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The Nostalgia Nerd's Retro Tech: Computer, Consoles & Games: Computer, Consoles and Games
Remember what a wild frontier the early days of home gaming were? Manufacturers releasing new consoles at a breakneck pace; developers creating games that kept us up all night, then going bankrupt the next day; and what self-respecting kid didn't beg their parents for an Atari or a Nintendo? This explosion of computers, consoles, and games was genuinely unlike anything the tech world has seen before or since.This thoroughly researched and geeky trip down memory lane pulls together the most entertaining stories from this dynamic era, and brings you the classic tech that should never be forgotten.
394 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2018
46 people are currently reading
174 people want to read
About the author
Peter Leigh
2 books1 followerWith well over 150,000 followers on YouTube as the "Nostalgia Nerd", Leigh is well known to his loyal fans for his in-depth videos about the software, hardware, games, toys, programs and magazines of the 70s, 80s and 90s. He has no shame admitting his addiction to retro tech (indeed it would be hard to hide).
You can follow Nostalgia Nerd on Youtube at http://youtube.com/nostalgianerd
- amazon bio
You can follow Nostalgia Nerd on Youtube at http://youtube.com/nostalgianerd
- amazon bio
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
January 5, 2019
What a shame. I received this as a gift at Christmas, and on an initial browse through it looked like it would make for an interesting read. In truth though, once I got round to sitting down with it, I found it a disappointment. What appears an intriguing idea quickly turns out to be a flawed handling of a subject with limited scope to make a well-rounded read. Perhaps it's because the book was originally a Kindle book made into a coffee-table hardback for the Christmas gift market, it just didn't quite work for me.
Leigh attempts to go through the history of console and computer videogaming, for each of fifty formats discussing the technical aspects of the hardware, detailing the impact of the computer/console, and also giving an example of a game 'to see', 'to play' and 'to avoid' for each. There are also plenty of glossy photographs - the book has a good initial visual appeal.
But it got more and more irritating and forgettable to me. Format wise you soon realise that there is a number of flaws associated with the use of dark coloured backgrounds on which the text is small and black rendering sections hard-to-read. There are a number of glaring typographical errors including an entire paragraph repeated. I soon realised the fixed four pages for each computer/console was often too many, meaning space was filled with photographs of keyboards and black/grey/white boxes ad nauseum with a sprinkling of text - text that in the end was not that engaging (it is not easy to hold the reader's attention in fairly detailed descriptions of electronics).
Perhaps most problematic is that this is essentially a single author's attempts to engage a reader in a large number of computers/consoles where all but the most extremely nerdy would only have an interest in or experience of a very small number. Fifty tech items are far too many to try and describe, as more than half of these are of very little significance or interest to 99% of people. I also found the author's choice of games to discuss was rather restricted to certain genres (mainly scrolling/FP platformers and shooters) where I prefer sports sims and puzzles - a personal preference, but one which further alienated me.
Leigh attempts to go through the history of console and computer videogaming, for each of fifty formats discussing the technical aspects of the hardware, detailing the impact of the computer/console, and also giving an example of a game 'to see', 'to play' and 'to avoid' for each. There are also plenty of glossy photographs - the book has a good initial visual appeal.
But it got more and more irritating and forgettable to me. Format wise you soon realise that there is a number of flaws associated with the use of dark coloured backgrounds on which the text is small and black rendering sections hard-to-read. There are a number of glaring typographical errors including an entire paragraph repeated. I soon realised the fixed four pages for each computer/console was often too many, meaning space was filled with photographs of keyboards and black/grey/white boxes ad nauseum with a sprinkling of text - text that in the end was not that engaging (it is not easy to hold the reader's attention in fairly detailed descriptions of electronics).
Perhaps most problematic is that this is essentially a single author's attempts to engage a reader in a large number of computers/consoles where all but the most extremely nerdy would only have an interest in or experience of a very small number. Fifty tech items are far too many to try and describe, as more than half of these are of very little significance or interest to 99% of people. I also found the author's choice of games to discuss was rather restricted to certain genres (mainly scrolling/FP platformers and shooters) where I prefer sports sims and puzzles - a personal preference, but one which further alienated me.
August 8, 2024
Geçmişten günümüze yapılmış tüm oyun konsollarını eksisiyle artısıyla ele alan, güzel bir çalışma. Her konsolun tarihçesi, teknik özellikleri, en iyi ve en başarılı oyunları gibi konular tek tek ele alınmış. Üstüne bir de büyük görseller ve birinci sınıf bir baskı kalitesiyle süslenmiş.
