Can you remember the computer games from 20 years ago? All so pixelated and basic, whereas today, video games are almost life like in their graphics! The History of Video Games by Charlie Fish is a wonderful reminder of the bygone days, all wrapped up in a hardback cover.
Read on to find out more about the book.
The start of the gaming revolution
The History of Video Games offers us a reminder of this fascinating industry that’s now twice as big globally than the film and music industries combined! Did you know that 1 in 3 people around the world now regularly play video games?! Each chapter explores the history of video games through a different lens, giving a uniquely well-rounded overview of games over the ages.
You may recall games such as Asteriods, or Space Invaders, even Lemmings! Well, this book takes a deep dive into how those games were developed, all the way back in the 1950’s! Covering 70 year’s of history, it’s a great reminder of the most popular games of the 1980’s, 90’s all the way through to the end of the 2010’s.
It’s all about the graphics
The graphics in the book are so wonderfully vibrant and colourful! It’s all very nostalgic, taking readers back to their childhoodsm, including the NES computer where the consoles every child wanted in the 1980’s!
The hardback book contains 120 pages, with 150 colour illustrations and really is a delightful read and trip down memory lane that is easy to dip in and out of. Dedicated gaming fans will no doubt want to immerse themselves fully into the book though!
Where to buy the book
You can purchase The History Of Video Games directly from Pen and Sword books. Currently priced at £20, this book makes a fantastic Christmas gift idea for gaming fans!
About the author
Charlie Fish is best known for writing popular short stories and work as a screenwriter. Published in several countries around the world, his short stories have inspired dozens of short film adaptations.
Since 1996, Charlie has edited Fiction On The Web, the longest-running short story site on the web. Born in Mount Kisco, New York in 1980, Charlie now lives in south London with his wife and daughters.
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Defenders in the arcades. Great scrolling shoot em up.
I had a few favourites growing up but pikmin as there so cute and spyro are on the top of my list
i loved wackey races game for the ps1 and pac man
I loved an old arcade game called Vanguard which was a vertical and horizontal shoot up em scroller.
Great fun for it’s time.
Chuckie Egg, happy memories of playing this after school. Couldn’t wait to get to school the next day to tell my friend that the chicken flies out of the cage only for her tell me her sister had discovered that weeks ago!
I’m not very good at it, but love Pacman 🙂
As far as retro video games go, Pacman has to be my favourite, so iconic.
But for modern games, I am a sucker for minecraft.
sonic 1 on the mega drive looked amazing when i first played it and much faster game too
The whole Pokemon franchise, I have always loved playing them since I was little
Pac Man for me, used to love playing this game with my brother
BubbleBobble2 – I played it on the PS1 I saved up to buy myself and played it obsessively with the boy who 20 years later is still my main man xx
Pac man was my fav, spent ages playing that game, such fun!
The simpsons arcade was one of my favourites as a kid. playing that with my friends on a saturday down the arcades was loads of fun
Pac Man because it has stood the test of time.
I used to really like the Sims as it’s fun building a little world and maintaining it.
I loved Looney Tune time busters on the ps1 because it was so fun solving puzzles at different periods in time with my favourite Looney tunes characters.
Its got to be Alex the kid in wonderland, it reminds me of fun times with my siblings
Sonic the hedgehog
I’d love to read this! I remember my spectrum and some great games!
PAC man is my favourite, only because we had a PacMan table in the taxi office and when there were no jobs I used to play and actually became fairly good. Memories from the 80’s
Alex the kid on master system was the best, it gave me n my bro hours of fun n challenges lol. X
Pac-Man was my favourite because it was fun, fairly easy and a catchy tune!
Pac-Man was my favourite, it was just fun and basic to play!
Donkey Kong for the nostalgic retro vibes
Alex Kid in Miracle World because it was the very first one I played.
Frogger- brings back so many childhood memories
Dark Souls – the entire trilogy. I love the lore, the challenging gameplay, the music, the epic boss fights and even the slightly wonky multi-player.
gotta be Pac Man
Arcade: Street Fighter. Console: Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
Galaxian Invaders as I was addicted to the game and trying to beat the harder levels
Space Invaders!
Asteroids – hours of fun and pocket money spent mastering this
A tough choice, but I have a fondness for Day of the Tentacle which was on PC because of the cartoon graphics and the story. Thanks for running the giveaway 🙂
Tetris, probably because I understand how to play it
i love tetris. its so relaxing to play
Donkey Kong was my favourite, I used to play with my brothers and see who could get the highest score 🙂 spent hours trying to beat them. All my 5 children are gamers, no idea where they got that from haa must be in the genes x
Ooh, I can’t decide between Donkey Kong or Chuckie Egg. I reckon I’ll have to go with Chuckie Egg as I was better at that one, ha ha.
Mario Kart as it’s simple to pick up for newbies and great to play with friends in battle mode.
The Sims. I spent a lot of time in my youth in that imaginary space.
My favourite game will always be The Last of Us purely for being the first video game to ever make me cry.
The Sims, I have always liked it. I like how casual it is and you can be creative with it too
Mortal Kombat and because playing them in a arcade with all the buttons is so cool and feel like your really taking part in the game and so retro.
Civilisation
pacman, it can keep me busy for hours
I love Mario Kart because all the family can get involved and it’s such a laugh
I loved Space Invaders or Frogger (the one where the frog has to get across the road). I took my children to a retro arcade recently. It was fun to introduce them to the games I played as a youngster.
Right now, I’m hooked on The Legend of Zelda: The First Adventure! My 3-year old nephew *thinks* he can play… I let him kill monsters and collect rupees for me.
Mario Kart! Loved and still love to compete with family and friends
Love Pokemon games now and sonic when I was a kid.
