/vr/ - Retro Games

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831464]

I posted this on /v/ ages ago..

A 1982 book on the history of video games, as well as some hilarious predictions for the future.

I haven't scanned the whole book, just a few interesting sections.

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831468]

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831476]

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831487]

I had no idea space invaders was a billion dollar franchise i nthe late 1970s until I read this...

I knew it was big, but not "$670 million in Japan alone" kind of big.

[Anonymous No.831497]

>>831468

>if someone offers you stock in atari or gold--take the atari

this guy

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831507]

Space invaders history part 2.

[Anonymous No.831501]

>A 1982 book on the history of video games, as well as some hilarious predictions for the future

"Atari will self-destruct in 12 months and then some guy named Shiggy will ride in on a white horse with a SMB cartridge. Then everyone lived happily ever after. Until COD came along. The end."

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831515]

>>831501
>"Atari will self-destruct in 12 months

There is a chapter on pac man, and how it is "coming soon for atari. We are very excited".

I am trying to find the pages.. here is the end of the pacman chapter...

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831518]

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831530]

"sometimes gamers are disappointing with the home versions o their favorite games..."

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831541]

Talk of clones, market saturation, and how games become rapidly obsolete.

[Anonymous No.831548]

>>831530
"So no matter how good home games get, they aren't going to replace arcade games for a while."

Not for another 13 years by which time it was the 5th gen and arcades became irrelevant ;)

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831549]

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831554]

>>831548

Yea he was right on that one. It took many years for home consoles to catch up.

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831569]

"more and more people are buying home computers. One day they may be as common as TV sets are today.

"Computers are part of the future. Your future"

Another one he got right.

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831607]

Breaktrhough computer game of 1982:

Castle wolfenstein

Most people don't know the early 1990s FPS game is based on a much older computer game.

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831616]

There was surprisingly a chapter on violence in videogames and the "moral" issues of arcades, as well as cities that banned pinball machines.

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831620]

>>831616

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831631]

Damn it I am missing some pages of the video game violence chapters... I thought i had all of this chapter scanned.

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831641]

Meet the game creators from activision, circa 1982.

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831648]

Predictions for the future

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831652]

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831658]

"How would you like to play pacman on a wall sized screen? Someday you will!"

[Anonymous No.831667]

>>831641
Engineers are dying out in gamedev. I can hardly believe it was no one else but a few bearded nerds a few decades back. Now it's dudebros everywhere and the engineer to dudebro ratio is prolly 1/10.

That's a really interesting book - best history books are written when the records are still fresh and the people alive.

[Anonymous No.831682]

>>831667
I have a book called NERDS 2.0 that's about the history of the internet written in 1997.

[Anonymous No.831683]

>>831648
>>831652
>>831658
Those predictions are eerily close. What helps is that he cleverly omits any mentions of the timeline for these.

[Anonymous No.831691]

>>831658
I sure hope that wall has the correct aspect ratio

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831693]

>>831667

The thing that gets me is the profit they made in the golden age back then.

>Hit games made by individuals, and later teams of 4-8 people.
>8 week development time
>Millions (perhaps hundreds of millions) return on investment (in 1980 money, no less).

In japan it was even crazier as games cost 100 yen per play (about $1 US) and hit games caused a nationwide shortage of 100 yen coins.

In the 1970s arcade games would "break" when the coinbox overflowed and jammed the coin mech. "The game was out of order because we didn't collect the money fast enough..." was an actual problem.

The return on investment was obscene.

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831701]

One thing the book got wrong was the hybrid boardgame/videogame. The author expected the future would have more of these.

They flooded the market with these in the early 1980s and the trend died fast.

[Anonymous No.831702]

>>831667
Back then it was mainly neckbeards writing games for other neckbeards. The gaming community (and in particular the PC one) was a small, tight-knit one.

Our little group has always been
And always will until the end

[Anonymous No.831698]

>>831658
>mfw I have my PC hooked up to an HDTV
>mfw I can play Pac-Man on mame right now if I want to
>mfw I can play it on a "wall-sized TV" relative to the tiny screens at the time

Living the future, man.

[Anonymous No.831707]

>>831691
>go 30 years into future
>you can now play Pac-Man on a wall-sized screen
>but you do so with Namco Museum on the PS1, in 4:3 stretched to 16:9, running in 240i on a 60" screen

At least nowadays we have the new Pac-Man games to fill up wall-sized entertainment.

