I've been searching around for more arcade autobiographies as I've really enjoyed the ones I've read so far so wondered if anyone else had come across ones they can recommend that I haven't already read:
I’ve written my own autobiography, Pushing Buttons, which of course I would recommend
(but that's not the point of the post), since as I say I really enjoyed the other ones I've found so far:
Missile Commander - Tony Temple
A great read split into two, one documenting everything you could possibly want to know and more about the creation of Missile Command and the second half of Tony's experiences playing the game from an early age to world record holder.
Arcade Life - JW Tapper
I’ve only just started this one but it's spot on so far recounting the early days of discovering Space Invaders and the Golden Age and really enjoying what I’ve read so far.
The games of a lifetime - Julian Rignall
Of the four this is the one, I've enjoyed the most so far. Even though only about a third of it relates to arcade games and the rest his magazine career and playing computer games, although of no really interest to me, I did really enjoy reading his experiences with them
The Ballad of Walter Day - Walter Day
Of all the books this is possibly the most disappointing one but I did have the highest expectations for it. It's more of an overall autobiography of his life rather than just focusing on the arcade side and seems as if it hasn't been properly edited as Walter repeats the same stories several pages later many times. Furthermore when it does get to the arcade section it seems as if he glosses over some of the early stages of Twin Galaxies. Not that I've gone back and reread it yet but Walter did put a lot of history of Twin Galaxies in the first World Records book so maybe it's covered there.
So anyway these are the ones I've found and enjoyed so far and as I say I'm looking for any others. However, what I'm not really after are non-fictional books describing the history of arcade video games as I've got lots of these already: I'm only after personal accounts of growing up during the Golden Age. Furthermore, I'm really looking for accounts from a players perspective rather than a game designer so not after the Qbert creator’s book for example.
Hope some of you find the above list useful and as I say I can recommend all of them and that we can add more in future.
It would be great if some of the collectors on here were able to write their own autobiography books in time, but I appreciate that it's very time intensive.
I’ve written my own autobiography, Pushing Buttons, which of course I would recommend
(but that's not the point of the post), since as I say I really enjoyed the other ones I've found so far:Missile Commander - Tony Temple
A great read split into two, one documenting everything you could possibly want to know and more about the creation of Missile Command and the second half of Tony's experiences playing the game from an early age to world record holder.
Arcade Life - JW Tapper
I’ve only just started this one but it's spot on so far recounting the early days of discovering Space Invaders and the Golden Age and really enjoying what I’ve read so far.
The games of a lifetime - Julian Rignall
Of the four this is the one, I've enjoyed the most so far. Even though only about a third of it relates to arcade games and the rest his magazine career and playing computer games, although of no really interest to me, I did really enjoy reading his experiences with them
The Ballad of Walter Day - Walter Day
Of all the books this is possibly the most disappointing one but I did have the highest expectations for it. It's more of an overall autobiography of his life rather than just focusing on the arcade side and seems as if it hasn't been properly edited as Walter repeats the same stories several pages later many times. Furthermore when it does get to the arcade section it seems as if he glosses over some of the early stages of Twin Galaxies. Not that I've gone back and reread it yet but Walter did put a lot of history of Twin Galaxies in the first World Records book so maybe it's covered there.
So anyway these are the ones I've found and enjoyed so far and as I say I'm looking for any others. However, what I'm not really after are non-fictional books describing the history of arcade video games as I've got lots of these already: I'm only after personal accounts of growing up during the Golden Age. Furthermore, I'm really looking for accounts from a players perspective rather than a game designer so not after the Qbert creator’s book for example.
Hope some of you find the above list useful and as I say I can recommend all of them and that we can add more in future.
It would be great if some of the collectors on here were able to write their own autobiography books in time, but I appreciate that it's very time intensive.
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