I used to love a game called Dizzy and also Rainbow Island
Sonic hedgehog, on mega drive, reminds me of utter joy at xmas when i was 12!
Manic Miner/Jet Set Willy for ZX Spectrum. First games I ever played on and got me addicted to gaming.
Manic Miner on the ZX Spectrum – so addictive, I played it for hours (not sure why though!)
Ghostbuster on the C64, used to play it for hours and still never beat the Stay Puft man!
Spyro the dragon I would get so annoyed when I couldn’t completefhe levels but it was so addictive
PAC MAN – love eating the balls and running from the Ghosts
I loved playing Sim City when I was younger. It’s total escapism.
I used to love playing monkey island on my computer when I was younger.
Sonic the Hedgehog, just for the nostalgia. 🙂
Loved playing tabletop Pac Man in local club when I was a kid!
Spyro the dragon. I used to play it on ps1 and I loved it. I got it for my son on the switch and he loves it too.
Purple Turtles on the Commodore 64, just the anticipation of whether the game would load on cassette tape made it all worthwhile.
I love the Elder Scrolls games
I was addicted to Tetris & Mario Kart
Tetris is a classic example of a fun game
loved the old mario game on the SNES. My son is a real gaming geek and even holds a gaming world record so I reckon he would love this!
Ultima Underworld – it started a lifelong obsession with RPGs
I liked space invaders, but now prefer a platform game like Mario bros or adventure games l
I used to love playing space invaders long long ago!
A very old game I know but my favorite is Pac Man
On my BBC B I loved Chuckie Egg!
Super Mario Has Got To Be My All Time Favourite, I Love It
Space invaders
I loved Turrican 2, spent many hours playing it when I was younger.
Pacman, classic
Pac-Man, I remember being allowed to play it at a local pub when I was growing up, so I have really fond memories.
Chuckie Egg – we used to take turns playing for hours on my ZX Spectrum
I will always love Mariokart. It’s a game that all the family can play together!
I’ve been a video game addict for almost 40 years, since I got a mini arcade machine of Frogger in 1982! I mostly play RPGs these days, my favourite is Witcher 3.
I loved Pac Man, it actually was a challenging game to complete, my brother and I would see who gets furthest
I love Tetris, so much fun to play.
Civilisation. Complex strategy!
An arcade game called Tempest which was a lot of fun.
It has to be pacman
Tetris- the most addictive game ever! I probably spent at least half of my holiday playing it when was a kid.
I loved Spyro when my son was younger – we’d play together for ages!
Space Invaders – only one I’d ever play
I was always a big fan of frogger as a kid, really addictive
I loved Chuckie Egg on the ZX Spectrum. Its the first game I can remember playing with my brother and brings back happy memories.
Treasure Island Dizzy on the C64! Despite it’s bugs and flaws, it was so super playable and had insanely cool music and graphics! It was also the first the first game I ever completed that involved a walking egg! Loved it!
Definitely Super Mario Bros 3 – the first video game I ever played on the NES – one I still own now intact! It bought me the joys of video gaming along with challenges, fun and greta storylines with my love of platform gaming!
Pacman but I don’t think I ever quite completed it – I still love it!
Monkey Island got me into point and clicks
Shenmue on the dreamcast completely changed everything for me
Golden Axe, brutal but so fun
Got to be Super Mario Galaxy, because it’s the first game that my son was really into when he was younger and so the first time we played anything together! Still brings back happy memories!
Space Invaders because it was relentless!
I loved the original Sim City – the first moving map version tho. It was never the same when it became more sophisticated or maybe I grew up!
I love Fallout New Vegas as it has such interesting storylines and gameplay details
I loved super Mario on the original game boy. I have such happy memories of rushing back from school to play it. It was so simple but so fun xx
i loved zelda links awakening it was a challenge to complete each section, but was great when i did
I always loved Monkey Island. I remember playing it with my mum late at night when my Dad was working away.
Fallout 3 – it has great gameplay, an interesting story and a good level of humour.
super mario brothers on the NES – i was addicted as a kid – still love the game!
Our first was paperboy game on a computer where you had to put cassettes in but I forget what it was called.
I have always loved Mario party, great for family games night
I love PacMan and Space Invaders because I used to play them when I was a teenager and I still find them fun and thrilling.
R-type, used to play it in the arcade’s in our youth
The Sims 2. I’ve been playing it since it first came out. I’ve tried the newer ones but just prefer the gameplay with the Sims 2. I dread to think of how many hours I’ve given it!
I loved Tetris – really addictive and I can still hear the theme song in my head!
I loved wonderboy because I liked the skateboard
Has to be Elder Scrolls Oblivion. Much more exciting reality than the one we live in!
Any Zelda game as the gameplay and graphics were great.
We used to love lemmings! Hours of crazy fun!!! Used to play with my brother! Good memories!
silent hill….was so scary but loved it .
Loved Chuckie Egg – First PC game I really played
Just 1 favorite? Difficult choice…. it would have to be World of Warcraft. I don’t play it anymore due to real life commitments but it changed the landscape of MMORPG’s, and people would always complain the newest mmo to WoW. I meet so many people on the game, even my fiance. I loved the community on there.
the original Atari ping pong
Space invaders was and is the best game ever
I used to like playing PacMan and fun running away from the ghosts 🙂
I loved gaming growing up, it was mainly point and click adventures like Beneath a Steel Sky and Sam and Max Hit The Road that I loved the most. I liked having to combine random items to get something to happen!
I’ve always loved The Sims, I just love the open ended gameplay and it’s got better and better over the years. I love getting creative with it.
space invaders
I loved lemmings – so much fun and reminds me of being a child!
Pac Man or The Brick Game ! Darm game got me everytime
Space Invaders- iconic increasing beating sound makes your heart race in time!