Atari, Commodore 64, NES ve SNES gibi efsanelerin yanı sıra adını hiç duymadığım bu cihazlarla ilgili eğitici bir şeyler okumak kendi adıma çok keyifliydi. Doğum günü hediyesi olması da bir diğer kocaman artısı elbette :)
Atari, Commodore 64, NES ve SNES gibi efsanelerin yanı sıra adını hiç duymadığım bu cihazlarla ilgili eğitici bir şeyler okumak kendi adıma çok keyifliydi. Doğum günü hediyesi olması da bir diğer kocaman artısı elbette :)
December 6, 2018
I snatched Nostalgia Nerd’s book as soon as I found out about it because I’m following his YouTube channel and love most of his videos. He manages to be both informative and funny, and the items he covers are usually very interesting, so getting the book was a no-brainer. Although I have to say, its price has fluctuated, both up and down, over the weeks; for instance, I think I bought it at around £17 (not sure though), then got a refund for a fiver and now it’s standing at £6? Weird.
The book itself looks, feels and smells lovely. It’s a 15.9 x 2.9 x 21.9 cm little tome with a very nice hard cover. The heavy-stock paper it’s printed on is uncoated, offering a feel both warm and modern. At 224 pages it’s not small, though it’s not long either. So, something ideal for a cold afternoon in the old armchair or an evening in bed.
The book follows a steady format, first presenting a machine, coupled with a few photos, and then offers three games with their respective screenshots – A “must see” title, a “must play” one and a “must avoid” one. It’s well written an pretty, with few errors or typos (though by this time there have been a few books where the editors have managed to avoid event he single its/it’s typo, this is not one of them. But it’s almost there); though there is a big layout error on the ZX 81 page (I think – or around there) with some wrong photos and a repeated passage.
It covers 49 (maybe I counted wrong and it was 50? 😃 ) computers and games consoles ranging from the early 70s to the early 00s.
The devices covered are your usual fare, covering all classics and some not-quite-so-classic ones, with a Eurocentric bias – which is always good in my book. So don’t think you’ll go into it looking for obscure machines you’ve never heard of before.
The blurb accompanying each machine is interesting, but no more than a short description. There’s also a box containing a (very) short ‘Fact Sheet’. So it’s highly unlikely you’ll learn something new about a particular device, to be honest.
The photos are lovely, shot professionally and with some aesthetically excellent speciments, and include the machines themselves, some internals and some accessories. However, they are quite small, and although the paper used in the book is really nice, using uncoated paper does have its drawbacks when it comes to photos: some shiny, coated paper would greatly benefit those photos and help them stand out.
The last page of each section/machine deals with the three characteristic games in the way mentioned above. Three very small photos with a blurb that’s probably the tiniest reviews you’ll ever read. Of course I understand that exhaustively reviewing these titles was completely outside the scope of the book, but come on, especially the “Must Avoid” ones are SCREAMING for some of the Nerd’s dry humour to pummel them into a Mexican landfill. Also, inevitably each and every reader will disagree with the choice of the titles on those pages, but of course the opposite would be just impossible. I myself did find some choices curious, but didn’t exactly grumble about them.
All in all, I’d say that (if it’s not already evident by now) the books biggest shortcoming is its dearth of content. There’s lots of white space which makes it very pleasant to the eye, but as far as content goes, it’s lacking, unfortunately.
What’s worse, though, is that, most probably because this lack of material, I finished the book having learned nothing whatsoever. Now, I do love my retro machines and have a nice little collection, and I do know more about them than the average person in the street, but when reading such a book I do expect to learn something new – and I often do, even when reading something that covers my top favourite ones. As it is, I’m sorry to say that after a few days passed I can remember very little of the book’s content, because -for me at least- it was so little of it it barely scratched the surface.
Which brings me to the question: who is this book for? A retro hobbyist will not gain much by it. A member of the ‘general public’ will probably pass it by. And yet it’s not a coffee table book to just sit there, beautiful and glorious, to be idly browsed. Somehow it manages to slip through all these very real categories. A real pity, because it’s a book put together very competently, but its goal is not clear at all.
3/5
The book itself looks, feels and smells lovely. It’s a 15.9 x 2.9 x 21.9 cm little tome with a very nice hard cover. The heavy-stock paper it’s printed on is uncoated, offering a feel both warm and modern. At 224 pages it’s not small, though it’s not long either. So, something ideal for a cold afternoon in the old armchair or an evening in bed.