[Anonymous No.831703]

for some reason I'm mentally reading all this in walter cronkite's voice

[Anonymous No.831710]

>>831693
>In japan it was even crazier as games cost 100 yen per play (about $1 US)
The exchange rate in 1982 was 250 yen per dollar.
http://www.mac.doc.gov/japan-korea/statistics/exchange.htm

[Anonymous No.831716]

>>831702
This was true through the 90s, in fact really until the 6th gen brought increased dudebro/casualization of games

[Anonymous No.831717]

>>831548
> ;)

faggot

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831720]

This is all I have scanned for now.

I only scanned sections based on feedback from the people in the original /v/ thread, so much of the book is missing. They were not that interested at the time.

If you guys want more I can scan it off and on through the week, but I am heading out to the cabin for the next few days so it won't be done right away.

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831726]

>>831710

>The exchange rate in 1982 was 250 yen per dollar.

That's not as bad then... but to cause an actual coin shortage in a first world country is still pretty impressive.

[Anonymous No.831731]

>>831716
I agree; even among guys who were kids in the 80s-early 90s, knowledge of retro games is far from universal. It works like this:

>invite over bunch of fat 30 yo jocks
>"Aw yah man lets play some Battlefield"
>bring up like for example Ultima
>"The fuck is that?"

[Anonymous No.831730]

this book is like some one explaining arcades to aliens. By 1982 wouldn't most people have known what a video game or an arcade was? Why does it assume that you don't even know those basic things... and people say that modern gaming culture literature talks down to it's readers...

[Anonymous No.831732]

Hello /vr/,

Ever since this imageboard was created, I've been trying to build a sizeable netplay community with whom to play the various co-op and multiplayer games old console emulation has to offer.

In an effort to create a community surrounding online multiplayer games, I've made this thread to advertise our IRC channel

#/vr/_Netplay
http://www.rizon.net/chat

where a couple of us hang out, chat, help each other out with netplay issues and ocassionally arrange game sessions for things like Mario Party 2 or Bomberman '94. We're pretty chill there, and open to trying any game.

You're welcome to stop by and check us out. Feel free to idle, chat or play to your heart's content.

The various guides you need to set everything up can be found here:

>>786103

Here's hoping for an active /vr/ netplay community.

[Anonymous No.831736]

>>831732

Sorry.

I have no idea how this got posted here.

[Anonymous No.831741]

>>831730
Think of it as being along the lines of those old 60s science films we all saw in school

(John Facenda-like narrator) "Sedimentary rock is formed through millenia of debris and silt being laid down..."

[Anonymous No.831753]

>>831731
There's generally a pretty good chance these guys know about NES or 4th gen games, but PC stuff...fuggedaboutit

[Anonymous No.831754]

>>831701
they should revive this concept for use with the iPad

[Anonymous No.831764]

>>831616
You learn something new everyday.
I had no idea pinball machines use to be gambling machines.

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831760]

>>831730
>this book is like some one explaining arcades to aliens.

I assume this was written for a younger target audience. Daniel Cohen mostly wrote informative books for teens.

But yea, what teenager wouldn't know what an arcade was in the year 1982?

[Anonymous No.831761]

>>831731
The Ultima kids were the D&D faggots whom you used to beat up in school

[Anonymous No.831773]

>>831701
I the guy predicted anything his backers paid him for... notice how he gives some games more prominence over other equally popular games.. and how most of the book has the tone of a very long advertisement. The early game industry was even more guilty of it than the modern one

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831780]

>>831754

They were very elaborate games. I was too young at the time but I watched my uncles play "Dark Towers".

The "computer" took care of some stuff but the game remained very cluttered and complicated.

[Anonymous No.831778]

>>831761
D&D was pretty big in the 80s; it tied into the popularity of heavy metal which was dominated by Gothic themes

[Anonymous No.831793]

>>831780
why couldn't this be done with an ipad though, with the ipad as the board it's self

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831801]

>>831780

Also:

>they should revive this concept for use with the iPad

They did, only it is on android.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mow.droidtower

[Anonymous No.831808]

>>831801
>>831780
you are only using one game as an example though, and it's much more complicated then the games the book uses, I was thinking more like that D&D tie in game

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831810]

>>831793
>why couldn't this be done with an ipad though, with the ipad as the board it's self

That is exactly what the android version does.

