Arcade & Retrogaming Books

[Draco1962]

I thought I'd open a thread about non-fiction Arcade and Retrogaming books. 

To start, I'd like to start by promoting the books by Jerry Ellis of Golem Books:

https://www.golembooks.co.uk/

He produces the books in limited runs and, because of VAT and shipping to the US or anywhere outside of the UK, the total cost may be prohibitive for some wallets.

Despite the total costs, they are enjoyable casual reads and a worthy addition to any retrogamer's library.

[Draco1962]

Art of Atari by Tim Lapetino

351 pages of awesome classic artwork that often inspired the imagination more than the games themselves.

Art of Atari Poster Collection by Tim Lapetino 

Companion publication with 40 posters of popular Atari 8-bit games and suitable for framing.

Be aware that the prints are front and back. if you want to display all 40 prints you will either have buy 2 books or detach all  and have both sides of each scanned and printed.

List of art below:

Millipede 2600
Star Raiders 5200
RealSports Baseball 5200
Missile Command 2600
Centipede 2600
3D Tic-Tac-Toe
Asteroids 2600
Basketball 2600
Asteroids 5200
Centipede 5200
Asteroids 7800
Combat Two
Demons To Diamonds
Crystal Castles
Football 2600
Haunted House
Haunted House (Unused)
Home Run
Missile Command 5200
SwordQuest Fireworld
RealSports Tennis
RealSports Baseball
Surround
RealSports Basketball 2600
Video Checkers
RealSports Soccer 5200
RealSports Volleybal
SwordQuest Airworld
AtariAge SwordQuest Cover
Video Pinball
SwordQuest Waterworld
RealSports Basketball 5200

RealSports Football 2600
Star Raiders 2600off
Super Breakout 2600
Tempest 2600
Warlords
Yars' Revenge
Warlords Family
Atari Wizard

[Draco1962]

Unofficial Atari Visual History by Darren Doyle

About 400 pages. An IR authored book costing €29.99 or $35.69 USD + S&H. Very colorful and high quality. Conversational review of many popular Atari 8-bit 3rd party titles. IMO a great addition to the library for the Atari 8-bit enthusiast! Pricey, but worth the cost and trip down memory lane!

[Draco1962]

Coin Op: The Arcade Guide by Darren Doyle. Another colorful casual trip down memory lane. Well worth the trove of  tokens spent.

 

[tthurman]

On 4/9/2021 at 8:59 PM, Draco1962 said:

Art of Atari by Tim Lapetino

351 pages of awesome classic artwork that often inspired the imagination more than the games themselves.

Art of Atari Poster Collection by Tim Lapetino 

Companion publication with 40 posters of popular Atari 8-bit games and suitable for framing.

Be aware that the prints are front and back. if you want to display all 40 prints you will either have buy 2 books or detach all  and have both sides of each scanned and printed.

List of art below:

Millipede 2600
Star Raiders 5200
RealSports Baseball 5200
Missile Command 2600
Centipede 2600
3D Tic-Tac-Toe
Asteroids 2600
Basketball 2600
Asteroids 5200
Centipede 5200
Asteroids 7800
Combat Two
Demons To Diamonds
Crystal Castles
Football 2600
Haunted House
Haunted House (Unused)
Home Run
Missile Command 5200
SwordQuest Fireworld
RealSports Tennis
RealSports Baseball
Surround
RealSports Basketball 2600
Video Checkers
RealSports Soccer 5200
RealSports Volleybal
SwordQuest Airworld
AtariAge SwordQuest Cover
Video Pinball
SwordQuest Waterworld
RealSports Basketball 5200

RealSports Football 2600
Star Raiders 2600off
Super Breakout 2600
Tempest 2600
Warlords
Yars' Revenge
Warlords Family
Atari Wizard

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I've actually got both of these and can vouch for them.  I pre-ordered them and thought I had posted a thread a long time ago that had some others in it to.   If you snag the poster book, then get two so you can keep one in book format.

[tthurman]

This is a good one as well.

 

[tthurman]

This is one I've been meaning to pickup.  Tony's blog is awesome!

[tthurman]

Took care of that, if you’re interested the next batch ships to the US at the end of April.

