best on the arcade scene. This is a great book to read slowly in bed, over a number of weeks. Take it all in, and learn a thing or two.

One person found this helpful

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GatorMan

Re-Live Classic Arcade Action

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 3, 2008

Verified Purchase

This is an excellent picture book showing all the classic arcade games and giving you some neat and interesting side notes about each game.

LOTS and LOTS of pictures...its mostly a picture book with captions...and this is what I wanted...

DEFFINATELY a must if you are an ARCADE FAN.

One person found this helpful

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Rob H

A light-hearted romp through the classics of yesteryear

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 22, 2001

Verified Purchase

I've had this book on pre-order since April, so when it finally arrived I ripped the parcel open, and can thankfully say that I was not disappointed.
If you have other arcade related books in your collection already and are wondering why you should shell out on another, I'll explain.
Basically, this book is different to any of the others I have seen. The author, John Sellers doesn't try to provide the reader with an in-depth history of videogames, but instead devotes a page or two to each classic title.
Then there's the pictures. There are loads of them! Each page is a rainbow of colour featuring shots of the arcade machine in question along with game screens and more.
If you're over the age of 20 and names such as `Pacman`, `Donkey Kong` and `Dig Dug` send a shiver down your spine, you could do a lot worse than add this to your collection.
Top stuff indeed!

4 people found this helpful