Classic Video Games: The Golden Age, 1971-1984

by Brian Eddy

In the early 1970s, video arcade games sprung to life with the advent of Pong and other coin-operated games. Within just a few short years, if you had a quarter, you could go to the video arcade and play Space Invaders, Asteroids, or Pac-Man. If you were lucky enough to have an Atari system hooked up to your television, you could play Frogger or Galaga at home. By the early 1980s, arcade and video games were entrenched as a pop culture phenomenon, with players spending hours in arcades racking up as many points as possible. Arcade games were restaurants, bowling alleys, department stores, grocery stores--anywhere that could accommodate a three-foot by five-foot machine. But, just as soon as the phenomenon began, it morphed into something else with the advent of hand-held games and more sophisticated home-gaming systems. Brian Eddy, former executive director, producer, and programmer for Midway Games, traces the evolution of arcade video games in Classic Video Games, giving readers an inside look at the stratospheric rise--and collapse--of the industry. Readers will reminisce about their favorite games, such as Centipede, Ms. Pac-Man, Tron, and Star Wars as they relive the glory days of the classic video game rage of the 1970s and 1980s.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Andrew]

This is a very slight text that tries to give a summary of key arcade games during the first flourishing of the video game industry, and whilst it does an adequate job as an introduction, there is lots left unsaid or uncovered. Part of this is understandable; it is unfair to expect a short book to recreate the culture and experience of video gaming up to 50 years ago. One can only understand what it was like to play the cited games at that time and to do so in person; describing game play is not unlike trying to describe other multi-sensory experiences. Illustrations don’t quite cut it either, no matter how many are included.

It must also be noted that there are more detailed and engaging ways of exploring the history of the classic video games cited here, such as online (e.g. Wikipedia), or through documentaries (e.g. ‘I, Videogame’, ‘The King of Kong’). A book about video gaming should take a deep dive into the production and cultural history of the game, not just rely on a few sentences describing how it was played.

The bottom line is this is a slight book which will do little bar whet the appetite or tweak a few nostalgic pangs for the video game buff. I’m sure there are better books out there.

[Mira]

A short, sweet and speedy read encompassing all the arcade games you used to love and some that you didn’t know existed. I had an e library copy and usually you miss out on good looking design but the many colourful archive pictures of all the games are outstanding and give a great nostalgic feeling to it.

[Mark Medland]

Entertaining time passer. The author doesn’t add much (Wikipedia goes deeper) but pretty fun greatest hits of video games from the late 70s to early 80s.

[m.]

A short overview of the arcade games of the 1970s and 80s until the infamous crash of 1984.

The format amounts to a description of the game, perhaps an aside about its significance or the importance of the company involved, then a screenshot of the gameplay.

Overall a useful little book for fans of videogame history

[Jeff]

This was a good, albeit short, little book about the very popular games of the arcade period. I had a good time reading it, however, it was more of a nostalgia thing than anything else. Actually, it felt like a high school book report on games.

[Samuel Proulx]

This was too short, and did not contain nearly enough details.

[Stewart]

Almost a pamphlet. This was written by a guy I used to work with at Midway.