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Vintage Games Book Bonus Chapter 1 Released - "Pong"

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Bill_Loguidice

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Gamasutra has released the first in a series of nine bonus chapters not included in our book, "Vintage Games: An Insider Look at the History of Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario, and the Most Influential Games of All Time". The first entry is "Pong: Avoid Missing Game to Start Industry". This is slightly different from the other chapters as it goes a bit more into history rather than things like gameplay elements, but that's appropriate considering the elegant simplicity of the game in question. Let us know what you think!
 
Thanks Bill,

I enjoyed reading that. I wondered what the sub-title meant at first but it came clear on reading the article.

Thinking back, one of the "wow" moments for me when I saw such games was that, prior to that moment, my only experience with a VDU was a television where you were FED information. To actually CONTROL something that appeared on the screen was something!

Regarding the history of videogaming, did anything similar to "spacewar" happen in big computer labs outside the US at all? While Japan was certainly an influence once things got going, was anyone else in another country marketing or developing simple video games when Pong was making its debut?

Tez
 
tezza said:
Thanks Bill,

I enjoyed reading that. I wondered what the sub-title meant at first but it came clear on reading the article.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yeah, we tried to be cheeky whenever possible with subtitles for chapters within the book. Some are better than others. I liked this one.

tezza said:
Thinking back, one of the "wow" moments for me when I saw such games was that, prior to that moment, my only experience with a VDU was a television where you were FED information. To actually CONTROL something that appeared on the screen was something!
Click to expand...

It's a shame we don't have more first-hand accounts of people's reactions to games like Pong or even Computer Space before it. Also, what were people's reactions to seeing "Tennis for Two"? It's a shame there are no first hand contemporary accounts, let alone video from those periods.

tezza said:
Regarding the history of videogaming, did anything similar to "spacewar" happen in big computer labs outside the US at all? While Japan was certainly an influence once things got going, was anyone else in another country marketing or developing simple video games when Pong was making its debut?

Tez
Click to expand...

Based on what I've researched, pretty much the only things happening in big computer labs were in the US and to a lesser degree in Europe, specifically England. It's a simplification, but other territories pretty much right up until the late 70's took their leads from what was going on in the US. Obviously that balance of power would slowly shift until the pendulum swung considerably to the Asian side. Of course today we have a bit of a better balance between East and West.
 
Great news. It looks like the publisher will be producing bookmarks that both Matt and I can sign. So feel free to buy the book at the best price you can get it at (likely now) and you'll still be able to get personalization through the bookmarks.
 
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