The book follows a steady format, first presenting a machine, coupled with a few photos, and then offers three games with their respective screenshots – A “must see” title, a “must play” one and a “must avoid” one. It’s well written an pretty, with few errors or typos (though by this time there have been a few books where the editors have managed to avoid event he single its/it’s typo, this is not one of them. But it’s almost there); though there is a big layout error on the ZX 81 page (I think – or around there) with some wrong photos and a repeated passage.
It covers 49 (maybe I counted wrong and it was 50? 😃 ) computers and games consoles ranging from the early 70s to the early 00s.
The devices covered are your usual fare, covering all classics and some not-quite-so-classic ones, with a Eurocentric bias – which is always good in my book. So don’t think you’ll go into it looking for obscure machines you’ve never heard of before.
The blurb accompanying each machine is interesting, but no more than a short description. There’s also a box containing a (very) short ‘Fact Sheet’. So it’s highly unlikely you’ll learn something new about a particular device, to be honest.
The photos are lovely, shot professionally and with some aesthetically excellent speciments, and include the machines themselves, some internals and some accessories. However, they are quite small, and although the paper used in the book is really nice, using uncoated paper does have its drawbacks when it comes to photos: some shiny, coated paper would greatly benefit those photos and help them stand out.
The last page of each section/machine deals with the three characteristic games in the way mentioned above. Three very small photos with a blurb that’s probably the tiniest reviews you’ll ever read. Of course I understand that exhaustively reviewing these titles was completely outside the scope of the book, but come on, especially the “Must Avoid” ones are SCREAMING for some of the Nerd’s dry humour to pummel them into a Mexican landfill. Also, inevitably each and every reader will disagree with the choice of the titles on those pages, but of course the opposite would be just impossible. I myself did find some choices curious, but didn’t exactly grumble about them.
All in all, I’d say that (if it’s not already evident by now) the books biggest shortcoming is its dearth of content. There’s lots of white space which makes it very pleasant to the eye, but as far as content goes, it’s lacking, unfortunately.
What’s worse, though, is that, most probably because this lack of material, I finished the book having learned nothing whatsoever. Now, I do love my retro machines and have a nice little collection, and I do know more about them than the average person in the street, but when reading such a book I do expect to learn something new – and I often do, even when reading something that covers my top favourite ones. As it is, I’m sorry to say that after a few days passed I can remember very little of the book’s content, because -for me at least- it was so little of it it barely scratched the surface.
Which brings me to the question: who is this book for? A retro hobbyist will not gain much by it. A member of the ‘general public’ will probably pass it by. And yet it’s not a coffee table book to just sit there, beautiful and glorious, to be idly browsed. Somehow it manages to slip through all these very real categories. A real pity, because it’s a book put together very competently, but its goal is not clear at all.
3/5
July 31, 2022
4 / 5 for 'The Nostalgia Nerd's retro tech' by Peter Leigh
This is a comic-book-sized yet thick and hefty book which I greatly enjoyed. Peter Leigh provides a comprehensive rundown of all of the varied gaming systems that were commercially released from the early 1970s, right up to the Xbox in 2002. The book covers all of the released gaming consoles as well as gaming computers such as the C64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga and Atari ST, but steers clear of the PC, as (in the author's own words) PC gaming needs a whole book in its own right. Similarly, handheld gaming is left out of this list - hopefully both of these subjects will get their own guides at some point.
Generally, the text is informative, and to a retro geek like me (who grew up in the 80s and 90s with formats such as BBC Micro, Amiga 500, NES and Megadrive in my home) this book is utterly engrossing. Each system has some basic facts, such as release date, cost and some hardware specs. Multiple technical photos of each unit are supplied and one page for each system is dedicated to three notable games per system - Must See, Must Play and Must Avoid.
This was a joy to read, full of interesting anecdotes and technical info, and it was interesting to see the author's opinions regarding the games - as opposed to giving us games that were the most popular across industry sales and reviews, he gives us three examples for each system of his OWN preference. This gives the book an enjoyably personal touch. It only misses out on full marks because sometimes the text can be a little uneven, providing us lots of anecdotes for one system but no tech specs, and then all tech specs for another system but no background info. But this is only a very small negative.
On the whole, this is an informative, engrossing and well-presented guide to gaming's hardware history. Highly recommended to those who are similarly retro-enthusiastic.
4 / 5
This is a comic-book-sized yet thick and hefty book which I greatly enjoyed. Peter Leigh provides a comprehensive rundown of all of the varied gaming systems that were commercially released from the early 1970s, right up to the Xbox in 2002. The book covers all of the released gaming consoles as well as gaming computers such as the C64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga and Atari ST, but steers clear of the PC, as (in the author's own words) PC gaming needs a whole book in its own right. Similarly, handheld gaming is left out of this list - hopefully both of these subjects will get their own guides at some point.
