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The Nostalgia Nerd’s Retro Tech: Computer, Consoles & Games (Tech Classics)
£10.40£18.00 (-42%)
The perfect Father’s Day gift.
Remember what a wild frontier the early days of home gaming were? Manufacturers releasing new consoles at a breakneck pace; developers creating games that kept us up all night, then going bankrupt the next day; and what self-respecting kid didn’t beg their parents for an Atari or a Nintendo? This explosion of computers, consoles, and games was genuinely unlike anything the tech world has seen before or since.
This thoroughly researched and geeky trip down memory lane pulls together the most entertaining stories from this dynamic era, and brings you the classic tech that should never be forgotten.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Ilex Press, 1st edition (1 Nov. 2018) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 224 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1781575703 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1781575703 |
| Dimensions | 15.88 x 2.86 x 21.91 cm |
by N. Walton
I’m a retro nut, and I thought I knew a lot. This book taught me otherwise. The book is by no means exhaustive. It doesn’t cover some successors to consoles, or regional variants. It also doesn’t cover some of the more obscure or lesser-known ones either. It does, however, cover almost every one of the ‘major’ consoles and computers from 1976ish through to 2005ish.
Each console/computer is covered by a specification overview, and some text about how it came to be, the major players in its design, the goal for which it was made, what the other competitors were doing at the time, and any snags in their production. It covers major SNAFUs and delays, and helps to set the scene for why some very-capable consoles missed out on becoming legendary, and instead became the realm of retro geeks like me.
As well as the description of the console, a selection of games (usually two or three) which exemplify the best (or hilariously worst) of the offerings for that platform. The descriptions of the games are brilliantly funny, cuttingly, brutally honest, and help to put the console into historical context.
All of the consoles are covered by wonderful photographs that must have taken an age to do. They show the consoles from a variety of angles, including common peripherals and media.
There’s very little to say bad about this book, except perhaps there are a few typos and one paragraph that got pasted in twice by accident. Also, the text for the games is very small, you’ll need your strong reading glasses on to be able to make them out!
Absolutely brilliant book, and I hope the Nostalgia Nerd follows this up with an examination of the PC and its clones.
by Toastlord
I’ve been a fan of Nostalgia Nerd’s YouTube channel for some time now so was delighted to hear that he was writing a book. This is a small but weighty tome that covers pretty much every system you can think of from the early days of the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972 right thought to systems from the turn of the century like the Xbox. Each system is afforded 4 pages, starting with some history and photos of the system and peripherals and then a brief snippet on 3 games for each – one you need to see because it shows the system’s strengths, one you have to play and one to avoid.
It’s a cracking read and one I ploughed through and finished in a couple of days as once you start reading it’s hard to stop. My only criticism is that as well researched as it is there’s a couple of silly mistakes in there, including one on the entry for the ZX Spectrum where one paragraph is repeated in error and thus misses some other information out. You would have though that for a UK book that’s the one page that would be double checked! It’s not enough to spoil the book and lose a star from my rating as it still remains one of the best books I’ve read for a while.
If you, or someone you know, are interested in retro computers and consoles then this is a great purchase that will bring back many memories of systems you owned and/or wanted. It’s reasonably priced too so a nice little Christmas gift for someone.
by R. S. Boyce
Nice to remember all the machines that we used in the past
by Ben
This book lists most of the retro systems that I either grew up with or stared at admiringly in magazines. It’s a well written book with short pieces about each machine written in a style similar to the Nostalgia Nerds YouTube channel. It’s hard to shake Peters voice out of your head when reading the passages if you follow his YouTube videos.
Each machine doesn’t take up a lot of the book covering only a couple of pages, with a short description over full page photos. I feel these short descriptions are actually to the books credit as there are videos and other texts to delve into about each machine if you are looking for more detailed information. This is, in all its openness, a coffee table book. As well as a description about each machine, Peter has listed three titles to play. One being a must see, one a must play and one to avoid, which is a nice way of solidifying any experience you had with the machine or providing decent recommendations if you wanted to pick one up.
Although the book is thick enough with plenty of pages, the physical height and width of the book is much smaller than I expected. I don’t feel ripped off by this as that’s down to my own expectations from some similar books I have bought. I also suspect this is a cost cutting exercise by the publishes as it’s a fairly niche book even within the world of retro gaming. Also, the book is missing anything about the Magnavox Odyssey 2 (or the Phillips Odyssey as it was known in the UK), my first ever gaming machine. So for these reasons I dock it one star out of personal opinion and lack of coverage of every machine.
In short, a great book, easy to pick up and nice to keep out on the coffee table. For such a low price why wouldn’t you pick up a copy if you love retro computing… even if there is at lest one missing.
by Liam
I loved this one. As a gaming history nerd this ticked all the boxes and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the same subject fully.
by Ms. E. Arnold
Was a great gift, I ended up keeping as they already had a copy!