Right at $38 bucks via PayPal if you’ve got a card that waives foreign transaction fees, CapitalOne  and lots of AMEX cards for instance.

Edited April 22, 2021 by tthurman
Spilling

[Draco1962]

I had to dig to find a place that had it available. Found the Extended Edition here.

17 hours ago, tthurman said:

This is a good one as well.

 

 

[tthurman]

I wasn't aware they released a revision, but I understand why!

Have you ever ordered from T-Molding.com?  Packaging on these is always a concern, and Amazon sucks at it....so I'm gun-shy of unknowns.

[Draco1962]

I haven't before but will let you know if I have any issues. My Coin Op Arcade book arrived in cardboard with foam corner braces and bubble wrap. 

[tthurman]

On 4/21/2021 at 2:04 PM, Draco1962 said:

Coin Op: The Arcade Guide by Darren Doyle. Another colorful casual trip down memory lane. Well worth the trove of  tokens spent.

 

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Woah, that shipping is insane.  The book looks awesome, but shipping to the US is much less than shipping to the UK, from what I've gathered from Van's book anyway.  At least that's how it's been explained and some googling seems to verify subsidizing of some sort for inbound shipping to the states.   Still, if it's packaged good enough to arrive completely undamaged, that in itself is worth it.

So is it that much better than others you've seen?  It does look like a very unique layout and composition, in a good way!

 

[Draco1962]

I haven't finished going through it but have to say I love the quality of the book. The writing is relaxed yet lots of interesting details - so much you just don't know. And the graphics are great. A good balance overall. Definitely would recommend this one!

[tthurman]

Well, I'll give T-Molding a go on the book, it looks to be a worthy addition to the original (the gutter jumps are distracting).

 

 

[tthurman]

Want something that's pretty rare and at the same time a unique piece?  Van Burnhan (Supercade) has something you may be interested in, but it's not a book!

Supercade Timeline Poster

[Draco1962]

That is pretty cool! I will have to pass as my wall space is filled up. 

It and the Arcade book reminded me of something I had considered (and still may) creating a feature wall "papered" with classic arcade marquees. 

One day maybe...

[Draco1962]

On 4/23/2021 at 12:14 PM, tthurman said:

Well, I'll give T-Molding a go on the book, it looks to be a worthy addition to the original (the gutter jumps are distracting).

 

 

The copy arrived from T-molding in excellent shape. A welcome edition to the library!

[tthurman]

My copy arrived in acceptable condition, although I surprised it wasn't severely damaged.

It was shrink wrapped in micro-bubble pack, then placed into a box that would have held six of these books with no additional packaging.  This is something I would expect from half-ass Amazon shipping methods. 

[Draco1962]

My box was smaller fitting maybe 1 and 1/2 books. So what do you think of the book?

[tthurman]

I've only had time to really skim the first fifteen or so pages, but it's a different book, in a good way.  In just those few pages I noticed a good bit of pin-holing in some of the solid backgrounds, hopefully this isn't wide spread. 

[Draco1962]

I skimmed through mine and have not noticed any pinholing so far. Maybe you have a defective copy. I'd definitely contact them to see if they'd RMA it for you. 

[tthurman]

I stumbled upon this in the most unusual of ways, but if this is your thing, then don't sit on the fence!

These appear to be limited to remaining stock:

Get 2, get free shipping and still get it for less than one anywhere else I've found so far.

 

When I found this deal yesterday it was $49.99 at Amazon, but it appears they are matching Target.  Anyway, more details and pics over on Amazon.

 

 

Edited May 8, 2021 by tthurman
<edit> Added detail

[RIP-Felix]

In the latest episode of Analog Frontiers by My life In Gaming they mentioned The Game Console by the photographer that took all the pictures of game consoles we all have seen and been using. Especially if you've made a GameEx theme, you should consider buying this book, just to support the guy who took the pictures we've all been using. I used them to make console specific themes for GameRoom EX vertscreen, which I use on my arcade cabinet. 

 

[Draco1962]

Looks like there's a 2.0 version being released in August...

[tthurman]

Oh wow, that looks like a nice piece!