Generally, the text is informative, and to a retro geek like me (who grew up in the 80s and 90s with formats such as BBC Micro, Amiga 500, NES and Megadrive in my home) this book is utterly engrossing. Each system has some basic facts, such as release date, cost and some hardware specs. Multiple technical photos of each unit are supplied and one page for each system is dedicated to three notable games per system - Must See, Must Play and Must Avoid.
This was a joy to read, full of interesting anecdotes and technical info, and it was interesting to see the author's opinions regarding the games - as opposed to giving us games that were the most popular across industry sales and reviews, he gives us three examples for each system of his OWN preference. This gives the book an enjoyably personal touch. It only misses out on full marks because sometimes the text can be a little uneven, providing us lots of anecdotes for one system but no tech specs, and then all tech specs for another system but no background info. But this is only a very small negative.
On the whole, this is an informative, engrossing and well-presented guide to gaming's hardware history. Highly recommended to those who are similarly retro-enthusiastic.
4 / 5
November 9, 2018
This book covers about 50 gaming consoles and home computers from the early to mid 70s through to the early 2000s. Except for a brief blurb at the end of the book, it purposely leaves out handheld gaming and PC gaming, possibly as subjects for future books. In addition to the hardware, three “Must See, Must Play, and Must Avoid ” games for each platform are briefly covered as well. In addition to hardware popular with North American consumers, the author, based in the UK, covers systems that were popular in the UK and Europe as well, so I was able to learn about systems and games that I wasn’t as familiar with.
I didn’t always agree with the author’s “Must See, Must Play, and Must Avoid” choices, who doesn’t like K-RAZY Shoot-out? But I wholeheartedly agree with others, like Ultima IV on the Apple II platform. It's all subjective, and like the Apple/Atari/Commodore wars of the early 1980s, it's all part of the fun.
Other than the few editing mistakes (see page 70 for an example), and a few errors (page 127, Ballblazer was originally released for the Atari 8-bit computers, not the Atari 5200), my one complaint, is that the text can be rather small in some places (Must See, Must Play, and Must Avoid), which is unfortunate, as there seems to be plenty of surrounding white space that could have been filled with a large font size.
If you are a fan of retro gaming consoles, retro computers, and retro video games, you should enjoy this book. The hardcover edition has full color graphics on a kind of thick, flat, cardstock type paper. It has 224 pages full of retro goodness. As of this writing, the hardcover edition costs about 14 USD on Amazon, which makes it a bargain.
I didn’t always agree with the author’s “Must See, Must Play, and Must Avoid” choices, who doesn’t like K-RAZY Shoot-out? But I wholeheartedly agree with others, like Ultima IV on the Apple II platform. It's all subjective, and like the Apple/Atari/Commodore wars of the early 1980s, it's all part of the fun.
Other than the few editing mistakes (see page 70 for an example), and a few errors (page 127, Ballblazer was originally released for the Atari 8-bit computers, not the Atari 5200), my one complaint, is that the text can be rather small in some places (Must See, Must Play, and Must Avoid), which is unfortunate, as there seems to be plenty of surrounding white space that could have been filled with a large font size.
If you are a fan of retro gaming consoles, retro computers, and retro video games, you should enjoy this book. The hardcover edition has full color graphics on a kind of thick, flat, cardstock type paper. It has 224 pages full of retro goodness. As of this writing, the hardcover edition costs about 14 USD on Amazon, which makes it a bargain.
August 18, 2019
As an occasional viewer of the author's YouTube channel I couldn't believe my luck when I found this book on sale in a bookshop but I'm sad to say in the end I'm quite disappointed after reading it.
First thing is the physical book itself which has been poorly thought out. The pages are not printed on gloss (i.e. the usually "shiny" paper you'd expected for photo/graphics heavy books) but instead is just done on standard paper. This gives it a bit of a cheaper feel and results in the pictures being less sharp on the page, which is a shame as the pictures of the consoles in this book are one of its major positives.
Additionally the text in places is very small and unnecessarily so as the editing styles means there's plenty of white space available. This is compounded further as alot of this small text is on coloured backgrounds making it even harder to read.
The content of the book is good in places and I learnt quite a few new facts and consoles from it (especially 1970/80s computers which are normally missing from most books like this). At times though (especially near the end) it was a bit of a slog to read through, I'm not sure why exactly as the text is quite short for each console anyways.
One major highlight as mentioned previously are the many great pictures of the consoles in the book though along with their accessories. This is why the previously mentioned issue with the non-gloss paper is such a shame and oversight.
