Philadelphia Weekly, August 22, 2001
Book Description
If you've answered "yes" to any of these questions, Arcade Fever is the book for you—the world's first illustrated history of video games, with tributes to 50 all-time favorites like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Defender, Q*Bert, Tetris, and many, many others. You want little-known tips, tricks, and secrets? You want behind-the-scenes creation stories from the original programmers? You want to read about the first guy who actually DIED playing a video game, or the arcade classic that inspired an episode of Seinfeld? It's all right here, in a jam-packed celebration of '70s and '80s arcade culture.
Includes:
o Interviews with programmers, musicians, animators, and other legends from the golden age of video games
o A chronological history of video arcades—from the first coin-operated arcade game (no, it wasn't Pong) to obscure classics like Elevator Action, Crazy Climber, and Food Fight
o Tons of rad '80s spin-off products, including home systems, pajamas, alarm clocks, Saturday morning cartoons, sugar-coated breakfast cereals, and a really bad movie starring Jeff Bridges as a programmer who gets sucked into a computer.
