Planned for 2025/2026. Pre-financing soon.
The Italian author and video game researcher Andrea Pachetti presents his debut, which has developed into a monumental work on the history of game design. Starting with the importance of the Commodore 64 for the Italian market, 64 big names address Pachetti’s pressing questions on their formative days: leading game producers from the USA and Japan (Part 1) as well as from Canada and Europe (Part 2).
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Hardback Edition, free PDF
- ~400 full-colour pages
- High-quality offset print
- 168 × 230 mm portrait format
- Special cover refinement
- 135 gr/m² Silk matt paper
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Finest print raster (120)
- Made in Germany
1982–1985: Pioneering spirit and creative freedom. Pachetti invested 10 years in the project to track down and bring together the visionaries, creators and producers of this turbulent gaming era. Here, innovators such as Jeff Bruette (Wizard of Wor), David Crane (Ghostbusters, Decathlon), Dane Bigham (Choplifter), David S. Maynard (Worms) and Paul Norman (Aztec Challenge) talk about their specific efforts that paved the way for the Commodore 64 as a gaming machine and why this period was so spectacular for a single producer.
The complete work is divided into two books, with each volume containing 32 personal interviews. Supplementary articles on the era of computer games, the genres and short portraits of the game developers round off the work and are equally interesting for beginners and connoisseurs of gaming history.
INTRO
1. Chris Crawford (+ a few words from John Romero)
Japan
HAL LABS
2. Suzuki-san – Several Commodore USA games for PET, VIC, C64
3. Matsuoka-san – Several Commodore USA games for PET, VIC, C64
USA
PART I
COMMODORE
4. Yash Terakura, engineer for Commodore
5. Jeff Bruette, author of Wizard of Wor cart
6. Judy Braddick, author of Solar Fox cart
ACTIVISION
7. David Crane
8. Peter Filiberti, author of Pitfall conversion for the C64
BRODERBUND
9. Doug Carlston
10. Dane Bigham, author of Choplifter and Lode Runner conv. for the C64
11. Louis Ewens, author of Whistler’s Brother
SIERRA ON-LINE
12. Ken Williams
13. Chuck Benton
SIRIUS SOFTWARE
14. Jerry Jewell
15. Andrew Kaluzniacki, author of Repton conversion for the C64
ELECTRONIC ARTS
16. David S. Maynard, author of Worms, one of the first titles in EA timeline
EPYX
17. John Marvin, author of Lunar Outpost and Silicon Warrior
SOFTSEL (mayor software distributor)
18. Bob Leff
PART II
COSMI
19. Paul Norman, author of Caverns of Khafka, Aztec Challenge etc.
HESWARE
20. Michael Crick, author of HES Games (and Frogmaster for C= USA)
MINDSCAPE
21. Michael J. Hanson, author of Indiana Jones in the Lost Kingdom
SPINNAKER
22. Ken Madell, author of Cosmic Life and Up for Grabs
SYNAPSE
23. Steve Hales, author of Fort Apocalypse conversion
U.M.I.
24. David Lundberg, production manager
25. Steve Penners, author of DragonHawk
PART III
BRILEY SOFTWARE
26. Harry Briley, several lost games for the PET and the C64
COMM*DATA
27. Mike Blackman
28. Scott C. Berk, authors of Escape MCP, Ape Craze and others
CURSOR (magazine)
29. Randy Lockwood, author of Bets, Godzilla etc for PET and C64
CYBERIA INC.
30. David Martin, manager and developer for Cyberia
T&F SOFTWARE
31. Chris Warling, author of Speed Racer and Candy Bandit
VICTORY SOFTWARE
32. Bruce Robinson, manager of Victory
The cover image you see here is a preliminary version and is still being revised. The final result may look different.
