Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time 1st Edition

by Bill Loguidice (Author), Matt Barton (Author)

37 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0240811468

ISBN-10: 9780240811468

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Vintage Games explores the most influential videogames of all time, including Super Mario Bros., Grand Theft Auto III, Doom, The Sims and many more. Drawing on interviews as well as the authors' own lifelong experience with videogames, the book discusses each game's development, predecessors, critical reception, and influence on the industry. It also features hundreds of full-color screenshots and images, including rare photos of game boxes and other materials. Vintage Games is the ideal book for game enthusiasts and professionals who desire a broader understanding of the history of videogames and their evolution from a niche to a global market.

*Explores the gameplay, history, development, and influence of the most important videogames of all time
*Includes material from interviews, contemporary reviews, manuals, and other primary and secondary sources
*Identifies and analyzes the key concepts behind each videogame
*Features hundreds of exclusive, full-color images

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"They say you can't go back again, but reading Vintage Games comes close. Open the book, and I'm back in the video arcades of my youth. Turn the page, and I'm in college again, discovering the secret joys of the early PC games. Turn the page again, and I'm back in my living room, playing Mario with my young kids. But Vintage Games is more than just a trip down memory lane, because the authors analyze each game in ways that bring fresh insights to those nostalgic memories."--Steve Meretzky, Veteran Game Designer

"An interesting and insightful trip down a gamer's memory lane, focusing on titles that have become benchmarks in videogame history."--Didi Cardoso, Managing Editor, Grrlgamer.com

"The video game industry has a poor track record when it comes to preserving its history. Fortunately, scholars and enthusiasts have stepped in to fill the void, and Vintage Games is an essential contribution to this effort. Loguidice and Barton are to be commended for documenting the history of gaming's greatest landmarks."--Michael Abbott, The Brainy Gamer Blog and Podcast, Professor of Theater and Film Studies, Wabash College

"Essential reading for video game fans and game studies scholars alike!"--Laurie N. Taylor, Digital Library Center, University of Florida

"A must-read for anyone even remotely interested in video gaming history - from the hardcore to the casual. A book that anyone that has ever held a joystick would enjoy."--Shane R. Monroe, Host of RetroGamer Radio/Monroeworld.com

"The book is smart and fun - much like the games it addresses."--Dr. Matthew S. S. Johnson, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0240811461
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Focal Press; 1st edition (March 4, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 395 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780240811468
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0240811468
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.28 x 7.5 x 0.86 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,336,365 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #773 in Video Game Art (Books)
- #856 in Digital Art
- #1,788 in Game Programming

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37 ratings

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Influential Games of All Time + Lots More...

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2017

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I would have been happy with a book about the influential games of all-time but Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton delivered that and more. Each chapter starts with an influential game and then walks through other key games that can trace their roots back to this original. In some cases, the influential game is not one that anyone plays or talks about today but that is where the authors knowledge and writing really makes this a joy to read. I learned so much about the games, the people who wrote them and what was happening in the industry at that time. Looking forward to reading Vintage Game Consoles: An Inside Look at Apple, Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, and the Greatest Gaming Platforms of All Time by these same authors.

One person found this helpful

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Daniel Chisarick

Excellent book for anyone interested in video games

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2009

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I read the book cover to cover over a span of 3 days (it's hard to put down). Each chapter stands on its own, so it's easy to read in small segments as well.

Because game developers draw from other titles for inspiration, the book will reference itself as applicable to show how these influences propagated across games over time. There are numerous examples of what did/didn't work, as well as discussion to support these claims. Additionally, several of the supplemental/external references are available over the web, so pursuing areas of interest is easy.

As the title says, the book is about influential games, which aren't always the best-selling games (though they usually inspire a best-selling game if the original work wasn't a hit in its own right). It's a collection of 'firsts', as well as cataloging those that followed (with varying degrees of success).

Ultimately it was a very enjoyable read that flowed very well from chapter to chapter. Certainly it was nostalgic thinking back to when those earlier games were released, but the combination of the discussion and additional insight made it like living those experiences for the first time.

12 people found this helpful

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J. C. C. Castro

Fun read, fairly comprehensive, insightful chapter arrangement, gorgeous images

Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2013

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I especially like how the chapters are arranged: each is allegedly about one particular emblematic game, but in fact is about the entire genre that game symbolizes, with good coverage of competitors and derivatives, e.g. Pac-Man -> labyrinth games; Space Invaders -> shoot-em-ups etc. Highly recommended read for anybody who's an enthusiast of video games.

Coverage is about equal on consoles, arcades, and home computers. That's nice too.

I do agree with the other reviewer who said they should use less exclamation points, though. But that doesn't detract from the reading.

Paper, print and image quality is absolutely gorgeous. Do yourself a favor and try to get a physical copy instead of *spittake* an e-book.

One person found this helpful

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Stu George

Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2009

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Wow, this is a great book, something I guess people call a real page turner. Glossy pages with full color photos. I love the progression from the begining of a type of game (think say, Karate Champ) to its logical progression. There is an abundance of screenshots (I wont say overabundance, you can never have enough!), and its so cool to see some classic arcade games show.

The chapter 14 / pole position was one of my fav chapters in the book.

2 people found this helpful

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Donald E. Kurtz Jr.

This book gets me excited about retro gaming.

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2010

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If you're at all interested in the history of video games you'll likely find this to be a very enjoyable read. Every chapter discusses a different game and every game is picked by how much it defines a genre. The authors are not biased in their choices which is very refreshing. While each chapter is dedicated to examining a different game they don't stop there... they also discuss the lineage of that particular genre, how that game fits into said genre and why it is the most influential game in the genre. Whether you're a modern, retro or hardcore gamer, you'll likely find this to be a fun read. Make sure you have a few dollars on hand while reading it because you'll probably find yourself on ebay trying to track some of these gems down.

