Gamespot – December 1999 I don’t remember the exact details regarding the genesis of this piece. All I know is I was surprised to see the names Jer Horowitz and Steve Kent in the byline because I thought I wrote it solely. part-1-introductionDownload part-2-before-the-games-1889-1970Download part-3-the-games-begin-1971-1977Download part-4-the-golden-age-1978-1981Download part-5-the-great-crash-1982-1984Download part-6-video-games-are-back-1985-1988Download part-7-the-home-market-expands-1989-1997Download part-8-the-32-bit-era-begins-1993-1997Download part-9-the-modern-age-1998-1999Download
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JOURNEY BACK: INSIDE THE CLASSIC GAMING EXPO
Gamespot – August 1999 When they learned I was attending the first Classic Gaming Expo in 1999, the editors of the website Gamespot (which, like EGM, was owned by Ziff-Davis Media) asked me to write this report. journey-back-inside-the-classic-gaming-expoDownload
THE STRATEGIC SCENARIO
Video and Computer Gaming Illustrated – January 1984 Even though the editors of Videogaming and Computergaming Illustrated weren’t happy with my first article, they decided to give me a second chance. They asked me to do a feature about strategic videogames and I told them I only really knew about the Atari 2600 games. They…… Continue reading THE STRATEGIC SCENARIO
THE ELECTRONIC GAMEMAKER
Games Magazine – May 1999 In December 1994, I published my book Phoenix: The Fall & Rise of Home Videogames, the first-ever comprehensive book about the history of videogames. Because it was self-published, it didn’t make it into stores. Somehow, Ralph Baer, the inventor of the home videogame console, learned about the book and he…… Continue reading THE ELECTRONIC GAMEMAKER
TRAGIC IMAGIC
Videogaming and Computergaming Illustrated – December 1983 While I was writing my first book, ABC To the VCS, I wrote a letter about something to Videogaming & Computergaming Illustrated. They didn’t publish my letter but they asked me to write an article about the downfall of the third-party company, Imagic. Even though I received my…… Continue reading TRAGIC IMAGIC
LET’S GO TO THE VIDEOTAPE
From Old School Gamer Magazine – January 2020 Videogame software can reside on many different types of media. In the early dedicated consoles of the seventies, the games were built-into the consoles themselves. The introduction of cartridges in 1976 eventually game way to CDs in 1988 and DVDs in 2000. Magnetic media also found its…… Continue reading LET’S GO TO THE VIDEOTAPE
PLUG & PLAYS
From Old School Gamer Magazine – November 2019 Following the success of the NES Classic in 2016, we’ve seen the SNES Classic, the forgettable PlayStation Classic and the well-received Genesis Mini. Although these gaming machines are referred to as dedicated consoles, they are not derived from the early ‘70s dedicated videogame consoles that had their…… Continue reading PLUG & PLAYS
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
From Old School Gamer Magazine – May 2019 Since the dawn of time, or at least since 1975 when every Tom, Dick and Harry began releasing their own forms of videogame console that used General Instruments’ AY-3-8500 chip, people have been referring to all video tennis consoles as Pong consoles. However, this is quite understandable…… Continue reading WHAT’S IN A NAME?
READING THE CLASSICS
From Old School Gamer Magazine – November 2018 Ever since the world’s first two videogame magazines, Great Britain’s Computer and Video Games and the United States’ Electronic Games, debuted two weeks apart in November 1981, printed videogame magazines have basically come in four flavors: General: The majority of gaming magazines fell under this category and…… Continue reading READING THE CLASSICS
THE SPORTING LIFE
From Old School Gamer Magazine – July 2018 Since the beginning of videogame history, sports have always played a major role. Higinbotham’s Tennis For Two, Baer’s video table tennis, and Bushnell & Dabney’s Pong are also video versions of tennis or table tennis. But no matter how much you tell yourself that these videogames are…… Continue reading THE SPORTING LIFE
The Game Scholar 