Unless your a mega fan of the Nostalgia Nerd or want to read up on more obscure 70/80s computers I'd recommend to avoiding this book. There's plenty of other similar books on the market that do a so much better job at what he was trying to accomplish here with more information and more engaging writing.
First thing is the physical book itself which has been poorly thought out. The pages are not printed on gloss (i.e. the usually "shiny" paper you'd expected for photo/graphics heavy books) but instead is just done on standard paper. This gives it a bit of a cheaper feel and results in the pictures being less sharp on the page, which is a shame as the pictures of the consoles in this book are one of its major positives.
Additionally the text in places is very small and unnecessarily so as the editing styles means there's plenty of white space available. This is compounded further as alot of this small text is on coloured backgrounds making it even harder to read.
The content of the book is good in places and I learnt quite a few new facts and consoles from it (especially 1970/80s computers which are normally missing from most books like this). At times though (especially near the end) it was a bit of a slog to read through, I'm not sure why exactly as the text is quite short for each console anyways.
One major highlight as mentioned previously are the many great pictures of the consoles in the book though along with their accessories. This is why the previously mentioned issue with the non-gloss paper is such a shame and oversight.
Unless your a mega fan of the Nostalgia Nerd or want to read up on more obscure 70/80s computers I'd recommend to avoiding this book. There's plenty of other similar books on the market that do a so much better job at what he was trying to accomplish here with more information and more engaging writing.
July 28, 2020
Retro Tech provides just what it says on the tin. Starting with systems in the early 1970s, it provides a summary of virtually every video game console and personal computer released up until the debut of the original Xbox in October 2001.
Each summary includes a generous number of photos, sometimes including controllers or oddball accessories, or more mundane things like the power supplies. Leigh offers both an historical overview and also his own personal assessment on each device, which at times stands in contrast to how I saw some of the systems, accounting for the differences in reception between the UK and North American (and in particular U.S.) audiences.
Each summary concludes with a look at three games from each system: The Must-See, the Must-Play, and the Must-Avoid. A lot of the Must-Avoids are typically obscure fare (no, E.T. did not make the list for the Atari 2600--though it does get mentioned alongside the "winner").
Leigh keeps the writing light and at times droll, never being afraid to call out lemons and questionable marketing of years gone by.
I was struck by the sheer number of systems that came out in the 70s and early 80s. It seemed that nearly everyone tried to get a slice of the video game pie before the famous crash of 1983. While there are systems that never sold well here in Canada that I was aware of--like the MSX computers, there are many listed here that I was utterly unfamiliar with, even leaving aside the UK-specific machines that never made it over here.
For anyone who grew up when these machines were coming out (as I did), this is indeed a heady dose of nostalgia. For others, it serves as a brief and well-illustrated history of the early days of video games and personal computers. In fact, my only real knock on the book is that each write-up only amounts to a page or so. I would love to see a more in-depth look at the same topic. As it is, I was able to tear through the book all too quickly.
Still, this was an enjoyable look back and an easy recommendation for those who would enjoy seeing the sometimes wacky products that came out in the quest for the early gamer's dollars (or pounds).
Each summary includes a generous number of photos, sometimes including controllers or oddball accessories, or more mundane things like the power supplies. Leigh offers both an historical overview and also his own personal assessment on each device, which at times stands in contrast to how I saw some of the systems, accounting for the differences in reception between the UK and North American (and in particular U.S.) audiences.
Each summary concludes with a look at three games from each system: The Must-See, the Must-Play, and the Must-Avoid. A lot of the Must-Avoids are typically obscure fare (no, E.T. did not make the list for the Atari 2600--though it does get mentioned alongside the "winner").
Leigh keeps the writing light and at times droll, never being afraid to call out lemons and questionable marketing of years gone by.
I was struck by the sheer number of systems that came out in the 70s and early 80s. It seemed that nearly everyone tried to get a slice of the video game pie before the famous crash of 1983. While there are systems that never sold well here in Canada that I was aware of--like the MSX computers, there are many listed here that I was utterly unfamiliar with, even leaving aside the UK-specific machines that never made it over here.
For anyone who grew up when these machines were coming out (as I did), this is indeed a heady dose of nostalgia. For others, it serves as a brief and well-illustrated history of the early days of video games and personal computers. In fact, my only real knock on the book is that each write-up only amounts to a page or so. I would love to see a more in-depth look at the same topic. As it is, I was able to tear through the book all too quickly.
Still, this was an enjoyable look back and an easy recommendation for those who would enjoy seeing the sometimes wacky products that came out in the quest for the early gamer's dollars (or pounds).
