Video Games: The People, Games, and Companies – Stage 1: 1979 and Before

Video-Games is a work that traces the history of video games from their origins to 1999, covering computer games, console games, arcade games, and handheld devices. It focuses on the human aspect, the history of the people engaged in their creative endeavors, and their impact on the evolution of technology and design choices, Video-Games is based on decades of extensive research of direct and indirect sources and dozens of never-before-seen and specially crafted interviews to accompany the work with new and detailed information.

 

The Video-Games series consists of five volumes: the first four – Stage 1, 2, 3 and 4 – were published in Italian in 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025. The remaining volumes is scheduled to be released in 2026.

  • The journey begins with Odyssey
  • The year of Pong
  • The birth of online gaming: Empire
  • Atari on the edge: from Gran Trak 10 to Tank
  • The adventure of Star Trek
  • William Crowther’s Advent: the birth of text adventures
  • The smash continues: Home Pong
  • The hour of driving games: from Nürburgring/1 to Night Driver
  • Reinventing Pong: Breakout
  • Atari’s jewel: the VCS
  • The onslaught of clones
  • The year of the microcomputer
  • Japan responds: Space Invaders
  • The dawn of computer games: MUSE, Automated Simulations, and Synergistic Software
  • From the Sumerian Game to Santa Paravia an Fiumaccio
  • To the Moon: Lunar Lander 
  • From Auto Race to Microvision
  • Atari counterattack: Asteroids

Features:

  • Approximately 330 pages, 531,000 keystrokes, and 104 pictures;
  • 18 chapters and appendix;
  • Preface by Bonaventura Di Bello, Italian journalist, programmer, author;
  • Cover by Franco Brambilla, Italian artist.