Attract Mode The Rise And Fall Of Coin Op Arcade Games
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Attract Mode: The Rise and Fall of Coin-Op Arcade Games
From their haunts in the shadowy corner of a bar, front and center at a convenience store, or reigning over a massive mall installation bursting with light, sound, and action, arcade games have been thrilling and addicting quarter-bearers of all ages ever since Pong first lit up its paddles. Whether you wanted a few minutes’ quick-twitch exhilaration or the taste of three-initial immortality that came with topping the high score screen, you could get it from the diverse range of space shooters, dot-eating extravaganzas, quirky beat-’em-ups, and more that have helped define pop culture for more than four decades. In Attract Mode: The Rise and Fall of Coin-Op Arcade Games, author Jamie Lendino celebrates both the biggest blockbusters (Pac-Man, Star Wars: The Arcade Game) and the forgotten gems (Phoenix, Star Castle) of the Golden Age of coin-op gaming, and pulls back the curtain on the personalities and the groundbreaking technologies that brought them to glitzy, color-drenched life in the U.S., Japan, and all over the world. You’ll start your journey exploring the electromechanical attractions and pinball games of the early 20th century. Next, you’ll meet the earliest innovators, who used college computers and untested electronics to outline the possibilities of the emerging form, and discover the surprising history behind the towering megahits from Nintendo, Sega, and others that still inform gaming today. Then you’ll witness the devastating crash that almost ended it all—and the rebirth no one expected. Whether you prefer the white-knuckle gameplay of Robotron: 2084, the barrel-jumping whimsy of Donkey Kong, or the stunning graphics and animation of Dragon’s Lair, Attract Mode will transport you back to the heyday of arcade games and let you relive—or experience for the first time—the unique magic that transformed entertainment forever.
Eugene Jarvis
Author: Matthew Thomas Payne
language: en
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Release Date: 2025-01-09
This book explores the influential work of Eugene Jarvis, designer of the wildly-successful arcade games Defender, Robotron: 2084, NARC, Smash TV, and Cruis'n USA, among others. Embracing a variety of genres across decades, the video games of Eugene Jarvis offer a series of design lessons in how to craft coin-operated game machines that can survive and thrive even as the arcade was disappearing from the American landscape. In particular, his titles demonstrate the enduring appeal of gameplay challenges, taboo content, and possessing a larger-than-life form factor and accessible gameplay. Drawing upon multiple interviews with Jarvis and his collaborators, as well as scholarly reflections on game design, historic industry data, and archival documents, this book makes the case that Jarvis is the unparalleled “King of the Arcade” for his ability to craft gameplay experiences that cannot be replicated on home consoles or personal computers.
A History of Sports Video Games
This book explores the history of sports and sports-themed video games, providing a comprehensive and holistic view of this complex and diverse genre. The author highlights the influence of technological advancement, industry competition and popular culture on game design, marketing strategies and user experience. Offering valuable insights into the historical process of interaction and integration between real-world sport and video games, this volume will enrich existing scholarship on video games. This volume is a valuable contribution to the fields of both game studies and sports studies, and will be perfect for those interested in the history of science and technology as well as social and cultural history.