April 3, 2023
The Nostalgia Nerd’s Retro Tech is a mostly-graphic look at fifty computers and gaming devices from the United States, Britain, and Japan beginning with the Magnavox Odyssey and moving through to the Xbox, with some additional comments at the end on PC gaming and handhelds in general. This is a coffee-table book for aging gamers and tech nerds, I suppose: it’s largely graphic, with photos of the devices in question (including profile shots), a brief write-up on the machine’s source, potential, and reception, and then three featured games: a ‘must see’, a ‘must play’, and a ‘must avoid’. If you fall in its niche, I suppose it’s a fun book to have around:I can imagine guests coming over, rifling through it, and yelping, “Wow! Elite! I haven’t seen that game since I was a kid!”. The write-up on each machine is adequate, but given the amount of tech covered, not substantial, and the mix of machines is a little odd. The focus is on gaming machines, especially consoles, but multiuse computers like the Apple II and the ZX Spectrum appear — at first. The Macintosh and IBM PC and all that followed are no-shows. At the end, the author writes that handheld consoles and the PC market deserved their own books, and given that the Nerd has subsequently published a book on retro-gadget history, he may have such works in mind. I think this volume would appeal more to people (late Boomers to early Millenials, chiefly) who grew up with these machines and remember things like the Nintendo/Sega platform war more vividly. In my case, I only ever used Gameboys until I moved to PC gaming, so I never had a dog in the fight. I did learn a few things from this, though, like that Atari had a series of machines and not just “The Atari”.
May 30, 2019
A brief yet well presented history of retro computers and consoles that comes off like a cute little guide to some of gaming history’s most famous (and infamous) hardware. I really like the chronological structure which creates a through-line between the various systems and it helps contextualise what makes them all noteworthy. It’s not perfect, though. It’s extremely light on words and even though each system is covered by 4 dedicated pages, it often feels like you’re only reading 4 paragraphs of “Wikipedia synopsis”-style information. Home computers feature heavily, but IBM compatibles do not. This is explained in a comment at the end that the breadth of PC gaming is so large that it demands a book of its own, which is a respectable stance to take, but this book could’ve used some extra contextualisation so you could understand what the various micros were competing against in the PC market. Also, I’m not a great fan of dedicating a single page to 3 games for each system and one of them is a game you should avoid. I think it would’ve been much nicer to have the 3rd choice be a sort of wildcard option; a game that isn’t widely remembered, but does something interesting and unique that’s worth mentioning. Also some of the choices are bizarre. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 is chosen as the “must play” game, but for the Dreamcast. Perhaps the choices should’ve been limited to platform exclusives so you got a real flavour as to what defined that system.
January 17, 2023
If I were reviewing purely on the content, it would get a 4 or possibly even a 5, but organization and presentation matter, especially for a book like this. When every 4th page (literally - each system gets exactly 4 pages), the already relatively small font size gets even smaller and put onto a colored background, the page becomes nearly unreadable, especially when that background is a relatively dark blue or green.
Each device gets a decent little blurb (3-4 short paragraphs total) across 2 pages with various photos to accompany it and a basic fact box, followed by a page with individual "must see", "must play", and "must avoid" games with the aforementioned terrible font/background issues. Sometimes, the "see" and "play" choices seem to be flipped for no apparent reason as well, like the author forgot which was which.
It covers 49 different systems in just over 200 pages, so it obviously isn't going to be comprehensive, and as I said, the content there is quite good. But it might have been better to try for a slightly larger format just to make the content more readable.
Each device gets a decent little blurb (3-4 short paragraphs total) across 2 pages with various photos to accompany it and a basic fact box, followed by a page with individual "must see", "must play", and "must avoid" games with the aforementioned terrible font/background issues. Sometimes, the "see" and "play" choices seem to be flipped for no apparent reason as well, like the author forgot which was which.
It covers 49 different systems in just over 200 pages, so it obviously isn't going to be comprehensive, and as I said, the content there is quite good. But it might have been better to try for a slightly larger format just to make the content more readable.
February 26, 2023
This is a decent book covering a lot of different gaming consoles and microcomputers (many of which I don’t know enough about), but it never spends enough time on any of them to really teach me much of anything. I guess that’s the trade-off to featuring so many of them in one book (the author explains this is also why he chose not to feature handhelds or PC gaming). However, there are some truly beautiful photographs of the various systems, and that almost makes up for the bare-bones write-ups. Further, the author gives his opinions on three games per system: a must-see game that really pushed the system’s capabilities, a must-play game that the author believes is the best on the system in terms of gameplay, and a must-avoid game that is the worst on the system (I would have preferred another “good” category here instead of dumping on somebody’s hard work, but to each their own).
