Alex Wiltshire

A celebration of the early years of the digital revolution, when computing power was deployed in a beige box on your desk. Today, people carry powerful computers in our pockets and call them "phones." A generation ago, people were amazed that the processing power of a mainframe computer could be contained in a beige box on a desk. This book is a celebration of those early home computers, with specially commissioned new photographs of 100 vintage computers and a generous selection of print advertising, product packaging, and instruction manuals. Readers can recapture the glory days of fondly remembered (or happily forgotten) machines including the Commodore 64, TRS-80, Apple Lisa, and Mattel Aquarius--traces of the techno-utopianism of the not-so-distant past. Home Computers showcases mass-market success stories, rarities, prototypes, one-offs, and never-before-seen specimens. The heart of the book is a series of artful photographs that capture idiosyncratic details of switches and plugs, early user-interface designs, logos, and labels. After a general scene-setting retrospective, the book proceeds computer by computer, with images of each device accompanied by a short history of the machine, its inventors, its innovations, and its influence. Readers who inhabit today's always-on, networked, inescapably connected world will be charmed by this visit to an era when the digital revolution could be powered down every evening.

Home Computers - 100 Icons That Defined a Digital Generation

An innovative and beautifully designed history of the nascent Japanese videogame industry, as told by those who were there, Japansoft: An Oral History offers intimate insight into the games, companies and human experiences which forged a whole new culture. Comprising interviews with lesser documented developers at companies including Sega, Enix, Capcom, Hudson Soft and Nihon Falcom, Japansoft: An Oral History offers fresh and diverse perspectives on many of the defining games of their time. A re-edited digest of game journalist John Szczepaniak's three volume series, The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers. This edition adds brand new, specially-conducted interviews with figures including Harumi Fujita (Bionic Commando), Noritaka Funamizu (1943, Area 88), Manami Matsumae (Rockman), Nasir Gebell (Final Fantasy, Rad Racer) and Tomohiro Nishikado (Space Invaders). This publication is a pseudo-sequel to the critically acclaimed Britsoft: An Oral History, seeing editor Alex Wiltshire (Edge, Minecraft Blockopedia) and leading design agency Julia return with a multilayered and eclectic publication that offers a unique reading experience through interlinked interviews that can be read in any order. Enhancing a book already rich with insightful interviews are anecdotal illustrations by iconic Japanese illustrator Yu Nagaba, never-before-seen period photographs, rare press adverts and an illustrated guide to the key computers and consoles that defined the early Japanese game industry".

Japansoft: an Oral History

Inc. Scholastic

A fully illustrated reference for Minecraft fans profiles the numerous types of blocks and their uses.

Minecraft: Blockopedia

Duncan Harris

An in-depth visual guide presenting the detailed creative journeys behind the development of the world’s leading videogames. Making Videogames is an extraordinary snapshot of modern interactive entertainment, with insight from pioneers about the most important games in the industry. Illustrated with some of the most arresting in-game images ever seen in print, this book explores the unique alchemy of a technical and artistic endeavor striking a captivating balance between insider insight and accessibility. Across twelve chapters, each focusing on a specific game from AAA blockbusters such as Control and Half-Life: Alyx to cult breakthrough games including No Man’s Sky and Return of the Obra Dinn, this volume documents the incredible craft of videogame worldbuilding. These chapters present masterful visual storytelling via the world’s most popular, but seldom fully understood, entertainment medium. Demonstrating the magic and method behind each studio’s work, the book includes enlightening text by Alex Wiltshire complementing specially created imagery “photographed” in-engine by screen capture artist Duncan Harris. A book for die-hard videogame fanatics, aspiring designer-creatives, video game developers, and the visually curious alike, Making Videogames will showcase the boundless creativity of this thrilling industry.

The Art of Creating Digital Worlds

Making Videogames

Egmont Publishing Staff

Minecraft Staff

The world of Minecraft is made entirely of blocks. Some help you build, some help you stay alive. Every block you discover opens up new possibilities and exciting adventures. The Minecraft Blockopedia is fully illustrated and packed with essential information about each block and its uses. From basic plants and ores to enchantment tables and End stone, you'll find every single block in here. Blockopedia contains everything you need to know to make the most of the blocks that make up your world – it’s a comprehensive reference tool for beginners and more experienced players alike. This hexagonal hardback book is presented in a stylish gift box.

Alex Wiltshire

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