Combat,
Gold
inventory
Bazaar
Food consumption...

Everythign the old computer tower used to do is there.

Plus the app has the board too so you can play it as a stand-alone video game.

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.831816]

>>831808
>and it's much more complicated then the games the book uses

The page I posted specifically mentions "Dark tower". The pictures were of other games though...

I don;t see why they couldn't port those over to a tablet (if they haven't done so already, i never looked).

[Anonymous No.831824]

>>831780
>>831793
>>831801
>>831808
The game is actually very simple, nothing like D&D, its really just a board game.

Here is a flash version that lets you play the single player mode, enjoy:http://hofle.com/darktower/DarkTower.sw

[Anonymous No.831825]

>>831648
He predicted Virtual ON!

[Anonymous No.831829]

>>831824
oops
http://hofle.com/darktower/DarkTower.swf

[Anonymous No.831949]

>>831720
>so much of the book is missing.
what do you mean?
I doubt I could find this book anywhere else. No one knows this author (I think). This is probably the first dump ever of the book.
Could you please scan it all?

[Anonymous No.831954]

>>831824
I meant the D&D board game that was shown in the bood and said that it was nothing like D&D it's self because D&D "can not be translated to simple electronics"

[Anonymous No.832007]

Scan the whole book and upload it somewhere please.
This book is fantastic.

[Anonymous No.832067]

>>831515
The 2600 version of PacMan was already out when this book was written, as mentioned here:
>>831720

[Anonymous No.832112]

sell me the bo!ok OP!

[Anonymous No.832123]

This Daniel Cohen guy wrote tons of kids' books on topics like monsters and UFOs. I was a huge fan. I even wrote him a letter, which he answered (still have it). Never knew he wrote a video games book tho.

[Anonymous No.832126]

>>831476
>The first word you have to learn is /computer/.

Holy shit I'm dying here.

[Anonymous No.832129]

>>831476
>The real experts toss around words like software and microprocessors.

Human haven't changed at all.

[Anonymous No.832154]

>>831515
>Will it all blow over or will Pac-Man join the ranks of the immortal superstars of our time, like Snoopy and Miss Piggy?"
It's a bit of a shame that those two are actually making a slow descent into obscurity, especially any Muppet that isn't Kermit.

I was about to question why he didn't use characters like Mario or Sonic, but then I remembered what I was reading.

[Anonymous No.832173]

>>832123
Cohen was, and I believe still is, an author of books that take children's interests and explore them in a deeper and more legitimate way than the average children's author, or indeed people in general considered the topics worthy of.

tl;dr David Cohen steered a lot of us toward the autism spectrum.

Pic related used to scare the shit out of me when I was like 9.

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.832184]

>>832067
>The 2600 version of PacMan was already out when this book was written

You are correct, my mistake. I was thinking of some of my old gaming magazine scans where they were pumped about the 2600 pacman.

Let me see if I can find them...

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.832189]

>>831949
>so much of the book is missing.

>what do you mean?

I worded that badly.

I have the whole book. What I meant was "most of the pages are missing from my scans".

I'll get the them later this week.

[Anonymous No.832190]

>>831468
>If someone offers you stock in Atari or gold---take the Atari. It's better than gold.

[Anonymous No.832207]

>not scanning the whole book

[Anonymous No.832265]

>>831658

What movie is he referring to in the last paragraph?

[Anonymous No.832275]

>>831658
>People didn't like the idea of making a game out of a real war.

I don't know. I think someone answered the CALL OF DUTY to make a game about the MODERN WARFARE that's gone on between nations. The writer probably didn't get a MEDAL OF HONOR for that prediction.

[Anonymous No.832289]

>>831549
That's not where Donkey Kong's name comes from.

[Anonymous No.832287]

>>832190
Just imagine the poor fools that actually listened to him.