I’m still in the market for a lot of the earlier systems, especially a Channel F, Atari 2600 (or 7200), MSX, Vectrex, ZX Spectrum, SEGA Master System, and Atari Jaguar.
I’m still in the market for a lot of the earlier systems, especially a Channel F, Atari 2600 (or 7200), MSX, Vectrex, ZX Spectrum, SEGA Master System, and Atari Jaguar.
February 8, 2019
Люблю разнообразное ностальгическое старьё, параллельно в виде хобби занимаюсь IT-археологией. У меня было много компьютеров в ранних 90х. И советских, и более "классических" западных компьютеров эры до-IBM. Работаю программистом, потому что вся эта тема - любовь навсегда. И именно поэтому, когда в твиттере я увидел книгу с таким названием - сразу сделал предзаказ.
Книга шла 3 месяца, спасибо УкрПочте :) Это хорошо оформленная книга с прекрасной обложкой. Пожалуй, всё. Увы. Очень мало информации, буквально самый минимум. Немного фотографий. Эпохальные, изменившие наш мир компьютеры - указаны вскольз. Некоторых ВАЖНЫХ вообще нет. Очень поверхностно пройдены по консолям.
Как говорится, идея - 5. Реализация 3. И одна звезда из этих звёзд - таки за саму тему, попытку сделать что-то прекрасное.
Книга шла 3 месяца, спасибо УкрПочте :) Это хорошо оформленная книга с прекрасной обложкой. Пожалуй, всё. Увы. Очень мало информации, буквально самый минимум. Немного фотографий. Эпохальные, изменившие наш мир компьютеры - указаны вскольз. Некоторых ВАЖНЫХ вообще нет. Очень поверхностно пройдены по консолям.
Как говорится, идея - 5. Реализация 3. И одна звезда из этих звёзд - таки за саму тему, попытку сделать что-то прекрасное.
March 13, 2024
I was driven to quickly share my thoughts on this book, a gem I've added to my retro gaming book collection. Despite stumbling across some surprisingly negative critiques, I find this title to stand out as a favorite within the genre. Its breadth, precision, and appealing photography truly shine. While the book's dimensions are somewhat smaller than those of a typical coffee table book, its binding, print quality, and paper are of exceptional quality. For those seeking an exhaustive history of each gaming system, there are more detailed resources available, particularly online. However, for anyone looking for a charming addition to their bookshelf or a thoughtful gift for a retro gaming and computing technology https://thetrendzguruji.me/ enthusiast, this book comes highly recommended.
May 26, 2019
Neat little (it's dimensions, not the pages)book full of interesting stuff. It's basically a guide for consoles and home computers from a time long ago. It's like a DK handbook on retro consoles/home computers! Full of beautiful pictures, specs and and an engaging text. The drawbacks here are the few information given for the specs section and a really brief entry on handhelds. But the quality of the rest certainly compensate for such drawbacks. The information presented here is general and will not most likely fully satisfy the expert but I'm anything but, and it's still a good guide and an enjoyable read.
June 20, 2021
Suffers from the same problem as other such books, tries to cover far too much in too little space. It all reads as a collection of blog posts. You get just a very brief intro to a system, a list of three titles for it (a must see, must play and must avoid) and then it is on to the next entry. Add the typos, incorrect photos of systems that are not the system being discussed and other small issues and you end up with a short read that isn’t very memorable. Only recommended if you pick it up on clearance.
January 10, 2023
Provides a brief history of console gaming, from the Magnavox Odyssey through to Microsoft’s Xbox. Due to the sheer volume of different offerings covered, none get more than a cursory look in, but the fun to be had in reading this book is getting a view of the incremental journey video gaming technology has travelled over a 30 year span. Lovers of a particular console or manufacturer may want to find a more tailored account of their preferred subject, but Peter Leigh does a bang-up job in this high-level overview of a multitude of retro machines.
April 22, 2019
This is a coffee table book, so not much to read from one end to another, and second downside is that if you follow his Youtube channel (or 8Bit guy, or other guys in the field), you already know all of these.
All in all I can recommend getting one, not for reading, but for keeping it visible and entertaining guests.
All in all I can recommend getting one, not for reading, but for keeping it visible and entertaining guests.
July 16, 2019
Essentially a Youtuber/fanboy catalog of early gaming consoles and some micro computers. Lacks any historical context, and offers little in the way of analysis. Each entry reads like a shortened script from the author's Youtube channel. Pixelated images, and poor typesetting and layout also detract from the book.
