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You are here: Home / Archives for retro gaming books

retro gaming books

PSA: Free Fusion Retro Books

April 6, 2021 By ausretrogamer

Fusion Retro BooksThe good folks at Fusion Retro Books have announced that they have a number of their books and magazine PDF collections FREE of charge for a limited time!

Go and check out the freebies and download what you like. Be quick, as this won’t last much longer! Happy reading.

source: Fusion Retro Books

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Amiga, C64, Chris Wilkins, Crash Annual, Crash Magazine, Free Fusion Retro Books, Free Retro Books, Fusion Annual, Fusion Retro Books, Geek, History of Ocean Software, magazine, retro books, retro computing, retro gaming books, tbt, The Story of US Gold, throwback, ZX Sprectrum, Zzap 64, ZZap! 64 Micro Action Issue 1, Zzap!64

Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon

February 3, 2021 By ausretrogamer

“Celebrate good times, come on!” – To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Pac-Man, which was in 2020, Cook and Becker is releasing a history book this coming winter (southern hemisphere) on the classic arcade video game titled: Pac-Man: Birth Of An Icon.

The book is billed as “the first written history book” for the iconic video games series, and it’s written by Arjan Terpstra and Tim Lapetino, so you know it’s going to be a special tome.

Pac-Man: Birth of an Icon is available for pre-order at US$39.95 (plus shipping) for the standard hardcover edition and US$99.95 (plus shipping) for the special edition that comes with a Pac-Man-shaped slipcase and a vinyl pressing of the song Pac-Man Fever (limited to 2,000 copies). The limited Collector’s Edition (limited to 40) is already sold out!

This book definitely tickles our nostalgic senses!

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Bandai Namco, Cook and Beck, Namco, Pac Man 40, Pac-Man, Pac-Man - Birth of an Icon, Pac-Man 40th anniversary, Pac-Man arcade, Pac-Man book, Puck Man, retro book, retro gaming books

Read Some FREE Retro Gaming Books While In Isolation

March 26, 2020 By ausretrogamer

These are unprecedented times. We have never collectively faced or experienced such a situation, so it is great to see when we rally together across this beautiful globe to self isolate to help beat this darn Coronavirus!

Thanks to some awesome retro gaming community members, like Chris Wilkins from Fusion Retro Books, they are providing some of their digital (PDF) books for free for all to enjoy while self isolating – check them out further below!

But wait there is more! The Dreamcast Junkyard folks have their The A to Z of Dreamcast Games PDF book for all of you Dreamcast fans to enjoy too, and it’s free.

image source: The Dreamcast Junkyard

These times may seem gruelling, difficult and downright crazy, but we will get through it. For the time being, settle in and immerse yourself with some great free retro gaming content!

Free Fusion Retro Books:

  • Fusion Annual 2020
  • Fusion Issue #9
  • Fusion Issue #10
  • 8-Bit Kids (by Amicom)

image source: Fusion Retro Books

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Amicom, Chris Wilkins, corona virus, coronavirus, covid, covid-19, Dreamcast, free books, free retro gaming books, Fusion Annual, Fusion magazine, Fusion Retro Books, retro gaming books, self isolating, self isolation, stay at home, The Dreamcast Junkyard

SEGA Master System: A Visual Compendium – Book Review

March 2, 2020 By ausretrogamer

It is fair to say that when it comes to visual compendiums, no one does it better than Bitmap Books. We love all of our visual compendiums in our library, and it looks like that this new one based on Sega’s 8-bit console, the Master System, will compliment the series perfectly.

Back in the mid 80s, it was all about the Commodore 64 and Amiga when it came to gaming. Consoles were an afterthought during this period, till Sega released their Master System in the west. Known as the Sega Mark III in its home country (Japan), the western version (Master System) made a decent splash once it hit the market towards the end of 1987. The Master System grabbed our attention back then due to Sega’s arcade pedigree, with their arcade conversions looking and playing much better than their equivalent on the 8-bit micros. It is unbelievable to think that the Master System had a massive following in the west (bar North America), where the NES played second fiddle to it. This visual compendium is for all those folks that transitioned from their 8-bit computers to Sega’s venerable 8-bit beast. Even if you didn’t own the Master System, if you got to play on it, then this book will bring back a lot of memories by inducing that lovely drug we call nostalgia.

This visual compendium is a tribute to the amazing pixel art, product design and graphic design associated with Sega’s classic 8-bit console. Having the official backing and license from Sega, this is the first book of this kind to be released for the Master System. As the title suggests, the visuals are the main focus, with 200-word soundbites of text accompanying each single game spread. With around 200 games covered in this tome, you are sure to get an eye-full of nostalgic candy. But wait, there is more! There are a series of larger features and interviews with developers and artists, like Mutsuhiro Fujii, Takashi Shoji, Steve Hanawa and Rieko Kodama to name just a few, ensuring a good mix of words with gorgeous visuals.

With any published Bitmap Books tome, you are assured of holding a premium quality product in your hands, from the lenticular heavy board slipcase, spot varnished cover, printed lithography and vibrant colours throughout, the standard is nothing short of high! Oh yeah, each book also comes with a set of old school 3D Glasses – now that is cool!

If you are (or were) remotely interested in the Master System or you actually played on one (or was lucky to own one back in the day), then this visual compendium is for you! We highly recommend this awesome book.

The lowdown:

  • Title: SEGA® Master System: A Visual Compendium
  • Publisher: Bitmap Books
  • Front & Back Cover: Hardback, sewn binding, spot varnish cover and spot varnish dust jacket
  • Pages: Gatefold pages, Lithographic print
  • Slipcase: 3mm protective board slipcase with lenticular fascia
  • Pages: 432 (cover to cover)
  • Bonus: 3D Glasses
  • Retail Price: AUD$69.95 from Pixel Crib

Disclosure: SEGA Master System: A Visual Compendium was provided by Pixel Crib for this review.

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture, Reviews Tagged With: 3d, 3d glasses, 8-bit, art book, Bitmap Books, Book Review, gamers, Gaming Books, Master System, master system art book, Master System book, Old School, Pixel Crib, retro gaming books, retrogaming books, Review, sega, Sega Book, Sega book review, SEGA Master System: A Visual Compendium, visual compendium

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