[Anonymous No.832323]

>>832275
At the time people didn't think it stood a GHOSTS of a chance

[Anonymous No.832320]

>>831667
>1982
>one neckbeard on sound effects and graphics
>one working on gameplay mechanics
>maybe one to compose music if the sound effects guy didn't do it already
>GOTYAY

>2013
>26 dudebros on sound effects for the guns
>10 on the footstep sounds
>25 people, an orchestra, and Skrillex on the music
>20 working the engine
>45 graphic designs for the characters
>105 3D modelers on the environment (not counting the 62 concept designers)
>3,956 on marketing
>15 on the boxart
>best it gets is a paid "9.5/10 - It's Okay" from the reviewers and outrage from everybody else

[Anonymous No.832335]

>>832320
>1982
>one of them maxed out his mom's credit card to buy a computer to program the fucking thing
>all the neckbeards also pull double-duty posing on the cover or something
>modern-day
>twenty people and a platoon of Navy SEALs dedicated to solely tweaking the weaponry ballistics
>39 trillion dollars spent on advertising

[Anonymous No.832447]

>>831554
No he wasn't. It took a long time for arcades to become irrelevant, but when the NES came out, home gaming became the go-to location for the industry.

[Anonymous No.832449]

>>832320
>>832335
Let's add

>1987
>Japan
>a room full of lanky, fresh out of college programmers are assigned to make a Famicom game, approximately 7 of them
>one of them designs the game concept
>the other programs it
>one of them designs the sound effects
>another does the music
>another programs the sound driver
>guy designs the graphics on paper
>another guy transposes them into sprites and is tasked to work around display limitations
>most of the programers are pissed off at the idea guy for doing next to nothing
>they add hidden messages within the game's code talking about him
>they call him a homosexual
>game succeeds
>these same people are asked to make a sequel
>one of them is so overworked, he commits suicide once the project is done
>in the game, he leaves a suicide note detailing how he had to work from 6AM to 8PM because the boss and the idea guy were too finicky with how everything turned out

[Anonymous No.832473]

>>832447
Yes and no.
It fan the flame but it wasn't till 5th gen till that really became the "go-to location" after all it wasn't till the 5th gen most consoles could play near perfect graphics, load times and sound that you could find in a arcade system.

[Anonymous No.832537]

>>831476
>a video game is basically a computer
>a video game is a computer
>video game = computer

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.832546]

Here is the March 1982 issue of Electronic gaming.

They had an article titled "A decade of Video" and they summarize the major events from1972-1981.

It was a good read.

Best part of these old magazines were the advertisements.

[Anonymous No.832548]

>>832449
What game?

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.832558]

>>832546

For those that don't know, the Atari 2600 was not referred to by that name until later. At the time this magazine was published the console was called the Atari VCS.

[Anonymous No.832570]

>>831720

I have the pac-man game on the left. Handed down from mah pa.

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.832569]

[Tsubasa_cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.832586]

I'm getting distracted here.. too many old articles and adds.

I'll get back to this book shortly.

[Anonymous No.832648]

>>831780

I had one of those. It was a hand me down from some relative (along with a game which involved building castles and then using rubberband powered crossbows to knock them down by firing pogs across the floor. No idea how anyone in my family still has eyes.)

Essentially the tower was just a flashy pair of dice. Instead of rolling you'd push a button on the tower. It would determine random battles when you were moving your pieces and decide them.

[Anonymous No.832671]

>>831549
>What if you don't like crowds?
>What if you'd rather be by yourself

[Anonymous No.833925]

>>831476
What about diskettes, hard disk drives and tapes? Those aren't random access or read only.

[Anonymous No.833928]

>>833925
Storage isn't memory.
Kids these days.

[Anonymous No.833946]

>>831476
BTW, I showed my uncle this book and he said those kids weren't poorfags and that was a typical game setup in the average American living room circa 1981. People gathered around some shitty tabletop TV like that.

[Anonymous No.833956]

>>833946

And?

That's how we played Goldeneye and Smash when I was I kid.

[Anonymous No.833994]

>>831607
Dude, I know about CW

[Anonymous No.833991]

>>833946
That's a pretty big tv, Dude. It's like a 24"

[Tsubasa_Cat !!otZqtLVzeXj No.834118]

>>833994
>Dude, I know about CW

Good to hear. So many people only know the 3D version that was the precursor to DOOM. They don't know it was a 1980s series.

[Anonymous No.834912]

>>831464
>Daniel Cohen

My god. I used to read his books about poltergeists and the like. As >>832173 pointed out, his selection of reading became standard reading for the more eccentric kids.

[Anonymous No.834942]

>>834912
His daughter died in the bombing of PanAm 103