One person found this helpful

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Fabio Fonseca

Video game lineages

Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2009

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Bought this title on an impulse and haven't even used the "look inside the book" button here at Amazon. I thought at first that the book would be more game designer centric, dealing with technical, mechanical and structural details of the games. Rather than that the book is focused with the lineage of each game.

By lineage I mean that the book tries to follow the branches that influenced more games later in time. As in biology, some branches were filled with leafs, while others whithered and died.

So each chapter deals with the games that left some heritage after them. Unfortunately some chapters are really less inspired than others. The chapter explaining the roots of the stealth games (Metal Gear and the like) are superbly written while others are less so. Sometimes it feels you're just reading a huge list of titles, with no further contextualization.

Another issue the layout of some pages. The pictures are beautiful and huge, but the text wrapping the pictures has no logical flow. You're reading a paragraph and then the rest of the text goes to the end of another page. Better pictures should be used too. The chapter on racing games really lacks the pictures from the arcade machines they described.

All in all a good work of archeology, but requires a little furnishing to be used as tool for the aspiring game designer looking for the inner workings of the great games of yore.

8 people found this helpful

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C. Wheat

Bitchyness HO!

Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2014

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Okay if you like stories about real people, and how they impacted a company or industry THIS IS FOR YOU.

Really that is all I can think to say.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

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Hans Wurscht

Ein Stück Zeitgeschichte zum erinnern und schwelgen ...

Reviewed in Germany on March 16, 2009

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Das Buch setzt einen zurück in die Zeiten als die Computer- und Videospiele noch gut waren, etwas bedeutet, etwas bewegt haben und voll von Innovationen waren.

In anderen Worten: es bietet den verliebt-verträumten Rückblick auf die Spiele die ein Genre begründet oder definiert haben, ohne das man selber zur Abandonware greifen muss und sich dadurch den Technologie-Schock ersparen kann.

Man behält diese Spiele also in der Erinnerung, wie man sie liebgewonnen hat, und läuft nicht Gefahr desillusioniert zu werden. Insofern ein schönes Buch fürs "In-Erinnerungen-schwelgen".

Wer jedoch mehr Hintergrundwissen erwartet oder wünscht, z.b. wie es den Entwicklern ging, welche Entscheidungen hinter verschlossenen Türen gefällt oder vertagt wurden, welche Gelegenheiten genommen oder verpasst wurden - dem muss ich das "The Ultimate History of Video Games" näher legen, wobei Vintage Games durchaus als süffisanten Aperitif gereicht werden darf. Aber ohne entsprechende Erinnerungen hat das Buch nicht den erwarteten Tiefgang und dient z.b. dem Jugendlichen von heute vielleicht als kurzer Überblick was damals angesagt war, vielleicht um wieder Interesse am Geschichtsunterricht zu wecken? Sei es drum, dafür das man die eigene Erinnerung mitbringen muss und das Buch meines Erachtens nicht tiefgründig genug vermittelt warum diese Spiele Meilensteine waren ziehe ich einen Punkt ab. Alle über 25 und bestimmt ab 30 dürften es eher mit 5 Sternen bewerten.

Warum muss ich bei Vintage nur immer an Wein denken? Auch dafür hat das Buch eine Antwort... ;)

Ein Blick ins Menü (Inhaltsverzeichnis) sollte man sich vor dem Kauf auf jeden Fall gönnen, damit man weiss was einen erwartet. Nur falls die eigenen Lieblingsspiele nicht dabei sein sollten - aber es würde mich überraschen wenn jemand, der seit den 90ern zockt, nicht wenigstens 2-3 geliebte Titel entdeckt.

4 people found this helpful

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Sascha

... and all started with "Pong" - Vintage Computing at its best

Reviewed in Germany on April 17, 2013

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Reading this book I feel again back in the 80's when I was a child and found myself stunning about the possibilities of Home Computers and the games.
But the book offers more: Focussing the history of computer games is also looking at the revolution of our world to a digital one and an evolution of the behaviors of all of us: nearly nothing would work without some knowledge of computers that today everybody has - necessarily like reading and writing.
The first popular computer games were the beginning of all these things because they made binary codes interesting.
The history of games is the history of the fascination of technology. But first of all it's the unwritten story showing the changes in everybody's daily life - a change to the better, e.g. working places, access to knowledge for everybody from everywhere, better medical possibilities, to make a long story short: 1984 didn't become "1984".
Therefore, reading the book is an optimal possibility to reflect all these things again ... and all started with "Pong".

Fred

Absolutely Great!

Reviewed in Canada on March 29, 2013

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This really is a must for all people like me who grew up with the Coleco and who saw the Nintendo been released on the market. This really takes you back in the days when all you had to worry about was finishing the games level. For all the fans of vintages games, i highly recommend this book! a++++++++++++++++++++

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Superbe ouvrage

Reviewed in France on February 24, 2019

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Achetez le en Kindle. C'est un superbe ouvrage sur l'histoire des jeux vidéos, qui vous ramènera pleins de bons souvenirs de jeux. Il y a des liens internets très intéressants, j'ai appris beaucoup de choses en lisant ce livre.

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Henrik Østerlund Gram

trip down memory lane

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 12, 2011

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The authors make a courageous effort listing what they believe are the most influential games of all time and many are bound to disagree with some of their findings, including myself. Nevertheless, it's a pretty good read and the very good print quality turns what would otherwise be a 3-star book into a 4-star one.