January 15, 2023
A good brief overview
Overall a good brief overview of vintage haming consoles, if you're interested in this stuff and already somewhat familiar with the console generations. I would have liked to have seen a bit more detailed technical specs and the what to avoid section didn't really add anything to the reading experience.
Overall a good brief overview of vintage haming consoles, if you're interested in this stuff and already somewhat familiar with the console generations. I would have liked to have seen a bit more detailed technical specs and the what to avoid section didn't really add anything to the reading experience.
February 1, 2021
A completely pointless book. The information looks like it's cut and pasted from wikipedia's side panel information panels, there's nothing interesting told about the machines and the 3 games per machine are next to useless. Really disappointing and I can't recommend this to anybody.
February 27, 2022
Had a chance to read about the consoles and computers I'm nostalgic for and learn about a bunch of Europe only micros at the same time. Was well worth the read and has a permanent home on my coffee table.
March 9, 2022
lots of errors in the Kindle. erosion
Repeating pages. Mismatched photos. Books with a lot of graphics still don’t translate well to Kindle books.
But the content is solid. Covers pretty much every gaming console ever released.
Repeating pages. Mismatched photos. Books with a lot of graphics still don’t translate well to Kindle books.
But the content is solid. Covers pretty much every gaming console ever released.
July 25, 2025
after having this book for a year i finally went through the whole thing. It was really cool to see how much has changed in so little time. I think the only thjng that wouldve made it more interesting would have been more comparisons between brands at various times and who did what first.
April 28, 2019
The YouTube channel is far better than the book.
July 18, 2019
Decent coffee table book.
August 26, 2019
Just finished this book . Would recommend it for a nice enjoyable read . Some issues here and there but overall it was a lovely entertaining experience 😊
July 11, 2020
Very good for tech enthusiasts!!
March 4, 2023
Great coffee table book
March 28, 2025
It was great to look back at all this old hardware and games, but the book has a number of typos and repeated text that really annoyed me.
So, two stars from me on this.
So, two stars from me on this.
June 3, 2019
YouTube'da Nostalgia Nerd kanalını yayınlayan Peter Leigh böyle bir kitap kaleme almış. Değerli bir dostun hediye etmesiyle benim de elime geçmiş oldu bu güzel kitap.
Kitap içerik olarak hiç bilmediğimiz, çok özel bilgiler içermiyor ama bir sürü eski sistemin özet detaylarını sunan bir derleme olarak hoş. Bana hediye edilen hardcover basımıydı, cildi oldukça güzel ve kaliteli ancak iki noktaya takıldım. Kitabın basıldığı kağıt anlamsız şekilde kalın, dolayısıyla sayfaları çevirmekte zorlandım ve her sayfa çevirişimde "acaba iki sayfa mı çevirdim" diye düşünüp sayfa numaralarını kontrol ettim. Bu çok büyük sorun sayılmaz, ancak daha can sıkıcı olan, her sistem için hazırlanan ve 3 önemli oyunu ele alan "must see, must play, must aviod" sayfaları mavi zemin, yeşil zemin vs üzerine çok çok küçük harflerle basılmış. Sarı zemin kullandıkları zaman tamam ama diğer durumlarda yazılar okunmuyor açıkçası, büyüteç lazım.
Toparlamak gerekirse, güzel bir derleme. Bana keyif veren bir hediye oldu, kitaplığımda yer aldığı için mutluyum.
Kitap içerik olarak hiç bilmediğimiz, çok özel bilgiler içermiyor ama bir sürü eski sistemin özet detaylarını sunan bir derleme olarak hoş. Bana hediye edilen hardcover basımıydı, cildi oldukça güzel ve kaliteli ancak iki noktaya takıldım. Kitabın basıldığı kağıt anlamsız şekilde kalın, dolayısıyla sayfaları çevirmekte zorlandım ve her sayfa çevirişimde "acaba iki sayfa mı çevirdim" diye düşünüp sayfa numaralarını kontrol ettim. Bu çok büyük sorun sayılmaz, ancak daha can sıkıcı olan, her sistem için hazırlanan ve 3 önemli oyunu ele alan "must see, must play, must aviod" sayfaları mavi zemin, yeşil zemin vs üzerine çok çok küçük harflerle basılmış. Sarı zemin kullandıkları zaman tamam ama diğer durumlarda yazılar okunmuyor açıkçası, büyüteç lazım.
Toparlamak gerekirse, güzel bir derleme. Bana keyif veren bir hediye oldu, kitaplığımda yer aldığı için mutluyum.
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